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Shura walked down the path to the monastery, slightly annoyed at having to come all the way from her dorm at True Cross to some shabby church. If it was up to her she'd much rather spend her Thursday afternoon going around doing whatever with her friends.
She still dutifully came when her mentor called on her for a visit though, even if she didn't spare a single opportunity to complain about it.
Then again, she was planning on stopping by Fujimoto's at some point sooner or later anyway.
Rumors travel fast if you are in the right circles, the sorts of circles that Shura just so happened to be apart. And rumors like the paladin having a new mysterious charge and pupil ? Well , those sort of rumors never take much time to burn their way through a class of teenagers.
Now usually she wouldn't pay too much mind to those. She knew that old man, and she knew that if he'd ever take another student she'd be one of the first people to find out about it.
But then she got the call from Fujimoto asking her to come by, that there were some news that he wanted to tell her. And suddenly this rumor she overheard didn't seem so unrealistic.
Shura.... wasn't sure what she thought about this. She didn't think her teacher would ever take another student, or not for some time atleast. The disaster now named the Blue Night was barely a few months ago , and she knew for a fact that Fujimoto had adopted a pair of newborn twins not too long ago.
She simply doubted that her teacher would have the time.
Then again, maybe those rumors really just were rumors. Maybe this mysterious new student never existed to begin with and her teacher called for a different reasons.
Shaking her head, Shura knocked at the door to the small monastery. Behind the door she faintly heared a voice which sounded like Fujimoto's yelling something. An unfamiliar one responded something she couldn't make out before there was some rustling and steps.
Shura took a step back when the door opened as to avoid being hit by it. Upon seeing who opened the door however she wasn't met with her teacher like she expected.
Instead of an old priest, a teenage boy was standing before her. The teen in question had relatively long blonde hair which was worn open and reached his shoulders. His eyes were blue, and bore a neutral expression.
"Uh- hello ?" Shura greeted him.
"Greetings, I'm Arthur Auguste Angel. I assume you are Shura Kirigakure ?"
"Y-Yeah ?"
Normally Shura would most definitely not have stuttered like that. She wasn't some crybaby too shy to properly talk- but something was just off about this guy.
Be it the way he talks which definitely wasn't normal for someone their age. (Who the hell unironically says "greetings" these times !? That's not even old timey anymore, it's straight up ancient !)
Or maybe the thing weirding her out was the neutral, almost monotone pitch of voice the other had ?
And was going on with that name !? Arthur Auguste Angel- it sounds like some sort of bad joke or something.
Shura didn't have much more time to dwell on these various topics however. Arthur simply nodded, and took a step to the side to allow her inside.
"Fujimoto-sensei mentioned you'd come by today."
Swallowing, the teen nodded and entered. It was the first time she'd seen the monastery from the inside.
It would be lying to say that it wasn't homey. Still empty in some places in terms of decoration- but that was to be expected when one considers how freshly the inhabitants had moved in.
Arthur was walking infront of her, leading her through halls of creaking wooden floors and ivory walls. The atmosphere was still weird, and Shura felt that the tension was so thick she could cut it with her sword.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, the two teenagers finally entered a room that looked like a mix of a living- and dinning room. There was a playpen in the room, and next to it a play mat.
There were toys scattered on it. Probably having been played with not too long ago. "Fujimoto-sensei has to finish some work first, he'll be here in a second" Arthur informed her suddenly.
Shura just nodded, still not sure what to make of this.
"......"
"......"
The uncomfortable silence was broken by a high pitch coo sounding from the play pen. While Shura was starteled at first Arthur immideatly walked over to it.
"There, there. No need to be lonley, I'm still here you see ?" Arthur said as he leaned into the play pen, when he came back up the teen was holding a young infant in his arms.
"Look at that, Rin. Your brother's already fast asleep, seems like tummy time powered him out quite a bit, eh ?" The blonde commented, slightly rocking baby in his arms.
"That's Rin, by the way." Arthur suddenly introduced as he turned to Shura.
"He seems like a lively kid."
"He is ! Rin's always smiling and grabbing stuff. Yukio is quieter."
"And Yukio is......."
Arthur just nodded his head into the direction of the play pen. Taking the hint, Shura approached it to find a second infant sleeping soundly inside .
"I assume these are Fujimoto's kids ?" She asked, to which Arthur shook his head ‘yes’. Rin, as if he understood what she'd said, cooed another "ahhh" as if he agreed. She could even observe the infant weakly pushing himself off the chest of the older.
He was quickly stopped by Arthur's hand coming up to stop the baby from accidentally falling.
The blonde made no move of putting the infant back down, and ironically Shura found it a bit easier to talk to Arthur now that he was holding a child.
Maybe it was because suddenly, Arthur didn't seem as robotic as before. You can't really give up the same vibe of neutrality and monotony when you hold a cooing baby in your arms.
"So, I assume you're Fujimoto's new student ?" The girl asked, which earned her a nod from Arthur.
"And you've been here since...."
"Two weeks. I've arrived about two weeks ago."
Shura eyed Arthur as he gently readjusted his grib to better support the baby while keeping him out of grabbing range from his hair. "Well, someone got attached fast, '' she thought to herself.
"You're Fujimoto-sensei's first student, right ?" The boy suddenly asked.
"Yup, I was the first. So I'm sort of your senior in that aspect I suppose"
"Really ? I thought I was older than you......"
Huh
Now that she thought about it- what age was Arthur ? She assumed he was around her age.
"Well, how old are you ?"
"I'm fifteen. How old are you ?"
"...... Twelve."
That caused a head tilt from Arthur. "You are only twelve ? That's....... young."
" Excuse you !? Twelve is a perfectly normal age to be in ! Especially if you want to be an exorcist you gotta start young. Don't pretend that you haven't trained when you were twelve years old!" Shura exclaimed it like she had been insulted personally. What followed was a beat of silence before Arthur.
"I- I can't remember."
The tone of voice was sad, lamenting almost. It was obviously something personal for the older teen.
That piqued Shura's interest. "What do you mean with 'I can't remember' ?"
"I've got amnesia. Can't remember anything before the Blue Night- but.... from what I've been told I should have been training at twelve already...."
Oh.
Well, that got awkward.
Shura was no stranger to sob stories about the Blue Night. Everyone lost someone- everyone was affected in some way.
She simply didn't expect it to jumpscare her like that. Luckily for her however, Arthur changed to topic rather quickly.
"Still though..... twelve is pretty young, I think. I wouldn't want them getting involved with demons that young, it's dangerous"
The fact that the other pressed the infant in his arms closer to his body and let his gaze wander to the play pen gave Shura a pretty good idea of who Arthur meant with "them".
In response she shrugged, but before she could get any answer in form of words out, another voice rang out.
"Shura ! Sorry for letting you wait- I see you've met Arthur already ?" Fujimoto greeted him. Arthur respectfully bowed at the sight of his mentor. The girl on the other greeted him with a simple nod and “hey”.
"I'll go put the twins down for their nap, if I may. It's about time." The blonde piped up behind Shura as soone as she finsihed greeting the paladin. Fujimoto frowned a bit, but gave his permission nonetheless.
Fujimoto thanked Arthur for taking over putting the babies down as the teen picked up Yukio. Shura watched the mob of blonde hair disappear into the hallway.
After the other teen fully vanished and is well out of earshot, Shura let out a breath and gave her thoughts on her new acquaintance.
"What a weirdo."