Chapter 2
Pain. A terrible sensation that could be or physical or psychological due to a wound or a terrible event that hurt a person's mind or feelings. But in the case of Uesugi Fuutarou, the sensation was both physical and psychological.
The young boy was at the moment inside a waiting room of an hospital with 3 of the Nakano quints, Ichika, Nino and Miku, hugging him with tears in their eyes. Tears like those present in the golden eyes of Fuutarou.
The 2 youngest quints instead were trying to console a crying Raiha by hugging her, even if they were crying profusely as well.
The quints' mother had tears in her eyes as well while sobbing and trying to wipe them out with a tissue. Isanari was sitting on a bench with his head looking at the floor, hiding his reddened eyes due to the various tears that fell from them during the morning. An horrible morning.
Right when he got up to open the Uesugi bakery, the blond man had found to his horror the body of his wife Shizuku on the floor in a puddle of blood, with a huge wound in her abdomen.
At such sight, he ran immediately towards her to see if she was still alive, but his hopes were crushed when he saw her lifeless eyes. He then had started to cry while beating his fists on the floor, asking to no one "W-Why?!" or "W-Who did this?!".
Such screams of pain had woken up Fuutarou and Raiha, who descended the stairs to see why their father was shouting so early in the morning. But maybe it was better they didn't.
The 2 siblings saw the bleeding and wounded body of their mother, and this made them shock in horror while running towards her. They tried to wake her up and asked her desperately to open her eyes, but seeing the lack of response, they started to cry out of pure pain like Isanari.
Even if he knew it was useless, the blond man immediately called Maruo to tell him what happened and ask him to send an ambulance the fastest possible. Hearing what Isanari told him made the stoic doctor gasp and reply that he sent immediately an ambulance and that informed Rena and his daughters.
In fact, the ex teacher of Isanari and her daughters arrived to the bakery with worried expressions and tears, but when they asked if they could see what happened, Fuutarou shaked his head while his eyes were looking down.
"N-no, i-it's better that you d-don't see.", he said with a voice full of pain while more tears started to fall from his eyes like it happened to Raiha.
Seeing their new friend and his sister in such state made the quints cry as well and prompted them to envelop the 2 siblings in a hug to comfort them while Rena tried to console Isanari.
Some minutes later, the ambulance sent from Maruo arrived to the bakery to carry the body of Shizuku on a stretcher and bring her immediately to the hospital, with Isanari accompanying the paramedics. His children went instead with Rena and the quints by using Rena's car.
Once they were at the hospital, Maruo made bring Shizuku's body to the operating room with the help of various nurses while his wife and his daughters waited outside with the rest of the Uesugi family.
"F-fuu-kun, i-it will b-be all fine. P-Papa is a good doctor! H-he will save her.", told Nino between her sobs to the boy while hugging him.
"Y-yeah, N-Nino is right. S-Shizuku-San will b-be fine, Fuutarou.", said instead a crying Miku, hugging him as well.
"F-Fuutarou-kun, y-you will s-see that Dad can save her.", told him Ichika, trying to console him too.
But unfortunately, the young boy was silent and kept his head hung down with his hair hiding his reddened eyes. All what he could feel was pain, desperation, sadness and more.
Still, what he was feeling too was an intense rage accompanied by a desire for revenge; he had seen the wound on his mother's body, and even if he was very young and lacked of any medical knowledge, he could tell that it was provoked by someone. Or maybe something.
In the case of Raiha, the little girl was crying loudly and asked repeatedly if her mother would be fine, with Yotsuba and Itsuki hugging her and assuring her that Maruo would save her. But the 2 girls couldn't control their tears as well; along with their older sisters, they got affectionate quickly to the Uesugi family, and what happened hurt their hearts too.
Rena was feeling the same of everyone in the waiting room, but despite her continuous tears, she was trying to comfort her ex student in the best way she could.
"D-don't worry, I-Isanari-kun, M-Maruo-kun will save her. I-I'm sure of it.", she told him while giving a pat on the back.
"I-I d-don't know, R-Rena-San. H-her e-eyes were v-void of life…and all that blood…", he said, stuttering between his sobs, which made Rena more sad.
