Exhausted and on the verge of passing out, Kousuke carried Rina till they reached the others finally, everyone who was present helping the injured saw them come into view. Many saw the battered and bleeding Kousuke, and the looks of concern in their eyes weighed heavily upon them. Kousuke even with his vision blurred was relieved to see the people in his line of sight. Hiro, Natsume, and Ituski saw him heading their way. Ituski gave a tearful wave while Hiro adjusted his glasses giving a respectful nod.
"I did it….I made it." Kousuke gave a weak smile of relief, after which his body finally had had enough; it couldn't stand anymore, and his brain was overloaded with the coding to keep it from exploding from his thermal energy. His vision blacked out and he lost too much blood from the open wounds in his arm, he fell to both knees succumbing to his exhaustion.
The emergency service workers ran over to help him and Rina get their medical attention before any worse could happen. One of them tried to touch Kousuke but burned their hands severely in the process.
"Don't touch him! His body is too hot he'll burn you to death. Grab some anti-magic gloves and use water magic to safely carry him." The lead responder ordered his team to be warned when handling Kousuke.
Itsuki wanted to run to help but she was too injured to even skip in their direction. She was having her arm bandaged up along with getting crutches to walk with.
Natsume grabbed her shoulder, giving her a look to let the professionals do their job for now till she rested enough to see him.
Rina was placed in one tent while Kousuke was carried to another tent because of how severe his condition was. They placed him in a therapeutic bathtub filled with large chunks of ice and cold water to drop his body down to a normal temperature, he would fight to get his head out to catch his breath because the freezing water shocked him each time he was completely submerged, but the attendants would keep him down till his body was at a safe level.
The medical attendants attached hoses to the tub to drain and resupply the water when he would heat it back up. The ice had to be refilled constantly because of how fast his body would melt through it, they dumped ice constantly trying to keep up. It was proving to be more of a challenge than they expected in trying to save him.
The attendants used healing magic to repair his internal injuries and the tearing in his muscle tendons. The damage to his arm was bad, even with the healing magic the residual effects from the Astarok lingered negating most of the magic they used.
"Get the injections ready. There's a tracing of a powerful poison in his body that's damaging his organs and blood vessels, find someone who can do a sutra to help expel the evil force that's negating his healing abilities" the lead doctor ordered.
The attendants did as told. They got a priest of the many that were on staff during the security measures during the Ghasts' march. The priest worked hard, almost falling from stress to get the effects of Astarok's magic out of Kousuke. Unaware that the sword was inside using its power to hide itself from being expelled from Kousuke. Only the magic used by Einz during the fight to poison Kousuke would be taken out, it was the sword's only way to avoid the problem of being discovered.
Once that was over and the healing magic was allowed to work without problems the lead doctor snapped Kousuke's fingers back in place along with the protruding bone from his forearm, Kousuke screamed out in pain when the doctor did the deed. The feeling of his bones being forced back into place was heightened from the already crippling pain he was in to begin with.
"Aaaaaaaaaargh." He shouted in immense agony from the bones being forced back into their original alignment by the doctor.
"Hold him down, I've got to get the bones back in place. Restrain him if needed." The doctor commanded the attendants to get Kousuke to stop fighting him. It took great effort but he was able to finally get the bones back into his arm and set up to realign to heal properly. Special bandages were wrapped around his fingers and his arm, along with an iron cast for a few hours to help with the repairs to the bones.
Kousuke was given another dose of medicine at multiple vital points in his body to speed up his recovery, all the while staying in the tub. The cast came off once his bones were repaired, they rewrapped the bandages and put on a brace for his arm and hand to prevent him from using it till it was fully healed and regained its range of motion.
Itsuki walked in, limping with her body being supported by the crutches. Rumi was next to her sobbing at the sight of her big brother looking broken, Itsuki tried to comfort her, but even she was worried just as bad. She asked the lead doctor about the extent of his injuries, his body temperature was still above safe levels, and his heart was badly stressed but not in too much danger. The scar under his eye and arms was not going away, and his joints were also badly damaged along with his muscle tendons.
"Will he be ok?" Itsuki asked with concern in her voice.
"It's hard to say miss. He would recover faster if his thermal energy were stopped from trying to rise. We can only do so much to keep him cool but it's not enough he needs a steady source till he's normal again. Amazingly, he carried that girl without burning her to death he must have fought hard to keep his body from exploding from the pent-up energy, now all that heat is going out of control if it doesn't stop we're either going to have to destroy his magic core or put him down to save everyone."
