Chapter 3

"…And then Kross came to get us." Rabi finished.

"Hn." Rabi's grandfather grunted before he turned to Arren. "Well?"

Arren looked up, only just realizing that they were expecting him to recollect the events that had occurred. His attention had been on the eyes that he had glimpsed when they were leaving the place, so he had tuned everything out.

"Um," he stammered. "It's just as what Rabi said."

"Huh." Gramps—he had said that Arren could call him that—said disbelievingly, knowing that Arren was hiding something. "Well, then you may return to your classes. I believe you have combats class now?"

"Yes." Arren nodded. "But Kross just told me to go later when he is having class with the seniors."

"Class with the seniors?" Rabi interrupted. "That's amazing, Arren! The seniors are really good!"

"Are they?" Arren shrugged. "I bet Kross is only doing it to spite me."

"Or maybe he has something other motives." Gramps said. "I've never heard him transferring a freshman to a senior's class."

"I'm not a freshman! I'm a junior." Arren protested weakly. "He must have his own reasons then. And I'm not going to do anything about it."

Gramps just studied him warily while Rabi shrugged, evidently lost their interest in the conversation.

"Rabi?" A girl appeared in the doorway to the room. "My brother told me that you were here…?"

"Ah, Renaree!" Rabi beamed, turning to Arren. "Arren, meet Renaree Ree! Headmaster Colmeui's younger sister and my girlfriend." The last part was whispered softly to Arren. "Don't let Colmeui hear you saying that, though. He'd murder me because he has a sister complex."

Arren blinked and nodded. Rabi turned to Renaree.

"Renaree, this is Arren Wolcher, the new transfer student. He's also the ward of Kross." Rabi told her cheerfully and watched as the two shook hands with each other.

"Ward of Kross? That's surprising. I never knew that he had a ward…" Renaree said.

Arren smiled weakly. "Actually… he's more of my great-uncle."

Silence ruled as everyone gaped at him.

"Great-uncle?" Rabi forced out finally. "You never said that, Arren!"

Arren ducked his head sheepishly. "It's nothing, really. I'm related to him through his wife, Mareia."

"Mareia Ottoman? She was a great opera singer!" Rabi started. "I never knew that he was married, though."

"Well," Arren shrugged. "That's his business, if you ask me. Besides, great-aunt Mareia died twenty years ago, before I was born."

"Still…" Renaree hesitated, "We've never heard him talk about you at all. I mean, if you look at the teachers, only Kross doesn't talk about his family and we assumed that he never had any relatives."

"Kross is like that." Arren dismissed casually. "I've known him long enough, after all."

"How long have you been staying with him?" Rabi asked curiously. "Surely we would have heard something about you being his ward when you were young."

To their surprise, Arren fidgeted slightly before he replied, "I don't want to talk about it. Kross only took me in when I was nine years old, anyway, so there isn't any difference."

DPLSDPLSDPLS

"I thought you should know that there has been a demonic working in the Black Order Academy itself." Colmeui's voice crackled over the cell to Kanda's ear. "Rabi and a new student were taken, but Kross managed to find them."

Kanda Yuu had always thought that it was ironic that the people that he had known would reincarnate and come to serve the Black Order again. Fate was a bitch.

"Now, then," Colmeui's tone changed. "Have you bought those biscuits that Klaude requested? Or the tea set that Renaree asked you for?"

Especially with Colmeui, or Komui as he was known back then.

"I'll contact you later." Kanda grunted as he shoved the possessed woman back onto the bed, gathering power into his hand that was holding her down. He held the phone to his ear with his shoulder easily. He would have used earplugs, but he knew that that was a bad idea, having had a bad incident involving earplugs and possessed beings two hundred years ago.

"Wait—" Kanda snapped the phone shut and started to chant, watching as the possessed woman's thrashing grew wilder… and then as he finished the chant, she fell back to the mattress, limp and unmoving.

Kanda moved off her fluidly. He knew that she would awake the next day with a bad headache and no memories of what had happened. She'd most likely catch a flu, he knew.

Now… this demonic working sounded quite interesting… Kanda was tempted to return to the Black Order Academy and attempt to find out what had happened. But he had a whole stack of work to finish first before he could leave the demon infested town of Montana.

