Chapter Three: Why I Joined This Squad

"Ah, time for another day," Kenos yawned as he awoke from his bed.

He looked around his room, after the baptism with Magna, he had asked Finral to make a portal to the capital so he could go back to his home to pack his things, Finral was happy to oblige, and soon, Kenos came back with his bags, which surprisingly, wasn't too full. Magna then led him to his room, it wasn't as big or fancy as his room at home was, but he was happy, he had switched into his night wear and had went to sleep.

Kenos looked to a desk at the side of his bed, there he saw his robe. "I'm officially a member of the Black Bulls, the people here are as quirky as I've heard, but they're not too bad after all, at least, I hope so," he said as he got up and walked to his bags, but as he did, a sad look came to his face.

"The people might not be so bad, and neither is this place, but…," he began. "I can't forget the real reason I joined this squad,"

He reached into his bag and grabbed his towel before heading out of the room, and as he did, he was met by a loud scream.

"Ahhhh!" the voice exclaimed.

"Who the hell is making all that noise?" Kenos wondered as he followed the sound, he soon found its origin, Asta was vigorously sweeping the floor, and of course, he was screaming.

"Asta, what are you doing?" He asked as he walked up to the teen.

"Oh, morning Kenos, how'd you sleep?" Asta asked as he stopped sweeping.

"Pretty good, considering that so-called 'baptism' last night," he replied. "Also, you mind telling why you are screaming?"

"Oh, sorry about that, I was doing some cleaning," he scratched his head before looking down at Kenos' towel. "Oh, are you looking for the bath, it's down the hall, make a left turn, walk down, then make another left turn,"

"Oh, thank you, I still haven't been shown around this place," Kenos said as he began walking away from him.

"Oh, and by the way," Asta said. "I'll be doing some training later, care to join me, it'll be fun, I promise?"

Kenos' face was turned away from Asta, or else he would've seen the guilty look on the solar mage's face. "Sorry, but I have to decline...there's something else I was going to do, thanks anyways," he continued walking.

Asta could feel something was wrong, but couldn't figure out just what it was. "Um, okay, no problem," he reluctantly muttered.

Kenos followed Asta's instructions and located the bath area, he had taken off his clothes and dipped into the hot water, sighing in satisfaction at its soothing temperature, for some time, it had managed to get his mind off the thought he had been pondering for the day, but as he exited and went back to his room where he changed into his clothes, he found himself thinking about it again.

"What is wrong with me, I was fine yesterday, why can't I stop thinking about it, I didn't do anything wrong...so why do I feel this way," he thought to himself as he went to the main hall and saw all the others having breakfast and doing their own thing.

"Good morning everybody," Kenos greeted, a bit of sadness in his voice, but nothing that the others were able to pick up.

"Morning Kenos," Luck said in his usual cheerful manner as he ran to the mage, a smile on his face. "Hey, since you're all rested now, how about we have a fight after breakfast?"

"Um, I don't know, there was something else I was planning on doing today," Kenos replied, not making much eye contact.

"Hey Kenos, over here," he turned to see Charmy with a huge plate of food. "Since it's your first morning here, why don't I share some of my breakfast with you, everything here is super yummy,"

"That's very kind of you Charmy," Kenos said as he walked to her plate of food, but only grabbed a muffin out of it. "But this enough for me,"

"What?!" the small glutton exclaimed. "Just a muffin? There's no way you'll get all your daily nutrients from just that!"

"Yo, you on a diet or something," Magna said, he was currently scarfing down on a plate loaded with meat and potatoes. "Or is eating light just a thing you nobles do?"

"No, that's not it at all," Kenos replied.

Magna smiled. "Good, so come over here and have some of my meat, this is what men eat for breakfast!"

"No, that's what idiots eat for breakfast," Noelle scoffed, Kenos looked to her plate and saw it was a well portioned and well balanced breakfast.

"I'm with Noelle, why eat meat for breakfast when you have wine instead," Vanessa said as she took a large sip of a bottle of wine, her cheeks blooming red with intoxication. "So, how about it Kenos?"