Itsuki paused hearing those solutions. She was afraid for him, he wasn't getting better because his body was still heating up. He needed a steady source as the doctor said, just water and ice weren't going to cut.
"Onii-Chan," Rumi said weakly rubbing her face against Itsuki's leg. Itsuki rubbed her head in fear for Kousuke, she wanted to help him cool down so he could heal normally at least in a safe enough temperature for him to heal on his own.
Itsuki had an idea to fix the problem, risky to her body possibly but it could help. She asked Rumi to run and get her swimsuit, Rumi was confused at first but she caught on quickly to Itsuki's plan. Rumi took off like a bat out of hell, she ran as fast as her tiny body could to bring back the suit. Itsuki changed into the little makeshift tent that was set up for the patients to change clothes, she came back with the suit on she told the doctors since she was the best one around who could use ice magic she was going to use it to help cool Kousuke down. The lead doctor didn't think it was a good idea because she hadn't recovered completely yet either, and the attendants tried to stop her from over-exerting her body more than it was for this idea. She gave them the sign she was ok, she was going through with her idea even if they disagreed.
The lead doctor knew she was set on it, he gave in admiring her determination, telling her she was allowed to go through with her idea, and even handed her some pills and juice to ingest to help her magic recover quicker just in case.
Itsuki made her way to Kousuke's tub, the doctor helped her get inside, and her body was snuggled up close to Kousuke's. She could feel his skin warming her up, and her magic automatically kicked in to cool herself down, the water and ice in the tub gave her more strength to fight it off, and she swallowed the pills to help fight off the thermal energy from burning her skin.
Rumi tugged on the pants of the doctor, and he figured out what she was asking him and the others for, the attendants set up a curtain around the tub to give the two privacy, and afterward, they went back to help the other doctors with the other's injuries.
Itsuki hugged Kousuke tight, she was using her magic to fight off the heat as fast as she could, with her forehead pressed against his chest, she was terrified of his condition. The fight with the Schwartzreiters pushed everyone beyond the capabilities they currently had, the medical personnel were struggling to keep up with the injured while the disposal teams got rid of the dead bodies of the Ghasts by burning them and performing a prayer so the souls trapped within them could finally find peace.
In the tents, the others were getting their treatments done. Ren was being given medical acupuncture along with herbs to clear the effects of Zweiz's poison out of his system. His eyes and ears took the worst end of the damage from the effects of the poison. There was a higher success in his hearing being restored but there was a chance his sight could be permanently damaged without proper examination, the doctor had to put healing crystals on top of them hoping it would restore his vision to normal. Tatsuya was being given different herbal medicines for his throat including braces for his neck and hands, he wasn't allowed to speak for the next twenty-four hours to ensure his vocal cords would heal properly.
Ryuji was regurgitating from the ice Itsuki gave him to eat for his Iced Jacket. His body couldn't handle the magic anymore, his Esper genes rejected it now that their purpose was served, it was a miracle he lasted as long as he did after the time limit exceeded. His insides felt like they were filled with gasoline, just trying to breathe made his lungs feel like they were flaring up inside. The doctors inserted multiple needles that drained his blood into a hemodialysis machine that separated the magic from his blood and then back into his body when it was clean.
Hiro was wearing medical compression gloves for his hands to recover, his tendons were strained and the skin on his fingertips was torn, most of the cuts he suffered around his body were already healed with magic since they were clean slashes, and a few bandages on his face and body were put on him, making him have the least threatening injuries so far.
He felt more ashamed if anything, the people who were injured and killed were under his watch, and the massacre made him feel like a failure in protecting the civilians and students who came to the resort.
Natsume entered the tent later to check on everyone, she had bandages on her fingers and forehead, but thankfully no other injuries on her. She handed Hiro a bottle of water to drink, and he took it graciously, but he was quiet though as he still looked down with his head lowered in shame.
"It's not you're fault. Ghasts are a common threat and unpredictable you couldn't have stopped that from happening." Hiro didn't look up but his defeated voice still spoke.
"It's still a blunder on my part. The people died because I was careless in hiring adequate security. If I had hired professionals from private security forces I could have had the people here better protected." Natsume sat down next to him, she could hear the shame in his voice and guilt on his face.
"You couldn't have predicted this. You only tried to give everyone a great New Year's party before the school semester started. Those Ghasts were led by those Knights. No one could have predicted them and the power they possessed. Even our teachers couldn't stop them right away."
