22: Flameheart Household

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{General POV}

After a few minutes of walking, Shinji finally arrived at the Nurse's Office with Erza in his arms.

After the Nurse tended to the girl's burn, Shinji decided to ask,

"Hey. I'm gonna be blunt alright?"

Erza nodded and the boy continued, "I've known you for almost a year now and you are not the type of person to be on her knees and beg someone like that. What's your deal? Why'd you do that?"

"Sigh... To answer that, Shinji, I must tell you about my family..." said Erza, somewhat dispirited.

'Huh? Wait! I'm not asking for your backstoryy~!' thought the boy.

"First and foremost, I am one of 4 siblings. Enel... That Senior was my brother. My father... was a very powerful man. And so was our whole family. The Flameheart Household were among the most influential family in my homeland...

But, throughout the years, the other families have produced so-called prodigies and were quickly rising in power... This concerned my father, the head of the house. He... would start pressuring my siblings and my cousins to work harder. Even beating us when we couldn't satisfy his demands.

When I was 4 years old, two of my cousins finally had enough and opposed Father... But, he wasn't the Head of our Household for nothing... He banished my cousins out of our Family and that was the last we'd heard of them. There were speculations that they had taken on different names and became criminals, but, they were only rumors.

My mother, the figure I thought I could count on, wanted the same as Father. Instead of finding solace in her, I got more and more pressure... And, even after years of hard work and dedication, my father still wasn't satisfied with my strength... I could... I can never compare to my siblings." said Erza with a sense of longing.

"I joined this Academy in hopes that it would nurture and develop my strength. And it did. I thought I could finally gain Father's attention when I join the Flame Sovereign led by my and Enel's older brother, but alas, I couldn't even pass the scouting..." she continued with a self-deprecating smile.

This left Shinji speechless. He opened his mouth to reply something but closed his mouth back again.

...

After a few moments, Shinji finally talked...

"Sigh. Erza, you shouldn't be thinking like that. Just because you didn't pass that asshole's standards, doesn't mean that you aren't strong. Hell, you're one of the most skilled Pyromasters in our whole grade!" spoke Shinji, raising his hands.

He cleared his throat and continued with a warm smile, "So, stop this sulking. This isn't the strong Erza Flameheart I know and met."

Erza remained silent, which made Shinji slightly nervous.

After a while...

"I... Thank you, Shinji. Thank you for the kind words." the girl replied while smiling.

With a sigh of relief, Shinji smiles and tells Erza, "Please, just call me Shin. It's what my close friends call me."

"Alright, Shin! Thank you... really."

****

After a few more minutes of chatting, the Nurse finally shooed Shinji out of the Office to "let the injured rest", as she says.

Leaving the Nurse's Office, he could see the sky dusked and the pale crescent moon starting to rise from the horizon.

And so, having no other reason to come back at the Training Grounds, seeing as how it was already turning night, he decided to go to his room.

{Shinji POV}

Whew.

I'm not usually good at cheering people up, but I think I did a good job.

Oh, what am I kidding I'm a genius, I definitely did a good job, great even!

I could feel it with my ability...

Moving on,

Man, I didn't know that Erza's childhood was that difficult... Beating kids up because of not being strong enough?... Kinda reminds me of someone else with Fire Abilities...

[A/N: *Ahem* Endeavor *Ahem*.]

And her brother not picking her, even though she was miles better than the ones he picked... They're definitely out to get her. Fucking pricks.

Speaking of Erza, I think she's prettier than usual... Especially if she smiles.

Umu Umu, she will definitely grow up to become a beautiful girl. Though she still wouldn't compare to that beauty Ayano, was it? Don't tell me I already forgot a hot girl's name... Wait! She gave me a card right?

...

I grabbed the card in my pocket and read the contents.

Hmm~ So she's in the Psyches?

And her name is Ayaka. Hmm~ I wonder what her Awakened Ability is...

Hold on... Since this says her name... Doesn't that mean that I have a hot girl's phone number?

Huehuehuehue~

I just hope she doesn't change her number in the future...

But, now that we're on the topic of girls... Relationship. Where am I on that? I mean, I'd like a girlfriend eventually...

In my past life, I was in a lot of relationships... And I mean A LOT.

Uhh... In my younger days, I only dated the girls for sex or pleasure and after a few months, I would usually dump them... Yes, I was a scumbag. I know and acknowledge that. But, emphasis on the 'WAS'.

I did all of those things before I met 'her'. The girl who changed my thinking and thoughts about relationships. My first and last true love...

.

.

.

Eh... Yeuck. It made me cringe too, mate. But, it's true.

Sigh...

When I got into this world, I never once thought about my friends from my past life... But...

Fuck it. Nevermind...

Phew...

I wonder how they're doing... I wonder how Dei's doing... I hope she's doing fine...

****

What did you think of the chapter?

Note:

I doubt any of you would remember, but "Dei" or Delilah was in Chapter 1...