18

While that lion was taking a walk down Rin's memory lane, out there in the real world the time continued to pass. A new term had begun at the academy as the summer said its last farewell of the year and the trees began the shedding of their rusty leaves.

Among the excitement and the joy of the new term, a soul sat quiet and aloof at the end of the classroom. His chin rested on his palm as Rin blankly stared at the cloudy sky outside the window, his mind thinking about the events of the previous night.

He, Kim and Dammy had gone home for a dinner. His mother had cooked a feast for the children, half hoping to cheer them up especially the spirit boy who had begun to smile more and more rarely those days but one could not blame him for being that way.

He had been awaiting the return of his brother, his only family and that too without the certainty of his return because never before a spirit had taken that long to bond with his master. It would usually take a day or two but Loid had been gone for more than a month.

Kim had kicked Dammy's leg under the dining table, breaking the boy out of his trance. He had looked up at Miya sitting on the other side of him.

"Huh? What?",he had asked.

"Do you not like carrots, Dammy? You have been staring at them the whole time",the woman had asked. Dammy just shook his head and that could have meant 'No, I don't' or 'No, that's not the case' but the boy had made no effort to explain and went back to staring at his plate of boiled rice and vegetables.

"Here, have some fried chicken",Miya had picked up the prongs, placing a thick piece of crispy chicken from the bowl to Dammy's already full plate. The boy hadn't said anything as if he wasn't even there.

In fact, he wasn't. While he sat there with Rin's family in their small dining hall, his mind was reliving the past. A certain memory had flashed through his head. It was a memory of him and Loid eating meatballs at the village's annual festival.

Miya had looked at her husband sitting at the head of the table, the overhead light casting a reflection in his gray eyes. He could do nothing more than to give her hand a gentle squeeze.

The night had gone on and Dammy had felt his irritation growing with the ticking of that clock on the wall. It was annoying Dammy; Miya's pampering, Daichi's poor attempts at making jokes and Kim's humourless chuckles at them.

"Would all of you stop this?",he had finally snapped, standing up. His cushioned chair fell on the floor and the room went silent, all four pairs of eyes looking at him.

"Stop trying too hard to act like nothing is wrong!",he had cried, his head low and his hair hiding his expression from others.

He had clenched his trembling hands, whispering,"It's suffocating! I can't...do that. Please."

Those crude words were heart wrenching. "Oh boy",Miya had whispered.

She pushed her chair back to stand up and grabbed his trembling fist before pulling the boy into her arms.

Her embrace was warm, a warmth Dammy hadn't realized he badly needed. His face hidden in her soft cardigan, he had allowed himself to cry, tear after tear escaped his tired red eyes as he clutched the back of her dress.

"I'm sorry",the boy had cried, over and over again and Daichi had rubbed his moist eyes while Kim and Rin stared down at their food, their hearts uneasy and eyes stinging.

The large bell on the west tower rang and shortly after, students began entering the room for their class on advance spells. Rin opened up his notebook, looking for a blank page to scribble down his notes.

It started again, a stabbing pain in his chest and he bent over in his chair. He clenched his jaw, suppressing his painful groans. That would happen every other day at unexpected moments and had he been alone in his dorm, he would have screamed into his pillow with how much excruciating that pain was but he couldn't allow himself to do that in a room full of people who already loved bad mouthing him. So he endured it.

He put his head down on his desk, his sweat dripping down on its wooden surface. He knew very well why that was happening.

His cracked core was too weak to tame that beast.

Time had passed for the elf too; he had grown taller, a whole 5 cm and so had his chestnut brown hair which he would now tie up in a ponytail with a little green ribbon.

Pushing his round glasses up his nose- something that he would do whenever he got nervous- he knocked at the large wooden door.

"It's open", a voice replied and Kim took a deep breath before entering the president's office.

The room had large bookshelves lining two of its walls and a white crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling which had a captivating pattern of hyacinths engraved into it.

Behind a mahogany desk, on a cushioned chair sat the president, his brown eyes lighting up under the sun rays that filtered in from the large window on his left.

"Good afternoon, Sir",the elf placed a hand on his chest as the door closed behind him with a click.

The man got up from his seat, smiling his signature smile,"If it isn't my brightest third year student! Come here, my boy. I have a secret to tell you."

Suppressing his frown, the boy strolled across the large room, his dark green ankle boots crushing the fine fur of the rug beneath.

The man placed a hand on his shoulder before bringing his lips down to Kim's ear as if worried about someone else finding out that secret of his.

"There was an intruder in our last court hearing",he whispered and those forest green eyes went wide.

The man continued,"A little elf, maybe. If only I could find them."

Kim gulped, afraid that the man's sharp ears would hear his crazily beating heart.

"What do you intend to do with that b-boy?", Kim said, cursing himself mentally for the cracking of his voice.

The man raised an eyebrow, saying,"Did I say it was a boy?"

A knot formed in Kim's stomach. He had dug his own grave.

Arthur stood up straight, stroking his non-existent beard.

He said, "Expell him. What do you suggest? But for a young second year boy to be so talented at casting defensive spells, don't you think it would be a shame to lose him?"

