Carcer X

Chapter 3: A Friend

What's the point in trusting someone when their lies already tainted their faces black?... what essence would the world bring when you can already see what's hidden beyond?

"Take my hand..." A girl's voice lingered in the darkness.

"Who..?"

"Let's form a contract... "

"...you are... Nih..?! who.."

"Take my hand like you always do...

...And I shall carry out your vengeance!"

"!?" A pair of red orbs opened in surprise.

"Dream?" Zephyrine thought as he placed his hand on his pale face.

"What was it about?... " he stopped to think "…I forgot".

He got off his bed and arranged it neatly, then he proceeded to the kitchen to prepare tea and his breakfast.

"Oh, Lawrence prepared it already huh" he thought as he looked at the wonderfully prepared food on the table. A time-freeze spell was casted on it to keep it fresh. A note was placed beside it as well. Zephyrine took a seat and read the note.

Master,

I've made your breakfast already,

because if I didn't, you'll be making

another weird concoction, master is

really really bad at cooking after all, haha.

Well I guess you wouldn't mind because

You have a terrible sense of taste as well

"What the heck was that?!" He thought

... And about the information that you want,

I'll be back to give it to you next time.

Lawrence.

A WHILE LATER

Various murmurs and whispers echoed in Sanctus Erina Academy.

"Hey hey! have you heard about the incident yesterday?"

"Yeah, I was so scared!"

"..They said Lawrence Hirst was here!"

"Kyaa! I want to see him!"

The teachers tried their best to prevent the leak of information, but apparently, word travels fast. Good thing, the students didn't panicked, after all, the incident was over.

"... Nothing unusual today, huh? I've been hearing about other incidents similar to last night that's been occurring in different locations..." Zephyrine thought as he walked leisurely towards the school building.

Class 1-d (Zephyrine's class)

"... In the end, I didn't get enough sleep" Rain thought as she leaned on her desk. "I was so shocked and I couldn't believe what happened..."

Sighs... "I can't believe how weak I was... with my current strength, I'll die before I even become an Occisor Daemonum, but still... what's up with Darkarcher- san anyway? Why is he so good and calm like he was used to that situation already..."

"WAAHH! I DON'T GET IT!" she shouted, gaining her classmates attention.

"Ahaha" she laughed and sat down immediately.

"What's the matter Incho?" A girl with shoulder length pink hair, tied in twin braids asked as she pulled her seat and sat in front of Rain.

"Ah... Rena... It's nothing" she replied

Rena pouted and smashed her forehead on Rain's.

"THAT HURT YOU IDIOT! What the heck's wrong with you?! Rena Middleton!" she jolted

"There~, my Kawaii- incho-san is back!" Rena said with sparkles floating around her. Her hand clasped together.

"Eh?... Wh-what do you mean?" Rain wondered

"You seem so out of it, tell me if there's anything bothering you and I'll smash that idiots face for you!"

"I-It's not..." Rain paused for a second. "Right.. Rena is feared in this school as the blackmail- witch... she has a lot of information... I should ask her" she thought

"Actually Rena... I was wondering if you have any info on Zephyrine Darkarcher." Rain whispered

"E-eh? Darkar...hmmph" Rain quickly covered her mouth

"Baka! don't be loud!" she said

"G-got it... why do you want to know about him? C-could it be that you li.. NOO! MY KAWAII INCHO IS..WAHH" Rena said while moping on the floor.

"Dont get the wrong idea! I was just suspicious!" she said pulling Rena back to the seat.

"Hmm, well, that's true... this is a top secret information, but since it's my kawaii incho, I'll tell you...

You see, Zephyrine Darkarcher, transferred here 7 years ago, and he was even more unsociable back then than he is now..." she explained, Rain just nodded.

"... right after the war, huh?" Rain thought

"... and he's very popular, despite being a magic- idiot. He is also very smart... hnnn... that's all I know!" she said

"what! That's it? I already know most of that, don't you have anything else?"