"No, I'm fine," he politely replied before making his way to the door, a face of sadness and guilt on his face, this time, however, it was picked up by every person in the room. "I just have something to do right now," he opened the door and walked out, shutting it behind him.

"I'm a bit worried about him," Finral spoke up, the others turning to him. "Why'd he have that look on his face, was it something one of us said,"

"Well, judging on the way you all act, I'm guessing that's why he walked out," Noelle stated in her usual nonchalant mocking tone.

"What, that can't be it, he's a noble, he'd definitely hear that our squad is a bit more on the unorderly side, yet he picked us anyway," Magna said back.

"Well, m-maybe for now, w-we should just leave him a-alone, I bet he'll sort it all out eventually," Vanessa said, her voice shaky, but regardless, she had put her bottle down, she was obviously concerned for her squadmate.

"Ah man, and I wanted to fight him too," Luck spoke up, seemingly unconcerned with the current situation. "Especially with the fact that he has a five-leaf grimoire,"

Everyone's eyes tensed as he spoke those words, they still couldn't grasp the mystery that was Kenos' grimoire, the entire kingdom knew of the three leaves that every grimoire beared, then there was the rare four-leaf clover grimoires, but none of them have ever heard of there being five leaves.

"What does that leaf even mean?" Gauche asked aloud, everyone had a look of surprise on their faces, usually seeing Gauche fawn over his sister, but even he seemed to be interested.

"Not really sure, each leaf represents something, with those things being faith, hope, and love, and in the case of a four-leaf, there's good luck," Finral replied, counting off the representations of the leaves on his fingers. "But what can a fifth leaf represent?"

"Do you think we should just ask him?" Noelle suggested. "He's 16, so he's had his grimoire for a year, I bet he might know,"

"I wouldn't recommend that," a voice said at the far end of the room, they all turned to see Yami drinking coffee and reading the paper. "Seeing that he has something on his mind right now, besides, do you really think it's anything to really worry about, a four-leaf is pretty rare, so maybe a five-leaf is a super rare or something like that, maybe that's why we've never heard of it, so for now, don't worry about it, the kid will tell us when he's ready,"

"If you say so Captain," Magna said as he saw Yami get up.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my morning dump," he bluntly stated as he walked to the hall, but his mind was in thought as well.

"A five-leaf clover, nothing I really know about, but it does interest me, something tells me there's more behind it that we can't comprehend right now, something about the rookie named Kenos Rossiu," he thought before another thought came to his head.

"Hey!" he turned and went back into the hall where his squad all looked at him.

"Have any of you seen Asta?"

Kenos took a bite of his muffin as he walked outside, silently appreciating its moist texture and cinnamon flavor, but in his mind, he still felt bad.

"They were all so welcoming to me, they're all so excited I decided to join them, but it only makes me feel like the opposite, why," he said as he continued walking, minutes passed before he found himself in a forest of trees.

He climbed up one and sat on the big branches, looking at the sun, falling into a daze. "The real reason I decided to join the Black Bulls, I was so sure of it, but now, all I feel is guilt...I guess it's because of the reason I joined this squad that I feel this way,"

"Kenos, hey Kenos, are you okay?!" A voice exclaimed, forcing Kenos out of his daze, he looked down from the tree to see Asta, shirtless, his body covered in sweat.

"Asta, what're you doing here?" he asked.

"I was doing some training, when I walked here to practice, I saw you sitting up on the tree, I called out to you, but you didn't answer," Asta explained.

"Oh, my bad, I was just thinking," Kenos said as he jumped down from the tree, he eyed his squadmate's upper body.

"Wow, you must train a lot, I can see how you were able to complete Magna's baptism,"

"Thanks, I've been working out, even when I was a kid," the mage said with starry eyes.

"Oh, that's nice," Kenos said.

"Hey...Kenos," Asta spoke up.

"Yeah?" Kenos asked.

"Do you mind telling me what's bothering you?"

