Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Alban, up to no good again?”

Alban looked up, only to get smacked over the head, lose his balance, and tumble off the mossy rock wall he’d been crouching on.

“Hey!” He clambered back up, spitting out leaves as he glared at his attacker. Fulgur the cyborg was laughing his head off, or more like wheezing his head off as he tried to balance the books piled in his arms.

“What’d you do that for, Fulgur you jerk?!” He shouted and added, “Stop wheezing! God you’re so annoying!” which only caused the man to laugh harder. When he finally stopped to catch his breath, Fulgur shook his head, “No, no, it’s just you looked so vulnerable there I couldn’t help it.”

Alban stared at the cyborg. “So you threw a book at me.”

“Yep.”

“...I see. Well I have important things to do, so.”

With that, the thief leapt gracefully from his spot on the wall to the roof of the nearest house and continuing this pattern, disappeared from sight within seconds. Fulgur tracked the movements of the boy until he was out of sight before bending over to pick up the book he’d thrown, only to find it missing. Ah, man, and one of his favorites too.

The older cyborg shook his head with a fond smile, that boy was far too predictable.

****~(^.^)~****

“Blech. Another sappy love story.” Alban wrinkled his nose as he flipped through the pages of the book he’d nabbed. “Fulgur really is an old man... Haaah…” he sighed, tucking the book back into his bag before stretching out on the roof he was currently perched on. With his arms tucked behind his head, he blinked lazily as he watched the large fluffy clouds float by.

What to do, what to do. It wasn’t the first time that week that he didn’t feel like stealing, strangely enough. Normally he got his kick out of getting other people, like Sonny or Mysta, to chase him. But lately, it seemed to have lost it’s novelty. What was the point, really? He had enough money saved up right now, so he didn’t need to go out ‘scavenging’, as he called it. So what then? Sit back like Fulgur and read boring stories all day?

Alban could feel the hair on his tail stand on end at the thought of sitting still all day. No. What was he missing? The thief sat staring at the sky for a long time as he contemplated this question. Yes, he was missing something.

Out of curiosity he pulled the book out again and examined the cover. The Princess Bride. He frowned. It truly sounded gag-worthy. True love? Noble fights?

“Suuuuuure. Like that would ever happen.” Alban scoffed. It wasn’t his style. He grew up in a place where fighting dirty was the only way to survive, and stealing wasn’t exactly a noble profession, as cool as he made it look. As for true love… he’d never thought about it. Sure, there were some attractive girls out there, but most of his friends, well, that’s exactly how he saw them. Friends.

Shaking his head, he jumped up. All he was doing here was rotting his brain. Fulgur could have his book back, it wasn’t doing HIM any good, that was for certain.

With his destination in mind, Alban set off in search for Fulgur’s house.

****~(^.^)~****

“Fulgur.”

“Holy- what the fuck Alban?!” Fulgur spilled the kettle of boiling water all over the floor and his pants as he turned in alarm towards his kitchen window, where the thief had climbed through and was now sitting on the kitchen counter.

The cyborg frowned deeply, “Get off! Who knows where your boots have been?”

Fulgur shooed the cat-boy off his counter and Alban instead settled into one of the wooden chairs at the small kitchen table. As Fulgur proceeded to wipe up the mess, Alban haphazardly dropped the ‘book’ on the table. “Here. You can have this back.”

Fulgur stood up and grinned when he saw it. “Not to your liking, Albanya?”

Using the playful nickname, however, only got Alban irritated. The thief’s annoyance didn’t go unnoticed by his companion though, and Fulgur, being the smart man he was, took it in step. “So, besides my book, what else has gone missing around town today?” he questioned casually, setting two cups on the table and a new kettle of water on the stove as he spoke.

Alban just sighed, “Nothing. I’m not in the mood today.. Fulgur what’s wrong with me? Stealing used to be so fun, but now it just seems… I dunno.. boring. Sonny’s always busy, if not with work then with his ‘girlfriend’ and nobody else really bothers to chase me, they just wait till Sonny makes me bring stuff back. I’m alone all day cause everyone is always doing other things…” the neko-thief pouted, putting his head in his left hand and using his right to lick some of the sugar that was sitting in the pot on the table.

Then, much to his dismay, the cyborg laughed. Long and hard, he was wiping away tears before he began speaking and Alban was now downright offended. “Are you making fun of me?”

“No, but I know what’s wrong.” he smiled, pouring tea into the pair of cups and sitting down across the from the now eager boy. “What? Tell me, cause I hate this!”

“You, my friend, want attention.” Fulgur stirred his tea and took a sip as he watched his friend snap back, “Yeah of course. I knew that already.” before deflating, “But that doesn’t help me..”

The cyborg interrupted, gently nudging the forgotten book towards him, “I think you should read this anyways, Alban. It might give you a new idea on what life is about.”

“Hmph.” Alban huffed indignantly, sipping on his tea, only to burn his tongue. With shoulders sagged, he grumpily took the book and the jar of cookies sitting on the counter, and marched out of the kitchen and exited the house, slamming the front door behind him.