DPLSDPLSDPLSDPLS

"Kross?" Arren peaked into the combat classroom nervously. He was afraid that he was late, having been caught up in the crowd clamouring to know more about him when he tried to get to his classroom and had only managed to escape moments ago.

"Ah, Wolcher."

Arren winced, knowing that he was in deep trouble from Kross's tone. "Like being fashionably late, don't you?" Kross smiled dangerously. The whole of the senior class merely stared at this seemingly frail freshman that had entered their class. Most of them were furious that he was able to enter a senior class and that Kross appeared to favour his ward because he had allowed Arren to have class with them.

"Ten rounds around the gym." The senior class turned to gape at Kross. Ten rounds around the gym? That was ridiculous! The gym was, like, humoungous (although it was only 20km that Arren had to run for one round) and 10 rounds around that… thing was impossible! The seniors firmly believed that Arren would not be able to survive the lesson, much less the first ten minutes.

Arren left, seemingly unfazed, although he looked slightly thoughtful. Then, Kross settled into the lesson and started to instruct them on their defensive styles. Ten minutes passed and there was a knock at the door, disrupting the lessons. The class was seriously surprised when Kross pulled open the door to reveal Arren.

"I finished the ten rounds." Arren stated, handing ten ribbons to Kross. "There was this teacher, Klaude who asked me to hand you these as proof that I had completed."

Kross didn't seem suspicious, but he sighed in exasperation. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Go again."

The whole class gaped at Arren and Kross again. Now they were sure that Arren would not survive. Arren proved them wrong. In less than five minutes, he entered the classroom again. It was only then that Kross allowed him to seat with the seniors and listen to the lesson.

At the last twenty minutes of the lesson, Kross started to pair the class off. However, there were an odd number of students, so he had no choice but to take Arren. Arren smiled at the challenge that his uncle was sending him and settled into the familiar rhythm of ducking and striking out at his mentor. The whole class were transfixed by their fighting.

Eventually, it became clear that both were tiring out quickly and Kross stopped the class, calling an end to the lesson.

"Did you see that move?"

"That was amazing!"

"I wish I could fight like that…"

"Now I see why Kross allowed him to come…"

The seniors whispered eagerly among each other, casting considering looks at Arren. Arren himself was slightly freaked out by their interest in him and would have given anything to keep their attention from him. Even if it meant doing something drastic that Kross did not like.

Unfortunately, his wish was granted right at that moment.

Kross had been turning his back on the only window in the class, and so he never saw it coming. The window exploded as something smashed through it, shattering the glass and throwing it towards the class and Kross.

Arren ducked and scampered out of the way of the trampling crowd. The seniors were panicking and most of them had pulled open the door and escaped into the hallways of the school. However, there was not only one attacker. There were another series of snarls and Arren heard the sounds of windows shattering out in the hallway. It was hard to estimate the number of creatures… maybe twelve? Or eleven.

Kross had pulled out a tuner now. He was facing the snarling and growling creature that was prowling towards the remaining students in the class.

"Arren, get to the piano!" Kross yelled as he struck the tuner. "I'll keep them busy!"

Arren nodded jerkily and sprinted to the piano at the other end of the classroom. He had never noticed that the piano was there and idly wondered why Kross had put it there. He pushed that thought out of his mind as the creature lunged at him, cringing. But Kross struck the tuner again and it stopped, huddling in on itself, whimpering.

Arren pushed open the piano cover as another creature burst into the classroom, shattering the door into pieces. More of its kind were gathered behind it and now they had found the window.

"Arren!"

Arren focused and started to play a small melody that he had invented himself when he was very young… The melody he had invented when his parents first died, crucified and then burnt like witches.

His hands moved automatically, weaving the peaceful tune. The students relaxed visibly and Kross looked relieved. The creatures were whimpering at the sound of music now and they were starting to retreat. But Kross struck his tuner once more and the huddled creature— the first one that they had encountered—yowled and died, becoming a small pile of sand.

When all the creatures were gone, Arren stopped playing the piano and turned to his uncle.

"What on earth was that?" He demanded.

Kross sighed and gestured for the rest of the surviving class to gather around before he started to explain.