The 2 families waited like this for another hour, without stopping to be sad and worried. And after said hour, Maruo was finally out of the operating room, wearing a surgical gown.
His family and the Uesugis turned to him and looked at him with eyes full of hope but when he lowered his surgical mask and said, "I-I'm sorry, but it was already too late for her.", such hope was immediately crushed.
"D-Damn it all!", shouted Isanari at hearing that, his voice full of rage and sorrow while he punched the wall.
"M-Mom is-", started to say Raiha, cutting herself off as she broke down again with numerous tears falling from her brown eyes, followed by Itsuki, Yotsuba and Rena that hugged her all together.
But maybe the worst reaction was Fuutarou's, as the boy gritted his teeth and before releasing a loud cry of pain while his tears continued to fall.
"W-Why? Why?!! W-what did Mom of wrong?! W-who did that to her?! I w-want to know it!! I want to kill him or it!!", he started to say out of anger and pain while the 3 older quints continued to hug him and calm him down, despite the huge sadness that they felt as well.
'W-why? W-who took Mom away from me, Dad and Raiha? Who?! I want to know it and make him pay!', were the thoughts of the young boy, his hair hiding again his tearing golden eyes.
Meanwhile, Maruo went towards his old classmate and put a hand on his shoulder, telling that he was sorry for not being able to save Shizuku.
"I-It's ok, M-Maruo. I-It's not y-your fault.", replied Isanari with a broken voice and tears. He knew that the stoic doctor did his best to save his wife, so he couldn't get upset with him. It wasn't his fault at all.
Two days later, the Nakanos and the Uesugis were all in the graveyard for the funeral of Uesugi Shizuku as Maruo provided at least for all the necessary costs for the ceremony.
So Isanari, Fuutarou and Raiha along the 2 children's grandparents were all watching how the coffin in which Shizuku's body was in was slowly buried while the quints and their parents tried to console the 3 Uesugis.
In the days before the funeral, the quints had gone to school despite the pain and the sadness that they felt. But it wasn't the same thing for Fuutarou, as the boy ate reluctantly his meals and passed most of his time in his room while refusing to go to school.
Raiha instead went to her kindergarten, even if she sometimes broke down in tears by remembering that her mom was now gone, with the teacher and the other kids hugging her to comfort her.
She was crying on Isanari's chest even now during the funeral while the Nakano sisters were hugging their dear Fuutarou, whose eyes were red because of the tears that fell hours ago.
"I-I'm so s-sorry, F-Fuutarou-kun.", told him a crying Yotsuba.
"F-Fuu-kun, d-don't worry. I-I will be f-for you whenever y-you need.", said instead Nino.
"W-we won't abandon you, F-Fuutarou."
"T-That's right.", agreed Itsuki and Ichika, crying just like their sisters.
"T-Thank you, girls. I-I'm glad that I met you.", he replied with a broken voice, making them hug him tighter, happy to hear those words from him.
'Whoever did this has to pay. I want to find out who killed Mom and avenge her. I will never forgive that murderer.', thought the young boy anyways, as his desire for revenge didn't calm down at all.
A desire that could be perceived by a young man with long lavender hair too, who was observing the ceremony from the distance. Or better, his gaze was focused on the poor boy, feeling again sorry for not having been able to save his mother in time.
'If only I perceived and got rid of that demon earlier, those 2 families wouldn't suffer like this now. Fuutarou, I can sense your desire to avenge your mother, but I can feel that if I let you take that path, you'll let yourself be consumed by the hate. So I think that I must you train very soon…', thought the young man, disappearing again by teleporting without being noticed.
The day after, Fuutarou and the quints went together to school, even if the young boy's mood was still the same. The quints' one too wasn't one of the best either, but they tried to make Fuutarou smile anyways despite the lack of success.
Once they arrived to school, all of Fuutarou's classmates and his homeroom teacher made their condolences for what happened to his mother, with him thanking them politely but with an inexpressive face.
This made them more worried about him as seeing the lack of a toothy grin on his face in favour of a serious expression that didn't show any emotion made them even more sad. But they could understand; everyone who finds his/her mother murdered in his/her house would react similarly to Fuutarou.
