This was to be Rai’s first day at school since the battle with Pico, and it was already a month into the semester. He’d missed out on a lot of... well, everything. Sin told him about the archaeology society that was to start on the Tuesday of his first week back. Their friends Tullian, Amy, and Lina, all joined, but they didn’t know who else was going to be a part of it. Fortunately, most societies didn’t start until the second month of the school year, since students needed time to acclimate to the Academy.

Rai figured that the adventurer’s society was different, as those guys had a completely different goal in mind. The archaeology society met together on Tuesday, so he would get to meet all of the new members on his second day back.

Rai hoped he would actually make it that far.

He made sure he actually had his tie this time, and asked Sin to tie it for him as they were about to eat breakfast.

“Do you... not know how to tie your tie?” Sin took the tie from him and flung it over his head, resting it on the back of his neck as she held either end.

Rai wasn’t actually that used to being this close to people face to face. He nervously answered, “N-no. I’m pretty bad at this kind of stuff. I thought you might... be able to do it for me.”

Sin caught Rai’s stutter. Is he flustered? A devious grin crept onto her face. He makes me want to tease him so badly. I should have fun with this. She slowly pulled Rai closer and closer as she eloquently started tying his tie. Sin could feel her own face heating up, but Rai’s was full blown red at this point. She wanted to laugh at him getting flustered, but that wasn’t her natural emotional reaction.

“Well... If you need your t-tie to be tied again, then I’ll happily help.” Sin said as she gently tied Rai’s tie.

Rai caught Sin’s stutter. Is she... He realised what she was doing, and decided to play along. “I think you might need a closer look, that angle seems a little difficult.” He moved closer to her.

Sin wasn’t expecting that.

Her face was growing redder and redder, and her forehead was starting to glow under the dim lighting in the room.

The game of cat and mouse continued, with the two of them trying to mess with each other.

Sin finished tying Rai’s tie. She wanted to win this exchange, to leave Rai more flustered than she was. Her tactic was to place her hand on his chest as she looked up at him. Then to speak in a quiet voice.

“... It’s all done now. You should come to me when you need help with stuff like this.”

Rai’s heart skipped a beat. He was completely and utterly losing it. His face was so hot that he could practically see the heat radiating from his cheeks.

But there was a chance.

Rai thought back to one of the things he learned in Townsend, in Acies. One of the nights, there was a singles’ party going on. He was a spectator, sat with Bort as they laughed about some of Bort’s own old love stories. There was a tactic Bort taught him about, how to make any woman lose her footing. Bort told Rai not to mention it to his mum, and Rai kept his word.

He was to employ that tactic here.

Rai brought himself in close to Sin’s face. Her eyes widened in surprise. Rai then diverted his path towards the side of her face. Rai’s heartrate was through the roof, but he had to win. He felt like there was no choice but to try his best here.

“Sindyl Raven, you are the only person I would come to. I always will.” Rai whispered in her ear.

He pulled his face back and gave her a soft smile. Rai saw her hands shaking as he went to sit at the table.

Do I win? I think I win!

Sin's heart was beating so fast that it was all she could hear. In fact, she didn't realise it, but she'd been holding her breath since Rai moved in close. Sin let out a sigh and gulped a huge breath of air. More than anything, she couldn’t believe it; she lost the bout. In the end Sin couldn’t make Rai more flustered than her. However, even though Sin lost, she was surprisingly excited about what just happened. She actually... quite liked it. Sin didn’t expect to enjoy it but teasing Rai back and forth was really fun.

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Black wisps of mana appeared beside her.

“M’lady. You’re to be late, please eat before you leave.”

Sin jumped. Her heartrate was already sky high, then Lilly came and gave her a fright by appearing beside her.

“Fuck!... You scared me Lilly... Please don’t sneak up on me like that again.”

“Very well madam.” She poofed back into the air with remnants of the black wisps of mana lingering where her body once was.

Sin warily sat next to Rai and ate some of the fruits that were on the counter. Rai was already doing so. Both of the heat in their faces simmered down after a few minutes.

The two of them finished their breakfasts and left for the Academy.

