The first day of the introductory classes.
Caecus woke up at seven thirty, since classes would start at nine thirty.
He showered, put on his clothes, putting the pin showing his ranking on his chest.
In a little school bag, he put multiple notebooks for all the different classes, and a pencil case, along with other things like a water bottle.
The blind boy wore the strap of the bag, and looked at the time.
It was eight, and he still had time left for breakfast, so he sent Titus a message, and they both left together.
As they walked to the cafeteria, they engaged in small talk.
"I forgot to ask yesterday. Did you make any friends at the gathering yesterday?" Titus asked, resting his hand on Caecus' shoulder as they walked.
The one who the question was directed at, visibly froze up.
"What's wrong?" the Titanus heir asked, the pitch of his voice going higher at the end of the sentence, due to confusion.
"N-nothing, yes I made a friend yesterday." Caecus moved his head, so he was facing away from Titus.
"Oh okay, I'm glad." the bigger boy just answered, and continued walking.
When they reached the cafeteria, it was way more filled than usual, due to everyone wanting to eat breakfast before the introductory classes start.
The duo grabbed their trays, the cool metal against their skin, and went to the buffet grabbing some food.
Caecus went and grabbed some eggs, along with bread and fruits, sneaking a little chocolate bar onto his tray.
They both sat down on a table meant for four people, but since Titus was a little bit broader than the average student… well he took up space for two.
Eating, Caecus tasted the food.
The eggs were seasoned to perfection, and the bread, which was crispy outside and soft from the inside, accompanied the taste perfectly.
'Mmmmm.'
Enjoying the moment, not one word fell out of either of their mouths. Not because it was awkward or something but because they were both just focused on their food.
Smack.
A tray was put down next to Caecus, and he felt a presence sit down next to him.
A familiar scent entered the blind boy's nose.
When he felt their shoulders touching he flinched together.
'No soul.'
The blind boy just wanted to enjoy his food in peace, and of course someone came to disturb it.
"Good morning, both of you." Nyx said while wearing a content smile on her face.
Titus froze up, stared at Nyx, then looked at her tray, and then at Caecus, his expression saying. "What is she doing here?"
"Young Lady Nyx, may I ask you what perturbed you to come here?" Titus asked, while looking at her hesitantly.
"My… not even saying good morning back…" she smacked Caecus arm lightly, "You too! I thought we were friends?"
Caecus obviously didn't want to be here, looking visibly uncomfortable.
"G-good morning You-."
"No Young Lady for you anymore, we're friends aren't we? Just call me Nyx." she interrupted, her face shifting into a creepy smile after saying that.
'She's just too weird!'
A shiver ran through Caecus.
"Good Morning… N-Nyx." he said, warily.
"Good Job." she hummed satisfiedly, and proceeded to pat Caecus' head.
The entire time Titus was just staring at the interaction perplexedly.
Nyx just started with eating her food, and when she saw that the both of them weren't following, she stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Since when are you two, you know, friends?." Titus answered, feeling that something was deeply wrong here.
"Well, since yesterday at the banquet of course. I've had my eyes on him for a long time now, after all he has a really redeeming personality." Nyx continued picking around in her food. "Aaaand… not to mention– he's really really really cute."
After she said that, heat gathered in Caecus' face, the blood in his cheeks really apparent against his pale skin.
"Look this is what I mean. Of course his looks are very pleasant to look at, but it's his personality too." Throughout saying all that, her voice remained aloof, as if it were simply a fact.
Titus gaze averted to Caecus. "Is she really your friend?" He said in mild surprise..
"Y-yes, she is." Caecus nodded.
The Titanus heir still looked a little suspicious of the Nyx heiress, but decided not to think anything of it, and continued eating.
Caecus followed, feasting on his eggs silently.
When the three of them silently ate, the silent enjoyment from when it was just the two of them was gone, replaced by a quiet awkwardness.
Nyx didn't seem to notice, or she just didn't show that she noticed.
After Caecus finished his eggs and fruit, he took out the chocolate bar.
He noticed Nyx silently eyeing it.
'As an heiress she probably never gets to eat things like chocolate, or generally unhealthy foods…'
Looking at her tray, it was apparent that she ate very cleanly.
"D-do you want a piece?" Caecus asked.
Her face was still as inexpressive as ever, it only really shifted when she was teasing, or smiling creepily.
