Destiny Knot

18. New Arrival

~==~ Wednesday, March 18, 2015 ~==~

Pierce clung tightly to Ira's left arm, doing his best to avoid everyone else in the busy hallway. Unlike Ira, he didn't take time to learn the layout of their new school. Among all clans, the school of the Akuma Clan was one of the largest.

Ira, clearly annoyed, pulled his arm from Pierce's grip. "Look," He turned to face Pierce. "Following me around at home is one thing, but I don't want these people to get the wrong idea." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Plus, you aren't in the same age group as me, you need to go find your class." Ira turned and headed up a set of stairs that would lead to the 4 year classes.

Pierce just watched, frozen in place, as Ira abandoned him. He had no clue where he was or how he was supposed to find his actual class. He did have a schedule, but that didn't help him get around on his own.

Pierce wandered aimlessly, attempting to match the numbers on his schedule to those on doors. Everything on his schedule, except one, was in the 200s, he was still wandering down a hall of 300s. He had one class on this hall, 313 Intro to Business, but that wasn't until after lunch. He just needed to find his first class, 205 Intro to Demon History, then he could just ask someone else to lead him around. At least, he would do so until he could find Ira again.

A bell rang, which Pierce knew to be the final one of the morning. He sighed in defeat, it was his first day and he's already off to a bad start. The only thing he could do now was keep wandering, if he was lucky then the teacher would understand his tardy. The school is gigantic, so it was a fair excuse for his first day.

Pierce found himself near the clans combat classes, which were up in the 500s number wise. He knew there was no making it to class on time now, the 500s are on the opposite side of the school from what he needed right now. He didn't even know how to find his way back to the front of the school, there's way too many hallways to recount his steps. He sat down on a nearby bench and lowered his head in defeat. "Dammit."

"Are you okay?" A voice came from in front of him. It was another male.

Pierce looked up to see a short, black haired male. Hoping this kid knew where they were, he took a chance and asked. "Where am I right now?"

The guy laughed. "You're near the combat class, why?"

"Is that close to this?" Pierce held up his schedule and pointed to class 205. "I need to get here."

Now the guy laughed even harder. "No, you're across campus from that." He took a deep breath and recomposed himself. "I actually have that class this morning too, I was just running some personal errands, I can lead you to it since I'm on my way back now."

Pierce's eyes lit up. "Really?" He hopped to his feet.

"Yeah, come on." The guy started walking back the way Pierce had come from.

Pierce followed closely, as to avoid getting separated.

"So, are you new too?" Pierce tried to maintain conversation as the silence was more awkward.

"Nope, I've been here for a few years."

"Oh, then why are you in beginner classes?"

"I was a journalist in training, but some circumstances cut that short. I'm taking up classes for now, then I'll resume what I actually came for later on."

"Oh wow, a journalist? You must hate having to be in a class of kids then."

"Believe it or not, I'm among the younger ones. I'm only 17 right now."