<>One day, Arimane was just wandering in the orphanage to spend time when he arrived at the main hall and saw a gathering of the orphanage"s residents. When he approached to see what was going on, the first thing he saw was the headmistress.
It was the old woman that had brought Arimane to his bed when he arrived years ago. When Arimane looked around he noted that the children were quite excited. At the same time, he saw a group of adults entering and talk to the headmistress.
"Hey, what is going on?" Arimane asked one of the older children. The kid was around sixteen years old but when he looked behind to see who called him, he trembled and froze. Arima was only thirteen but almost everyone here knew him. The genius who had joined Moria"s special forces and was one of their biggest a.s.sets and also the best sniper of the entire orphanage.
If there was a military rank for the orphans, Arimane would be ahead of everyone by a huge margin. That"s why the boy made a salute to him and respectfully greeted him.
"You can stop that. So, what is this?" Arima waved his hand and said.
"Yes," The adolescent relaxed and looked at the group of adults with the headmistress "Today is actually a day where orphans from our orphanage can be adopted by outsiders" He explained.
"What?" Arimane frowned "Do they know who we are at least?"
"Yeah, they know" The orphan smiled wryly "Those people know what kind of installation this place is. Most of them are ex-soldiers or have connections with the army. And a lot of the children here are excited for that, even if they won"t escape the life of a soldier, it"s a dream for them to have parents" He declared.
Arima fell silent and looked at the group of people there. He understood the feeling, to wish for a parent. But he deemed that he didn"t need something like that. He just turned around and walked toward the exit.
The orphan to which he talked to just smiled wryly and focused on the situation at hand. While Arima was leaving, a woman that was in the group of adults happened to spot him and she looked at him until he left.
After leaving the room, Arimane directly went toward the training ground of the squad since he had nothing else to do. When he arrived there, the only people present were Erin, Jin, Tieria, and Tiria. They were not really training as they were just lazing around. Since the squad was pretty active these days, the training would most of the time unfold on the battlefield.
"Where did you go?" Tieria asked when she saw Arimane entering.
"I just went on a stroll. I pa.s.sed by the main hall. I didn"t know that adopting was possible here" He said as he sat down with the two girls and Jin.
"Oh, yeah. We didn"t tell you about it, huh?" The latter exclaimed "What are your thoughts on that? Do you want to have a family?"
Arimane shook his head "It"s not that I want one or not. It may be interesting but I don"t feel like it will be really useful"
"Well, it"s your choice" Tiria shrugged and said. Tieria also nodded.
"Now that you"re here, let"s play a game of poker" Jin said and took out some cards "I can teach you some techniques and tricks to win. Hey, Erin, do you want to play?" He then asked Erin who was leisurely reading a book on a bench.
"Sure" He closed his book and sat down with them. Jin shuffled the pile and gave a hand to everyone "By the way Arimane, I don"t think it"s a bad thing at all to have a family and it"s something worth trying" Erin then said.
Arima was taken off guard by that statement and glanced at Erin. The latter just smiled and took a chip and put in the middle of the table. At the same moment, the cards in his hand suffered a slight change but no one noticed.
When they all revealed their hands, Erin won with a straight flush. Jin grunted "I knew it" He complained and shuffled the cards once more.
Erin smiled and stayed silent "Arimane, keep your eyes open. You have the best observation ability, that"s why he distracted you" Jin declared.
Arima"s eyes widened and he instantly understood what happened. He nodded and concentrated on Erin"s actions during the whole match. In the end, sometimes he saw something strange and others no, but the more he looked, the more he learned.
A few games later, Arimane started winning every time and with each victory, Erin and Jin"s expression darkened more. Tieria and Tiria looked in awe as they didn"t even find out any strange movement from Arimane.
"Mm? What"s wrong?" The latter smiled and asked. The four players were silent. But in their heads, they were basically shouting "(Don"t act innocent like that! It doesn"t suit you!)"
They stopped playing only after an hour when Jin actually abandoned and raised his hands before leaving the room. Everyone shrugged and separated after that.
The sun was setting and as Arimane was going to his room, a voice suddenly resounded in the corridor.
"I finally found you" A woman"s voice jolted Arima"s mind. He turned his head to look behind him and saw a woman, who was around thirty years old, smiling at him. He immediately remembered her as one of the adults he had seen in the main hall earlier.
She had dark eyes and black long hair, her figure wasn"t exceptional but it still was good. She was quite pretty but more than beautiful, Arimane would rather say that she was charming, that"s all. But there was one thing he knew, that woman wasn"t simple.
And Jin also said that those coming here to adopt were quite special. Arima frowned and looked at her. When she saw that, the woman actually stepped back as she was surprised by the look that the child in front of her had in his eyes.
