Climbing the Tower with You (Khun x Reader)

Prologue- A Friend

     I stumbled over to the river after a second exhausting day of training. I hadn't gotten an afternoon break so I was even more tired. Would he be here? In the same spot?

     But, I thought, it's not like it would have been a loss even if he wasn't here. We probably weren't even friends yet. Maybe yesterday's conversation had been a one time thing. He had probably already forgotten about me. So he probably wasn't even the-

     A.A. was sitting in the same spot as he had yesterday, testing his luck in fishing again.

     I froze on the spot. What was I supposed to do now? Sit next to him again? Was I automatically allowed after yesterday? What would I say?

     "You've been standing there for a good five minutes, you know."

     A.A. had noticed me. I could tell he was trying not to laugh. I gave some sort of weird chuckle, it must have looked so weird.

     "I don't bite, you know. You can come here if you want."

     "Oh- Okay!" I walked over and sat down. A.A.'s forwardness gave me the courage to ask my question. "Are you skipping again?"

     "Yup" he responded, still fishing.

     "Why though?" I asked.

     A.A. looked right at me. "You're tired right?"

     "Uh...yeah." I said, not expecting that.

     A.A. shrugged. "I don't always skip class. But I only work hard at the thing I'm good at. I would rather be here then exhaust myself over training that will never help me in the future."

     "But why?" I couldn't stop the next words from coming out of my mouth. "Won't your training come in some use? This is the Khun family, it must be important for lots of stuff. What about climbing the Tower?"

     I said the last line very softly but A.A. heard me. "So that's why you're doing this?"

     I found myself nodding. "I... kind of want to climb the Tower some day." I looked down while saying this. I realized that it was true. It wasn't something to hide anymore. Why was I finally telling that to him, someone I barely knew? Maybe there was a sort of magic in having someone your own age to talk to.

     I could tell he was trying not to laugh. "No offense, but you don't seem like the kind of person who would climb the Tower."

     I stayed silent for some time. I didn't really know how to take that. A.A.'s expression softened. "Sorry. I guess that was kind of offensive."

     I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. That's what I'm training for. Say, what do you think about climbing the Tower?"

     More rush of the river water. All I could hear were birds chirping. Finally, he spoke. 

     "I don't know. It might be worth a try. But, you're forgetting something."

     His eyes turned serious. "Everyone says that whatever you want is at the top of the Tower. Everyone climbing it has something they desire, it's what propels them up the Tower. What do you want, Y/n?"

     What did I want? Oh, right. My mind went to a distant memory.

     "All right! I got a catch!"

     A.A's voice saved me from answering that question. He was grinning and pulling the rod string up.

     "And it's a big one too!"

     I knelt down to take a look. Suddenly, a burst of wind came in my direction and I lost my balance.

     "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" I screamed as I tumbled into the river. My leg hit one of the rocks and I felt a huge pain. I felt tears come around my eyes but I wouldn't cry. I couldn't.

     When I rubbed my eyes, the first thing I saw was a hand. A.A. had stood up and offered to help me up. Ignoring the pain in my leg, I took his hand. He then started laughing.

     "That was hilarious! Oh boy, I seriously wonder how you fight!"

     And suddenly, I felt a laugh come out of me. I didn't feel anymore pain and I guess me falling like that had been kind of funny. We were just kids, there was nothing that couldn't be cured with a laugh. His laugh rung like bells, I didn't know why I noticed that.

     I saw the fish he caught. It was a huge pink colour fish and I could see why A.A. was proud of that catch. A.A. looked at the fish too and, after a few seconds of hesitation, let it back into the river. He smiled at me then looked at my leg.

     "Y/n, you're bleeding!"

     I saw a cut in my leg. It didn't look extremely deep but it had to be treated. "Don't worry. I can handle it."

     I produced a small portion of Shinsu and applied it to my cut. I naturally knew how to gentle the flow of the Shinsu so it could heal my wound. Slowly, the cut faded away, leaving clean skin When I finished, A.A.'s eyes were wide open.

     "You're a Shinsu user!?"

     He looked generally impressed and I couldn't help feeling a little bit of pride. "Yes, I am. That's what I'm learning now. I want to use it to fight!"

     He chuckled. "Okay, I take everything back! You might have a chance in the Tower."

     I remembered that I still hadn't answered his previous question about what I wanted. I still didn't quite know the answer. A.A. had showed some interest in the Tower. What did he want?

     "A.A! Where are you!?" some distant voices rang out nearby. "Um... I think your siblings are calling you." I said.

     A.A. gasped. "Darn it, they've noticed I've gone!" He quickly hid his fishing rod. "Oh" he added as a side note. "And they're not really my siblings. With that logic, I have like thousands of siblings."

     I didn't even have time to comprehend that before he turned towards the other direction. "If anybody asks, you didn't see me!"

     "Got it!" I said. "I should probably go too. I have early practice tomorrow!" I also turned to leave.

     I would never forget the parting words he said to me. "Really!? I have a really early session tomorrow. I'll also probably skip it. Maybe you can come by here before your training!" And with that, he ran off.

     My skin felt warm. He actually... wanted me to come!? Did that mean he liked me? Considered me as a friend?

     I made a small plan in my head to wake up extra early the next day.

     Four parts done. I'm happy. I'm surprised that these chapters have been kind of short for me (I usually almost have 2000 words!) Anyway, it's almost 1 am here and I've been working on this instead of sleeping! I'll publish more tomorrow, see you all then!

     -Heavens Wheel