"Oi, Teito? It's already seven minutes past four. Hurry up before Bishop Frau starts looking for you." Hakuren waved his hand over the spaced-out brunette's face.
"Right..." Teito has not even taken another step yet when Hakuren's third sentence hit a part of his nerves.
"Hey! What does that perverted bishop have to do with me?" he screamed as his voice echoed through the church corridors.
Hakuren thought his ears were going to ring. "You don't have to shout! Mikage and I will definitely lose our hearing before we even reach old age because of you."
"Oh, sorry" Teito awkwardly replied.
"Have you forgotten that Bishop Frau is the one in charge of moving the sacks of stones and minerals to the church tower with you?"
'Oh, so he was referring to my morning duties,' Teito shrugged. Before he could even reply to his friend's question, a piercing shriek broke the silence along the holy corridors. The two clergy examinees ran toward the direction of the voice. Upon taking a left turn they found a young nun's bloody, lifeless body splattered on the dark marbled floor. What terrified Teito even more was the engraved message the culprit left on the ground: "Give me Teito Klein"
The dark-haired boy fell down to his knees. This sister died because of him.
Hakuren gulped as he witnessed the bloody scene before him. His attention fell onto the culprit's message then at his friend who was quietly trembling and sobbing as he pounded the ground with his fist. The blond student heard footsteps and female voices rushing to their direction. Looking at Teito and analyzing the situation as fast as he could, he met the nuns halfway before they could take a turn to see the bloodied corridor engraved with the dangerous message.
"Good morning, Sisters! Sorry about the alarming noise. A civilian tripped along the hallway. Teito is already assisting her with her sprained ankle. We apologize for disturbing you from you holy morning duties." Hakuren smartly pulled the calmest and most polite expression on his face.
"No, it's okay. Thank you for informing us. We thought something terrible might have happened. The nuns headed back to their assigned cleaning stations, talking about what a nice young man Teito is.
"Good job." Hakuren turned to find Bishop Frau approve of his actions with a serious face.
"Was it the empire again?" Hakuren walked back to the direction of the crime scene along with the taller blond.
"Most likely," Frau answered matter -of -factly.
"Teito..." the clergy examinee stopped on his tracks.
"I know. He has no choice but to be stronger." the bishop spoke in all seriousness.
Bishop Castor and Bishop Labrador cleaned up all the gruesome traces left by the enemy, including the spell-engraved message. Teito remained on his knees, still continuously trembling and silently sobbing.
He felt a hand over his shoulder and heard a familiar voice, "Don't let the enemy's tactics sway you." Frau said firmly.
"God has finally called her soul. There is no doubt that she is already in the heavenly kingdom with the Chief." Labrador smiled gently as he met Teito's sorrowful eyes.
The guilt- stricken lad looked at the lifeless body Castor carried in his arms and ran away from the scene.
Hakuren wanted to run after his friend, but the blond bishop tapped him by the shoulder, signalling him to let the brunette be.
~...xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...~
Teito ran as fast as he could and (whether by subconscious decision or by chance) found himself in front of the fountain like he often did.
