Chapter 30: A new home

When the boys got into their classroom they found themselves in a predicament. Now that the girl gang knew that Clara and Ciaran were practically siblings, they no longer stayed as a group. On the other side, the boys had heard what their Boss had done and were too scared to stay around him, it didn't help that their parents warned them to keep their distance either.

The two boys didn't really know where to even sit until they saw Clara and Sunny sitting two seats apart at the back.

"Let's go, bro, our ladies are waiting for us." Ciaran nudged his brother.

Rayon was a little surprised. Clara he expected, but he had never seen the other hirl before. His brother being nice, and not faking it towards people who weren't family was so rare, he actually got worried Ciaran might have become emotionally unstable.

"Sunny meet Rayon. She is to Clara what you are to me, kind of. Her parents are criminals, so she was left in one of the city's orphanages. Clara has been taking care of her since the school year began."

Rayon was never good with people, and the awkward situation he was in didn't help either. He wasn't the most knowledgeable person, but he knew that the Empire didn't detain prisoners for prolonged periods of time, not usually at least.

This meant that either the girls' parents were dead, or one of the most notorious criminals in existence.

"Officially hanged." She said and smiled up to her ears.

The boy did not know what to say to that. She, like most people, read him easily. His brother kept scolding him about being too much of an open book.

"Of the record, they tend to our garden. You and aunty even planted those roses last week." Ciaran told him in a whisper.

Rayon looked at them and grasped his mouth with both hands. He knew that the staff in their house had… unique resumes, but he wasn't told much more about it.

'I thought they were small. Like, they stole from dad or something.'

The boy didn't know how foolish his thoughts were. For one, his dad didn't employ anyone mediocre. Simply couldn't stand the notion of it. For another, anyone who could rob the biggest merchant on the continent and survive past the week was anything but ordinary.

"Stop staring at her like that Ray, I have enough on my hands with your idiot brother, I can't have you being a jerk too," Clara told him.

The boy didn't have it in him to talk with Sunny, not just yet so he just apologized and sat next to Clara. Or at least he tried, but he showed his awkward face to his brother, and Ciaran couldn't let a chance like this pass by.

He dove headfirst onto Clara and then landed his butt right on the seat next to her.

"Sit here Ray, you and Sunny need to get acquainted. She is practically our cousin after all."

Clara didn't like it when Ciaran teased his brother like that. Rayon might be stronger than all of them, but he had a gentle heart. She knew the boy could barely look at sunny, because of how rude he thought he had been toward her. She also knew his brother's intentions were mostly pure. Getting the two to break the ice was important, but she knew the imp better than to think his intentions were good.

Whit their little gang war over, and with his visits to the Library restricted, his school life would be boring. And Ciaran loved pain way more than boredom.

'What would happen if I force two introverts together? Is probably what this nasty scheming monkey is thinking.' She thought, refusing to admit that there was a small part of her that wondered the same. In the years they had spent together, Ciaran had influenced her far more than she was willing to admit.

She was about to chew him out on the subject when their teacher walked in. The matter was left unresolved. For the rest of the day, classes proceeded as normal, the only abnormalities were that everyone seemed to be less inclined to speak today and that the two people who usually didn't speak too much spoke the most.

To everyone's surprise, Ciaran and Clara's most of all, Rayon and Sunny had really hit it off. After not knowing how to begin a conversation for the better part of two hours, the two finally started talking. Rayon had repeatedly been told by his mom not to only talk about training, so he talked about what kind of flowers he had planted with her mom.

She didn't know much about her parents so it was a hot topic for her. And from there they talked about anything and everything.

"There goes your source of fun. I am a sorry little brother." Clara whispered to him.

"Are you kidding me, now I just have to wait a few years and I can start operation 'Get Ray a girlfriend', we now even have a willing candidate." He whispered back.

"You two are the worst; you know we can hear you." Said Rayon with a face as red as a tomato.

He knew his brother liked to mess with him, but things got substantially worse when their Big sister joined him. They usually were confronting each other, but when they joined together, usually things ended up in flames, literally. And now they saw him as prayer.

"Not looking for a man right now. Could be persuaded in the future, Ray is cute." Sunny added fuel to the fire.

The boy was speechless. Unlike him, she didn't mind talking to people and lacked any shyness. She just disliked it, but she was more than capable to go toe to toe whit his siblings.

"You vixen, you wanted my brother since day one. I will not let you corrupt him." Ciaran said.

"Too late, you are already on the job. " She bit back.

Clara laughed at his expense. She didn't interact with the girl when she was part of her little girl band, but things were going to change now that it was only the four of them.

They bantered for the rest of the school day, but then it was time for self-study. The three kids didn't like leaving Ciaran by himself but he told them to just go, he had a date with their teacher.

Once all the children had gone into the Maze, Mrs. Elizabeth Parker gestured for him to follow her.

"Let's get you settled in Ciaran."

"You don't like using my first name at the Academy, do you? It sounds too unprofessional. One good thing to come out of this." He laughed.

She looked at him, and to his surprise, she smiled.

"No, actually I dislike calling children by their family names. It was just how I was taught by my mentor, and it stuck with me. I quite like that I can address you directly now. That being said, these kinds of personal talks will happen only when we are alone. Can't have you messing the tempo I am trying to build in the classroom."

He looked at her and didn't know what to say. He expected her to be hostile to him, but genuine friendliness, not that was a genuine surprise.

They got to a small room in the south part of the Academy. The building was not designed to be a place for people to live in, but it had a few rooms for special cases like Ciaran's.

This small one-bedroom apartment had a cozy and functional layout. As you enter, you'll notice the neat and clean interior, with just enough space to move around comfortably. To the side was a small but functional bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink. The bedroom is modest in size but still offers enough space for a small bed and some basic furniture. The window in the bedroom allows natural light to filter in, creating a bright and airy feel. Despite its humble size, this apartment offers a cozy and comfortable living space for one or two people.

"You will live here from now on. There is no personnel here at night, but you will be expected to get back to your home before midnight. But if you ask me, you should be home by eight at most, no point for a kid to be out so late in the night after all."

"Strict as ever I see. Don't you worry, I have nothing to do outside anyway. How is teacher Fia by the way, I had thought she would want to see me today too."

When she heard her friend's name, the old woman sat on his bed and placed her head in her hands.

"She did, she troughs a fit that we didn't let her. Most of the teachers now think she should not be allowed to be near anyone from Year Six and under. She is now under investigation, for nefarious activity."

Ciaran couldn't keep his laugh bound. As a result his teacher just left him alone and went on to attend her other duties.