Seniors

AFTER FINISHING THE light meal that Lorenzo and Rufus whipped up for them, a comfortable silence reigned among them, even William was satisfied and tamed. Well, half the reason is because Hollis was sitting next to him. His favoritism towards women definitely exceeds his own pride.

"Hades, what did you buy from the academy shop?" Rufus breaks the silence, asking his friend. "… you didn't buy another book, have you?" He asks again, because he's seen how Hades is obsessed with books. Instead of buying his own sword or his new clothes, he buys books!

Everyone turned to Hades waiting for his response, but Curtin sighs, feeling impatient. "He bought four books," he answers in Hades' stead, and Rufus dramatically sighs. The others were quietly watching this drama between the two close friends unfold.

"My friend… I am certain that a fourth of your luggage contains of your other new pocket books. Thus, why…? Are you planning to make your room a library?!" Despite trying to be patient, Rufus ended up completely exploding. Hades rolled his eyes like the brat that he is.

"Who cares? It's my room," Hades reasoned, but Rufus slammed his hands on the table, and pointed fingers at him.

"I care, you bastard! Just why do you bother buying more books, when you can borrow from the academy library?! You're wasting the money you should've used to buy something you will need more! You don't even have your own sword!" Rufus exclaims, but Hades sighs at his nagging.

"I'll rephrase what you said. Why bother borrowing when you can buy it? I didn't buy the book myself, Hollis bought it for me," Hades stated, and Rufus became puzzled, then turned to Hollis. She gazed at Rufus back in confusion.

"What? Is it wrong to spoil the youngest among us?" She asks.

"Huh?" Both Rufus and Hades had the same reaction, which made the others smile for no reason.

"Professor Yahto dropped by a while later before you two arrived. He handed us the keys, and asked where the oldest and youngest are. I know that you were older than me, thus we came to the conclusion that Hades is the youngest he was talking about," Lorenzo says.

"When we asked about Hades' birthday and age, we learned that he is the youngest born in winter, and still eighteen at that," Griffith interjected, and chuckled at Rufus' bewildered expression. Hades himself is barely surprised. 'I guess that's the reason why they wanted to spoil me so much', he thought and shrugged it off.

"You're younger than me for a whole year?! I'm nineteen, and I thought we were the same age," Rufus couldn't contain his shock at the moment. That's why he can't help but be impatient with him. He's actually just a brat. Rufus sat down, and fell silent.

"Ah, is he broken?" Alonso asks.

"He won't work for a while, just let him be," Hades responds, and Lorenzo agrees to his statement. Hades then looks up to them. "If you met the Professor, do you have any news regarding our seniors?" He asks them, but just then they heard a shout from upstairs, possibly just above them.

"NOA! We're not done talking!" A loud male voice was heard, and all of them turned to that direction, visibly startled at the voice. They saw a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties, walking down the stairs with a grumpy look on her face, then followed the man who was shouting. "Noa—"

"Don't talk to me, I am so done with you! You don't even listen to me!" The woman called Noa exclaims back, and continued to walk down. The man followed her, and immediately walked in front of her before she could leave.

"No, you're the one who doesn't listen! So we're talking this out, alright? Just calm down—" before the man could finish his sentence, the woman slapped him across the face. The first years held back their gasps, even Rufus, who was lost in thought a while ago, was shocked.

Who would've thought they'd be able to watch a lovers' quarrel up close, and this early in the morning?

"Now, you're blaming me?! Hah! If you wanted to talk things out, then you should learn how to listen! I'm exhausted of just listening to you, and letting you do all you want!" She shouts in frustration, but before she could leave again, the man stop her by grabbing her wrist, gently.

"Noa, please," the man calls calmly, then pulls her back to him. The woman let him do what he wants. "Let's talk about this calmly," 'Hoh… are they finally going to make up?' The first years thought to themselves, heavily anticipating what will happen next.

"What do you mean, calmly?!" The woman stepped on his foot, and he was forced to let go of her wrist because of the pain.

"Ow, fuck! What's with you using violence today?! I already said I'm sorry! Why aren't you listening?!" The man shouts in pain, teardrops were seen falling at the corner of his eyes, but the woman couldn't care less about it. Despite the pain, he's still standing on his feet anyway.

"You took my favorite bow with you to Kovia without my permission, broke it, and forgot to bring it back! How many times have I told you to not use it without my consent?! You're the one who doesn't listen!" She sighs in annoyance, stroking her bangs back.

Huh? The first years froze at their spot.

"Noa! I told you, my niece was the one who broke it!" The man desperately explained.

"Are you saying your niece should take the blame?! Oh gods, just how stupid can you get?!"