"Nope, and don't forget the fees, information isn't cheap~"

"Eh? what about his family background? anything useful?"

"Family huh?" Rena stopped to think... "Nope, Don't have any! His family matters isn't something I can easily access, it's impossible tehee~"

"Don't "tehee~" me, You Idiot!"

- AFTER CLASSES-

A raven-haired boy sat quietly as he arranged his things on his 'worn-out' bag. The thick pair of glasses that cover his eyes were broken and his face has too many bruises.

He sighed.

"What happened to him?" a student asked

"He's always like that, he's the center of bullies and he's too clumsy!"

"They say if you get close to him, you'll catch his misfortunes!"

"Eh? how scary!"

He continued packing up his things, ignoring his classmates' murmurs.

"My name is Alfin Stan, I'm good in academics, and an average Magic- user" he thought

"Stan-san!" a voice called

"...And for some reason, I attract a lot of misfortunes and I always get bullied by other students... so unlucky..." He continued

"Hey! Stan-san!"

"Eh!?" He squinted and raised his head to see who's calling him.

"R-Rain-san!?" He exclaimed, and almost fell off his seat. "Rain-san is so cute as usual, she's the only one who talks to me normally, regardless of the rumors... she's so nice" he thought, looking at the girl in front of her.

"Mou, I've been calling your name but you're not listening, are you alright? You look worn out!"

"I-I'm fine haha" he said "Anyway, d-do you want something from me? Rain- san?" He asked, his face is red.

"Actually, it's about the incident last night..." Rain explained "...I kinda' got involved in it so as punishment, I'll be in cleaning duties until next week... They said you volunteered to do this thing for a whole month so I informed you" she continued

"... The truth is, I didn't volunteer, I was forced to do it... (sighs)" he thought.

"I'll help!" He shouted

"Huh? O-okay?" Rain replied hesitantly "He must really love cleaning..." she thought.

-AND SO...—

"Eh?! Z- Zephyrine- Kun is here as well?" Alfin asked.

"Actually, there are four of us, the other two will be in charge next week!" Rain replied

"N-no way, with this, I won't be able to show Rain- san my good point" he said to himself, depressed.

"hn... Zephyrine Darkarcher... He's one of the people that I wouldn't want to get involved with..." Alfin thought as he gazed at the other boy.

"Well I mean, he's a rich kid, and most rich people are mean and like to look down on others... I've got really bad experiences with them...

He's weird as well, many people wants to get close to him, everyone wants to be his friend, but he never really care, he looks as if he's always alone... I wonder why? Even with the blessed life he has, he always had this gloomy aura..." he thought

"We're done!"

"I'm so tired!... ah you guys go on ahead, I still have to go to the library!" Rain said as she rushed outside.

Sanctus Erina Academy is composed of the elementary, middle school, and high school branch. There're practice grounds located around the campus, the old school church and ofcourse, the residential area.

"Ah.. Zephyrine-kun I live on the other side of the river, how about you?" Alfin asked "I'm sure he lives in a mansion- type." He said to himself.

"From the other side..." Zephyrine replied

" In this school, instead of dorms, students live in a residential area. We live by ourselves in a house of our own. Well there're some who live with their friends and so. This way, we learn to be independent. It truly depicts a real society... it's like this is a country and we are its residents" Alfin thought as they walk on a town- like place.

Zephyrine suddenly stopped walking.

"E-Eh? Is something wrong?" Alfin asked

"I'm hungry"

"W-well, I haven't eaten lunch yet, I'm hungry and tired as well" he thought while looking at Zephyrine, he sweat dropped, "he's too blunt".

The two ended up in a noodle house. The students who doesn't have enough money work and manage stores such as this. In fact, all the stores here are placed for that purpose.

"This is the store I work in during weekends, Akari -Noodle house" he explained as they walk in the store "It's cheap but I think you'll like the food here"

"Akari? Reminds me of someone..." Zephyrine said with his hand on his chin.

