Enjoy the Silence [ open ]

What was this? A hallway with no one in it? Absurd! But it was true. Arthur peeked down a path off what one might consider the main hallway. It definitely appeared to be empty, which was unusual for this school. He wasn't even sure he had ever seen a hallway remotely empty, so to see one completely free of students or staff was a surprise. A pleasant surprise.

Arthur slipped out of the main hallway and down this empty path, clutching a book to his chest as he did so. He still hadn't seen anyone. He wondered why. Was this hallway normally like this? Oh, how he hoped so. He had yet to find a quiet place in this school where he could actually sit back and relax with a book. He couldn't even find peace in the library most of the time. But even if this was just a one time thing, he could be happy with that. Just a moment to himself would put him in a fantastic mood.

Skipping class wasn't something that he would normally do. There wasn't anything about this day in particular that made it okay to just not show up to his class. Arthur simply didn't want to. He would consider himself a good student, diligent in his studies and whatnot. However, even the best of students grew tired of class sometime. Right? Well, he would tell himself that even if it was just to make an excuse for himself.

Once he deemed himself far enough down the hall, Arthur sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. While he could still hear voices filtering from other parts of the building, it wasn't nearly as loud where he was. How nice. Sure that this peace wouldn't last, Arthur flipped open his book. He would enjoy this time alone while it lasted.

Alfred had been late to class. Surprising, no, not at all. He was always late. But what did it matter anyway? It's not like he tried to be late to class, it just happened. It wasn't his fault if he had to catch up with a buddy about a test or something about training. Or even the good news that someone got a new girlfriend! All these things were way too important for that bell.

Stein did not agree with that.

Out of all the teachers, Stein was the most strict about the bell. He may let it slide if it was just by a couple seconds, but sometimes if you were a few minutes, or, like Alfred, ten, minutes late, he wouldn't let you in. Now, you would get detention later for this, but Alfred found these punishments to be fun, since he never stayed in one place. These punishments gave way for time to wander around or train. Even talk to some of his buddies who skipped class! What a cool punishment!

And that was what brought him shuffling down the clear hall with his hands stuffed in his jacket, absentmindedly wondering how many tiles were on the ground as he tried to find something to do for the remaining class period. And that was when he saw just the entertainment he had been looking for.

Out of nowhere there was that quiet British kid he would see in some of his classes. The kid was kinda smart and always had his face in a book, to which lead Alfred to believe he had no friends. But what he saw before him made him question what he had been thinking. If the kid was such a good student, why was he here? Come to think of it, they had this class together.

His curiosity took over and he sauntered his way up to the older student curled up reading some book. Alfred peered above him and loomed over the crouching elder with a small frown and a stoic face, though his blue eyes were shimmering with excitement to have found something to do. "I know you. Class already started ten minutes ago, what are you doin'?" He asked, tilting his head.

Ivan isn't usually the type of person who would skip class. There are times when he would be so late that he decided that there wasn't any point to it and just miss the whole period, but those were rare and far in between. But today, he felt like skipping all of his classes. He had been more on the "destructive side" lately and perhaps a day of rest might make things better.

He walked silently, his footsteps barely making a sound in a way which is pretty odd for someone as big as him.

Ivan raised an eyebrow when he saw another student sitting by a wall with a book. He seemed to be of the studious type, so why would he be skipping class? One could easily get away with reading something else during a lecture so long as they aren't called by the teacher. There was another blonde too. This boy seemed a lot more lax, and Ivan thought he saw him before a couple times, usually fighting alone with a meister and weapon.

"This is an... odd combination," he remarked, "A serious student skipping school to read with someone who only cares about training. Is it coincidence or do you two know each other?"

The ends of Ivan's scarf flickered a bit and he put a hand on them to stop the movement. Strange, the scarf only acts like that in the presence of a witch. Perhaps one of these two guys was also a witch student? The thought of it almost made him feel relieved, since although many witches were allied with Shibusen, there aren't any that Ivan know of who are actually students of the school besides himself.