Kenos' eyes slightly widened. "What do you mean, I'm perfectly fine,"

"I don't know, earlier today, you just felt kinda off to me, you seemed a lot more positive yesterday, but now, something just feels wrong," Asta elaborated. "Ya know, we're squadmates now, if you have something on your mind, I'll be glad to listen,"

"Well...okay, I guess I could tell you," Kenos said as the two of them sat down on the grass. "Ever since the day began, I've been feeling kind of, well, guilty,"

"Guilty, about what?"

"Well, it's about why I joined this squad," he replied. "You see, two other squad captains as well as Yami wanted to have me on their squads, the other two squads were very popular, but despite that, I joined this squad,"

"Okay, but what is there to feel guilty about, you picked our squad of your own free will right? Was anything stopping you from joining the other squads?" Asta curiously asked.

Kenos sighed. "Yes, there was, two things in fact, and those were...my siblings,"

"You have siblings?"

"Yup, an older brother and sister, out of the three children of the Rossiu house, I'm the youngest," he explained. "But, over the years, we've had a bit of a falling out,"

"I see, but how do they stop you from joining the other squads?"

"That will require me to tell you what happened yesterday," Kenos replied.

[Flashback]

Yesterday. Magic Knight Entrance Exam.

It was the combat portion of the exam, the part where the examinees would take turns battling each other to display their combat skills to the captains watching from above. The last fight of the exam was between Kenos and another mage, who used ice magic.

The enemy mage had a smug look on his face as he looked at Kenos, whose face showed a mix of happiness and seriousness.

"Alright, this is it, you may be some high ranking noble, but see if you can stop this," his grimoire flipped through pages before landing on one. "Ice Binding Magic: Glacial Prison!"

At his command, icebergs quickly approached Kenos, ready to entrap him in ice the second contact was made, but luckily, the solar mage wasn't going down that easily.

"An impressive spell, and it's moving at a pretty decent speed, but it won't be much of a threat," Kenos said, his grimoire flipping to a page. "Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!"

Sunlight charged in the teen's hand as he blasted it straight at the approaching icebergs, destroying it immediately.

"What, no, my spell, I can't lose again, the second exam is my last chance to get into a squad this year!" he screamed as his grimoire began flipping through pages.

But Kenos wasted no time moving in on his opponent, not giving him time to recover. "Sorry, but I won't lose this match either, I want to win too," his grimoire flipped to the next page. "I'll finish this, Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Gauntlet!"

A gauntlet made of sunlight appeared on Kenos' right hand, he quickly launched a punch into his opponent's face, sending him to the ground, and knocking him out unconscious.

"And the winner of this match is Kenos Rossiu!" the mage who mediated the fight announced.

Cheers were heard from the onlookers. "That kid has got some incredible skill,"

"Well, what do you expect, he hails from the Rossiu house, all three of them have given us awesome matches to watch,"

"You got that right, it's practically guaranteed that a squad will want them, the only question is which one?"

Now that all the combat was over, the part where the captains would select examinees to join their squad had begun, a good few numbers passed and not many captains selected someone.

"Okay, next up is number 86!" a mage announced as a boy walked up, he was tall, standing at a height of 6'0, he wore an extravagant blue suit and pants, his hair was blonde and well kempt, and a blue stripe went down the center of his head, around his neck was a violet crystal with the silhouette of a wyvern roaring into the sky.

Immediate whispers were heard around him. "That's Dante Rossiu, the eldest child of the Rossiu house, his steel magic is on a whole other level than most young mages, I wonder what squad will want him,"

Two captains raised their hands: Nozel Silva, Captain of the Silver Eagles, and Dorothy Unsworth, Captain of the Coral Peacocks.

Dante pondered his choices, before selecting one. "It would be an honor to join the Silver Eagles," he said as a smile was seen over Nozel's face.

"Ok, next up is number 87!" the mage announced as a girl walked up this time, she was tall as well, standing at 5'11, she wore a short, yet expensive looking purple dress, with black leggings, she had long brown hair with a purple stripe going down the left side of her head, around her neck was the same crystal as Dante.

