The Aloof Knight

Zion, a young demon knight who is proud to be aloof.
This is a story about him and the lively group of friends that drive him up the wall.

Source: http://www.flight-plan.jp/bmoo/bs061.html

- One Who Seeks Strength -

The weak like to cry and shout,
and the weak like to flock together as well.

That's why I hate crowds.
Making friends with each other, crying on their shoulders...
There's no need to get that close.

All a real friend needs to do is have your back on the battlefield.

I've accepted that I have weaknesses.
So it's hard to avoid being surrounded by the flock.
If this is the way to true strength, then...

But, in this place without heat or tension between others...
Can I really become strong?

- A Rainy Morning -

A heavy, gloomy rain fell. The humidity wrapped itself around everyone and left them feeling dull and heavy. It was a tiring sort of weather, and bad for the wings on one's back as well.

...No, the heaviness around his wings wasn't because of the weather.

"Cut it out!"

Filled with resignation, Zion glared inwardly at the duo that climbed on his wings.

"Seems like you've got a lot of free time, huh?"

Exal, one of the two children grabbing onto Zion's wings, asked him that in a peacemaking tone. If Exal had been the only one climbing on him like a jungle gym, Zion would've been able to punch him in the face, no questions asked.

The problem was the second member of his dynamic duo.

"C'mon, little Lilith is waiting for you!"

Zion glared with barely-contained disgust at the other one, grinning like an idiot as she grabbed his wings: Stayenne.

For some reason, Zion didn't like Stayenne.

"Or what," she said, "are you going to make Lilith cry?"

That sounded like a threat to him.

If he brushed her off and said something lame in response, she'd hit him with a flurry of criticisms.

Zion took a deep breath. All things considered, even the circumstances he'd found himself in were still better than Cain's.

Right now, Cain was stuck with Luca and Celia.

On the table in front of those three were beautiful ribbons of various colours.

It wasn't clear exactly what the two girls were plotting.

"I wonder if I should go with red today? Or maybe pink? In terms of plain beauty, white might beat them both."

Luca pointed at a ribbon made of white lace and spoke in a playful tone.

To be continued…