"Hm?" Alfred's head tilted up and he saw just who had spoken to him and the kid sitting against the wall and reading. He blinked a bit in surprise at who it was. He knew this guy pretty well.

Alfred couldn't remember if he had a class with this giant, but it didn't matter since he wasn't hard to miss. His friends had told him stories about him being as scary as Stein was and ready to rip someone's head off if you pissed him off. A lot of people were scared of this guy.

Strangely enough, Alfred was never that afraid of him.

Then again, Alfred was a bull-headed young man who thought nothing could touch him. Aside from that, he had actually never had a reason to be afraid of this guy. He'd never had a moment where he'd spoken to him, let alone was ever alone with him. Hell, he didn't even know for sure if this guy was a weapon or not!

"He's in my class n' I was wonderin' why someone like him is skipping." The boy answered, hands still stuffed in his pockets, observing the person before him. "And aren't you always in class too?" This was weird, he had never seen either of these two wandering the halls, and he was damn sure he would now if that tall guy was at any time.

Just as he thought, he wasn't alone for very long. In fact, he had only been a few pages into reading before he found someone was looming over him, breaking the bit of silence in the hallway with his question. Without looking up from his book, Arthur responded with, "I'm reading, what does it look like?" He ignored the bit about class. He was well aware that class had started ten minutes earlier. He continued reading, hoping the other boy would take a hint and leave.

Luck was not on his side as a second boy happened to stop by, speaking his own questions. Arthur sighed and looked up, taking in the appearances of the two people standing before him. He knew both of these people, vaguely. He couldn't recall either of their names, but it wasn't important. He knew one was rather obnoxious, you could tell by just looking at him, and the other was a bit scary. Neither of them were people Arthur would consider associating himself with, and yet here they were, destroying his peaceful moment.

"Is it really so odd for me to skip class?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing. Really, he knew he wasn't the type to skip, but he didn't think it was that strange. "What right do you two have to question me when you're both obviously doing the same thing?" He didn't know either of them well enough to judge if they were 'serious' students or not, although somehow he doubted it. Still, even if they weren't as diligent as he was, most of the time, that didn't give them more of a right to skip than he had.

"Because you're a goody-goody?" Alfred's response was more of a question than anything, leaning back down to look at the boy reading. "And I was going to class, but then I got locked out, so I'm not skipping, I'm just not allowed in!" Alfred crossed his arms and gave a bit of a smile like he was superior.

That's not to say he didn't skip every now and again. No, he did skip, but he wasn't gonna take credit for this as a skipping when it wasn't. "Call me insane, but usually goody-goody kids don't go around skipping class." The honey blond weapon shrugged with a light sigh.

He was trying to recall the names of the two in the hallway with him. He was pretty sure the kid sitting down's name started with an 'A'. He never payed attention when role was being taken. That was a time for paper football. The larger dude with the scarf he hadn't the slightest clue about. People always just called him 'The creepy Giant Russian'. To which, upon seeing him and hearing him talk, Alfred could see how this nickname came to be. Now all this thinking was bugging him.

"So who the heck are all ya? You probably know me, since I'm the hero and all!" He pointed his thumb to his chest, somehow turning the conversation to himself no matter what.

"Well, one doesn't usually see a student like you in the halls after class has already started." Not that Ivan could say much about it, since he himself is a pretty good student, though not a nerd or anything of the sort, "And I have my own personal reasons for skipping class."

"Does that happen to you a lot, getting locked out of class?" He thought he had seen the American before through the door windows during class when he occasionally spaced out and had his eyes wander around the classroom.

Ivan's scarf flickered again at the ends. He didn't bother pushing it back down this time since it's just a minor irritation. Even if there was another witch around, it probably wasn't going to be a source of any danger and he doubted that the boy with the cowlick had any magical abilities. The boy with the book was another thing though...

