Marked by Daemons

acquaintances

12:56 pm September 12th 2019
The Association HQ

Sai steps out of the training grounds and spots Director Oda. He waves over to her, and she makes her way to him, earning stares from the rest of the students.

"We have a few things to get sorted before tomorrow," he starts walking, Sai jogging to keep up with his fast pace. "Measurements for your uniform, your lodgings, the funeral..." He glances at her. "It's at four o'clock today."

Her heart sinks. The funeral. She had forgotten all about it. She doesn't want to say goodbye to her parents yet, but she knows she would regret it if she didn't attend.

"Thank you..." she whispers.

Oda only grunts in reply.

The day flies past in a blur; her measurements were taken and the tailor promised to have a set ready for her first thing tomorrow morning, she was given a tour of the Head Quarters and the key to her dorm room. Her room is on a separate floor from the others; Oda takes his duties as her guardian seriously. It's a lonely wing, with five other empty rooms, and the the infirmary on the far East. The nurses' rooms are on the next wing, just a turn away. Oda wished to place her there, but there were no empty rooms.

Remembering her promise to be at the library after lunch, she rushes to the second floor and pauses in front of the glass door. She can see his head bobbing as he reads a book, sitting on the very edge of his seat. She pushes open the door and signs in on the sheet left at the counter.

There's only one name above hers on the sheet, the letters scribbled hastily.

Akane. That's his name. Somehow fitting, she thinks. Mysterious like the boy with the dark hair.

Sai makes her way to the table he's seated at and pulls out a chair keeping her pen and notebook that she borrowed from Oda at the ready. He doesn't look up, deeply absorbed in the novel he is reading.

"Hi," she says. He turns the page, his eyebrows furrowed as he speeds across the pages.

"Akane?" she tries poking him with her pen. He finally looks up, his focused eyes landing on her. She notices that he's wearing fresh clothes and his hair has a wet sheen to it. She suddenly feels very unneat, wishing she had at least brushed her hair after training.

"Hi," he says, taking in her dishevelled self. "Let me guess, Oda took you on a tour right after training."

She stares dumbfoundedly at him. "Y-yes?"

"He does that to everyone, don't worry about it. Where do we start?" He puts his book down gently and thinks for a while. The air is still and silent, the only sounds in the room are their breathing, slowly becoming in sync.

"Right, the Association," he starts. "Hm, it's basically sort of like an academy for hunters. Sometimes if it's a low-grade or middle-grade Daemon the Association sends us students. If it's an upper-grade Daemon the graduates are assigned them as a mission." He thinks some more. "There's been quite an increase in people with the Sight," he says, his eyes becoming focused once again. "As you may have noticed, there are very few older students. There are even fewer graduates of Oda's age. I think it's to do with how there's an increasing number of Daemons these days."

Tears prick at the back of Sai's eyes as she remembers the research her father was doing. She quickly wipes them away. If Akane notices, he doesn't say anything.

"There's also the thing where there are more people with the Sight who don't come from Hinter families."

Sai perks up at this. "Is that why there's a larger number of students my age?"

He hums in agreement. "So we grouped up during training right?" He doesn't wait for an answer before he continues. "There are three grades of Hunters; Novices the students of your age, Semi-grades, the grade I belong to, and Veterans. Although you don't strictly have to be in the same age group if you're more experienced... It's mainly like this because the kids join the Association when they're thirteen."

"So the third group and graduates are both Veterans?"

He laughs softly. "Not exactly, the second and third groups you saw in the training grounds were both Semi-grades. It's grouped up that way for easier practice. You become a Veteran after you graduate."

"Is it the same at the other school too?"

"Yes, I think so. It's because both schools are part of the Association," he plays with the lock of his bangs. "There's no strict rule that this branch is for males and that one is for females, it's just because we mainly focus on combatting and they focus more on learning techniques."

That explains why she never saw her father with any techniques.

"That's why I was excited when you could detect Daemonic energy," he says slowly. "Not many of us have techniques here."

"What about you?" Sai asks.

"I'm one of the few that do."

a little note~

this chapter is a bit shorter
than the others... 

i tried to introduce you to

how things worked at the

association!

hope it was understandable >.<