Luke woke up with a startle and a terrible headache. The last thing he remembered was completing the first mana rune, and then fainting from the pain caused by willpower fatigue. The sun was still up on the horizon, but it was close to setting, and he guessed he had been out of it for at least a couple hours.

He quickly focused within himself and checked the rune. It looked like a cancer prevention ribbon, but with straight lines and edges, and four lines of different sizes around it; it was one of the easiest runes to make, the reason he had done it first. It had one meaning: ownership.

That was only the first rune though. He needed to create four more for his core to be complete. Unfortunately, he had been way too stupid in his anxiety to protect his loved ones. His willpower fatigue was so great it would take an entire day to go away.

With nothing to do, he just closed his eyes to rest and wait.

Around midday, Luke heard someone entering the room and opened his eyes to see Sakura carrying a tray of food.

She was wearing a green dress, and her hair was held in an intricate braid behind her back. Her eyes and tip of her nose were red from crying. She froze in place when she saw him awake, and Luke saw a lot of tension immediately leave her shoulder. "Thank God," she whispered, closed her eyes, and laid her back on a nearby wall.

Luke mentally slapped himself. He had had his heart pierced. It was obvious she would worry about the boy she liked. He hated himself for focusing so much on improving himself that he forgot about reassuring one of the people he was growing stronger for in the first place.

"Sorry for making you worry," he said and smiled apologetically, which didn't hurt at all despite the injuries he had received from the beating. His phoenix heart was doing work.

She opened her eyes and looked at him with disbelief. "You... You almost died... And the first thing you say right after waking up is sorry?"

"Well..." He looked to the side. "I kind of woke up before... And I just... I was so worried about what Jackson could've done to you, that I just lost myself doing that thing with the soul to grow stronger... So, sorry..."

He didn't know if he was being filmed yet again, so he didn't mention mana channels directly. For now, he was only giving that knowledge to Sakura. At least until he decided what information to release.

Sakura came closer slowly. "So after waking up from an injury that would've killed anyone else, the first thing you did was worry about me and do your best to grow stronger through a method that brings you a lot of pain. And now, you're sorry that you were worried about me enough to faint from that pain. Yes, we were watching, and the camera is good enough to show the suffering in your face." She arrived right beside him, and pulled the tray's support before placing it over him. "Luke Kells, you're the most lovely person I have ever known."

Luke felt all fuzzy inside. The "lovely" part made him especially happy. She wasn't saying she loved him, which was only natural—he was still surprised she even liked him in the first place. But it was still close enough in his book, and a man could delude himself sometimes, right?

"Where are we?" he asked, changing the subject.

"At a resort my family owns. We investigated what Jackson did, and the area he affected was too big, the entire floor. The security team decided the only way to keep you safe in the hospital was by inspecting everyone entering it. That way, he would be forced to use his power before he could reach your floor. That, however, would make the bodyguards themselves vulnerable, and they were lucky already Jackson didn't hurt anyone." That answered one of Luke's worries. "It would also annoy almost everyone in the hospital. The elders decided that moving you to an already secure building in an island we own would make everyone safer." She finished raising the bed. "Is this comfortable?"

An island they owned. He didn't even know people could own islands. Jackson had mentioned how rich the Akiras were; now Luke was getting a rough idea of it.

As for her question, he nodded, and to his surprise, she moved to get the spoon on the tray. It contained a thick orange soup and a water cup, which made him realize how hungry and thirsty he was. His stomach agreed with him, for it rumbled at once.

"No Tom today?" he asked.

She smiled. "Jackson's power also made the camera blurry, but we could still somewhat see and hear how you got angry when I was in danger. The clan head still hasn't approved of you, but the elders believe you hold true feelings for me and have given us permission to nurture our feelings to the next threshold." Her smile turned into a cute pout. "No hand-holding yet though."

"Really?" Luke thought happily. "I wish Jackson could come and hit me again—"

"No!" Sakura yelled suddenly. "No," she whispered. "Don't even joke about that. Not ever." She teared up. "I saw his hand enter your chest. It was horrible. I thought you were dead."

"Sorry," he said, immediately ashamed of himself. She had suffered so much and here he was, insensitive to her feelings.

'Way to go, idiot,' he thought.

She didn't reply, but just filled the spoon and fed him in silence. He took it. It had shrimp bits and tasted delicious.

"Gosh, this is good," he said with his mouth still full. "What is it?"

"Shrimp in the pumpkin," she said, then blushed slightly. "I made it."

Luke couldn't stop himself. "Holy fuck, and you're even a great cook? How perfect can you..." He trailed off as he realized what he was saying. "...be?" He completed with barely a whisper.