His thoughts were interrupted when the cowlick boy spoke again. Ivan certainly didn't remember his name, nor hear anything about him being heroic. Probably just another one of those arrogant students who claim to be the best when they really aren't that competent at all. They're rather annoying to deal with and the thought of having to deal with someone who claims to be the ultimate hero makes him want to sigh and facepalm.

"I don't think I've heard of you, but let me introduce myself anyway." Ivan said with a small (but fake) smile, "I'm Ivan Braginsky, witch meister."

Alfred blinked to the man he now knew as 'Ivan Branabanananadingdong'. Okay... he made up the last name. Something Russian, he knew that. It briefly crossed his mind if this guy could be a Communist, but he was a student here, and Alfred would know if there was Communist stuff lurking around!

He was a witch too? For some reason witches freaked him out. The evil ones did. And for some reason he just thought every witch was seriously evil. But he did know that Death let witch meisters into the school so long as they sided with Shibusen, so he didn't have to beat this guy down.

That's what he told himself.

"Uh, well sorta... Sometimes he lets me in and other times I'm fighting outside and yeah." He got kicked out enough times for it to be common, but not enough for him to fail out of class, and he somehow still knew what was going on.

He felt a flicker of rage at hearing this guy hadn't heard of him either. "I'm Alfred F. Jones! Never forget that name! I'm the hero of Shibusen! I will become the greatest Death Scythe too, even if I gotta do it all by myself! Then I can protect everyone!" The blond stated with a grin. His introduction was something he took pride in. After all, that was who he was!

Arthur snorted at the annoying boy's comment. "A goody-goody? I have no bloody idea what that even means." from the context, he could take a guess. He didn't dwell on it, really, when the American continued to talk. Arthur ignored most of what he said, only aiming a, "You're insane." to him before turning his attention to the larger student with them.

"No one ever said I am a perfect student. I just wanted a bit of time to myself." he told them honestly. Perhaps having them around was his punishment for skipping class. It seemed like punishment enough. Really, it didn't look like either of them would be leaving any time soon. With a sigh, he snapped his book shut. He highly doubted he'd have any more time to read now.

With the book closed, Arthur focused on the other boys as they introduced themselves. He had an interest in the Russian when he heard him mention his being a witch. Arthur didn't have a knack for pointing out other witches. Didn't care enough, honestly. "Ah, you're a witch meister too? How interesting." It wasn't that interesting, but he had never really met another witch in this school.

The American's introduction only annoyed him further. "Listen, Alfred, why don't you practice being a hero by shutting you're mouth? I swear, I'm going to go deaf if you don't lower the volume." Perhaps that was rude, but a hero, really? This boy didn't look like a hero, and certainly not Death Scythe material.

"Arthur Kirkland, a witch meister, as I mentioned before. It's a pleasure to meet you both." he said in a dull voice, clearly lying. This wasn't a pleasant meeting in the least, but he was a so-called gentleman. He had been rude enough already.

It was obvious that the Brit was getting annoyed by this, but either the cowlick boy- Alfred is his name- was good at pretending he's oblivious or he was actually oblivious enough to not notice this.

"I do have to agree with him on that," Ivan said to Alfred, "You do speak a bit loudly, and it's not like we're in the cafeteria or anything." He had originally decided to skip class for some peace and quiet, but it seems that he'll be getting little of that today. Well, so long as nothing big happens, skipping class might be worth the time.

Oh? So the Brit's also a witch meister. No wonder his scarf had been acting out a bit, "Ah, I've never met another witch meister around here before. So that's why my scarf had been flicking a bit. What type of magic do you specialize in?" Perhaps they could practice their magic together later on, after learning about each other a bit more.

He wondered if Alfred would feel intimidated or anything by that, since many people are not quite used to meisters/weapons working with witches. There's that rather bothersome stereotype that witches just like to go around making chaos and are forever Shibusen's enemies. Things have changed since then, but bias dies hard.

