Look it's a festive themed chapter.
Just before we continue with the current events, we must take a moment to remember a past event. Shortly before current time, just within the week prior to the most recent rating game.
It was the time in Kuoh town where the humans celebrate one of their holidays, as they call it: 'Christmas' .
What was understood came from conversations that he had passed by, was that it was a time where the humans would come together, be kind to one another, and to be grateful for what they possessed.
The white, cold fall of snow was the first he had seen. It was a detail that compelled him into an alluring sense of tiredness.
As he progressed down the building, avoiding eye-contact as was custom, he could hear the other boys and girls in their conversations, as if they were broadcasting the contents to all to hear. Much of it was their plans for the festive season; traveling, visiting family.
The last subject brought a thought into him, how was his family doing right now?
The students in his path were none, as they would shy away from him the moment they saw his larger self walk by.
The sound of screeching tyres got his attention, as well as that of everyone else. By the time he arrived at the school gates, a crowd had formed, along with a couple of shrieks. With a desire to know the occasion, he approached the body.
Pushing lightly past the uniforms, a reached the front, where the sight saddened him.
The screeching tires left black marks on the road, and inbetween, a small, furry animal lay in a bloodied mess.
In just a second, he fell into a slight jog towards the incident, not even paying attention to the pairs of eyes that followed his movements. Lowering to his knees, he dropped his belongings, and took the bleeding critter into his arms.
Fur brushed his arms, the fur of a cat. A kitten, black fur, stained with red liquid. It's chest was tuned to steady breathing. The kitten had clenched a single eye shut, from which tears leaked out from. Her other looked about ready to close, heavy and tired. The offending vehicle had long shot away from the scene, leaving the critical feline on what could be her deathbed.
A lowly, garbled sound, and a humming in his arms made him look at her once again, specifically at her head.
She had no collar.
He rose from the snowy tarmac, holding the injured cat gently, his belongings in the other hand. A single turn towards the bystanders of the incident, and he viewed before him the wills of the weak in the bodies of man. Much of the girls covered their mouths and fully open eyes, long dropping their school materials, otherwise, they all must have been struck with fear. From what then?
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'As humans will be. Ever seeking their own safety, rather than that of others.'
The passive eyes of his thinned into ones that leaked a sliver of hate towards the way human instinct functioned. A moment passed between the god and the humans, and he swiftly turned. The life of another was once again within his hands, and he would not fail the feline, he hurried, but knew that if his movements were too jarring, it would place the critter in more pain. His apartment swept into his mind, where his healing mediums awaited use.
It would be terrible to reveal himself.
But from a window of the school building, a girl whom is known for her outgoing disposition watched him disappear from sight. She looked to where the blood-splatter was, noticing the lack of body, and curved a small smile.
She held a fan in a hand, a lock of her purple-blue hair in the other. The transfer's recent actions made something clear within her head, and hopefully the heads of all other students.
"Ah, Tristan. I knew you were a good one."
She loosened her shoulders, knowing now that she could relax a little more with the knowledge that the boy she met a while ago was not as bad a person as the rest of the student body made him out to be.
The students at the scene turned to one another, then to the teacher who came running.
The boy had rushed into his living room, carefully stepping over a curious wolf pup. The kitten was set down on the nearby coffee table. He hovered his rough hands above the hurt creature, watching her chest rise and lower each second.
A tiny howl, and Eria's paws appeared on the table beside him, cautiously sniffing the injured with her black nose.
His fingers shared a bright glow between themselves, directly above the bleeding creature, who started to drift closer to the afterlife.
'Let the sun shine upon this lost stray...'
A sound like that of a sharp exhale filled the room, along with a breeze of wind that shuffled their furs and hair. The room became bright with gold and yellow scriptures, otherwise known as miracles, before they faded away. His large hands cupped the stray girl, stroking the fur with gentle care. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, and her tongue pulled at the air. This was a familiar situation.
A scratching on his side, and he saw the wolf carry within her teeth the thing that had saved her when she was a stray. She shoved the heavy thing in his hands, filled with water. As if their minds were linked together, he took the metallic flask, and she receded her fangs, instead watching closely at the action that was once taken to save her life.
The squire poured part of the cold contents into his curved palm, to which he brought to the shaking mouth. As expected, her tongue was dry. He repeated the action, and so did she, taking the wonderful life-giving water into herself.
As she drank from his hand, the stray eyed the visage of the squire, then towards the furred creature at his side. Fulfilled and healed, the kitten let her lids fall, and quietened. Experiencing the steady, good-natured handling, and the odd sniffing from her fellow animal, she let herself rest for now.
In her mind, she silently sung the praises of the boy. If not for his actions, she would have died under the falling snow. Her thanks were dispensed in warm breathes on his hands, a wonderful sign to him that the feline had benefitted from his prayers.
The wolf beside him nudged her head alongside hers, a loving expression the poor kitten had not experienced since she had lost her mother and sisters.
A faintly-twinkling, bashful smile started to form on Tristan's face, before he started feeling tired as well.
The next day, he arrived at the academy as was normal. There was a stark difference in their attitudes now.
They still whispered his name, whenever they thought he was out of earshot. Few students even started to speak about him in a lighter manner, often including his name and a "neko-chan" in the same sentence. It wasn't long for him to put the separate pieces together. But he didn't expect a change in their demeanors, not in any way.
Though it seemed that the male side of the student body only conversed in harsher tones when concerning him.
Was it so wrong to rescue the life of the injured kind, and provide a medium for comfort?
Traversing through the almost-daily schedule of school preparation, the thought of a new friend waiting for him at the apartment only served to straighten his frown. This slight change was interpreted as a ghost of a smile by the few who glanced longer than their own business should allow.