The only problem was that in the young boy's mind there wasn't just sadness as an intense anger towards the one or the thing that killed his mother was omnipresent as well.
Thankfully, he didn't show such emotion anymore in front of the quints after letting it go at the funeral. And he didn't want to show it to his classmates and his teacher either. Making them worry more about him would make him feel guilty.
So, during his lessons and his lunch time with the Nakano sisters, who tried to cheer him up by showing him some nice drawings that did during a lesson, Fuutarou maintained his inexpressive face for all the time of school, not smiling even once.
Still, that made the quints more worried, so after they ended their lessons and were on their way to home, Yotsuba stopped and suddenly hugged him.
"F-F-Fuutarou-kun…I-I know how you're f-feeling, but p-please…p-please, s-smile like y-you did when w-we met you.S-seeing y-you s-so sad hurts me! I-I w-want t-to see Fuutarou-kun s-smile like before!", she told him, crying on his chest while stuttered between her sobs.
"F-Fuu-kun, I-I love y-your smile and i-it hurts m-my heart to see you like t-this. D-don't forget t-that I'm always here f-for you!", told him instead Nino, hugging him as well.
Also Ichika, Miku and Itsuki hugged the young boy while their tears fell on his hoodie. Each sister didn't want the nice boy that saved them and became their friend to be depressed like that; they wanted to make him smile like before.
Such intention was understood by Fuutarou, who couldn't help but let some tears fall too. 'T-these girls…They care so much for me that they cannot stand seeing me so hurt. And maybe Mom would feel the same. It's true that my anger towards that murderer is still strong, but that doesn't mean that I cannot smile with them, my family and my friends anymore.', he thought, finally pulling off a kind smile while some tears fell down.
Feeling that he had to thank them for caring so much for him, Fuutarou leaned down and placed a little kiss on each quint's forehead, causing them to break off the hug to touch the point touched by his lips while blushing profusely.
"F-F-F-Fuutarou-kun, a-and this?", started to ask him Ichika, cutting herself off when she, like her sisters, saw that kind smile on Fuutarou's face.
"T-that was my way t-to thank you for c-caring so much about me, girls.", he said, scratching his cheek a little embarrassed but still smiling.
And at the sight of that, the quints started to cry and jumped him, falling together with him on the ground.
"F-Fuutarou-kun!/F-Fuu-kun!/Fuutarou!", they said in unison, starting also to kiss his cheeks repeatedly.
"H-hey, c-calm down, girls.", he said, blushing while the 5 sisters continued to plant various kisses on his face. But for him it was understandable; seeing that they managed to make him regain his smile and receiving a kiss on the forehead from him made them so happy that they couldn't help themselves. And he didn't mind.
"L-Let's go home, girls?", he then asked them, getting a happy nod from each quint. So they started to walk again towards their neighborhood, taking at least 10 minutes to arrive to their houses.
And after these minutes, the quints greeted their friend while entering in their house, with Fuutarou doing the same. But to the boy's surprise, there was an unfamiliar young man inside the bakery that was talking with Isanari.
Fuutarou looked well at the man, noticing his long lavender hair, his blue shirt and black trousers. "Fuutarou, welcome back.", said Isanari upon noticing his son.
At the mention of the boy's name, the lavender haired man turned around to look at Fuutarou, who noticed his black eyes and 2 strange neons in his forehead.
"Nice to meet you, Fuutarou.", greeted him the man while extending his hand.
Fuutarou shaked his hand, "N-nice to meet you, umm…"
"Mu. Call me Mu.", replied the young man with a polite smile.
" Mu? I never heard a name like that."
"Mu-San told him that he's not from Japan. He lives in Jamir, near the Himalayas.", said Isanari, his voice still lacking the usual happy-going tone because of the loss of his wife.
" H-Himalayas?! You came to Japan from such distant and high place?! F-for which reason if you don't mind asking.", asked a shocked Fuutarou.
"The reason is simple: I'm here in Japan because I felt the presence of something dangerous. And that something is related to your mother's death, Fuutarou."
Such answer made the boy and his father widen her eyes, but it was Fuutarou's reaction the most evident as he ran towards Mu to tug on his shirt and look at him with a serious face.
