Darksteel

Chapter 9; That truly awkward moment when one falls asleep in class...

"It's beautiful."

 Nico's gentle voice was what broke Asta from his trance-like state and he nearly dropped his brush, startled. He could get lost in his work for hours, ensnared a world of brushstrokes and ink and now was no exception.

Leaning back to study his art, he was surprised to see a picture of a direwolf among a bed of white roses. And not just any roses, no, they were Winter's Night roses, the kind that only grew in Ethera. As for the direwolf, it lay peacefully in the midst of the roses, sound asleep. 

This was more than just an artwork; this was a memory. 

 "Where did you learn to paint like that?" Nico asked in awe, studying his arm with great interest.

 "My mother taught me... I think." Asta replied distantly, his mind wandering back to his conversation with Mrs.Hodge.

 "What do you mean 'you think'?"

 "I simply don't remember some things about my life before the Academy, that's all." 

Nico shook his black bangs out of his face, and Asta caught a glimpse of thin, delicate features. "You're not the only one."

 Asta frowned. "What do you mean?"

 "A lot of the boys here can't remember things about their homes, families, or where they came from." Nico bit his lip and stared into the distance , "You wouldn't be the first with strange memory loss."

 "What about you?"

 "I remembered that Blue was my brother and that's all I ever needed."

There was a stretch of silence as Asta let the other boy's words sink in. Yet before he could ask another question the chimes rang and they both reluctantly stood from their seats, quickly making their way out of the building, the smell of ink still hanging like a cloud around them.

And as they made their way through the throes of students, Asta noted with a sense of pride that Nico kept his sleeve rolled up, allowing the other boys to gawk at the temporary painting on his skin

The sight gave Asta a warm thrill in his stomach; a sense of accomplishment, it seemed, which was unusual for him, come to think of it.

He usually never felt accomplished about anything.

"What class do you have next?" Nico asked suddenly, breaking him from his thoughts as the two of them made their way down the winding garden paths back toward the mansion.

Pulling out his schedule, Asta scanned his eyes over the paper, his gaze coming to rest on what would be one of his final classes for the day. 

"Lore and Legends; a History of Monsters and Adalain Academy." he said, hoping the class would not be as dreadfully boring as it sounded.

However, Nico's face brightened considerably at the mention of it. "I have that next as well. Jeremiah does too. We can all sit together." 

Asta did not object, realizing at that moment that he was beginning to like Nico more and more and that he had been hoping that they might have a class together at some point or another. For, though he could not say why, he WANTED to see Nico more often; perhaps they would become good friends and Graduate together. 

That is, if Asta didn't get eaten by a Monster first, which was a very likely situation. Especially in his case.

Sighing, Asta shook his head to clear it of his thoughts and focused instead on making his way to his next class, putting one foot in front of the other until they reached their destination.