Fulgur took a moment to finish his tea. Perhaps he should pay some friends a visit, warn them that there was a grumpy Alban on the loose, and that things may go missing.

He chuckled to himself as he gathered his things to leave. He was genuinely curious if Alban would actually read the book, and if so, how he would take it and if he would learn anything.

“Everybody needs some love in their lives.” He sighed, feeling too old for the first time that day. But he knew that if anything, a relationship would benefit Alban the most right now.

“Oh well. I guess we’ll have to wait and see, huh?”

****~(^.^)~****

“I just don’t see the point, Ike-san. Books are just a waste of time.”

Alban did a double take, pausing on top of the roof of one of the many buildings and straining his sensitive ears for where the voice had come from.

“And I’m telling you, they aren’t! Just because you read one boring one doesn’t make them all useless. They’re a great source of information, and some are like traveling to whole other worlds!”

That was, without a doubt, Ike.

Alban walked along the roofs until he spotted Ike walking with a girl he’d only seen a couple times and was having trouble remembering her name. He could see boredom clearly displayed on her face and he understood why. It was a pointless argument and Ike gave up with a sigh. “You know, one day you’ll be sorry.”

Alban laughed, attracting the girl and the novelist’s attention as he leapt gracefully from the roof to the ground beside them. “Sorry Ike. But I think you’ve lost your audience.”

Ike shook his head, “Alban. I swear, you could try to help instead of encourage this.”

“I am helping. Cookie?” Alban held out his ‘borrowed’ cookie jar with a smirk, and Ike took two cookies with a frown, handing one to the girl, who was watching them both with a curious expression. Alban nodded his head towards her and met her gaze, “What’s your name again?”

The girl remained silent for a second and Ike gave him a disappointed glare, “Alban, you just met her last month!”

He narrowed his eyes, trying hard to rack his brain for any remembrance of the female before him. He knew he’d met her somewhere.. but he couldn’t remember where..

“I dunno. She looks familiar though..”

“Hey I’m back!”

All three turned in unison to see Yugo jogging up to them. “Sorry about the wait. Hey Alban. Are those cookies?”

Alban nodded absently, “Yeah, I stole em from Fulgur. Here.” he held out the jar and Yugo took a handful of them before nodding to the girl with his mouth full of cookies. “Did you meet my trainee?”

Ah! Alban suddenly remembered, turning abruptly on her and exclaiming, “That’s right, you’re Sonny’s girlfriend’s sister, um, E… Emi-chan right? That would make you… Yugo’s trainee oh my God I’m so stupid.” He was laughing hard now, holding his sides as he coughed, “I’m sorry, I’m Alban. Yugo’s cool Gen-mate leader.”

“..Sure.” Ike, Emi, and Yugo all spoke in unison and he threw them all offended glares, “Hey.”

“Well,” Emi began, and Alban was surprised at the confidence in her tone, “It’s nice to meet you Alban, and I’m looking forward to training with you.”

Alban stared at her for a minute and blinked, “…What?”

Ike’s incredulous expression told him he was missing something important but before he began searching his mind for an answer, Yugo reminded him. “Alban, you’re taking her to be your trainee for the next month, don’t you remember? Starting right after the weekend.”

“O-oh, that’s right.” Alban spoke quickly to cover up the fact that he didn’t actually remember signing up for a trainee. Not wanting to look like a scatterbrained idiot in front of his kohai he added, “Yeah, I have a whole training regiment I’ve been planning too! I-it’s gonna be really cool.”

He carefully avoided Ike’s narrowed eyes as he chuckled nervously but hey, at least Yugo seemed taken and it looked like Emi-chan believed him too.

‘Good. Time to make my getaway.’

His mind, ingrained with years of thieving tactics, habitually began planning how to get out of this awkward situation.

Using his usual excuse, he bowed slightly, “Well, I gotta go. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do so..” he trailed off as he waved and disappeared into the alley on their right. He could hear Ike and Yugo’s faint calls behind as him as he plunged into the darkness of the side streets, but dismissed them with a frown. He had something else to do. For real this time. He would’ve remembered signing up for a trainee. Not only did someone just cause him a whole load of trouble by failing to inform him earlier, he also had to figure out how the heck to solve this without looking either like a jerk or some sort of lazy bum.

First things first, to find the culprit. And he had an inkling on where to search first.

****~(^.^)~****

Chapter Text

“Sonny.”

Sonny Brisko looked up from his desk to see Alban Knox crouching in the rather small window to the officer’s left.

“Alban, get down. You’re gonna knock over the plants.”

The thief swiveled his head around to see what the blond was talking about. “What plants? I don’t see any-”

The small crash of pottery smashing against the stone ground made both the cat and the officer wince as Sonny gave the visitor a disapproving stare.

Alban slid silently off the windowsill, dusting off his pants as he avoided the officer’s gaze. He leaned back against the cool wall of the office room and crossed his arms before he spoke, “Alright Sonny. Why’d you do it? And why the hell didn’t you tell me?! Do you know how many problems you’ve just caused me?”