"W-What do y-you know about Mom's death?! Do you know who killed her?! Please, tell me. I-I want to avenge her!", he asked, his voice full of rage and sadness.
Mu knelt down to put a hand on the boy's hand, "Don't worry, the one who took your mother's life doesn't exist anymore. I got rid of him personally. But you have to know that it wasn't a human who killed her; it was a demon."
"W-w-what?! What kind of joke is this, Mu-San?!", intervened Isanari, in denial about what he just heard.
"I know that it's absurd, but it's the truth; a demonic creature from Hell was inside your house that terrible night and murdered Shizuku viciously. Still, I managed to find it and kill it to avoid that other innocents died. Protecting humans is my duty as a Saint after all.", replied Mu calmly, shocking Fuutarou and Isanari once more.
" A Saint? I-I'm not understanding anything, Mu-San. Can you please explain everything?"
The young man nodded to the boy's request, so the 3 of them sat to a table and Mu started to tell them about how the famous demons known in the traditional demonology have always existed and how they always brought fear and death to humans.
He also explained that between humans there were some of them capable of superhuman strength and of launching attacks that can break the can surpass the sound barrier: the Saints. Saints in fact were the ones that always protected humans from demons, using the power of Cosmo combined with a particular type of armor called Cloth.
While listening, both the 2 Uesugi family members were very doubtful if believing what Mu was telling them, but Fuutarou seemed the one with less doubts.
Noticing how Fuutarou was looking directly at him, Mu smiled and told him, "Fuutarou, you're going to become a Saint as well."
"W-w-what?! M-me a S-Saint?! B-but if I'm not sure if bel-"
The boy was cut off like Isanari when they noticed a strange golden aura around Mu's body. It was so evident and looked also like a flame because of the heat it emitted.
Saying that Fuutarou and Isanari were stunned was an understatement; they were absolutely flabbergasted and their eyes were so widen to show the huge amazement mixed with some fear on their faces.
"Do you believe me now?", asked them Mu while his golden aura suddenly disappeared.
'This is absurd…T-then what killed Mom was really a demon. But wait..What's this about me becoming a Saint?', thought Fuutarou, before making another question.
"I-I believe you, Mu-San, b-but why you said that I will b-become a Saint too?", was the boy's question, which made Isanari worried.
"I said that because I saw your fight against those bullies; in that occasion, you did your best to save them without showing fear, and that's what convinced me that you possess the potential to become a Saint like me…"
Mu then placed hand on Fuutarou's shoulder, "Fuutarou, I know that for you and your father all of this is new, crazy and unbelievable, but you saw that I'm not lying. I want to train you and make you a Saint so you can protect this city and the people dear you. I won't be able to stay here in Tokai to do that, so if you accept, I will help you to become strong enough to avoid that other innocents die like your mother.", concluded the young man, leaving both Uesugis stunned once again .
Hearing that made Fuutarou confused; should he listen to him? Should he decide to accept Mu's offer and then risk his life to protect the others? Or ignoring it and let Mu and other Saints get rid of other demons?
On the other hand, Isanari was still having a hard time to accept that all that he heard was real; he knew that Mu wasn't telling lies after they saw that strange aura that he called Cosmo, but the blond man was still skeptical.
By looking at the clear doubt on their faces, Mu got up and said, "I see that you need time to digest all I just told you. In that case, I will leave so you can think about it this evening."
Then he looked at Fuutarou and smiled, while giving him a piece of paper with a phone number ,"I don't want to force you to become a Saint, Fuutarou. I want that you decide by yourself alone. So take your time and contact me when you have took your decision. Have a good dinner, both of you."
And after he said that, Mu left the bakery while Fuutarou and Isanari were still out of words for all that just happened. They were so shocked that they didn't hear Raiha descending the stairs.
"O-Onii-chan!", she said while running towards him to hug him.
"R-Raiha?", he said, surprised by her action and also by her tears.
"O-O-Onii-chan, you and D-Dad won't leave like Mom, right? Y-you will stay, right?", she asked, her tearing eyes looking at his golden eyes.
Isanari then hugged his children, "Don't worry, Raiha. Your brother and I won't leave you alone and will always protect you. It's a promise."
