The sound of a guitar on the mat that sat on the table echoed deep in the room. The surrounding darkness seemed to embrace him lovingly as the servant meditated in silence.
Suddenly, in time with the song, he let out his voice.
"♪When you were here before...♪"
He had returned to this place to rest and keep the mana in his body.
"♪Couldn't look you in the eye...♪"
The song he sang he had found on some cassettes the neighbors had thrown in the trash. Since one's trash is another's treasure, Toru took the cassettes and listened to them silently as he meditated.
***
At the same time, from her room, Gray heard the music and knew what it was about. The tone of the acoustics sounded a bit depressing. That was something Add realized.
"Isn't that a very depressing song? It even sounds like you both have the same twisted tastes."
Gray ignored that. She left the room and headed for the door at the end of the hallway. When she opened the door, she saw Assassin meditating.
The boy's eyes widened.
"'Hi", he said, and instantly the music stopped. A slight draft had pressed the pause button on the stereo. "What's up?", the expression on his face was very calm.
If Gray remembered what happened in the morning, she would say that the person in front of her was not the same as the one she saw before.
"Nothing. I was just stopping by to say hello", she actually remembered something. "And I also remembered that in a few minutes I'll have to go back to the Modern Magecraft Department, do you want to join me?"
Toru looked at her in silence for three seconds. Then he answered as he stood up.
"Sure. I don't see why I should refuse."
Gray's eyes lit up. Even though Toru would obviously go in his dematerialized form, they would still be together all day. But that thought made Gray feel nervous and confused.
'The more the hours go by, the more I want to be with him', for a loner like her that's normal. But more than that, her own feelings were involved. Other than that, to hide her anxiety, she analyzed what Toru was doing earlier. She saw some books lying on the ground and thought about Toru's posture from a few seconds ago. "Uh... you were meditating... Are you in need of mana?"
"A little, yes..."
He was completely blunt. That made Gray realize what she'd done, though....
"I see. So...", she squeezed the end of the cloak with her fingers as she tried to articulate her words. "You want us to do that?"
"... Hm... If it's okay with you, yes."
Again he was blunt.
This servant didn't know the meaning of embarrassment, Gray already knew. Toru simply says what he thinks at the moment. Maybe that's why people take offense at every word that comes out of his mouth. But this time Gray was prepared. She already kissed Toru twice. Kissing him a third time is a no-brainer.
She then walked up to the boy and looked him in the eyes. She shyly stood on her tiptoes and brought her lips close to Toru's lips. She closed her eyes and did the same thing she did yesterday.
Gray held onto Toru's cloak as she tried to stick her tongue in his mouth.
She couldn't see how red her face had gotten, however, she could feel how hot her face had gotten. Still, she continued.
As Toru rested his hands on Gray's waist, Gray slowly slid her hands behind Toru's neck.
"Ah... Angh... Mh..."
It was just like the first time. She could feel something warming up in her body.
Gray didn't understand what this was, but deep down it felt good to her. Every time their tongues caressed each other gently, when the saliva mingled with the heat of both man and woman, Gray feel a pleasurable shiver run down her back.
'Your hands... where are they touching me?'
Toru's hands were on Gray's hips. Toru's hands were larger than Gray's, so she could feel Toru's fingertips brushing her butt.
Something that would normally feel unpleasant, to Gray it was different.
'This... it doesn't bother me... I think...'
Just like this kiss, Gray was feeling good. The heat made her feel like her body would melt at any moment. Toru's arms embraced her lovingly and gently.
"Hah... hah...", she broke away from Toru from the lack of oxygen. She breathed heavily and touched her forehead to Toru's chest.
"Thank you...", he said. Gray looked up at him. Suddenly she felt Toru's hand on her head. "I feel better now."
Ah...
'I don't know if you're cruel or charming...'
Gray was sure that this coldness of Toru's would attract many women. He is so serious and indifferent that it made Gray want to tease him, but she, at the end of it all, is not the kind of person who would do something like that.
Though she still thought of a few ways to annoy this cold-hearted boy.
"Hm... Can we go now?"
For the time being, it's best to let everything move forward calmly.
At Gray's question, Toru nodded.
"Let's go..."
The two of them were hugging, each other so close that it would be inevitable to think of them as a couple.
A boy with a dull look who gave up on life and a girl with an enlightened look, someone who is slowly trying to change.
