He knew he wouldn't get much sleep last night and was fully aware of how tired he would be the next day, but it didn't mean he was prepared to go to school in the morning. Once again, Niven was busy studying for hours while working on his homework. Right after that, he barely had enough time to prepare himself dinner since he had several phone calls to make from his father's business partners.
He didn't understand why he had to go through all these things since his father could've easily done them himself, but he didn't dare to question the man.
After he sluggishly walked out of the dorms, he bumped into Mirren, who seemed like he's been waiting for the Niven for a while. He hopped off the ground and stood right in front of the blond with a charming grin. "Good morning!"
Niven had to blink his eyes several times. He wasn't so certain if he became delusional from the lack of sleep, but after confirming that Mirren really was with him, the boy sighed and nodded tiredly. "H-Hello..."
"Did you not get enough sleep last night? How come you have bags under your eyes? If you were studying for the exams then don't pay so much attention to them, it's not like you need to actually take the tests." Mirren propped his arm around the back shoulders and tugged him close. "You're gonna be one of us soon so it doesn't matter."
"Pardon me... but what did you say?" Niven frowned.
Mirren only stared at him for a second before suddenly remembering that Niven recently enrolled in the academy and didn't know much about this place, which seemed highly peculiar.
"You've noticed our uniforms are much different than the others, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well, it's because only students from the council wear white instead," Mirren said with a shrug. "Isn't that what you're here for? To join the council?"
"Wait, did you just say you're part of them?"
Mirren pointed a finger toward himself, and his grin turned even wider as his eyes grew innocent. "Hmm? Did I say that?"
Niven slowly shook in dread. He definitely had a bad feeling about all of this. How come his father made him go to this place? Really, it hasn't even been a week yet and he couldn't stand the thought of being placed in with other powerful students.
There was bound to be an accident soon.
Mirren noticed the boy's pale face and grinned. "Don't be like that! You have me don't you? That means you'll be with me even more, no one else can pick on you! Isn't that a delight?"
"N-No, I think I-I'll be fine." Niven slowly pushed Mirren's face away from him. "As much as I would... like to play with you, I don't want to be such a bother."
"Of course not! What makes you think so?" Mirren didn't mind Niven's actions and only continued to play around. He reached up and grabbed the blond's hand and entertained their fingers together. "You saw what happened the other day, yes? That student trembled so hard that he was about to piss himself when he noticed it was me he was talking to. If you're with me, no one else can bully you!"
Mirren looked really dashing at the moment, and Niven couldn't help but notice how beautiful the male's smile was when he talked to him. The way he glanced down at him was gentle and his tone was also soft, slowly coaxing him.
But Niven pushed him away once more. He already knew it was part of Mirren's abilities that was doing all the work, he wasn't that genuine.
But even after Niven shook his hand away, Mirren was stupefied. It didn't take long before his grin came back and he stepped closer to Niven. This was really refreshing, it was better than those student who mindlessly followed his orders without any hesitance. It wouldn't be so bad letting a guy like Niven have his own opinion.
"Okay, okay, I know my mistake just now. This time I swear I won't use any of my abilities," Mirren quickly apologized to the smaller male. "You can hit me if you want!"
"Please stop clinging onto me, I'll fall." Niven would've gladly hit the guy off his back if he weren't such a coward. He already knew how much trouble he'll get into in the future because of this guy. He sadly couldn't think of a way to leave him, he had another feeling that Mirren wouldn't leave him alone at all... considering what happened yesterday of all the times he tried to avoid him.
"I can hit him for you, young master." Gabriel came up to the two of them with a soft smile. In his hands was a leash and a collar. He gripped the collar tightly and held it in front for the boys to see. With a mocking smirk, he continued, "What's a little puppy out here doing without its collar? Shall I chain it up and throw it back to its master? I thought Arien came back, he should've been the one to keep an eye on you."