The day stretched into the afternoon, to the time where the students were allowed to have their lunch. Tristan had disappeared from his classroom, leaving his smaller look-alike to answer the questions of a group of girls who believe they have business with his seating neighbor.
The Sleeper sat leaning backwards on his chair, standing behind him was an friend who sees himself in the same boat as the Sleeper and the squire. He was the person who had swatted the flies away from Tristan that time on the school's roof, when a group of girls where at their boldest. He stood behind his friend like a bodyguard who only moves if the circumstances call for it.
"I'll ask again! Where's your brother!?" He was in an argument with a female student, the two were causing quite a stir, since there were still a number of students in the room. They all silenced once an angered voice broke above their chatter.
One of the girls, brown in hair smacked her hands against Sleeper's desk, growing more impatient the more time she spent here with this guy. Her buddies behind her all looked more than resentful towards the sitting student. But Sleeper knew his friend will keep him safe.
His chair sat back down with a 'clack', and he inched closer to the vengeful girl's face, and her brown eyes, his resolve; unfaltering.
"He's not my brother, and I'll say it again, woman." Normally, his eyes would hide under the black hair that fell from his head. But now, they peeked through gaps made by his feigned anger. His eyes started to lose their tired quality, trading it for an angered feature, albeit fake.
"Listen up! There's only one person I see fit to tell my friend's where-abouts to, and neither you, nor your buddies look like her at all. So scram. You're just gonna go an' give him unwanted trouble anyways."
"You think we don't know? Huh? The way you all talk behind his back and avoid him like he's the plague! Have either of you even tried having a nice chat with him? Hargh?" By this point, the Sleeper's iris' were little more than dots, and his voice was just short of vindictive shouting. He thought about directly calling the girl out on her naivety to believe a rumor, well known for the half-truths that go around with it.
"If you lot are just gonna go an' give him heat, get lost." The girl mirrored his expression in disgust that at the way she was being treated.
"Y-you! How dare yo-ugh!?"
*Smack*
She had raised her hand, intending to inflict pain on the insect that was in her path, in her own way. The brunette looked upwards away from him, and found that her arm had been intercepted by the giant standing behind Sleeper. His eyes said all that was needed.
Her hand was released. But was retracted with an expression of loathing and repulse.
"-Rgh, let's go, girls. We're not getting anything from this snob." The leader waved a hand above her shoulder, signaling their departure, and the sending of unsavory looks to the two boys. But it was nothing compared to the awkward gawks that the classroom's residents were giving her, for performing such an unsightly act in a school such as this.
The leader and her gang disappeared from the room, prompting the students to slowly resume their conversations after a short pause. Noble Sleeper leaned against the back wall, returning to the relaxed position he was used to.
"Like children, aren't they?" He propped his legs against the desk comfortably. Behaviors were strange to observe, when you think something should happen, the exact opposite is in fact the occurrence.
"But Isogai, weren't you a little different today?" The larger student beside him voiced his thoughts about the recent argument.
"Now, remember. It's important to defend your friends, even when they're not present. ~Yagh~." Yawning deeply, he made excuses for himself.
'Well, even if I was hit, she could have been suspended for that. He-he.'
"But really, what is the point of all that. You'd think that with what he did yesterday, everyone would just get a little nicer to him. Really confuses you, don't you think?" But by now, he was going on to himself. He scratched an itch on his head.
The guard was satisfied with that. Though on the inside, he knew that he was just mentioning the association with seating neighbor just because it was convenient for him.
Tristan had visited the European store that the boisterous grandfather and timid daughter owned, and even possessed proof of the venture. It seemed they were celebrating the season as well, seeing as they continued on about certain plans and such.
The large foam box sat in the coffee table, where the black kitten had been the first to eat of the fries.
Even Eria herself knew how much the stray had needed sustenance.
The drifter cat consumed the gift from Tristan and Eria . Something that the squire listened to with a warmth inside himself, he looked over at Eria, remembering the time when she was in such a predicament in wonderful reminiscence.
The rate of which the two had stabilized were incredible. But what really made him glimmer inside was the fact that he had saved these two from the clutches of death. Eria was once a power-less, pride-less young, now she was head-strong and resilient. Even though she would never say it, she was tremendously grateful for what Tristan had done, and owes her life to him.
This cat, a stray, once like her was almost sapped of life, and now she feeds as if it never happened.
Of course, him saving the two was the result of his innate kindness to those deserving, especially creatures in dire need of aid.
She had finished her dinner, instead perking her small furry head up to the person lying along the couch in a resting manner.
The next thing the squire knew apart from a short rest, were soft paws, rubbing against his cheeks, and the undeniable weight & warmth of a living being on his body.
" ~ Lao, lao. Lao, lao. Lao, lao. Lao, lao. ~ "
With the most audible, and adorable cat racket, her little paws tried to play with the tired head as if it was a toy, attempting to roll it from one paw to the other. Instead, the result was the pushing of his cheek flesh, and finding joy in the act.
" ~ Lao-o! ~ "
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'I was convinced this kind of feline produced a different sound.'
Opening his lids, he found large yellow eyes in a patch of black fur, shifting every time she pressed his cheeks upwards. A pink mouth showed a pinker tongue, which swayed with each of it's movements.
He let the kitten play with his cheeks, and partially covered her back with his hands. For her sake, he would sleep on the couch tonight.
Another agreed with his decision, a former-drifter. She curled into a ball after dusting her furry tail across his nose & eyelids, and took her place beside him.
The blue hues of the moon speared through the night, in through a large window, which angled perfectly onto the bodies of the three souls. It's guidance was little more than a light breeze, but as the specs of snow fell on the town, it shone a little deeper for a stray in need.
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Merry New Year :)