As expected, when Araki slowly opened his eyes the sun had yet to rise, his room was still dark, and the employees still preparing for the day to come. If he focused, he could hear the sound of footsteps below, but listening to people walking about had never been one of Araki’s hobbies. He felt a bit sore as he stood himself up, no doubt his body protesting the odd position he had fell asleep in last night, but it wasn’t anything a bit of exercise wouldn’t sort out. Not in the mood for that at the moment though, Araki figured he should go find Richard and ask about a bath. It was early enough that he shouldn’t have had to worry about dealing with the pompous assholes that were Fion’s family. Hopefully. ---- It wasn’t too hard for Araki to find Fion’s attendant most of the time. Largely because the other servants didn’t want or feel like dealing with someone with his stature or nature so they were quick to bring him to the older employee. The maid took her leave almost immediately after Richard was in sight, and he didn’t spare her a glance as he made his way over. He wasn’t particularly trying to be stealthy, nor was the older employee so careless as to miss his presence. Straightening his posture, Richard turned from the task that had been at hand to address the hybrid in his usual polite tone, [b]“Quite early, but what did you need Araki?”[/b] Resisting the urge to fiddle or play with the long strands of white hair was the usual when he dealt with Richard. Out of the people Araki had the opportunity to meet, Richard was perhaps one of the hardest to deal with. While respect wasn’t entirely unknown to Araki, it was usually wasn’t without strings; be it won out of fear, or some ulterior motive on the other’s part. It might have simply been years of serving the Seyour family, but if it was Araki couldn’t find any hint on the man’s part. Then again, he was probably several times younger than the man in question, so Araki was hardly the best judge. All that aside though, Araki nodded his head several times in response before he said, [b]“Is the bath open at this time?"[/b] [b]“There should…”[/b] ---- Feeling a great deal refreshed after a washdown, even if it paled to what Courtright had offered at the university, Araki had spent a bit of time wondering what to do today. It was frankly the first time he had done so for a while now. As far as he knew, he was expected to attend school again today albeit he had no idea when it actually started now that he thought about it. Attendance wasn’t exactly enforced, not to his knowledge at the least, so it wasn’t like he had to go… --- Eventually after mulling over his thoughts and finding no answers, Araki decided that he could bear with “school” for another day at the least. Courtright had thrown him in at the end of the school day, or that’s what Araki assumed given he had only stuck around for an hour or so before the other children had been dismissed. He could see how much he wanted to escape after a full day in the building, surrounded by the kids, before he made a decision regarding “school”. --- He arrived at the school’s gates in the same manner he had left the evening prior, namely dropping like a rock from the roof of a nearby building. If the children running through the building’s doors were any indication then he had arrived at just the perfect time, or the worst depending on one’s perspective. The moment he landed on the ground, numerous sets of eyes swung to look at whatever had made the ground underneath their feet rumble. [b]“Damn it,[/b]” he managed to whisper before he was mobbed by the unruly children. --- With Gael’s help, Araki had managed to get the children off of him, but some of them were damn persistant. Nestled back into his original classroom and once again surrounded by the other chilren, he couldn’t help but sigh as he felt his head jerk around ever so slightly. No doubt his white hair was fascinating… which actually might have been the case, seeing as it did feel quite different compared to others’. He would have closed his eyes to try and relax had some movement by the window not drawn his attention instead. Thankfully, even children could feel the change that came over Araki as his body tensed momentarily. The laughter of a familiar voice reached Araki soon enough as the window was cracked open, and he groaned a bit as Fion peered in through the window. The kids seemed to take that as a sign that no, nothing was about to happen, and went back to doing; fiddling with his hair, examining his crystals, or bombarding him with questions, now with some about the “strange man” mixed in. [b]“He’s a bad man, stay away from him,”[/b] he warned the children around him before he turned to address the man whose reputation was now being slandered. [b]“Fine… I guess. Could be worse.”[/b] The presence of Fion did give Araki an idea though, and as he mulled over it in his head, he might have just let it slipped. [b]“I wonder if a fight would be interesting.”[/b] Evidently, the children found such a prospect to be just that, and excited chatter and even the occasional plead filled the air. Of course, none of that could match the charisma- or did his ego simply drown out the others, Araki didn’t know - of the golden-haired “king”. [b]“A splendid idea my vassal. It’ll be good to see what you’re truly capable of!”[/b] Before Fion could say anything, Araki just pinched his forehead, held a hand up, and said, [b]“Don’t ask, and what do you think?”[/b] At that very instant at least two dozen pair of eyes turned to Fion, waiting expectantly for his answer.