"It…h-hurts…G-gene…pl-please…"
"Helia, please don't push yourself to speak. I'll do something to help you!"
I meant what I said, but I realistically have no means of healing her. The horn attack left a gaping wound in her arm, and her blood is steadily flowing out with no signs of stopping. Her breaths are heavy and she is wincing…if I leave her here to go get help, she'll likely bleed out by the time I return. Even in the off-chance that her blood coagulates, the poison will just spread throughout her body.
Crud, do I have no choice but to let my cousin die because of my incompetence?!
Gene's vision becomes cloudy–his eyes bathing in tears.
"What's this…burning sensation? It feels like it's coming from my…"
He shifts his eyes towards the source of this sensation: a tiny cut on his finger.
I'm bleeding? I didn't even notice this cut. It must have happened when I tried pulling that horn out of Helia's arm. But I feel no pain…
The longer I look at Helia, the more intense this burning sensation becomes! It feels like my body is telling me something…
It's telling me to…
…heal Helia!
Taking his newfound initiative, Gene draws near Helia and kneels down beside her. Helia's eyes are partially closed, her breathing is raspy, and the toxins rapidly creep to her face.
"Helia, I know that this will seem weird, but I'm feeling the urge to heal you. Just trust me…okay?"
"..."
Even though Helia's lifeless eyes look directly into her cousin's, she remains unresponsive as though she is seeing through him.
Her body is shutting down–there's no more time to hesitate!
"Here goes!"
Slightly widening Helia's open mouth a bit more, Gene takes his bleeding finger and hovers it over. A single drop of blood drips down, splashing on her tongue, then slides down her throat.
I don't know why I had the urge to do this nonsense, but please let it work!
After a short moment of tension, the wound in Helia's arm stops bleeding and seals itself. Sequentially, her body reverts to its original skin tone and her breathing stabilizes.
"It's working?! Helia is healing! Helia, can you hear me? Are you–!"
Gene clutches his arm as a wave of cringe washes over his body.
"AAAACK!"
I can feel a sharp, throbbing pain in my left arm! Why so suddenly–
"...huh? It's gone. The pain left as fast as it came. This is all too much for me to process!"
"Gene, are you all right?"
"!"
No longer distracted by his mysterious pain, Gene notices that Helia is sitting herself upright–her face bears no indication of the horrors she had just experienced.
"No way! Helia, are you really not injured anymore?"
"No, not at all. I feel fine!"
Helia playfully flexes her arms and flashes a winky smirk.
"Whew, thank goodness. That was the most stress I've ever felt in my life–no gaming tournament has ever come this close!"
"I'm glad that I mean that much to you, Gene. But how did you heal me?"
"...with my blood. I can't fully explain it, but my body suddenly felt the urge to heal you, so I dropped my blood into your mouth…"
"Eeeeh?! You made me drink your blood?! Am I a vampire now?!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Look, I didn't want to do something so strange and embarrassing, but if I didn't then you would have…you know."
"..."
In the midst of the awkward silence, Gene looks down at the earth away from Helia's feet, rubbing the back of his head. With his back now facing towards her, Helia spreads her arms widely.
"?!"
"It's okay, Gene. Please don't blame yourself for what happened. You saved me, and for that I am thankful!"
Gene pauses for a moment, giving his brain a chance to process his cousin's "surprise attack". He wipes the tears from his eyes, accepting her embrace before gradually releasing.
"Sniffle, thanks."
"That's much better; I like it when we both smile! Say, do you think that the blood-thing is the power of your curse? You weren't sure if your curse awakened before, right?"
"That's…that's a really profound observation!"
It hasn't crossed my mind that something like this could be my curse. I just assumed that my curse gave me technical skill in exchange for my physical capabilities, but in actuality I have some sort of…blood healing?
"That's such an awesome curse! That means you can heal any one and any pain, right? As long as I'm with you, I can do reckless things and you will heal me immediately. You're my new doctor for life!"
"Whoa, slow down, Helia. I've only just discovered this curse, so I have no knowledge of its full effects and limitations. I need some more time to figure this out, so I would much rather you not mention my curse to anyone."
"Oh…okay, if that's what you want."
The peppy expression on Helia's face quickly deflates, creating a mood whiplash.
"It's for the best right now. Also, let's promise to keep this incident between us; else we risk worrying our parents to death. Look, we can go home and I will teach you how to play Super Sister Squall Scuffle, okay?"
As if she heard a magical enchantment, her deflated mood is uplifted drastically.
"Agreed! Race you there!"
"Hey, that's not fair, you know I will lose!"
Feeling satisfied taunting Gene by sticking her tongue out, she takes a quick step onto a tree's exposed root, naturally losing all of her balance. With her arms preoccupied with breaking her fall, her head is left defenseless against the incoming tree.
Thonk!
"Helia! Are you okay–aaaa!!!"
In perfect synch, Gene rubs his forehead, exactly just like Helia. Catching wind of this, Helia puffs her cheeks.
"Hmph! I'm fine, it was just a little stumble. You don't have to rub it in by mocking me, ya jerk!"
"But I wasn't mocking you. My head felt like it took a hit too."
"Okay, whatever you say. Just know that I'm still gonna beat you home–for real this time!"
"Didn't you learn your lesson?!"
"Yeah, I'll focus on beating you so that I don't trip again!"
Dismissing caution, Helia continues her race as though nothing happened. Gene chases after her, despite being unable to prevent himself from lagging behind.
"...just be careful."
Since healing Helia, I've been experiencing sudden pains despite being uninjured…it seems to happen coincidentally when Helia is hurt. Could it be…
…our pain is synchronized?