Alfred pouted to the blond. "Are all witches as dull and crabby as you two?" He huffed, a frown appearing on his face. It looked odd on him. The boy's demeanor had changed suddenly at the spitfire insults from Arthur.

He didn't feel all too comfortable around these witches, he had never really met any, and only learned about the evils they had done. His opinion of them were only that he had to eat a soul of one eventually, and they were against him and needed to be killed anyway. It was odd to see these two who were students and witches all the same. But Alfred didn't seem intimidated, he did a good job of keeping himself calm on the outside.

"And I said goody-goody as in you were a kid who would never do anything bad. Read the rules and follow them to the 'T'." The young weapon further explained, slightly slow like he was talking to someone who was mentally challenged just to annoy him. How did he not know what a goody-goody was anyway? And that's what you got for calling him crazy!

His anger flared at the words the two said about his abilities. "Argh! Shut up! I am a hero!" Alfred growled, blades appearing off his shoulders, gleaming a blue as his eyes, the ferocity of it's gaze was akin to an angry fire. "If you doubt that I'll show you how strong I am!"

"I couldn't say. I haven't met many witches." Arthur said, laughing a bit at the expression on Alfred's face. The frown didn't suit him, but that was probably what made it humorous. "Honestly, I wouldn't act like this if you weren't so annoying." And if it wasn't so entertaining to see him look upset.

The annoying boy was entertaining, but Arthur looked at Ivan again. He could have a better conversation, he felt, with this one. "I haven't met any others either." he said, his gaze flickering to the scarf the Russian was wearing. He hadn't noticed it flicking before. "I specialise in earth magic. It's more for defense, really. What about you?" He wrinkled his nose when he thought of his own abilities. He wouldn't say that he was pleased with what he could do. All of his abilities seemed like something one would use when running away from a fight. He wasn't the type to back down.

Thinking of a fight, he noted that annoying-boy was getting angry. He snorted, calmly retorting, "You're threatening us? Some hero you are." His eyes were drawn to the blades that appeared off of Alfred. They did look powerful. He had no doubt that Alfred could beat him in a fight, which was irritating to think.

Alfred's frowning continued and he stared at them, not understanding anything they were talking about. Earth Magic? He had no idea what that meant. You could throw rocks at people? He remembered hearing of a story where there was a witch once who used snakes and another who used frogs all the time.

"I'm not annoying!" The young man protested, crossing his arms, the blades gleaming when he leaned into his left knee a bit, slouching slightly. He didn't get this crap, people calling him annoying. He wasn't annoying, other people were just too boring. He pouted indignantly, but the look in his eyes and the way his body was relaxed showed he had calmed substantially. He wondered to himself why Arthur didn't meet other witches. That sounded kinda lonely, and Alfred found himself relating to him slightly, being the only weapon in his family. (And being locked away in his room, but that's a bit different).

A smirk appeared on the blond's face. "You were doubting my hero abilities, so if I need to prove them, I will, but I won't hurt anyone who doesn't want to fight back unless they're a Keishen Egg!" He declared.

Ivan chuckled, "Well, I'm sure that not all of us witches are as loud and brash as you." Not that he would know for sure, since he had never met any other witch before now.

Earth magic? Yes, that type of magic would certainly be good for defense, and could probably work for creating some sort of armor or barriers. Good for tiring out your opponent, "I use light and dark magic, and it's strong enough for me to be without a weapon most of the time." Well, maybe not always with light magic, but this was very much true with dark magic, despite the... consequences of using dark-related spells. No Ivan, don't think about it. The reason you skipped class in the first place was because of the dark magic.

He couldn't help but to smile a bit when Alfred gave a pout. How... amusing, "I doubt you'd be able to win against both of us if you tried to fight anyway," The scythe did look pretty strong, but Ivan was sure he'd be able to win if he really tried and maybe use a tiny bit of... no. Not thinking about that again. Not now, not ever, at least until he's able to control it without becoming too... destructive, "Besides, we shouldn't start a fight in the hallways. Teachers would be angry enough at us for skipping class, let alone getting into a brawl and possibly destroying a classroom."