"It would be, indeed. How about over looking the matter this time, sir?", Kim said, hoping he was reading the situation right. An elf boy and a second year student. There was no doubt that the president knew who that person was.

Arthur leaned against the desk behind, putting his gloved hands together. He looked at Kim from the corner of his eyes, saying,"Only if that boy agrees to my conditions."

Kim entwined his fingers behind his back, hands sweaty from all the anxiety he was feeling,"What might that be, Sir?"

Arthur tilted his head, smiling wider,"To teach the Basic Spells."

His eyes went wide one more time,"Teach? Surely you don't mean to the students of the first two years?"

"Precisely."

Kim closed his eyes, taking a breath as he went through that conversation once again in his head. That middle aged man watched his restlessness with an amused smile. Clearing his throat, the elf finally said,"Sir, just to ascertain that we are on the same page here, did you just ask me to become a professor?"

Arthur nodded.

"Me? A third year student?"

He nodded again, finding that kid's surprised face quite amusing.

"This is crazy",the boy whispered to himself and Arthur couldn't help but laugh.

"Why is it too hard to believe, my boy?",he said, placing a hand on his shoulder,"If you can use an advance spell like INVISIBILITY when your peers can barely create a magic circle then you should take pride in it. I know only one other such person. Sir Felix Knights."

"The last president?"

Arthur nodded,"He had skipped a grade. His second year."

"That's impressive."

"Indeed. Kim, my boy. Decide your path wisely and no, I will not expell you if you choose to decline my condition."

Kim nodded, his anxiety finally settling down in the pit of his stomach.

The door closed behind the boy's little back and Arthur went to stand in front of the large window, memories resurfacing in his mind. Those were the memories of decades ago when he used to walk down the same corridors cladded in his uniform; white shirt, black trousers and his gold school's emblem.

"Sir, it is a mess again. Why must you work like there is no tomorrow?",he had said entering the president's office and frowning at the heaps of crumpled up papers littering the carpeted floor.

A head full of short gray hair had looked up from behind the pile of papers scattered across that mahogany desk, the gold radiance from the table lamp falling on his sharp jawline and illuminating his gray eyes.

"Evening, Arthur", the man had said before returning to his work, his slender fingers jotting down lines after lines on a blank paper.

Arthur had sighed, going around the desk and putting the cream white curtains down. Outside the sun was setting, its golden orange rays gradually fleeing from the sky. A captivating sight to behold but it did not concern that middle aged man who was enthusiastically writing down his newfound theories before they could escape his brain.

"You can continue tomorrow, sir", the boy had said like every other evening and the man had shook his head, his eyes sparkling with all the exciting ideas running around in his head.

Arthur had watched his pen's tip halting on the paper before the man looked up at him.

"You know, Arthur. I just thought of something mind blowing!",he had cried before standing up and hastily rushing to the center of his room as if he would miss his last carriage to town.

"Throw something at me", he had said stretching out his both arms and from all the creases on his white shirt, one could tell he hadn't gone home for the last two days or maybe three.

"Pardon?", Arthur had said.

The man had pointed at the thick book sitting at the edge of his desk saying, "That book. Throw it at me, Arthur."

And the boy had done so. Being the vice president for the last 3 years, he had got used to the unpredictability of that man.

He had thrown it with all his might but the book hadn't reached him. About an inch from Felix's body, the book had hit something resembling that of an invisible wall before falling down on the rug with a thud.

"Thrilling, isn't it?",Felix had grinned wide, eyes sparkling.

Arthur had replied with a small smile,"It sure is, sir. What do you call this new spell of yours?"

The man had bent over, picking up the book,"I'm still thinking about that."

Just then his stomach had grumbled loudly.

"You have missed your supper again, haven't you Sir?"

Felix had given the boy a sheepish smiled and Arthur shook his head,"Lady Diana is going to be cross again. Why must you make her wait for you at the dinner table?"

"She insists on waiting to eat with me even when I have told her not to. I don't know when I'll be goiny home",the man had sighed, putting the book back on the desk.

"She is your wife, Sir. You can't ask her to stop caring for you."

"And I love her for that, boy."

"More than your work?",Arthur had asked, crossing his arms.

"Um. That. That's a different topic. But you know what? I promise that I will take her out on a fancy dinner once I have completed my new incantation. How's that?"

"Good, that is if you keep your promise, Sir."

Felix had nodded, smiling softly at the boy. He was quite of fond of that kid. He would never hesitate to tell him that he was in the wrong. From his school duties to his conduct with his wife.

Lady Diana too loved that child as her own and would often send a lunchbox of his favorite dish for him along with her husband's.

Taking his leave for the night, Arthur had left the man alone behind his desk who instantly dived into his work.

Back at the Knights residence in the town, Lady Diana had asked the maid to take away the untouched dinner. With a sigh, she had blown away the scented candles on the dining table before pulling the shawl closer to her cold body.

Walking down the carpeted hallway to her bedroom, she had looked out of one of the huge glass windows that lined the wall. Her black eyes reflected the half moon shining alone in the night sky. Maybe it too awaited someone to arrive.

She had shook her head, her raven black locks falling gently over her shoulders.

That night was going to be a cold one again.