Like before, whispers were heard around her. "And there's Oxanna Rossiu, the eldest daughter, from the match she had, it's pretty easy to say she's a pro with her phantom magic, not to mention she's frickin gorgeous,"

Like with Dante, two captains raised their hands: Charlotte Roselei, Captain of the Blue Rose Knights, and Fuegoleon Vermillion, Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings.

Oxanna wasted no time selecting who she wanted. "It would be an honor to join the Crimson Lion Kings," she said as Fuegoleon merely nodded.

"Alright then, last up for the day is number 88!" the mage announced as Kenos walked up before the captains, whispers were heard around him, praising him for his magic ability.

This time, it was three captains who raised their hands: Nozel, Fuegoleon, and...the Captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro.

Snickers were heard from the onlookers. "Is he serious, why is the captain of the Black Bulls even raising his hand, their squad is full of nut jobs, it's pretty easy to see he'll join one of the other two,"

"The only question is which one though, will he join the Silver Eagles with his brother, or the Crimson Lion Kings with his sister?"

The second Kenos saw what squads wanted him, he knew which one he would pick, but he was a bit taken aback there weren't any slightly better alternatives, but he didn't mind. "It would be an honor to join...the Black Bulls,"

"Huh," that sound was heard all around the area, even Nozel and Fuegoleon were a bit surprised, heck, even Yami and Finral, who was beside him, had faces of complete shock, they did choose for him, but they didn't actually think they was going to get selected after seeing the other captains that wanted him.

Kenos turned to Yami and bowed respectively. "Thank you for selecting me, I promise to do my very best!"

[End Flashback]

"So, the reason you joined the Black Bulls was because you didn't want to join the squads that your siblings were a part of," Asta deduced from Kenos' story.

"That's right, I was so sure of it yesterday, but now, I just feel guilty," Kenos admitted. "You and the others welcomed me with open arms, the rumors about how most of you are a little crazy might be a bit true, but I can tell you are good people, and to think I wouldn't care as long as you were another squad, I feel so mad at myself," he punched the ground in frustration. "You could've all been the shittiest people in the entire kingdom, but as long as you weren't their squads, I could manage,"

"I get how that can be kind of rough, but I know something you could do," Asta said. "Instead of feeling bad for yourself, why don't you try to get to know everyone better, then maybe that guilt will go away, you'll become closer with everyone, then you'll be happy you chose to be here, even to the point where if you could choose any other squad to join, you'd still pick ours,"

"That's not a bad idea, but I still feel this guilt and frustration with myself now, I'm not sure if getting to know everyone will stop it,"

"Okay then, let's fight," Asta said as he got up.

"Fight?"

"Yeah, something to help you vent out all that frustration, so all that's left is anticipation, the anticipation to become closer to your new squad,"

"Um, okay, I guess that makes some sense," Kenos said as he got up, his grimoire floating in front of him.

"Alright, let's do this!" Asta exclaimed as he drew out a sword from his grimoire.

Kenos marveled at the rusty weapon. "Cool sword, is that blade magic or something? Wait, I'm not picking up any magic from that weapon...or you either,"

"Well duh, I don't have any magic power," Asta scratched the back of his head and gave a playful smile.

"What, you have no magic, never heard of that before, I bet that comes with its own perks," Kenos stated. "Well, to be fair, let's make this a melee fight, I got just the spell for that, Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Staff!"

Sunlight gathered and formed into a bo staff, which Kenos grabbed and held at the edge, as if he was holding a sword.

Asta's eyes widened as he saw the spell as well as one more thing. "Awesome spell, but I didn't know you were left handed?" he said, seeing that Kenos held the staff with his left hand instead of his right hand.

"Yeah, I usually hold weapons with my left hand, throws my opponents for a loop, as for this spell, it's actually the first one I learned, with it, I can make a variety of simple weapons, but I already have to have prior knowledge on how to use it, so nothing fancy for me,"

"But why are you using a staff?" Asta asked.