Hiro's guilt was stronger than the comfort words Natsume was trying to convey to him. It wasn't like he didn't appreciate what she was trying to do, more so he was punishing himself. He felt powerless in fighting against the Knights, even when he fought Barnaby he didn't feel despair or a sense of helplessness because he knew he would live there wasn't a real sense of danger. Fighting against Veirz brought true doubt to his mind. He won, but it was only from stubbornness not skill. He was focused on his archery skills and ability to read his opponents he never focused on other forms of combat. Using his Father's signature weapon helped in the fight, his skill with it was basic at best, if it wasn't for his willpower to win the Gods of battle wouldn't have blessed him to have the victory in that moment.
"I'm going to get stronger. I have to. I have to find a way to increase my level and practice using more weapons that can suit me better to compensate for my lack of close-range fighting. I can't slip up like that again. Not after today."
Hiro's hands clenched as the tips of his fingers dug into the palms of his hands. Natsume felt the same, she took her family's teachings in incantations and using the Khakkhara staff seriously she could have fought better as well.
"Let's help each other then. The school is the best at making the strongest students. We should try and be more serious when we get back. We took all this time for granted, even watching you guys during exhibition fights didn't motivate us much except for small efforts."
Natsume stared around looking at everyone in the tent. So many were hurt and scared, this was a reality she was seeing, the reality of the horrors of death lingering in the air ready for any moment to pounce on anyone close to the brink.
Natsume grabbed Hiro's hand, he was confused as to why, she was trying to take him to recover in his room so he wouldn't see everything around him and feel worse. Staying around the injured would only make his shame feel heavier than it was.
Kousue's eyes slowly forced themselves to open halfway, his vision was still blurry for a bit.
He felt cold all over his skin while his body inside still felt like it was filled with magma. His blurred eyes saw the outline of Itsuki's body holding him, and he wasn't sure what was going on after he passed out when he made it back to the safe area. Kousuke tried to speak, but Itsuki heard his broken voice escaping through his lips. She placed her fingers on them to stop him from speaking so he could reserve his strength.
Her fingers slid from his mouth down to his shoulder as she continued keeping her head pressed against his injured body.
"Don't speak. Rest up, you're in bad shape."
She was right. Not like he could argue with her at the moment, he pushed himself hard fighting Einz. Itsuki was pushing herself to cool his body down as well. Kousuke could see the effort she was making, her skin looked irritated from the amount of heat she was trying to rid his body of. He wanted to thank her, she was putting her body on the line for him. He felt frustrated, Rina tried saving him earlier, Akane died protecting him, and now Itsuki was risking herself as well.
If he could grind his teeth in the sheer self-disgust he had for himself it would have done it already. He was still not strong enough, it was blowing his mind away how even with the hard work he was putting in and all the power he had he was still getting whooped badly. He came to terms that he wasn't an overpowered MC after fighting Megumi, even with that he figured he progressed enough to not win a fight looking like a diseased beaten dog.
His frustration was heating his body again, he could feel it and see Itsuki's reaction from the rush of thermal heat from his body.
Kousuke had to calm himself, he didn't want to risk burning Itsuki because of his temperament. He used his breathing techniques to calm his mind, his heart, and pulse rate slowed down to a normal pace stopping his body from heating more. His body calming down, Kousuke kept focusing not losing his temper or any kind of emotion that would trigger him again.
"You have got to be the most reckless, crazy, and stupid person I've ever known." Her voice was low and choppy. She was emotional trying to care for his feelings while being angry at him.
Her eyes welled up as her face quivered with worry. He didn't need to see her face to know what she was feeling. He could hear it in her voice and feel it in her body language. Very weakly, Kousuke wrapped one arm around Itsuki, the other he rubbed the sobs off her eyes, caressing her cheek.
"I'm sorry." His voice was strained with the strain in his jaw and throat. "I'm sorry that I put you through this. And for being so weak when it mattered."
Itsuki wasn't mad about him being weak, she knew in her heart he wasn't weak at all. She was worried he would have done more than he was capable of to defeat Einz and leave Rumi alone. More importantly to Itsuki, left her alone. Itsuki grabbed the hand that was touching her cheek, her fingers interlocking with Koutetsu's.
"Stop. You're not weak. I'm upset you ran off to do something crazy and came back almost dead again like last time. How many more times can you get yourself nearly killed? How many close calls? Are you trying to commit harakiri to yourself by fighting, are you trying to make Rumi into an orphan after you've just got her? Why do you do this to yourself, don't you want to live, why are you trying to kill yourself being so damn stubborn, baka, baka, baka, baka!"
He didn't have to be a mind reader to know how she was feeling, he felt guilty about what he put her through. The bottom of his face lay on top of her head. He held her hand properly going off instinct, it wasn't a thought he was going off on, his body did it on its own.