Her face turned as red as a tomato. She looked down, then sideways, then to the other side, seemingly incapable of doing anything with herself. In the end, she just whispered a, "Thanks," and gave him another spoon while looking at his chin.

A very awkward silent meal followed.

"Thank you," he said when they were done. "And sorry for saying that... thing... about you."

That finally turned her back to normal. She rolled her eyes. "So you're sorry for complimenting me?" She asked angrily. "Would you rather offend me instead?"

"N- No!"

"Then stop saying you're sorry for every single thing you do! I hate it! I hate it so much!" It seemed she had already been bottling up a lot inside her, and that it was the last straw, because she started crying. "Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? You mean it when you say you're sorry! They messed you so much that you feel ashamed of complimenting a girl you like! You probably even feel ashamed of liking me, don't you? Tell me. Tell me you're worthy. Tell me there's nothing wrong with liking me."

Luke froze at the sudden outburst. That made no sense at all. Of course he wasn't worthy and shouldn't like someone like her. He was just keeping at it because he supposed to be a warrior, and warriors fought for what they wanted. But that was a long way from deserving her.

He wanted to say he was sorry, but could only look at her in confused silence.

She took a deep breath. "As you Americans say: fuck it."

Then she grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him in the mouth.

Now, Luke could say he had expected a lot of things from his first kiss, but he had never expected feeling so... unqualified. He had no fucking idea what to do with his lips. Should he open them more? Less? Should he make them soft or hard?

And his tongue...

'WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO WITH MY TONGUE?' he yelled in his mind.

Should he twist it? Go back and forth? Keep it in place?

But most important of all, he had never expected it to fell...

So fucking amazing.

There was no other sensation like this in the world. Suddenly, he understood everything. Why people went to parties to kiss. Why people liked to fool around. Why people wanted so much to kiss others.

The world made sense right then, right there. Everything fit into place. The secrets of life were laid bare before him.

Luckily, Sakura knew what she was doing. Her mouth complemented his perfectly in all the right places. Her tongue kept still at times and rotated at others, and it felt amazing against his own.

Luke eventually just decided to follow what she was doing, and everything got even better. And of course, he soon felt like an idiot, because he forgot to swallow and there was way too much saliva going around. He quickly swallowed then and kept going.

He always thought it was a little stupid for people to keep kissing without end...

...now, he just wanted this moment to last forever.

Even when his tongue started hurting from moving so much, they just slowed it down and kept going. And even when his tongue kept hurting because so much time had passed, he just wanted it to continue.

Alas, all good things must end.

Sakura pulled her head back. He followed her with his own, and she smiled through the kiss and returned for a little more. Then she pulled all the way.

"God, let me breathe, will you?" she said with a bright smile, her face blushing. Then she looked him straight in the eyes, still holding his face. "Well, if you ever feel bad about yourself, just remember this moment. You're a great kisser."

"I am?" He asked, surprised and hopeful.

"The best I have ever had," she said with a bright smile.

That put his hope down, as it was an obvious lie. He had no idea what he had been doing, how could he be better than anyone?

Then she approached her head again, but not to kiss. She put her mouth close to his ears and whispered, "The only one too."

Both whisper and her words sent shivers through all his body. He had been her first too? How was that even possible? Sakura was... Sakura. How could such a beautiful, wonderful, marvelous girls not have ever kissed at sixteen years old? Speaking of which, she was sixteen, right?

She could be lying, but why would she? She should suspect he was at cloud nine for even getting kissed at all. There was no need to say anything else.

So Luke smiled like the dumbest idiot in the whole world. He had been her first, and she had even liked it.

He might be the best man in the planet, after all.

She pulled her head back and smiled back at him. They kept staring at each other until they heard someone clear their throat at the door. Sakura sighed and straightened herself.

Luke turned to see the old maid from Mr. Akira's house standing there with a serious face. "Ms. Akira, the clan head has requested your presence."

"I'm coming," she said, then gave Luke's lips a quick peck. "See you later," she whispered, winked, then took the tray and left the room. She stopped briefly by the door to wave at him with a bright smile.

He was so dazed that he even tried to wave back, only for pain to shoot through his broken arm.

When the door closed, he kept looking at it for a long, long time.

This was the best day of his life.

He was the happiest man in the whole world.

It took over ten minutes, but eventually, Luke returned to normal.

His determination to grow stronger for Sakura burned fiercely. She had gone against the rules for him, and the clan head had summoned her right after. It was obvious she was getting punished right now, and he had said he would stand by her side even if it meant going against the whole world.

He would do it to. Definitely. He would grow into someone worthy of her.

And to do that, he needed power.

Back to chiseling his mana runes it was.