Okumura Syndicate

Chapter 81: Guarding the front

Rou slowly carried Demitris to his dorm, not too far from Aster's, the boy sobbing quietly as he embraced his pal. Rou looked down at Demitris and cuddled him gently, "You can let it all out now, ok? I'll always be here for you.". Demitris was slowly falling asleep in Rou's strong arms, "I hope you get enough sleep before the auction. You'll need it.".

They both smiled at each other before moving on. It was now the morning of the first day of the auction. Every minute seemed to go faster and faster. Aster could barely stand the thought of the mansion being so busy, so he wandered in the garden. He hoped to catch a glimpse of the other members, particularly Fleur, whom he hasn't seen since she was in the infirmary from her fight with Viper He glanced down at the sundial at the centre, and couldn't help but notice he was shaking at the fact it was almost noon.

"Come on, Fleur! You'll get us killed if you're too nervous!", he heard in the distance. He walked as quietly as he could to where he had heard the voice shouting at Fleur, Catoria with an open face greeting him in a loud and cheerful tone. The formally dressed succubus grinned as she glanced at Aster, "Have you changed into your uniform or are you just going to make us look bad?", she asked. Her tone clearly didn't match what she was saying. "Catoria, are you okay?", Aster enquired.

"I must ensure that the syndicates see only the best of us. Fleur here thought it was a good idea to ruin her hair with flowers.", Catoria informed Aster. Fleur was dressed in a satin gown of mint green with pink accents, she was satisfied with the outfit, but shaken by Catoria's comments, he hadn't seen her like this in weeks, it was clear this was out of her comfort zone, "S-sir Edward said the flowers were okay...", she cried.

"That's a relief, right?", he continued, inspecting the flowers that were causing Fleur such embarrassment. "I think they look rather fetching on you, by the way, I don't know why Catoria thought they weren't allowed.". He didn't need to continue putting up with the stress that the auction brought to everyone, but in order to help a friend, he'd put his own desires aside.

"Don't worry about it, they're very pretty.", Catoria snorted. Aster was amused to hear Catoria snort. He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow, she was a good judge of character, if she thought something was funny, then there was likely to be an angle for sarcasm. He didn't bother asking. Aster had his feet firmly in a walking stance and was ready to leave. "That'll be all, Aster.", Catoria said, "Men have no sense of the finer details in these things.", she mumbled.

The clocks in the mansion began to chime twelve booming chimes. On cue, Catoria and Fleur started to head inside. As their footsteps faded in the distance, Aster let out a soft sigh. In this case, he didn't have to make such an effort, she was forced to look to him, and that was something.

The auction had begun, and many members from the four syndicates invited had arrived at the house early, which gave them time before the bidding to wander about, observe the members, and possibly sell to them. One member, a fairly average looking man, came forward, handing his items to Vox to sell off. The members in the arena had no choice but to bid whatever was one the table by one o'clock.

Demitris headed out, greeting people as he walked by to get outside. When he got there, Aster was surprised to see him in such a good mood. As he approached him, Aster realised the reason for it was obvious. "Good afternoon, Aster.", he greeted, "How are you?". "Oh, not bad, I suppose.", sighed the black haired boy". He continued, "They never let me forget how low I stand here, guess we have to stay out here all of the first day.".

"Come on Aster, it isn't too bad. We get to enjoy everything on the second and third days.", Demitris declared. "What suddenly got you so optimistic today?", asked Aster. Demitris shrugged, "Seems I've just woken up this way.", he remarks. "Well I'm glad you're in a better mood than me today.", Aster exclaimed joyfully.

As they headed further into the garden to keep watch, Demitris spotted a lost guest. He approached her. "Excuse me, are you here for the auction?", he asked politely. "Why, yes, can you tell me where to go?", she replied. Demitris guided her in the right direction. "Seems like other than a few confused guests, things are going smoothly.", Demitris points out. "I just hope it stays that way...", responded Aster.