-By Sakura-
"There are many blurry images running through my mind."
It's Toru's voice.
"No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try to remember, I can't see what those images want to show me."
He is standing in the middle of a field of white flowers and I am standing next to him.
"Why do I feel this emptiness so big in my chest?"
Toru didn't know. Toru didn't understand that his memories together with those people were erased when he returned to this white hell. Although his memories were gone, it seemed that his emotions were still present deep in his soul.
"It hurts..."
And I could feel that pain.
"I feel like I haven't been here for a long time."
The time you were by my side.
"I..."
No matter if Toru tried to remember, his past attacked again in the form of torturous memories.
I saw him cry.
I saw him scream.
I saw him beg for forgiveness.
I saw him wishing for death.
I saw how Toru really is.
He is just a broken person.
And at the end of that road, of all the memories, as that golden being in the sky looked on complacently, Asahi Toru's iron will finally broke.
I felt Toru's desires being erased, I saw his eyes go dull and the expression on his face become sadder than it was ten years ago.
At that moment I understood that this was the servant that I summoned....
-Department of Modern Magecraft-
They walked side by side as they made their way to Lord El-Melloi II's class.
Gray could feel Toru walking beside her even though she couldn't see him.
When they reached the classroom, she sat in the seat farthest away from everyone. After that she received a look from the seats in front of her.
"Svin..."
Although she didn't know it, Svin could sense Toru's putrid smell in the classroom. On top of that, Svin could also feel how that horrible smell was mixed with Gray's smell.
"He seems to dislike me", Toru's voice whispered in Gray's ear.
Gray felt a shiver run through her body as she felt the icy breath of a ghost in her ear.
"I don't think that's true..."
Though nervous, Gray glanced at Svin only to notice that he looked forward again.
'He looks angry.'
He certainly does.
A few seconds later Waver entered the classroom. Waver looked at his students and noticed Gray among them all. He assumed Assassin would be here too, so he nodded calmly looking for a topic to complicate this melee genius's day.
***
"Magecraft is always interesting. It has so many different branches, it's nothing like ninjutsu. It amazes me that so many kids can memorize so many things just to execute a process as simple as lighting a small flame with a stone."
The room is empty and Toru is sitting on the head table. Gray is beside him, looking at Waver.
"The magecraft you use is even more mysterious and intriguing than the magecraft I know", Waver replied. "Though I'm more surprised by the fact that you can hide your presence better."
"That's a sign that my master is recovering fast. She'll wake up any moment now. That's a good thing."
Gray was disappointed. Again that subject came up.
"Now that you're here, you two can take a walk around. Just be careful not to run into the devil", Waver was referring to that blonde-haired 'devil' hiding under the guise of an adorable younger sister.
"Lady Reines is here?"
Waver nodded at Toru's question. After that, as he was walking out of the classroom, he looked at the two teenagers.
"I'll see you guys later. Be sure to do your homework."
"I don't study here", Toru said.
"But you still will. Help Lady while you're at it."
And after that, the man in the scarf and black coat, walked out of the classroom. Toru watched him fade into the doorway and then returned his gaze to Gray.
"Where should we go now? We have some free time. Doing nothing is fine, but it's boring."
Add shifted inside Gray's cloak as if advising her. Gray understood and looked Toru in the eye.
"We could go get something to eat."
"I couldn't, people would see me."
At that, Add's shrill voice echoed off the four walls. "Remember that little butler suit you wore on Iselma? Well, if you still have it, wear it and take this girl out for a bite to eat!"
Gray was elated, but Toru responded before she could say anything.
"Sounds good to me."
Again this guy was solid and direct. He seemed like a completely different person from the day before.
***
The streets of London are very busy with tourists, more so in the area near Big Ben. Hearing so many voices nearby, Gray felt like the first time she arrived in this city. The only thing different was that at this moment she is accompanied by a boy dressed as a butler.
'It's impossible not to notice that...', Gray thought without looking away from the expressionless Toru.
All the people were looking at Toru. He is too Western-style elegant to be Japanese, as well as too handsome to be a human. The looks of women and some men describe how striking it is to see him walking down the street.
A face with fine features like a porcelain dummy, with a cold but captivating gaze and a strangely frightening elegance.
'I didn't realize it until now...'
Toru is just as handsome as Svin and Flat. When he wears clothes other than that dark hood, he certainly looked like the ideal man. But that got Gray thinking about something else.
