Supernova

Chapter Thirty Three - Supernova

Our comfortable quiet was disrupted by a knock at the front door. I was confused, and I know it showed on my face. Demon didn't even bother looking up. Elias smiled and motioned with his hand for me to open it. I took my empty bowl with me, dropping it into the sink on my way over. I was uneasy as my hand approached the handle, but once I swung it open, I heard my entire body relax as I buried my face into Kiri's chest and wrapped my arms around him. He returned the gesture, and I heard a relieved sigh over my head. 

"Hello again, Kirishima," I heard Elias say after some time. "Could we offer you some tea?"

He said he was alright, but he took the next invitation Elias dished out to join us. I moved aside and let him in, hoping my face hid the disappointment when I realized for certain he was alone. Kiri's smile told me it didn't. "The remedial classes start tonight."

"Oh," I said with a nod, hoping to sound indifferent.

Remembering about the apartment and his fragility within it, I clutched his arm and looked at them both nervously. Elias smiled, his eyes slightly shameful and apologetic. Demon scoffed, but he shuffled close to the wall anyways, patting the spot next to him, telling me to send Red over here. Kiri thanked him, sitting an uneasy yet polite distance away.

"So, what's the deal with this one, Novie?" Demon asked, discarding his bowl and leaning towards Kiri, his head almost laying onto his shoulder, but not quite. Inspecting him. A little too closely for my comfort. Typical.

"Leave him alone," I started.

"Why do you call her that?" Kiri asked, turning his head just slightly in Demon's direction, his eyes flaring no discomfort. Demon shared a knowing glance with Elias.

"That's her name," Demon started, shrugging as he leaned back, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Fuck both of you!" I yelled with an accusatory finger that found Demon first, triggering him to lift his head and cackle, and then Elias with his bright blue eyes, flaring heavy amusement. "Especially you."

"Entertain me," Elias said, his smile still plastered on his face. "How was it that you found out?"

"My new school was in Italy, you dicks!" I yelled at them, throwing my hands up as they both laughed. "Whatever. Your stupid prank backfired. It made a great pickup line."

The story fell out, mostly from Elias' calm mouth, sprinkled with loud mockery and cackling from Demon's. I put my face in my hands as I remembered getting to A Hero's Bleeding Heart in Italy, walking to the main office, handing over my transfer file. The clerk read it over, and looked at me with worried eyes, asking me if I'd like to change my hero name, it wasn't too late. I was walking the fine line between the pride I had over escaping The Academy and the shakiness over how close a call it had been, and out of grief, I'd said no, I'd keep it. As the other students quickly informed me, Casanova, with a single s, was not a supernova at all, but an Italian explorer, well known for being a scam artist and sleeping around. After they were done mocking, I made a point to brag about my new hero name, which neither of them seemed impressed by. Elias simply asked if I was certain that was what it meant, and I hissed back that I had looked it up this time.

"For what it's worth," Elias then said. "The name itself may have been a trick of poor taste, but we'd only just met. I was still assessing you. That being said, my sentiments were genuine. I've always thought of you as a Supernova."

"What is that?" Kiri asked.

"It's an astronomy term," Elias told him. "When a star dies, it has one of two fates. Small, relatively insignificant stars expand a little, dim, and fade into nothingness quietly. But large stars, or those with enough density, end their lives in a different manner. A supernova is a brilliant, beautiful, catastrophic, universe altering, cosmic,"