"What? Is there something on my handsome face?" Acheron asked.Akeno and Sakura stood there their mouths slightly agape due to their amazement at what they had just witnessed.
When Acheron directed his narcissistic comment towards them, they snapped out of their daze.
Sakura deeply bowed in front of Acheron, her heart filled with grat.i.tude and amazement.
"Thank you for saving me Acheron, I don"t know how to thank you"
Akeno seeing Sakura she also bowed,
"Thank you for saving Sakura"
Acheron walked up and motioned them to straighten their back before patting Sakura"s head like he did with children.
"Everything will be fine as long as I am here," Acheron said,
Acheron looked up at Acheron, his words resounded in them, for some reason they knew they could believe his words.
"And you," Acheron said, looking at Akeno before flicking her forehead.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Akeno asked as she held her forehead in pain.
"You are in the expert realm, but you were too slow to protect the person you are supposed to be protecting," Acheron said,
"Hey! How do you I am her bodyguard?!... Ow!" Akeno exclaimed before being flicked again on the forehead.
"That doesn"t matter! What matters is that the only reason Sakura"s face is not caved in is because I was here to stop it. What if I wasn"t here? Huh? You would have just watched Sakura die in front of you. You need more training!" Acheron said.
Akeno buried her chin in her chest, clearly embarra.s.sed and feeling bad since she knew Acheron was right. She has been slacking on her training ever since Acheron left for the month.
"I"m sorry~~ I"ll start taking training more seriously" Akeno said in a low voice.
Acheron patted her head,
"As long as you know your weaknesses, you will improve," Acheron said,
Akeno"s face was bright red and a small smile covered her face while she looked down while Acheron patted her.
She felt a little disappointed when Acheron took his hand off her head but straightened herself up either way.
"Hey, Acheron?" Sakura called,
"How are you so strong?"
Acheron turned to her,
"Oh me?" Acheron answered,
"I eat all my veggies and drink 2 cups of milk every day"
Sakura stomped her feet but quickly calmed down, she looked at Acheron once again with a gaze full of grat.i.tude.
"Thank you once again Acheron, you are a hero"
Acheron shook his head; his face showed a little sadness, but his eyes were emotionless. Seeing that look the girls felt a pang in their heart.
"Hero is not a word people a.s.sociate with my name" Acheron said as he turned to walk away.
The girls stood there staring as his back as he walked away wondering what he meant by that, to them his actions seemed heroic, but it appeared that Acheron didn"t like that word.
Acheron turned around and looked at them,
"Well? Aren"t we supposed to be going somewhere? Or would you girls like to stay here and chat some more?"
Acheron regular smile was back on his face and the girls quickly caught up to him before walking with him at his sides.
When they arrived at the music building, people were coming and going like a bunch of ants at an anthill.
"So? Why are we here again?" asked Acheron,
"We are here because Kotone-san has been making trouble ever since you left and you are the only one she is willing to listen to" answered Sakura,
"Why me? I mean, I know I can be very persuasive and charming, but I hardly know her, you know?" said Acheron,
Akeno was nodding her head to herself behind them, Sakura wasn"t sure if she was agreeing that Acheron hardly knew Kotone or that he was persuasive and charming?
"That"s because she said and I quote "I don"t care what you say, I"ll only listen to Acheron"" said Sakura as she mimicked Kotone"s expressionless face and soft voice.
"Well if you put it like that, then there"s no other choice" Acheron said as he chuckled.
When Acheron reached the last floor of the Music Building, he walked into the concert hall to find Kotone arguing with 2 girls on the stage.
"We need you to do this! Everyone expects you to be the main event! You are this school"s G.o.ddess of music! You need to perform!" One of the girls exclaimed.
"I won"t play as long as Acheron isn"t here to hear me play" Kotone replied calmly.
"Forget about that boy! He has been gone for a month already, you even stopped playing the piano in public because of him! Look around! There"s no one here!" The girl said as she pointed towards the audience seats.