"R-r-really?"
"Yes, we promise you.", he said with a grin that managed to make Raiha smile.
'Protect…', thought Fuutarou, remembering Mu's words. But such thought was instantly stopped once all the 3 Uesugis' bellies grumbled, as sign that they were quite hungry.
So the 3 of them stopped hugging and went to cook and dress the table all together before having a nice dinner without that sad atmosphere that they had the previous days.
After this, they watched something on the TV before going to sleep in each own room. So now Fuutarou and Raiha were in their futons, but while the little girl was sleeping, the young boy was still awake; his mind was still thinking about Mu said.
On one hand, he was glad that the murderer of his mother got what he deserved from Mu, but on the other one he was still in shock after knowing about demons, Saints, Cosmo and moreover.
Still, what his mind really thought about was Mu's offer to make him a Saint; it wasn't like he hated the idea, but he was aware that he'd risk his life if he decided to accept such offer. Also, even if it was more a thought than a truth, he may have to leave Tokai to follow Mu in Jamir to become a Saint. Which meant leaving his family, the quints and their parents for who knows how many years.
Nonetheless, the word protect resounded again in his mind, thinking again about the Saint's words. If he accepted his offer, he's be able to become strong like Mu to protect who he loved and other innocents. He'd avoid that something like what had happened to Shizuku happened to other people. He'd make sure that no else lost his beloved ones.
'Alright, I decided. I will become a Saint like Mu-San and do my best to get rid of all the demons that dare to attack my city and my beloved ones. Still, I cannot tell what I'm going to do in Jamir to the quints, their parents and Raiha. It's better that I hide the truth to them by telling them that I'm going to study abroad with Mu-San. The only one to know the truth will be Dad. I better send a message to Mu-San right now.', thought the young boy, taking his big decision while reading the piece of paper he had received and sending a text with his phone to the Saint.
He quickly received a quick response, which told him that he and the Saint would leave the day after in the afternoon, after Fuutarou told his family, the Nakanos and his school where he would go.
The young boy sent another text to say that he accepted the plan, so he turned off his phone while finally starting to sleep.
The day after, the young boy didn't go to school as he met his father in private to tell him what he had decided to do about Mu's offer, alarming Isanari like this. But before he could tell him no, Fuutarou explained to him the reasons why he accepted to become like Mu, asking him also to keep the truth hidden from Raiha and the Nakanos.
Isanari was clenching his fists in frustration because he didn't that his son risked his life, but after seeing the golden eyes full of determination on the boy's face, he understood that he couldn't make him change his mind.
That made the blond man sigh while also hugging his son, "F-Fine, you win. I will let you take that path and hide the truth to your sister and the Nakanos. I will also tell your school that you will study abroad. But promise me one thing: c-come back when you'll be done."
The young boy smiled sadly before reciprocating the hug, "I will, Dad. I promise. Thank you."
And after this father-son moment, Fuutarou went to prepare his luggage while Isanari accompanied Raiha to the kindergarten, even she was confused about why her brother stayed at home.
But maybe the most confused and worried too were the Nakano sisters, who didn't understand why Fuutarou didn't go to school with them and stayed at home instead.
'W-why Fuutarou-kun/Fuu-kun/Fuutarou didn't come t-to school? Did something happen to him?', they thought in unison, their worry growing during the lessons.
Such worry got so big that Rena could notice it immensely after her daughters came back, prompting her to ask them what was wrong.
When they told her everything, the beautiful teacher decided to go to the Uesugi bakery to know if Fuutarou was fine. So they entered in the shop, getting greeted by Isanari.
"Rena-San, girls, what brings you here? Are you worried about Fuutarou, right ?', he asked them.
"Isanari-kun, where is Fuutarou-kun? My daughters told me that he didn't go to school, even if the other day he seemed fine after finally smiling like before.", replied Rena, with her daughters nodding in confirmation.
"W-where is F-Fuu-kun? I-I want to see him.", asked Nino in worry.
"I'm here, Nino.", said another voice.
Everyone turned in the voice's direction to see the black haired boy descending the stairs with a little luggage in his hands.
"Fuu-kun!", shouted Nino before running to him to hug him, followed by her sisters as well.
