Academy Life - 4

"I don't want to!!"

"Just a little! Pleaseeee!!!"

Leo clung his arms to Arthur body, he gripped hard trying not let go until he gets what he wanted. Arthur tried to escape from being beside him, but alas he didn't move a single inch. He was annoyed, and said, "Let! Go! Off Me!! We've just met and you act this close!! It's making me awkward!!"

Leo still didn't budge, ignoring what Arthur said, and still whined, "Pleaseee!!! Puhleaseee!!"

Arthur gives up, "OKAY!! JUST GET OFF OF ME!!" He yelled.

Leo's eyes gleamed with excitements, and said, "Really? HOORAY!!!" While letting go of his grip, and cheered after.

Arthur noticed the strange gaze from the rest of students that still remained in the classroom. He also heard the murmurs from the students thinking maybe he was in an illicit relationship with Leo. Their misunderstanding to be fair was excusable because they saw that Arthur's face was leaning towards the feminine side; If he dressed up as a girl even a grown man would be smitten by him.

His face flushed red, sensitive to the situation. Ignoring Leo cheers, he lowers his head by the shame and scurried away from the classroom leaving Leo behind. 'That stupid bird brain!! *Sigh* Whatever...' He dragged his body along the hallways. He kept walking aimlessly until he arrived at a small indoor garden. The smell of roses woken up his senses.

Arthur looked at his surrounding. A beautiful garden filled with flowers, trees, and a fountain in the middle of it. The sunlight pierced through the glass roof, as if giving the flowers it's radiance. He was frozen for a second marveled at the sight, and walked to the middle of it. The clear water of the fountain flowed beautifully with the light reflected on it, and Arthur felt his mind was calmed just by being there.

He checked his watch and noticed the lunch period would end in 30 minutes. He felt his stomach grumbled because he didn't have a breakfast. He opened his map and saw that he was in the Selkies Garden, which located in the right wing of the academy. He also found the dining hall, which is located in the left wing just across this garden. But considering how big the academy castle is, he gave up the idea of having lunch, skip it and pig out at dinner.

While at it he also checked the location of his next class, which is Specialized Weapon Training. 'Oh! It's in the colosseum where my enrollments trial was held. Just turn left at the hallways before and go down leading to the undergrounds tunnel, walked through it and there it is!' Arthur memorized his path.

27 minutes until his next class, Arthur thought maybe he take a 10 minutes nap on this serene garden to conserve his energy. He walked to the edge of the fountains and found a couple of stone bench beside it. 'This would suffice' He then proceeds to rest his body. Light's flutter around him, hitting his silver long hair, the sounds of flowing water, and the smell of roses makes him like a resting deity instead of a man.

----

10 minutes goes away in just a flash, he opened his weary eyes, stretched his body, and said, "AHHH!! That was a good nap!" While smiling, he gets up from the stone bench and examined his surrounding once more. As if wanting to etch the sight into his memories, he walked a little and turned around to see the fountain.

As he turned around, he saw a barefooted girl in a white dress, crouched on the edge of the fountain and was staring at him. The stare lasted for a couple of seconds, at first, he was startled but after seeing the long stare, he felt quite awkward.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"..." The girl tilted her head, her white long hair brushed to the side.

Arthur was puzzled by the girl reaction and asked again, "Can I help you?"

"..." The girl straightened her head and stood up from her crouching position, and slowly approached Arthur. He noticed the girl approached him gracefully, with her unique walking on his toes. The girl arrived in front of him, just a metres apart, her height was just his shoulder-length without her being tip toeing. Her face was getting closer to his face as if trying to analyze him. Arthur instinctively leaned his face backward, while the girl slowly getting closer.

"M-miss? T-this is not appropriate..." Arthur said with a cracked voice and awkward smile plastered to his face.

Arthur saw the girl was unperturbed by his words and still getting closer. He felt a cold sensation in his left and right cheeks, pulling him closer to the girl. A surged of blood rushed to his head. Her scent filled Arthur lungs which smelt like roses, and suddenly their lips touched, soft and warm at the same time. His eyes got wider and his body froze in his place, afraid of making a single movement. The sunlight lit them up as if giving them a spotlight at the climax of a show, with the garden flowers as their audience.

The girl then retracted her lips and stared at Arthur's blue eyes. His face flushed red and stared back meekly at her jade eyes. The girl smiled softly, and said, "Thank you...And...Take care of me..." Tears were flowing from his beautiful eyes, washing her face.

"H-huh?" Arthur was puzzled by the sudden request, but suddenly he saw that the girl body slowly fading away. Like fireflies, little by little her petite body dissipated into the air. Arthur was shocked and didn't know what to do. He felt helpless at that time.

The garden suddenly becomes quiet. Only Arthur was left standing there, staring at the sun. Albeit it was short, he felt that something was chipped away from his heart. He slapped his cheek, confirming if all of that was just a dream, but...it wasn't. He tried to calm his mind and took a deep breath.

'I don't know who you are, but...I will try...Fulfilling your request..." He thought.

Calmed inside he checked his watch and saw that he only had 5 minutes left. Panic can be seen written all over his face, he ran as fast as he can towards his last class for the day.