The happy expression dropped from Mirren's face as he gave a death stare to Gabriel, who amusingly looked down at him. Mirren sneered, "Aren't you a little bitch yourself? Always wagging your damn tail around in front of those two brothers and the headmaster, who are you trying to please?"
Ah, did these two not like each other? From Niven's point of view, the two of them couldn't wait to strangle each other's throats. He had the choice of stepped in to break their silent fight or walk away... and he did the most stupidest thing he ever considered to do.
Niven hurriedly stepped in front of Mirren and gave a frown to Gabriel. "Sir, why do you have those in your hands? Could it be this academy actually approves its own staff to chain their students?"
Gabriel gave an awkward chuckle. "Of course not! I was merely joking! Young master, today is the day when you tame your first beast. It's a requirement from the academy after all, and the vice principal also requested it."
Mirren placed his chin on Niven's head before snorting, "How come whenever we were here first, the student councilmen and I didn't get a personal escort? Is satisfying the brothers not enough for you? Do you really need to help my guy out like this?"
It hadn't been five minutes yet these two were already about to kill each other. Niven had a small curiosity to why they were so hostile, but he decided it wasn't worth it when they began to insult each other more.
At the midst of their hatred, Niven could barely stand without nodding his head off, almost falling asleep. He didn't want to let Mirren run late to their first class, so it was either let the two of them continue their banter or speak up once more.
Niven reached up and pinched Mirren's ear, causing the brunet to whine in slight pain. "You can head over to class, I'll just speak with Gabriel for a second."
"You sure? I can always skip out."
"Skipping classes aren't so good for your image," Gabriel replied. "Although you look pretty, your personality is terrible."
"Beat it, scum." Mirren gave the man a dark look. "Did I fucking speak to you?"
"Don't cuss in front of our new student so much, I'll rip that tongue off right now if you don't behave like the mutt you are. Do I have to teach you to sit and roll over? You already did that once before, don't make me have to teach you when to speak." Gabriel's gentle eyes became cold as his tone grew hard at Mirren, who became red in the face.
Instantly, the plants around the three began to wilt and some of the branches fell off from the trees. Mirren spoke once more, "Call me that again and I swear to god I'll fucking make you wish you've never been born. You are the cum shot your mother should've swallowed, you son of a motherfucking cunt."
Such colorful words that came from Mirren... Niven almost trembled in fear. He definitely didn't want to get on this guy's bad side in the future.
But he was right in the crossfire of these two, the blond was sure he might actually get injured. He really did make a mistake of stepping in. As the plants grew dead around them, it was at this point Niven had no doubt that Mirren was using his third ability. He's never seen it before nor has he had the time to think what it was, so he immediately stepped forward and dragged Gabriel out of the way with a sigh.
"Mirren, I'll meet you later in class, okay?"
The brunet had to stop glaring for a moment before raising a brow. "Niven, I can-"
"Gabriel, don't rile him up so much. Aren't you supposed to be setting an example of a calm and collected person? How come you have to act like this, you're already an adult," Niven muttered a bit tiredly. He continued to drag him away as he waved goodbye to Mirren, who didn't even get to say anything else.
Once they were out of Mirren's sight, Niven let go of the blue-haired male with a displeased face. "Sir, if you wanted to argue with my classmate then at least do it somewhere else where no one can look."
"I humbly apologize for allowing a childish banter happen in front of my master." A respectful smile bloomed across the male's face as he bowed to him. "I won't let it happen again, so please be at ease, young master."
"Don't make that face while you're still holding onto that collar." Niven was disturbed at how tight Gabriel was holding onto it, it seemed like he still wanted to go back and choke the brunet to death with that thing.
"Young master, I've already received permission from the vice principal and the headmaster to let you be excused for your classes today," Gabriel began. "Before we were so rudely interrupted-"
"Weren't you the one who started it?"
"Before we were so rudely interrupted by that student, I said to you that beast taming is mandatory for every student to do-"
"I know you're ignoring my words, Gabriel," Niven said with a dull tone.