"Well that sounds boring." Alfred pouted. "Witches sound like they're dull." Duller than his blades after slicing through a tree. The young weapon listened on and off, catching the word 'dark magic'. Didn't he hear once that stuff was bad? "You can fight without a weapon?" He asked, surprised. Usually meisters were useless without a weapon. It was sometimes the same with weapons. Alfred wasn't totally useless, but it would be easier with a meister.

"The teachers get angry enough at me already, and I bet you couldn't beat me just using your magic." His chest puffed out a bit, a grin passing his face. He felt like he was just blowing smoke. He felt like if he did fight, this guy would probably be up to par with him. It was just the way he stood.

The blades sunk from his arms and he continued to lean a bit. He didn't find a reason to keep them out. And it was hard to keep them out and stay calm.

"Of course I can, I'm both a witch and a meister. And I've been without a weapon for quite some time anyway," Ivan paused for a second. He was fond of his last weapon, who was a grenade launcher. He couldn't remember quite what happened to him... Why had they parted in the first place again? There weren't any major conflicts between the two of them, "I haven't found another suitable weapon yet, unfortunately. Are any of you paired up with someone else?"

"Oh really? I beg to differ." Ivan replied with a malicious glint in his eyes. For just a moment he thought about how he could beat the American so hard that he... Ivan shook the thought away. Ugh, why does the "sway" seem to come up more often nowadays? The war might not be as active as it was a couple years ago, but it's still there and he shouldn't be worried about his own sanity out of all things.

He leaned himself a bit on the wall and crossed his arms. Well, at least the weapon was now back in full human form.

"I didn't think anyone's magic was that strong." Alfred murmured, putting his hands in his jean pockets, still leaning a bit and gazing boredly at Ivan. There was something off about him. Something he felt like he was familiar with. But, he didn't know how to explain it, even to himself.

The blond sighed. "I never had a meister." He huffed in a bit of embarrassment. The boy hated that he didn't have one, it made him feel slightly useless. Then again, he had that bad wavelength that clashed with far too many, so he supposed he had gotten used to the idea of not ever having a partner. He didn't much know about witches, but their magic was apparently strong.

"How do you learn to do magic stuff anyway?" He supposed it was like how he turned his arm into a weapon when he was only three. On accident.

"Deny it if you want, but you are annoying." Arthur said, snickering at Alfred's pout. If only a little, but he couldn't honestly say he was very annoyed at the moment. Not anymore, at least, despite the fact that his quiet moment had ended. Somehow he found himself growing interested in the two.

Arthur was somewhat surprised hearing Ivan could fight without a weapon, but more envious than anything. Ah, if only he could do the same! Honestly, he wasn't even sure he would be able to find a weapon that he could put up with, or that would want to be his partner. He wasn't the most popular person around the school. Which was... understandable, but still. He felt a bit useless.

He had been rather quiet, content with letting the other two converse. He didn't have much input anyway, completely unsure what he would say. For the most part. Alfred seemed rather embarrassed to admit he never had a meister. Arthur felt sympathetic, never having a weapon himself. "I have yet to find a weapon." he said simply.

How had he learned to do magic? He couldn't remember. Perhaps his parents had taught him? Or had it come naturally? Without a proper answer, Arthur kept his mouth shut, content again to let the conversation drift without him.

[ Aaah, whoops, sorry I haven't responded in a while. ^^;; I apologise also for the lameness of this. ]

"Yeah? Well... your eyebrows are huge! There, now we both know something obvious!" Alfred retorted quite childishly. The blond curled his arms into a cross further, huffing. Being called annoying was actually quite annoying to him. See, this is why he knew everyone would love him when he ended this war. Then everyone would be like: 'Oh man! We were wrong about Alfred!'