"Well, from what I can see, your sword looks pretty dull, so it can't really cut anything, but my blades are all sharp, so I made a staff to make sure I wouldn't hurt you too bad," the solar mage replied.

"Okay, let's begin!" Asta exclaimed as he ran towards Kenos.

"Crap, he's fast, if I didn't know he was magicless, I would've thought he was using reinforcement magic," he thought as he just managed to dodge the initial strike, he quickly moved in and launched an attack of his own.

Asta, however, picked up on it and used his sword to meet the attack. "Not bad Kenos, you're doing pretty good,"

"Thanks, but this is a fight to vent out my frustration, meaning I had better give it everything I got," Kenos responded as he rotated his body and attacked again, only to be blocked, he then switched off to more quick and aggressive strikes.

"That's right, imagine that this sword is your frustration and guilt, and you're just beating the crap out of it," Asta said as he blocked each of Kenos' strikes before making some distance between them. "But, this wouldn't be much of a fight if I didn't hit back,"

"By all means, bring it on!" Kenos exclaimed as they ran to each other, their weapons clashing, the sound of said clashing ringing throughout the forest, Kenos backed up, ready to strike again, but as he did, he lost his balance and tripped, he then looked up to see Asta's sword only a few inches above his shoulder.

"Well, it seems that I lose," Kenos sighed as Asta put his sword back in his grimoire and helped the mage up, the staff construct disappearing.

"Well, are you feeling better, did my plan work?" Asta asked with a smile.

"Ya know, I do feel better, I guess all I can do now is stop dwelling on the past and try to make the most of the present,"

"Yeah, what you said," Asta said, sounding confused at Kenos' words, causing the solar mage to laugh before it was interrupted by the sound of his stomach grumbling.

"Oh crap, I'm hungry, why did I think a muffin would be enough, I need some food," Kenos groaned.

"Same, nothing like a good meal after training and fighting," Asta added as the two started walking back to the hideout.

"Hey Asta,"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, I'm going to give it everything I got to get to know this squad, besides, I'm no stranger to making friends with strangers,"

"That's good to hear, and don't worry, I've only been here for four days, and these guys already feel like family to me, once you get to know them, I'll bet they'll feel like family to you too," Asta said.

"I hope so," Kenos replied as they arrived at the entrance of the hideout.

"We're back!" the two of them exclaimed together as they opened the door, immediately, the others bombarded them, but they were worried more about Kenos than Asta.

"Kenos, is everything okay, I hope we didn't do anything to make you feel bad," Finral apologized.

"Yeah, if you want, I'll make you a muffin every day...even if it's small," Charmy added, biting her lip at the end.

"Cheer up, so we can fight, I bet that'll make you feel better," Luck said as well.

Kenos couldn't help but smile seeing all the concern his squad had for him. "Don't worry everyone, I'm fine, it's like I said, just something I had to do, but…," he began, holding his stomach. "...I'm pretty hungry, forget the muffin, I want a full course meal, Charmy, could you make me something, and Magna, do you have anymore meat left over, oh and Vanessa, sorry, but I think I'm a bit too young to drink,"

"Oh yeah, now you're talking!" Charmy and Magna exclaimed as they ran to the table, Magna grabbed the leftover meat he had from breakfast and reheated it with his magic. Charmy on the other hand, used her magic to make the sheep cooks cook something.

"Ah phooey, I guess you can't drink, well, that's more for me!" Vanessa exclaimed as she went back to drinking.

"Alright then rookie, sit your ass down and eat," Magna grabbed Kenos and placed him on a seat, in front of him was a large plate of food.

Kenos grabbed his fork, but before he dug in, he looked at his squadmates, the people that had welcomed him in and made him feel at home, the ones that were present all gave him smiles and looks of encouragement, he then took a bite, savoring its delicious flavor.

He didn't have to feel guilty anymore, because now he's here, with the Black Bulls, his squad, and soon, his family.