"I'll go get our orders" Alfin said as he gestured for Zephyrine to wait on the table.

"Oh, Al! What brings you here?!" A guy with golden locks and brown eyes asked, he is still wearing his school uniform with an apron.

"Ah, Jerry- senpai, we're here to eat" he replied

"Ehh, you brought a friend, that's good to hear! Is it a girl?"

"No, he's a guy, and he's just my classmate!"

"A guy? How boring! Anyway, since this is rare for you, I'll treat you this time, go on and take your seat"

"R-really? You don't have to..."

"Come on! Don't be so reserved"

Zephyrine looked around the strange arrangement and furniture of the store. (it's eastern style, Japanese)

Then Alfin came and sat.

"We're lucky today, senpai said it's his treat" he said as placed his bag on the floor.

"Part- time job... I wonder if I should try some..."

"Eh?! Why would you want to do that?" Al exclaimed at the sudden statement, "A son of a supreme ruler doing a part time job, that doesn't sound right" he thought

"It looks fun..." he said monotonously, what he says doesn't match his voice and expression.

"Well, I guess, his life has too many pressures" he thought "It is fun but your time becomes limited..." he replied

"limited, huh?... yeah,I guess it's impossible for me, I'll get scolded"

"Eh?!"

"Just kidding"

"Here're your Special Noodles!" Jerry interrupted, placing the tray on the table. "Hmm, I'm Jerry! It's a pleasure meeting you! I thought Al has no friends, I'm really glad that he has atleast one! Haha"

"S-senpai I told you, he's just a classmate…"

"Yeah we're friends, I'm Zephyrine, nice to meet you as well"

"Wh?! Zephyrine- kun?"

"Haha, you're not as gloomy as you look, kid, anyway, please take care of that idiot, I've got work to do!" Jerry said before he proceeded to the kitchen behind the counter.

"What's the matter?" Zephyrine asked.

"Uhh… nothing" Al replied, "I wonder what he's thinking, I never thought he's friendly, despite his looks…" he thought.

"It's gotten dark… " Al said as they walk past a forest route "s-s-scarryy… " he thought

"Darkness is good, the chances of demons showing up is high… that red demon bird is too weak, she's no fun" Zephyrine responded without turning around. He continued with his pace.

"W-W-What are you saying!? Do you know how bad that is if a demon came?"

"The defences and guards increased since that incident, it's impossible so don't be such a wimp…"

"I'm just being realistic, it's really bad to get beaten up by bullies, what more if it's demon?!"

"It's not bad getting beat up once in a while, it's the fastest way to improvement"

"You're kidding! I always encounter that … thing! And I'm telling you, it's not good. If you die, then it's all over"

"The only ones who'll die are the cowards, and maybe some idiots..."

"Gwahh! That really hit the spot" Al thought as pair of comical arrows struck him.

"In this era, if you keep acting like that, then death is indeed inevitable"

"He does have a point" Al stopped to think as he gaze at his 'new' friend?

"Hey, since we're friends like you said, I'll call you Zephyrine" Al said, walking behind him.

"…"

"He ignored me, huh?" Al thought with a sweatdrop.

"… then I'll call you Al" Zephyrine replied

"O-okay!" He responded "I guess he's not that bad at all"

"So this is your house! It's so much smaller than I expected, but it's still flashy" Al commented at the house.

"Flashy?"

END.

That's it for now, I'm just following the chapters in my manga, but I kinda' made some adjustments and added some characters… I'm still a newbie so I don't think I've made enough character interactions, so please leave a review or suggestion, especially critiques, you are very welcome. As for romance… there'll be some with the character in the later chapter, probably on chapter 12 or earlier XD.

Character Profile:

Name: Rain Sorghum

Age: 16

Height: 159 cm

DOB: August 24

Race: Human

Facts: She's from a family of healers. She has a great potential in magic so she got a scholarship at Sanctus Erina. She appears kind and gentle but in reality, she's short- tempered and … yeah short- tempered. Haha.