"No! Listen to me, I keep trying to explain to you calmly! She felt bad, and said that she would have it fixed herself! But, since it couldn't make it until my last day at home, she simply said that she'll have it delivered before the first day!" The man says again, but the lady simply glares at him and turns her back to leave.

"Don't follow me, otherwise, I'll punch your pretty face," those were her words before she completely left, her footsteps left no sound at all, thus it was hard to determine if she had left or not. They watched the man sigh, and faced them.

"Uwah… she's so moody when it comes to her bow. I'm sorry you had to see that, first years," he says, walking to them, then smiled as he takes the vacant seat next to Hades. "I'm Corin Heartvale, a graduating student, you can call me Cor for short. The violent woman you saw earlier is Nowela Phieleghard, a ninth year, and the 2nd of the Hawkeye Council."

Hearing a familiar name, Hades was a little surprised. 'I knew Leo had a younger sister, but I never knew she was here at the academy, and this man…'

"Ah, by Heartvale, does that mean you're from that Heartvale?" Griffith asks, his eyes slowly sparkling with excitement. When the man smiled, and nodded.

'…is from a famous duchy from another empire, and that family had produced countless geniuses', Hades thought, and he himself did not hide his excitement over that.

"I thought you were having a lovers' quarrel, but to think that you were actually fighting over her broken bow… I'd react the same too if my bow broke," Hollis mentioned, and stated her honest opinion. Rufus, and Tevin nods in agreement to her words. The senior pouts at them.

"Look, I know that much, but I did it for a reason this time," the senior reasoned, but Hades grinned. Oh, he knows what it is alright.

"Just tell Senior Nowela to pay attention to you straight up to her face. If you keep making her furious, you'll be hated, Senior Cor," Hades gave his advice, and gestured his hand towards Rufus. "Take that guy for an example. He's openly showing his feelings for his childhood friend, and always asking for her attention."

"Isn't Rufus still a friend after all these years though?" Tevin asks, and Rufus glared daggers at him.

"At the very least, he isn't hated," Hades shrugged his shoulders, and that exchange somehow made their senior sigh, confusing all of them.

"I guess even the golden generation isn't safe from the Yahto disease huh," he stated, and after seeing their confused expressions, he sighs once again. "The Yahto disease is basically lovesickness, however, it's so severe that it lasts for more than a decade. This disease is mostly found in Knight Department official students, and the most common symptom is being a jolly fool… and being around a dominate woman."

All of them fell silent for a moment, recalling their professor's moments with their department dean. 'Ah… that's why it's called the Yahto disease', they thought.

"Then does that mean you have it too?" Rufus asks, and Corin nodded, not denying anything.

"I swore to myself that I would never be like that one senior I had when I was a first year. He had it worse than Noa's older brother, Commander Phieleghard. I'm sure you know him. Because unlike Senior Leonel, who was always quarreling with the one he likes, that senior was a literal dog for the woman he likes. An attention seeker if one would say," Corin blabs by himself, and sighs again.

"Although, unlike those who had Yahto disease, his was the most vague and transparent. You wouldn't even know he actually likes her, until he tell you himself," with just those words, Hades found himself smiling. He certainly knows who's the senior he was talking about. "Anyway, enough love talks! What are you all doing here at the dinning?"

"We just had a light meal, since some of us had nothing to do until noon," Silver responds, and Corin arched a brow. "What are you going to do this noon?" He asks the bunch.

"Read a book," Hades replied immediately.

"Sleep," Cornelius interjects as he yawned.

"Train!" Griffith brightly answers. Corin simply smiles at that.

"Well then, enjoy and make yourselves comfortable. I have an appointment with the Tenth Years' Council in ten minutes, thus I'll take my leave first. It's nice meeting you, first years~" he got up from his seat and left, rushing before he arrives late. They simply waved him goodbye before he was out of sight.

"Oh, right," Jarrett recalls where they have left off, then turned to Hades. "Regarding your question, Hades. Professor Yahto mentioned that our seniors are currently at a training camp that's happening up North. I heard the professors asked the Grand Duke Novak to train their students, even for about four days. Today is their final day, so I think they'll make it back at the first day," he explains.

"Ah, so they left before our examination happened," Rufus mumbles to himself, while Hades blinks bewilderment, he had one thought in mind,

'Are the professors'… out of their minds?'

He trained under that so called greatest knight in the empire, and went through something worse than hell. He only survived because he just happens to have enough resolve to avenge his family. Let's say they'll survive… however, Hades is sure that the four day training with the Grand Duke is enough to leave them scarred for life.

Hades closes his eyes, which leave his classmates to confusion.

"What are you doing…?" Curtin asks.

"Although I might be too late, I'm praying for the poor souls of our seniors," Hades replied with honesty.

"Huh? Why?" William asks.

"… pay me no mind."