The man continued on as if Niven never cut in in the first place, "You would've been excused to this activity but unfortunately, you haven't tamed a beast yet. The headmaster wants you to have a familiar, it's very important."
Niven questioned, "What does a familiar even do at this academy besides fight with other familiars?"
"There are some that serve their masters, doing works such as a butler or a maid. Not every familiar is like this, of course, but there are a few students who have creatures that can do more than fight in the arena. Some can even cook as well!" Gabriel happily explained a few more abilities that familiars could do, and it was all about them acting like servants.
Niven only snorted, "Then I'll just let you take the spot then."
Gabriel stopped in surprise. He had to think what the young master said for a few seconds before stammering, "W-What?"
"You basically just described them acting like you. You cook, you clean, you also look out for me, and there are times where you help me with homework over the phone... not to mention the fact you also won't leave me alone," Niven grumbled at the memory. The blonde leaned against a tree before glancing up at Gabriel's embarrassed face. "I also don't plan on fighting anyone so there's no need for a creature to go down to the arena with me."
"But, uh, you have to tame a beast—the headmaster is expecting it," Gabriel refused. "I apologize once again."
"Oh, what a shame then. It's be nice for you to cook for me everyday, I wouldn't have to deal with getting up early in the morning to make some burnt eggs and toast." Niven leaned forward and snatched the collar and leash from the blue-haired male's hands. "Say, you can also cook dinner, right?"
At this moment of their conversation, Gabriel's cheeks turned red again. He didn't really understand why he became this embarrassed, but hearing how much Niven wanted his skills made him somewhat at ease. At the very least, he could be helpful to the boy and assist him in the nearby future.
Seeing the happy look on Gabriel made Niven turn around. He looked a bit stupid. Was Gabriel that pleased to know he was only useful as someone to clean his dorm and to cook for him?
"So where do I find these beasts exactly? I might as well get started as soon as possible if I want to make it back to class," Niven asked.
"We'll start right now!" Gabriel hurriedly lead the blond away from the main buildings of the academy and over to a more discreet part. From there, they walked until they found another large structure.
"The building is fairly larger than some of our other buildings combined. In it, there's different habitats for different beasts. For the first five days of being enrolled in the academy, all students who haven't received their first beasts go inside to tame one. It's not a guarantee that you'll be safe, and not everyone that walks out may leave with a new familiar. But since it's you, you were given two extra days."
Niven crossed his arms as Gabriel spoke. He was curious to how many of these creatures were inside the building, and he wondered how the academy managed to get different environments for the beasts to reside in. The more he thought about it, he began to question if it was also possibility for a student to die in that place.
"Has an accident ever occurred in the place? Has someone died?"
"No, the Wolves and our security guards manage all accidents so no student would get any fatal injuries." Gabriel peered down at the blond with a comforting smile. "Are you nervous since it's just us? Don't worry, I may not look like it but I'm fairly strong enough to protect you."
"That's okay... I'm—I'm sure I can handle it." Niven didn't want to spend additional time with Gabriel, seeing as how he was becoming more resolute to stay by the blond's side at all times.
Gabriel was almost disappointed at his fast rejection, he already knew the boy would say no, but it was always a let down for him. While the two walked closer to the building, Niven could faintly feel a strange sense of energy coming from inside. He turned around to get a peek at Gabriel and saw him place his hand against the building and muttering a small chant, letting a large area open up for Niven to walk in.
"I'll be waiting for you to return, young master." Gabriel encouraged the male with a thumbs up. "I hope you find the right familiar."
Niven shook his head. He really didn't want to go in there. Still, he could only regretfully nod to Gabriel and take a few steps inside. But as soon as he was completely in, the entrance behind him closed up, sealing him inside.
The blond's face paled a bit when he realized what was happening just now. He was stuck inside a place where dangerous and peculiar beasts roamed around.
Ah, he really did it now.