41 Sibling's greeting

It was already night when they left the school fair. Aliester, who had already felt a bit better, decided to enjoy with the rest of the guys.

Since Aria's shift was done, she was forced to give the boys a tour around her school. They had tried most of the games, watched some of the performances and pig out on the food stalls.

Only problem they had encountered was that whenever they go, they were the center of attention. Being foreigners and being good-looking made them sight for sore eyes for the girls at school.

"I am dead tired." Aria complained as they were walking home.

Although, she was given a time off by Kanna, she was still required to report in the student council and work with the committees for some errands. "My feet will fall."

"That is to be expected. You have been running around doing errands and troubleshooting problems with Kanna." Aliester said as he eyed his twin. She looked really worn out.

"What's your position in the council anyway?" the mage asked.

"Only a class representative." She murmured.

"I can't believe that you did not become the president. You are a princess. You should have aimed for a higher position." Conrad further commented.

"I like to follow people than to be a leader. Thank you very much!" She retorted. "Kanna is the Student Council President and I am happy serving under her."

She then turned her attention back towards Aliester.

Sensing his younger siblings gaze, he asked. "What?" his instincts was telling him that she was planning something.

Aria gave him a sheepish smile. Her red eyes gleamed with a bit of mischief. "Bro, it has been a long time since we had gone outside together, right?"

Aliester gulped, he never liked it when she smiles like that. "yeah, so…"

"Piggyback." Innocia said as she extended her hands to her brother.

"Piggyback? Aren't you too old to be carried in piggyback?" Aliester asked.

"But I am tireddd…" she childishly whined. "you used to give me piggybacks when we were still kids."

{Are you a kid?} Aliester chided.

The only time that he could remember that Aria had acted like a spoiled brat was when she got injured- that was when she was five years old the time she first learned how to play with wooden swords.

Although she was pampered during her childhood, Aria was never spoiled and was disciplined in Hausen warrior code fashion. So, it was rare for her to ask for something childish.

"Alright! Hop on." Aliester crouched and allowed the girl to get on. "You can serve as my weights."

"Yay! Piggyback!" Aria gleefully shouted. "Go horsey!"

"I am not your horse." Aliester grumbled. "How much do you weigh?" he struggled to get up from the crouching position.

Aria hit his head with a chop. "Don't ask a girl that. It's rude!"

"You look skinny but you weigh a ton."

"You're joking!" she mock-gasped. "I do not weigh that much!"

The other boys just smiled at their banter. It seemed that the young duke had really recovered from the crest transfer earlier.

When they reached the junction between the two streets where the house was located, both Aliester and Aria froze.

"Wait!" Aria made them stop.

"Something is amiss." Aliester muttered while allowing his twin to get down.

The streetlight had been flickering a few times, making them wary of the place.

Aria then decided to open the gate. Being gentlemen, the boys tried to take her place but she told them to stay put.

While advancing to the gate, Aria felt several something whizzed past her.

But before they could check it out, a shadow leaped out from the bushes and attacked.

Aria was able to dodge the attack with a couple of handsprings. The girl landed a few meters away to gain distance.

However, her opponent did not allow her to breathe. The shadow ran and closed their distance along with a kick aimed towards her core.

But the girl was able to fend the attack with a high knee block.

Aliester and the other three would have joined the fight but they dumbfounded when they discovered that the seams their pants were pinned on the ground by throwing knives.

"What's with these?" Blaze asked as he and his companions tried to remove the daggers that held them on their spots.

Aliester gritted out. "Throwing daggers." He seemed to have recognized the blades. "We will have to stay out of this."

"What?" the knight asked as he removed the remaining weapon. "we have to help her."

"you do not have to worry. Aria can take care of herself." Aliester reassured them. "Besides her opponent is not hostile enough to kill her."

"Are you sure?" Blaze asked worriedly.

"This is just a greeting from an older sibling." Aliester said cryptically as he watched his twin.

Aria tried to take her opponent down with a sweep. But the shadow was able to evade her attack and managed to land perfectly a few paces away with a couple of back somersaults.

The shadow produced a staff and began attacking Aria with it.

Out of nowhere the girl pulled out a pair of sticks to counter the staff. Aria was able to block the swings and strikes.

"Where in the world did she hide those weapons?" Perplexed, Daxton asked.

"Maybe in her uniform." Blaze answered with uncertainty. "It could be the reason why she was heavier than she looks."

Though she had a pair of weapons, Aria had a hard time parrying her opponent's staff, until she was disarmed.

Without her pair of sticks Aria continued to fight throwing stars at her opponent but with just a simple swing, the stars were thrown off course.

"Where did those come from?" Conrad asked while referring to the stars. "I am finding it hard to believe that Aria was able to hide those weapons in her clothes."

They watched the fight with interest. Since it was dark and the opponent had a mask on, they could not tell who it was.

They cringed as they saw the girl got hit by the staff.

"That will bruise." The mage winced.

Aliester mumbled to himself. "looks like, the fight is about to end, Aria may be defeated."

Aria did not have the time to evade the staff as her opponent sprinted and swung the weapon, twirling it several times before delivering a powerful strike on the girl.

Innocia was able to grab the staff and lessen the impact but in the process, she got thrown away.

Getting up, she tried to launch a counter attack but she found out that she could no longer move. Looking at her feet, she noticed four stars pinning the seams of her PE uniform pants to the ground.

"Darn it!" she cursed at her defeat.

"I lost again!" she allowed herself to fall down the ground while panting heavily. "I concede, sis!"

Her opponent removed her mask and revealed Anika's face. "You are getting rusty. What had you been doing while I was away? "she asked.

Anika allowed the younger girl to remove the stars that pinned her down. "You have been wallowing in misery and have been slacking off, haven't you?"

"She was tired with the preparation and conduct of school fair." Aliester answered forAria.

Creasing her brows, Anika admonished. "It is not an excuse for slacking."

Turning her attention towards Aliester and the other the males, she asked. "Who are you people?"

"Anika, they are my friends." Aria then introduced them.

"what are you all doing here at this time?" Anika interrogated.

"Ah about that… These guys had something that they want to talk about."