She looked at herself realizing that she is also wearing a hood that hides her face. She felt like a hypocrite to think that Toru looks better without the hood being that she looks just like him.
"This is it", Toru said, which brought Gray back to reality.
They were standing in front of a coffee shop. Toru walked in not caring much about Gray's opinion. When he walked through the door, he sat down near one of the couples tables and waited for Gray.
Not knowing what to do or say, Gray shyly walked in and sat down in front of Toru.
After that a pretty girl waited on them giving him menus.
Toru ordered a sugar free espresso, which is how this coffee is normally taken. Gray didn't know what to order, so she ordered the same as Toru.
"When I was working I used to drink coffee. The bitter taste is nice for me, how about you?"
"I prefer black tea more."
"Oh, black tea. I like it too", Toru tore off a little piece of the bread and put it in his mouth. "I remember when we were in Adra, Rosalind, Heine Istari's sister, didn't like black tea. That got me thinking about how different children are from adults."
'Children and adults...', that got her thinking something about Toru. They're both practically children. They're both 16 years old. "And where are you at, an adult, a child?"
Toru took a sip of his coffee before answering. "That's what I'd like to know. Am I an emotionless adult? Or am I a whiny child? I could even be both. But it's hard for me to know."
"I see..."
After that neither of them said anything else.
***
When they finished eating, Toru paid the bill and they both left the store.
A few minutes later, both of them were already about to cross that enigmatic bridge. The orange light of the sunset was hitting this part of the world, which made Toru look in the direction of the sun. He stopped halfway across the bridge just to do that, which in the end left Gray waiting in silence.
This girl looked at him carefully. The scene of a boy in the evening light... It was as cliché as it was beautiful. Besides, something about Toru felt so far away, something that made Gray think of something.
'You're so weird... Too weird...'
Of course this guy is weird. It would be weirder if, after all he suffered, his mind was still in perfect condition. Asahi Toru is not only weird, he suffers from various disorders that forged his disturbed personality. This, obviously, is something that no one besides Toru knows.
Maybe that's why Gray felt so much loneliness in Toru.
'And yet I... I can see it in a different way.'
Whoever gets close to the devil is destined to change forever.
Thus Toru smiled slightly. His calm voice, amidst all the bustle of tourists, sounded otherworldly to Gray.
"A sunset or a sunrise. The Rising Sun clan used to have such strange phrases."
Was nostalgia a mere memory?
'That has no meaning to me, but...', that was the conclusion Gray came to.
Surely those words had a deep meaning for this servant who looks at the sun as if it were an old story. Just imagining how Toru felt at this moment made Gray very curious.
Before she could feel the boy's warmth she was already holding his hand.
The people around looked at them. They were far away from this world.
In the crowd, only the two of them existed.
"Would you like some mana?"
It was Gray's cheap excuse to kiss Toru again, but the servant didn't say anything in response. He was just silent, with that soft smile on his face.
Though after a few moments he replied, "I'd like to, but it's not necessary."
He wasn't rejecting her, there was just something different about that moment. It was something that Toru apparently didn't want to ruin.
'Somehow I understand.'
In the warmth of this boy's hand and in his dull-eyed gaze.
Gray slowly tilted her head and touched Toru's shoulder. This time she took Toru's hand with both her hands and squeezed it gently.
"Let's go back home."
"..."
Those words were...
Gray nodded with a gentle smile. This moment was strange, but she felt closer to Toru than ever.
She realized that in moments like these she felt no shame at all. Her heart was always calm when she was next to Toru. What is this feeling?
'What do I feel when I see you?'
Still holding hands, they both walked calmly to cross the bridge.
To the eyes of others Toru and Gray look like a couple of young teenagers walking holding hands. The boy with cold and cruel beauty and the beautiful lovely girl with gray hair and emerald green eyes.
But the ordinary people were not the only ones watching this, for on the other side of the bridge, as Toru and Gray walked away, Svin and Flat watched silently.
Svin was kneeling on the ground, his eyes lost. It looked as if his body would turn to sand and be blown away by the wind. At the same time, Flat was smiling as if he was congratulating this couple.
"Are you jealous, Le Chien?"
"You'd better shut up. I don't want to hear anything from anyone, let alone you."
That feeling that Svin just met will only get bigger with time. It will really be a problem for him, but maybe this young boy from London can overcome it.
To be continued...