He was a little surprised to hear Arthur hadn't found a weapon. Wasn't he older? Well, that didn't surprise him, it was more that Arthur just sorta struck him as someone who would be all quiet and fit with anyone. Like someone who escaped his mind right now. Though, he supposed looks could be deceiving. After all, here he was being called annoying and he was acting all grumpy like an old man. Maybe that's why.

Then there was Ivan. He was starting to get the chills when he would lock eyes with this guy. It was just something he felt. It was confusing and random at times, something in Ivan's eyes that honestly frightened him (Not that he'd ever tell). Ivan had a weapon it seemed. He wouldn't be surprised if he scared them off... or like... took him to a dark corner to rip all their limbs off. Like that scary movie he saw.

[Daww it's okay XD]

Ivan chuckled, amused by the little quarrel the other two were having. It was short-lived however, since Arthur seemed to not want to be part of this or if he did, didn't have all that much to say.

"Well then, how do you weapons learn about all your weapon stuff?" he asked back. Ivan had always known he was a witch because of the teasing he had gotten in his earlier years and had eventually learned his magic through a couple of incidents and practice. Were weapons aware of who they were in the beginning too? He assumed that it would be seen as a better status towards more people than a witch.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. So neither of them had ever had a partner, "A shame. Having a partner can be rather fun, except when an argument happens of course."

A lightbulb flashed over his head... literally. Sometimes when he imagined a mental image, his light magic would make an illusion from it, "Why don't you two try to see if you can work together? I've seen some people pair up with another person after both haven't been able to find anyone for a long while."

"It's not something I like remembering." Alfred's eyes fell and his childish voice adopted a more serious tone. "I dunno what it is, kinda like a switch you have somewhere, and you imagine turning it on and where you want the weapon to be on your body, then it's just sorta, there." He paused. "But I didn't learn 'till I was three and then my dad hated me cuz I wasn't his real son and all, being a weapon proved it since he was a meister and so was my mom. Being a weapon wasn't a good thing, it just reminded me I didn't really belong." Alfred gave a half-hearted shrug. "But, oh well."

He flinched when the light appeared on his head. That was creepy. A sudden chuckle sounded in the young weapon's throat. "You think he can handle me?" Alfred took a step up to Arthur, hands on his hips like he was some older, stronger person looking down on another. It almost looked as if Alfred would refuse such a weird idea, but something made him hold out his hand. "Well, let's see?" He grinned.

With a look of annoyance, one 'huge eyebrow' twitching, Arthur decided to end that argument there. Though he did realise that his eyebrows were a bit... massive, he didn't want people to point it out to him. It wasn't like he could help it. After all, these were his eyebrows trimmed. He wondered what people would think if he really let his eyebrows grow. It would be only slightly amusing, before the insults started to pop out.

Arthur would admit that Alfred's story depressed him slightly. Why was he okay with just saying all that to two people he hardly knew? He had a sudden urge to hug Alfred, but shook it off just as quickly as the urge had come. If anything, that would just make him seem creepy.

But, he could not dwell on that for long before a flash of light distracted him. "Pair up with him?" Somehow Arthur could not see that happening. And the way Alfred stood over him like he was better than him only served to piss Arthur off. Why would he want to be partners with this fool? Yet, he didn't refuse the offer. He shook Alfred's hand, looking rather indifferent as he said, "It wouldn't hurt to try."

Alfred smirked and nodded. "Let's try this then!" A blue light starting to cover his hand, up his arm and around his body. It slowly morphed and turned, his body becoming the light and becoming smaller up until he became a dark ebony rod with a small handle in Arthur's hand.

Alfred's blades appeared, one to the right at the top, one at the bottom to the left. Paint splatters of his favorite colors (red, white, and blue) decorated it. The same color stripe accompanied the top and bottom along with the half-squares that held onto the blades and served as footstands.

After he transformed, which was the first step, he set himself in waiting to see if Arthur could hold him. Hopefully he wouldn't make his soul wave too strong and hurt him like so many horrible shock-waves before.