hate you lots | s. heizou ✓

chapter 23

Y/N woke up in the hospital, the heart monitor beeping constantly and the television on.

Attempting to stand up, she instantly groaned in pain. Her legs still hurt like hell along with her hands. Lifting one up, she marvelled at the bandages adorning her palm and fingers.

Just how badly did I hurt myself?

Looking up at the TV, she weakly tried to figure out what was playing. Turned out to be a survival show of some sort.

As yesterday's events came rushing back to her mind she instantly sat up, ignoring the pain in each of her limbs. "Heizou!" She cried.

A sharp rap at the door broke her out of her panic. "Yeah?" She yelled.

She was no stranger to those olive green eyes. "... Heizou?" Her voice was meek and hopeful.

As soon as he saw her, Heizou ran towards her. "Y/N! You're alright! Extremely injured, but alright!" He reached his arms around her in an attempt to hug her before inching away. "I can't hug you 'cause your injured. Just know that I love you, 'kay?"

Y/N nodded, laughing. "I love you too, Heizou. So, what happened afterwards? Are you alright?"

"Actually, I just got a few new leads. And the police to help. But, the leads are far more important." He turned his attention to the doorway. "You can come in! She's awake!"

A gust of wind accompanied the guests' arrival. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw her maths and science teacher standing before her. "What the...?"

"Y/N?" Kusanali meekly smiled. "We heard what happened, and we would like to speak to you."

Oh shoot. Am I in trouble?! "I promise, I didn't mean to trespass in the school! Please don't expel me!" She cried as clasped her bandaged hands together.

Barbatos laughed at the sight. "Yikes, you really got messed up there! We're not here to expel you."

They both walked towards the edge of the bed, standing behind Heizou. Kusanali cleared her throat as she hopped onto a chair. "Mr. Morax taught you about Irminsul, correct?"

Y/N could recall that lesson. How could she have forgotten about it? She did write a paper on it, after all. "Yes, he has."

"Let me teach you an even better history lesson." She cleared her throat. "Long ago, a group of witches called the Hexenzirkel would meet regularly and conduct explorations in Irminsul. They would typically meet up for these fancy tea parties or something."

As she listened to Kusanali, she couldn't help but notice Barbatos's strangely calm demeanor. He was staring off at the window, watching the curtains slightly flow along with the wind. His jaw would randomly clench at some moments, before he would loosen up.

"One of the members of this group is a researcher from Khaenri'ah. You learned about the cataclysm of Khaenri'ah, right?" Kusanali asked.

"Yes, Ms. Kusanali."

A soft smile graced Kusanali's features at Y/N's meek response. "That member, Gold, is linked to that event. She was quite the alchemist, you know? Practicing the Art of Khemia, creating synthetic life forms and such."

"I always had my doubts about Albedo's desire to learn from her." Barbatos's tone was serious. "Even after she abandoned him, he still insisted on learning from it."

"You know, I always found it weird how I never truly saw Albedo age. Maybe it was due to the fact that I didn't spend too much time at the foster home, and I don't really remember too much about him, but I had my suspicions." Heizou rested his hands on his hips, smirking down at Y/N. "Still, I find it pretty cool that I went to school with two synthetic life forms!"