"Fuutarou-kun, I'm glad that you're fine. But what's with that luggage? Are you and your family going somewhere?", asked him Rena, looking at his luggage.
While Fuutarou hugged the quints back, he grimaced and said, "No, only me. I-I will leave Japan to study abroad with a relative."
Such reply made each quint and their mother gasp while some of the sisters started to cry. "I-It's a lie, right? F-Fuutarou, y-you're not going away, right?", asked him a crying Miku.
"P-please, tell us it's a lie, F-Fuutarou-kun.", said instead a sad Itsuki.
Seeing their tears made the young boy feel angry with himself; he knew that his decision would make them sad, but he still didn't like seeing them cry.
"I-I'm sorry, girls, but it's not a lie. I-I'm really going to study abroad with an uncle of mine for at least 5 years. I d-don't want to leave to say the truth, but it's very important for me.", he said, letting some of his tears fall as well.
"N-nooo!", exclaimed the sudden voice of Raiha, who ran towards her brother to hug him too.
"R-Raiha?"
"I-I d-don't w-want you to leave, O-Onii-chan. I w-want you t-to stay with me and D-Dad. P-please.", she told him, crying just like the quints who tightened their hug on him.
Such scene made both Isanari and Rena sad too, especially Rena as she didn't want that her daughters' friend left either.
"Fuutarou.", called a new voice, making everyone look towards the bakery's door to see a lavender haired man.
"Mu-San, I got my luggage ready. B-but before we leave, can I greet everyone first?", asked him the young boy with a sad expression.
"Sure, don't worry. We don't have to hurry.", replied Mu with a smile before going to wait outside.
After that, Rena immediately asked, "F-Fuutarou-kun, that was your uncle? He looks so different from you and your father."
"Mu-San c-comes from a branch of my family that lives abroad, near the Himalayas. He told me that where he lives, there's a nice school system that can teach a lot of different things. Also, I'm curious about the place where Mu-San lives.", he replied, feeling bad for lying like that.
"B-B-but why 5 years?! W-why so long?! I don't want to wait so much for your return, F-Fuu-kun!", told him Nino, crying more on his chest while hugging him tighter.
"I f-feel the same, F-Fuutarou-kun. I d-don't want that you stay a-abroad for so long.", told him instead Ichika.
"Girls, Raiha, I-I'm sorry, but I won't change my mind. Still, I promise you that I will come back after 5 years and never go so far away again. And that we'll k-kep in contact with each other too."
"D-do you promise?", asked in unison the quints and Raiha.
"Yeah, I promise.", he said with a kind smile, causing the quints to smile and kiss him on the cheeks while Raiha hugged him tighter.
"I-I will wait for your r-return Fuutarou-kun/Fuu-kun/Fuutarou/Onii-chan!", said the girls in unison again, smiling despite their falling tears.
They then gave another hug to the young boy before he hugged his father and also Rena, who told him that to take care of himself and she'd make sure that Maruo sent him a message of good luck.
So, after greeting everyone another time, the young boy took his luggage and exited from the bakery, trying his hardest to not look back and change his mind. In this way, he saw Mu waiting for him against the wall, who turned to him upon hearing his steps.
"Are you ready, Fuutarou?"
"Y-yes, Mu-San. B-but we will go to Jamir by airplane, right?"
Mu smiled, "No, there's no need. Take my hand and you will see."
Feeling confused at first, Fuutarou didn't say anything and took Mu's hand, who closed his eyes like he was concentrating before his body and Fuutarou's disappeared without leaving a trace behind.
In a place full of mountains and dangerous cliffs, Mu and Fuutarou appeared out of nowhere before a huge tower of 4 floors, and when the boy opened his eyes, he was really shocked.
"W-w-what happened?! H-h-how did we arrive so fast?! I-It's this where you will train me, Mu-San?"
"I used my teleportation ability to bring us here the fastest possible. Usually I don't teleport other people, so I need to concentrate a little more to take both of us here. And yes, this where I live and you will train.", replied the young man with a smile.
'T-teleportation?! Wow! I-I wonder if I can learn something like that too.', thought the boy while imagining himself with such ability.