It was then she finally noticed the group of three standing by the doors looking towards them.
Noticing her gaze, Kotone also turned to look, it was when she noticed Acheron that she smiled for the first time in a month.
Kotone quickly rushed towards Acheron leaving the two girls she was arguing with on the stage.
Kotone quickly arrived in front of Acheron before giving a hug.
"Eh?" Acheron exclaimed,
"What the-" Akeno exclaimed with a face full of discontent.
"I didn"t get to hug him! Why should she?!" thought Akeno.
Noticing her friend"s face full of displeasure about Kotone"s antics, Sakura chuckled and gave a knowing smile to Akeno.
Akeno quickly looked away from her best friend before realizing their hug was taking a little too long.
"Okay, Kotone-san! That"s enough!" Akeno quickly got in between both of them and pushed them apart.
"Acheron doesn"t like it"
"Is that true?" asked Kotone looking at up Acheron.
"No" Acheron stated simply.
"Oh Ok" replied Kotone, as she went in for another hug but not before being stopped by Akeno.
Acheron laughed seeing Akeno, he patted her head.
"If you want hugs too, you just have to ask, you know?"
Akeno blushed,
"I-I-idiot! Why would I want a hug?!" Akeno said in a fl.u.s.ter, the beat of her heart and expression quickly betraying her words.
"Uhh excuse me! I don"t want to interrupt your stupid rom-com scene that you created here but Hos.h.i.+ko-san?... We were in the middle of a conversation"
The two girls that accompanied Kotone on the stage finally walked down and joined with the others.
Without even looking, Kotone spoke to them.
"Fine I"ll play in the festival, Acheron is back"
"Hoh~~ Is this the famous Acheron Belau that I have been hearing so much about?" said one of the girls.
"Hm?" Acheron looked at the girl who spoke.
"And who are you?"
"Acheron!" exclaimed Sakura,
"What?" asked Acheron,
"She"s the Student Council President"
"Oh? Really?" Acheron asked in surprise.
He turned back to look at the girl that had spoken to him. He walked up to her and stuck his face right up to her, his hand holding his chin as if checking her out.
He walked around her and looked her up and down. The girl seemed furious that Acheron was so blatantly checking her out.
Acheron a.n.a.lyzed the girl in front of him. Typical black hair, with a typical face and an average body.
There was nothing special about this girl at all, which that was rare in of itself. Ignoring the brand name clothes that she wore nothing stood out other than the band on her arm saying, "Student Council".
"Are you done?" The student president asked in between clenched teeth.
"No, what is your name, girl?" Acheron asked,
"Yamamoto Akari" She responded,
"You are incredibly average, almost to the point it is unbelievable… did you know that?" Acheron asked,
"What did you say?!" exclaimed Akari,
"You don"t stand out at all, how did become student council president?" Acheron asked, he was interested in how average she was.
"You-!!" Akari has never been this humiliated and angered before in her entire life.
Sakura quietly walked up to Acheron from behind and quietly answered Acheron"s question, while the girl next to the president was trying to calm her down.
"Her family are full of politicians; you can say she is half a politician already"
"Oh! That makes more sense, but she doesn"t appear to have the air of a politician" Acheron said,
"She only has the aura of a politician in her office or when she gets serious" Sakura said.
______
Announcements:
1) Many thanks to Otto for the unbelievable pledge of $100! My G.o.d-tier jaw threatened to fall off when I saw it. Thank you for supporting the House of Nazarick.
2) Due to the pledge above I reach a milestone in one of my goals. For that reason, I have released a Character Index chapter and not a moment too soon, since I have read some comments saying that you guys forgot who some of the characters are ever since Acheron left for London. (I read all comments btw) This character index will not only have characters I have introduced but also some that I have come up with and haven"t yet gotten to the point of introducing them into the story. I will try to keep this Index updated and introduced new characters that I spontaneously created with some inspiration.
3)Another chapter will be released tomorrow since I planned to release one yesterday but got too busy with something important.