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Rai and Sin walked through the relatively empty Secret early in the morning. The succubus clerk wasn’t even on duty right now, which made Rai feel like the building was scarcer than it actually was. The lobby had only a handful of people in it, and there was only a single guard outside.

“Sin, is it normal for the Secret to be this empty?” He asked her.

“Not... really. This is really weird. I’ll ask dad about it next time he shows up.”

Rai took note of how she worded that. Even Sin had no idea when Kallad would appear. It felt like he did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

They walked for a long while before Sin got excited about something.

“Rai! We have to go there after school! Their pancakes are really nice!” She pointed to a small café that was just off on the side of the road. Rai saw that it was a small café with a few posters on its windows, and a fake strawberry sign above its name.

“Looks cosy, let’s take the others after school then!”

Sin smiled back, and gave him a quick hug. She continued walking with a spring in her step.

Eventually, they arrived at Aether Academy. Rai’s sense of wonder returned to him in the shadow of the Academy's grandeur. The endless stories and history attached to this place must’ve been so rich that they were beyond Rai’s measure. It stood as a lone bastion in the entire world of Zenith that could be seen as a place of unity. He stood, staring up at the huge structure that was the main Academy building.

Sin grabbed his hand and pulled on it.

“C’mon, let’s go! Our first lesson is the mentorship session with the headmaster.”

She dragged Rai along through the gates into the grounds. Some of the students that had just arrived turned to look at them with the same looks that they'd gotten at the entrance exams. Rai thought that he was past caring about it, but the attention still frustrated him. Regardless, he allowed himself to be dragged straight to their classroom since it felt surprisingly nice.

Their classroom was upstairs in the academy. The staircases were wide, and somehow ornate in a modest way. The halls upstairs, however, were much more extravagant than those downstairs. Rai also noticed that the students on this floor were predominantly those in black uniforms.

Second years.

“Oh! You’re back!” A voice came from their side.

Rai and Sin turned to see who it was. Rai recognised the boy. It was the spear-user from the adventurer’s society.

He spoke very quickly.

“I’m glad that you’re okay. We were all really sorry to hear about what Pico did. Hopefully it doesn’t stop you from coming back and sparring with us. We all learned a lot from that day. Also, sorry for our uh... not-so-friendly attitudes towards you at the beginning! Please come and spar with us again in the future!” The boy bowed sharply, then rose after a second. “See you around!” He said.

Rai was speechless. The spear-boy said a whole lot of stuff and then left without Rai being able to say a single word. His sentiment was appreciated though. Rai was glad that the society felt that way about him. If he was honest with himself, Rai had to admit that he quite enjoyed his time sparring with them. Until the whole Pico thing happened, at least.

“What was all that about? I have no idea who that was.” Sin asked.

“Well... neither do I, technically.”

“So, a random kid just came up to you, apologised for a bunch of stuff, talked about sparring, then left?”

“Yep.”

“How do you function on a daily basis?”

“Pfft. Okay, maybe there’s a bit more to it than that. He was one of the students that I sparred with on that day. Honestly, it was fun sparring with them, since I had to actually push myself to win.”

“Oh... I see. Well, then it makes sense why he apologised like that.”

“I do apologise young ones.” Came a voice from behind them. “I overheard your conversation and couldn’t help myself. The whole thing was far too comical.”

Rodrick was on his way to the classroom to greet them, but ran into them in the hallways. It looked like he was walking from the entrance and was only just a ways behind them before they stopped in the hall.

Rai and Sin were embarrassed, but the moment was cut short. Rodrick beckoned for them to join him.

“Come, there’s much to be done. The class is just over here. It’s time to catch you up, Rai.”

The three of them walked through the hall, with Rodrick greeting students as they walked by.

Sin felt somewhat out of her element amongst all the second years, simply because she hadn't had any actual experiences with them.

Rai was completely relaxed. He’d already met some of them in the adventurer’s society, and was even talking with some of them as they walked by.

Soon after, they came across the classroom. It was right next to Rodrick’s office.

Rodrick opened the door and walked in.

Rai and Sin followed.

“EH?! Robert, who the fuck are these ass clowns?!” A boy, who sat on the top of a desk, with piercings all over his face and ears, yelled out as they entered.

Rai and Sin stared blankly at him.

“What the...” They whispered in unison.