One Miracle [✔️] | mlbb x bbb

Chapter 23

During PE, while everyone else was playing dodgeball, Cahaya and Petir ditched class. Cahaya claiming to be sick from the fumes (offending almost everyone) and Petir was kicked out again for not participating.

Cahaya frowned at Petir's attitude, but he said nothing regarding it.

"No sports equipment?" Cahaya looked around the hallways. He remembered seeing a basket full of basketballs, footballs and whatnot, but they were all used for dodgeball. "I'm starting to feel bad for you."

"Don't think they have finance for it," Petir agreed. "But if you want to compete, I know where."

Petir led him to the fields. A place near the cafeteria, but separated from the rest of the school by a hill. He'd discovered this when he first came to this school.

It was a hundred of meters of deserted ground, with only overgrown weeds and odd dandelions. There was a concrete wall that meant that this was still school territory.

"I found this place when I first came," Petir said, watching Cahaya walk through the weeds that grew up to his ankle. There were few nests of rabbits here, where they would munch on the grass so it wouldn't grow too tall.

Cahaya looked around. "They have this place and not utilize it? Damn. To think you're smarter than a school."

"Whatever." Petir grinned. "So, best out of three?"

Cahaya turned to him. "You're on."

Minutes later, they were side-by-side by the wall, prepped in a runner's position. They glared at each other, but their focus was on the wall across them. A finish line that they hastily agreed on.

As they watched Cahaya's fingers count down to zero, they took off. They sprinted to the other side, grins plastered on their faces as they matched their speeds for the first few seconds.

Granted, it was only a hundred-so metres, but it was enough for them.

Petir collapsed.

Not even seconds after, Petir could feel a fear that lingered within for too long creep up to him. Phantoms began to crawl up to his mind, numbing his senses, numbing his eyes-

All but the pain in his legs.

"Petir?" Cahaya stopped in his tracks, shell-shocked at his fallen opponent. He sprinted over from the wall, worried prickling in his expression.

Petir's hands were clamped around his knee, his entire body trembling. He was sitting upright, but he looked like he could fall at any given moment.

There were tears in his eyes. They were staring at his legs in fear, as if he were looking at something that shouldn't exist.

They're broken.

They're BROKEN.

There was no pain. They were only phantoms.

Yet he felt as if every bone in his legs were shattered, crushed under the weight of concrete.

"Petir!" Cahaya shook his friend. He looked frantic and worried. "Petir! Snap out of it!"

"I can't..." he whispered, still shaking in Cahaya's grasp. "I can't... I can't-"

"I'm taking you to the infirmary!" Cahaya declared, carrying Petir bridal style like he weighed nothing. He stopped himself. "Never mind! I don't trust this school! Where's the nearest clinic around here?"

"Cahaya? Petir?" a voice called from the hills. There stood a sweaty figure, who'd recently come out from PE.

Cahaya whipped to the voice. "Tanah!" He ran up the slope as if it were flat ground. "Where's the nearest clinic from here?"

Tanah's brain can't handle the sudden advancement. "Clinic? What?" he demanded, eyes widening as he realized Petir's unstable state. The teen was shaking as if he were in pain, his hand clinging onto Cahaya's shirt. "What happened? Is he hurt?"

"I don't know!" Cahaya barked. "Where's the damn clinic!"

"There's no clinics around here..." Tanah stammered. "We have a school nurse-"

"Like hell I'll trust this damn school!" Cahaya glowered.

Tanah met his gaze. "But do you have a choice?"

"NO!"

Cahaya and Tanah both turned to Petir. His eyes were dull, full of fear.

"I-I don't need medical help," he said, voice shaking. "Cahaya, put me down."

"But-"

"Please."

Cahaya gritted his teeth. Reluctantly, he set Petir down, and Tanah took his arm to help the boy stand on his feet. They were unsteady, almost like jelly that could topple over at any moment.

Once Tanah let go, Petir fell again. Cahaya caught him just before he fell to his knees, but the teen didn't look any better, but he was calmer.

"I'm fine," Petir insisted. He didn't meet any of their eyes.

"No, you're not," Tanah argued. "You need to see a doctor. I'll go call-"

Petir glared at him, though it wavered. "I don't." He shook Cahaya off him, but he seemed to have lost his entire sense of balance. He caught himself before he fell, but he was acting like he was an infant learning how to walk. "I'm not hurt."

Tanah stared at him.

Petir always looked so distant, so strong and agile. He even saw him perform that parkour a day ago, but now? He looked like he could be shattered with a touch.

Petir's breathing was shallow and fast, and he was sweating like a hot summer's day.

"Are you..." Tanah started, remembering a book he'd read in the library. "Are you having a panic attack?"

Petir shook his head almost instantly, denying the accusation. "It's not a panic attack. They don't work this way."

Cahaya glared into the air. With Petir in such a mess, there's no doubt that an akuma could be lurking nearby. As one of the strongest Miraculous holders, it's his responsibility to protect the weak, and it was his responsibility as a friend to protect him.

Still, there were no signs of an akuma.

He frowned. Nearly all the victims suffered from less intense emotions, and still they were targets.

Cahaya shook the thoughts from his mind. This was not Athena's time, but rather, just him.

"You're sitting down now," Cahaya demanded.

Petir glanced at him, and nodded listlessly. He was still shaking overall, but he seemed to have calmed, after noting Cahaya's presence.

He walked by Cahaya's side, so the teen could catch him whenever he fell.

As Tanah watched their silhouettes, and Petir not bothering to cast a glance at him, he felt dejected, defective.

Logically, he knew Petir wasn't in the right mind, or even fully addressing or receiving things that are happening to him.

Still, it hurt.

If only Petir could lean on him as much as he leaned on Cahaya.

Somewhere, a black hummingbird remained perched on a nearby branch, blending itself with the other shadows.

It continued to watch its prey, standing alone as he watched his friends leave.

Could they even be called his friends?