"Well, let's go. I have to welcome you to my house as my guest and apprentice.", said Mu, walking with Fuutarou toweards the tower.
Fuutarou could admire like this the territory around, noticing the various little mountains and also how high were the cliffs. He could say already that the place was so dangerous that it was like it said, "Stay away from this place if you want to live."
And upon seeing the outside, the boy could also see the inside of Mu's tower, noticing the little lack of furniture as there were only chairs and a little library full of books.
"As you saw, I don't live in a safe place and my house is very different from a typical Japanese house. The beds and a reading room are on the second floor while the 3rd and the 4th floor are reserved for training and meditation.", explained Mu to Fuutarou, who nodded.
"Also, I need to show you something very important for your training. Follow me."
So the golden eyes boy follow his future teacher through the first floor, taking notice of a little sofa where to rest and also a not very modern bathroom.
They walked until they stopped before something that looked like a box, hidden with a big blanket. Mu then took said blanket to remove it and show to Fuutarou a huge grey box with various drawing on it. In particular, a drawing of a bird with 3 tails who spreaded his wings.
"W-what's this b-box, Mu-San?"
"This the Silver Cloth of the Apus constellation. It's the cloth you will use once you become a Saint. I cannot open the box yet to show you the Cloth because you're still not a Saint, but to give you the real idea of a Cloth, I will show you mine.", told Mu, before touching a particular golden pendant around his neck.
"Come, Aries!", he shouted while the pendant glowed so intensely that Fuutarou had to cover his eyes.
Once the intense light stopped, the boy opened his eyes to see something of really incredible: in front of him stood what seemed to be a totem of a golden ram with a brilliant aura around of it.
The totem then suddenly broke up into various pieces like for magic that attached themselves to Mu's body, covering him with a golden and sparkling armor with the ram's horns on the shoulders as most evident feature.
To say that Fuutarou was stunned couldn't describe the huge amazement visible on his face. "S-s-so t-that's a Cloth…"
"Exactly. As you can see, I'm the the Aries Golden Saint, which means that I'm part of the strongest rang of Saints. My Cloth was also in the form of a Clothstone because that's the alternative form that a Cloth can take to transport it instead of using the Pandora Box form that you can see.", explained the Saint, pointing to the Apus Box.
"I-It's still hard to believe that all of this is r-real, but if becoming a Saint is the path that allows me to protect the people I love and my city, I will then take it. I won't allow another damned demon to murder other innocents like with Mom.", said Fuutarou, showing a great determination but also hatred towards the beings responsible for his mother's death.
"I'm glad that you didn't change your mind, Fuutarou. I will make sure to make you a strong Saint worthy of the Apus Cloth.", replied Mu with a smile while shaking the boy's hand, who wore a serious expression.
' I will also be able in this way to make sure that his hate and his anger towards demons doesn't consume him. His desire for revenge may have disappeared when I told him that I killed his mother's murderer, but that doesn't mean I will let his hate take over him. His love for those dear to him and his desire to protect them will be his driving force.', though Mu, promising himself to make Fuutarou a strong Saint who only wants to protect the others, without taking the path of an avenger.
A/N
And here we go with the 2nd chapter! Phew, this was very long for sure as you can see, since I included Shizuku's funeral, Fuutarou's and everyone's emotions during and after the event, Mu's offer to Fuutarou to become a Saint and more.
Of course it wasn't easy for the boy to accept such offer because as you saw, the quints, Raiha and Isanari didn't want him to leave to go in a foreign place and stay there for 5 years. But thankfully, he managed to convince them to let him go through a lie, because he don't want to involve them in the conflict between Saints and demons. In fact, only Isanari knows the real reason why Fuutarou went to Jamir with Mu, and this will an important factor in future chapters too.
I also introduced the concept of Clothstone because it will another way for Fuutarou to hide his secret and made him see his teacher's Gold Cloth in order for him to have a clear idea of a Cloth.
Now that he decided to train to become a Saint, we will see how Fuutarou's training goes and how he develops his Cosmo during these 5 years. Will such training be hard or not? Stay tuned to find out.
Also, I removed the crossover tag to make this story easier to find on FF for everyone. I hope that it helped you.
See ya!