She smiled and approached him "My name is Scathach Blade, you can call me Scatha. Will you become my son?" She gently asked but at the same time, she was quite familiar.
Arima moved and turned around to face her "Why would I accept? Why did you choose me in the first place? I didn"t address you once"
Scatha just smiled in response "I just saw you and I thought that you were a perfect choice"
Arima raised an eyebrow "You didn"t even ask about me to the headmistress?"
She shook her head "No. I just tried to find you because I knew you would be perfect"
"Hey…" Arima blankly stared at her. He found the situation a bit silly "Then give me a good reason to follow you. I"m not against the idea of being part of a family if you want to know. But I want you to give me the motive to do so"
Scatha"s eyes widened in surprise and she chuckled just after "I wasn"t wrong after all. Before I answer, can you give me your name?"
"Arimane"
Scatha nodded "I see, that"s a cool name. I"ll call you Arima from now on, is that okay for you?"
Arimane frowned once more "…sure"
"Then Arima, the reason why you will come with me is simple," She smirked and winked "It will be fun"
Arima was genuinely astounded and his expression changed in consequence. He started laughing really hard just after. Maybe it was the first time he ever laughed like that in his whole life "Fine. You went for it and won the bet" He paused "That"s good enough of a reason for me" He grinned and accepted.
"Then let"s do it once more" Scatha extended her hand "My name is Scathach Blade, let"s get along"
Arima shook her hand and nodded "Sure. My name is Arimane Blade, I share the same opinion" He added Scatha"s name to his own and she smiled for that.
"Then let"s go, the given time is almost over. I have to tell the headmistress" Scatha said as she dragged Arima with her to the main hall.
When they reached their destination, they immediately went to the headmistress. The old woman was shocked to see Arima with Scatha as she gaped at the sight.
"I will adopt him, can you register it for me, Miss Jane" Scatha said to her and the old woman rubbed her eyes for a second.
"Arimane, do you accept?" She asked before doing anything. When Arima nodded, she sighed and took a paper "Then, Scatha, complete this file" She handed it to Scatha along with a pen "Also, Arimane, I"ll notify Moria about this" She then said to Arima.
"Oh, he"s in Moria"s squad?" Scatha raised her head and inquired.
"Yes, you didn"t know? He"s the little genius that we found in front of the orphanage thirteen years ago" Jane said.
"I see. So, it"s him" Scatha muttered and finished the file and gave it back before turning toward Arima "I understand a little better now, I thought it was strange when I first saw you but if you are that famous child and also Moria"s pupil, it all makes sense"
Arima shrugged "You could have asked me"
"You"re not wrong on that" Scatha scratched her hair and said "Let"s go then" She headed toward the front door and opened it.
"Bye, Ma"am" Arima bowed his head to Jane and followed her new parent. The old woman looked at Arima from behind and sighed.
"I didn"t expect him to actually be adopted. Well, he"s an avid learner, I suppose he will be satisfied with Scatha" She muttered and immediately called Moria to inform him.
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After ten minutes of driving, Scatha finally got Arima to her home. When the latter stepped out of the car, he was a bit surprised when he saw the house in front of him.
The whole thing was actually pretty big, there was a huge garden in front of the house which looked very pretty and well kept. It wasn"t really a mansion, but it wasn"t an inaccurate way to describe the house.
"Let"s go in" Scatha entered the house by the front door after unlocking it with a finger imprint scanner. Arima followed her in and admired the interior. As expected, it looked really modern and sophisticated.
"Well, I suppose it"s your new home from now on, right?" Scatha smiled and turned around to look at Arima when they reached the magnificent living room.
"Yeah" Arima looked around and casually answered "What"s your job in the end? I kinda can see that you have military experience but I don"t think you are a soldier"
Scatha tilted her head "Is that first thing you ask? That"s quite rude" She pouted "But, oh well, I can show you. Follow me" She declared and walked toward a certain door in the living room. When she opened it, there was a staircase leading to the underground.
She switched the light on and went down. Arima confusedly stared and also went down the stairs. What was at the end of those stairs was a s.p.a.cious s.p.a.ce, efficiently lightened and you could also hear the sound of the ventilation. Arima observed everything and instantly spotted a big modern stove with all kind of tools around it.
Across the entire room, you could find some cold weapons lying or put against the wall. But there were also a lot of firearms.
"You"re a blacksmith?" Arima frowned and asked.
"Yes" Scatha smiled and responded "I make any kind of weapon that requires metal work. But since most firearms are made in chain these days, my main job is to take custom commands and make them" She explained while taking a strange tool that looked like the combination of a hammer, a knife, and a plier.
Arima had to admit that he was quite interested in the whole thing. Scatha looked at him and smirked "How is it? Do you want to learn?"