People say the mind can tell you one thing and another thing preventing you from taking action. But the body doesn't lie, even if the brain doesn't think it's true the body and heart will never mislead.
Kousuke wasn't wrong in liking Rina or what happened with her, she was important to him. Itsuki was too, there was honesty with her, she was his oldest friend and the only one besides Rina he opened his heart to. Itsuki looked out for him and cared for him, she wasn't some random girl crushing on him either. Itsuki was by all right, the first real friend he ever made and by all accounts the first he finally admitted in his heart that he fell for even before Rina now that he wasn't letting the Isekai reincarnation excuse get in the way.
He was done making excuses to not act or do things half-cocked, it may be a broken rule he was not to make himself an MC in a harem-type trope, but he didn't care anymore. He wanted to go through with it without regrets, he would deal with the future consequences after he rested and was able to make better plans.
"Itsuki," Kousuke called to her. Itsuki looked up to see what he was trying to say. He didn't say anything to her, instead, she felt it, the feeling she had wanted for so long since reading her fairytale books.
Kousuke pressed his lips to hers, his eyes closed as he held Itsuki closer. Itsuki was stunned for a minute, she let out a few sobs from her eyes before she closed them enjoying every second she was having in her own fairytale wish.
Kousuke let off after a minute, Itsuki was flustered, caught off guard not only he initiated a kiss to her but a passionate one to her. He went in again, she closed her eyes and let herself go, losing herself in the moment.
Both broke off to catch their breath, Itsuki's smile couldn't be stopped. Kousuke leaned in again and her doing the same once more. She made her way to be on his lap, wrapping her arms around him with Kousuke doing so back. Both went from simple kissing to passionately going in, Kousuke made his way to her neck as she panted gripping him tight. Whether it was because it was near death that caused it to happen from the fight before or it was the release of their inner restraints of their desires their bodies acted on their own. Just letting themselves enjoy their moment after many moments of holding back and mental fantasies.
They tried to keep quiet as best they could but the steam from the tub increased from their actions. Rumi who saw it was confused and wanted to go check on her brother but Ryuji stopped her before she could walk that way.
"Hey, why are you grabbing me Ryuji Nii-San?" Rumi asked. Ryuji wanted to tell her the reason but he tried to keep it at a 'G' version since she was still a kid.
"I think it's best if you don't go over there. Your bro needs some alone time with Shirayuki."
"Alone time?" She asked blinking her eye's not understanding his words. He nervously laughed trying to keep her away from the curtains, even the few remaining others in the tents knew what was happening but let it go since it was a reward in a way for Kousuke after what he did to save everyone.
"You'll know when you're older. For now, don't go there unless you want to…..blargh." Ryuji puked again from his body still healing from the magic getting out. Rumi cleaned his face off and changed out the bucket, she left to get him food to help him from dry heaving. Ryuji looked at the curtained area, and he gave a weak half smile whispering in his head.
'Guess you made your choice finally. Good on you beast boy. And bout damn time too.'
Ituski was still on top of Kousuke, she wasn't ready to let him inside her yet, not in the open anyway. Even if the curtains around the tub were blacked out so no one could see anything, she still had her dignity then to lose her chasity in public. Itsuki instead rubbed against Kousuke's lower region back and forth, the feeling of him rubbing up against her sensitive area pleasing her. She began digging her nails into his back from how it made her feel panting heavily in process. Kousuke, having died a virgin didn't want to stop either, his own instincts kicked in wanting something he didn't have before, on top of the animal side of him wanting to dominate Itsuki like she was his mate. He went back to nibbling her neck she moved faster not able to keep her self under control, holding her mouth to not let her voice escape and be loud in the tent.
Both took it this far, they didn't want to stop they kept it up for a bit. But eventually they had to stop, doing what they were doing was one indecent attention they knew would backfire if it went further and two Kousuke wasn't better yet, anymore stress to his heart would only make him burn more and not recover at all. Doing the deed now was heating him up, making the hardwork of cooling him off back to square one almost.
Itsuki stopped her motion, breathing hard trying to clam herself down. She just lay there on top of Kousuke going back to her intention of cooling him down. Kousuke held her tight, he finally let himself sleep peacefully having accepted her, her breasts made a great pillow for him to rest on.
Ituski rubbed the back of his head, her eyes closed but her smile brimming high.
'Kousuke, aishiteru, hontou ni aishiteru(I love you, I really love you).' She said to herself, quietly announcing her own feelings. Even if he didn't hear her out loud, she hoped he could feel it. More than anything she hoped this was the first step in them being a real couple.