She stayed silent for a few seconds and then nodded.
'She's getting shy over this? Haha! That's gold!'
He broke the bar in half, and gave her the bigger one.
She uncertainly took it, looking like she didn't know what to do with the bar, and then took a little bite.
"...It's good." she only said.
"I agree." Caecus said, and then took a bite of his own piece.
"Anyways, what classes do you have, Cay?" Nyx asked, turning to him.
'What do you mean Cay?!'
"...Cay?"
"Yes Cay! We are friends so it's only appropriate we call each other nicknames… so I just cut out the second part of your name. Cause it's pronounced Cay-Cuss, so remove the Cuss, and you have Cay."
'What did I do to deserve this?'
"Naturally, no one else is allowed to call you that, right?" After she said 'right' her face shifted back into that creepy smile.
"Y-yes of course. What should I call you then?"
"Hm… Nyx works for now, but I trust you that you'll come up with a nickname of your own in the next few months, okay Cay?" She finished her chocolate bar, and leaned back, stretching.
In response Caecus just concurred by nodding his head up and down.
"M-my classes are the normal main classes, and as side classes I have Weapon Arts, Combat Theory, Soul Theory, Soul Forging, Soul Engineering and Soul Biology." he stammered.
"Some basic fighting classes, and a lot of theory, focusing on artificing hmm? Wanna know mine? It's like we accompany each other perfectly." She said while scooting closer to Caecus than what he was comfortable with, legs touching.
"Considering my scores on the tests, and my ranking I was allowed to take some classes from the second year." Nyx explained. "The fact that me and the Zenith, have rank three soul cores, and are at the manifestation stage, forces us to take the main classes with the second years together, although exploration is still with the first years." She started playing with her hair, twirling it between her fingers.
'They are that good?'
"Anyways, my side classes are Advanced Swordsmanship, Hand to Hand Combat, Advanced Combat Theory, Military Strategy, Soul Theory, Soul Beast Combat, and Ranged Soul Combat." Nyx grabbed Caecus' tray without asking him, and stacked it on top of hers.
"Six classes?"
"Yes, six classes. The last one is important to me, because I want to make my fighting more versatile. Most of them are just available for second years though. As I said, we accompany each other perfectly. You make the weapons, I use them!" She was now poking Caecus' cheek. "It's like we're made for each other huh~"
Titus stopped eating, stared at Nyx again, and then continued.
"Ah right, how often do you train?" Nyx asked Caecus, while now playing with his hair.
'She's way too touchy.'
"Every day, although different days are focused on different muscles–"
"Alright let's train together!"
"...I… I don't think that would really work–"
"Don't worry about me, I can always lower my level to yours, even if we spar." Her arm was now slung over his shoulder. "Or are you scared..?" she whispered with mock worry, mouth right next to his ear.
Caecus shivered when she did that, but still responded. "N-no… I just thought someone like Titus would be a better match for you."
Titus stared at Caecus in betrayal. While Caecus' had an expression that said "I'm sorry".
"No… I don't wanna be with Titus, I wanna be with you Caecus. Titus is not my friend you are! I mean Julius also asked to train with me, but I rejected him because I wanted to train with you!"
"..."
'Well… that is certainly shocking.'
"O-okay sure I'll train with you today and we'll see how it goes– okay?" Caecus tried to remove her arm from his shoulder, but it didn't budge a bit.
"Okay that's a date~" She answered and stood up, carrying both Caecus and her tray away. "See you later!"
When she was gone the duo was silent for a few seconds, and then Titus spoke.
"What the heck was that?"
"I-I don't know… she's kind of weird…" Caecus just answered, deflecting the topic.
"Weird? Caecus you're not getting forced into being her friend are you?" Titus now had cleared his tray, and looked at his friend with worry.
"I mean… I kind of am? What am I supposed to do, say no? Even if I tried pushing her away it wouldn't work."
'I best not reveal anything about the truth.'
"That's true… but have you seen how she acts with everyone else? I mean when we took the entrance exams, she was… completely different with how she acts around you."
"Different?"
Titus stood up to put his tray away, and Caecus grabbed his bag, following his big friend.
"Yes, different, as you heard she rejected Julius. But not simply his proposal to train with her, but anyone else's advances. She was extremely cold, and barely spoke."
'That is weird.'