Sonny blinked at the thief for a moment before getting up and glancing out the window to survey the damage done. He clicked his tongue. ‘Aw man, that was a gift from the Commander…’

He pulled back when he heard the impatient thumping of Alban’s booted foot against the floor. Sonny met the thief’s irritable expression with a hint of a grin pulling on the corners of his otherwise serious complexion. “You only just figured it out?”

Alban stared blankly at the man, who continued. He sat on the edge of the desk with his arms crossed as he spoke. “I take it you’re referring to the fact that I signed you up to offer training the newbie?”

The thief frowned at the memory. Getting riled up again, he raised his voice. “Yeah! I don’t have time to train some wanna be fighter! I’m busy enough and I don’t need some lost duckling following me around for a month. Do you know how limiting it is to be a thief and have some clumsy trainee stumbling behind you, ruining all your chances?!”

Sonny listened quietly to his friend’s rant. Once Alban hushed and only the sound of him trying to catch his breath was audible did the officer speak. “Alban, you’re bored aren’t you?”

The thief stuttered, “I- what? What are you talking about? I’m not bored, I-”

Sonny shushed him again, laughing as he continued, “Listen, I signed you up so that you’d have something to do. You’ve seemed so down lately, so I thought that maybe a change of pace would do you some good. You know, mix some stuff up!”

Alban was flabbergasted. Finally finding his words again he snapped back, “What right do you have to be messing around in my life? I LIKE my life! Just because you and everyone else are always busy doesn’t mean I have to be! I happen to enjoy being idle!”

Sonny sighed. This wasn’t going anywhere. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Alright, I got it.”

“...Good.” Alban furrowed his brows, slightly taken aback by his friend’s tone and sudden change of heart. “Now, hurry up and get me off that list. Tell them something came up for me and I can’t take her.”

Much the to the thief’s surprise however, the man shook his head. “I can’t do that. You have to tell Yugo and Emi-chan yourself.”

Alban turned with a groan.

As the boy headed for the window to leave, Sonny sighed. “Ah, it’s a shame though. Emi-chan was really looking forward to working with you. She even told me herself she thought you looked like a cool person.” The thief wobbled on the windowsill, hesitation mingled with irritation wracking his body. With a loud shout of frustration he leapt off the windowsill, shouting back, voice fading as he fell, “Fine I’ll do it! God what is with everyone today?!”

As Sonny listened to the boy’s footsteps fade in the distance, he chuckled to himself. Alban never changed. That thought made him frown as much as it made him smile. Change and struggle was necessary to grow, and lately he believed Alban had gotten too comfortable. That boy was, and never had been the type of person to sit around and do nothing.

Sonny stood up and moved to close the windows, a fond smile on his face that only grew wider when he discovered the small pot that contained a single tiny sprout. “Ah..” He picked the plant up and gently set it on his desk, shaking his head as he glanced outside one last time.

“He’ll figure it out.”

****~(^.^)~****

The sun was setting and the warm orange light filtered through Alban’s half shut blinds. The thief leaned back, desk chair creaking as he stared up at the ceiling. He had a headache. His confrontation with Sonny hadn’t gone at all how he’d excepted it and now that he was sitting in the silence of his own room, he realized that he was roped in even further than before.

He sat upright again and stared at the mess of papers before him. Somehow he had to come up with a cool looking, totally planned and organized training schedule by the end of the weekend. Of course he was going to make it tidy and awesome. Yeah, he hated the current situation but he hated messy things more.

He picked up his pencil and began sketching the outline for the weekly planner. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to teach the girl. Perhaps some basic knife skills, or how to walk without making any noise, but he wasn’t sure if she’d be able to even begin to master these basic skills. Maybe he was underestimating her and making unfair judgments prematurely, ‘judging a book by it’s cover.’ But to him, all books were the same, and this one’s cover didn’t look any different.

****~(^.^)~****

*BAM BAM BAM*

The sudden banging noise that echoed through Alban’s house startled the boy awake and the crashing sound that followed was him tumbling off his seat and hitting the ground, his chair following shortly afterwards.

“Ow ow ow…” He groaned as he blinked his bleary eyes and rubbed the tender area of his head. He frowned when he heard the same repeated thudding, now able to pinpoint that it was coming from his front door.

“Coming, I’m coming!” He shouted in hopes of getting the assailant to pause long enough for him to think. He sprinted down the stairs, nearly tripping over his own carpet as he swept past the living room and made a beeline for the door. Without pausing to check who it was, (It didn’t really matter, seeing as no one was going to escape his lecture,) he swung it open only to flinch back, face retracting from anger to shock and confusion when he saw that it was his new kohai.

“E-Emi-chan?” Hesitation and confusion as to why he was hesitating controlled him as he tried to focus on what she was saying.

The girl bowed and held out some papers, the strand of hair in front of her face falling forward slightly as she spoke. “Um, here. Yugo-san said I should bring these to you, in case you needed a comparison or something for your schedule that you supposedly had already finished.” She straightened herself and Alban could see a hint of a smirk on her face as she said the last part.

Already irritated, he furrowed his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The girl’s ears, which reminded him very much of Elira’s but to his dismay, much prettier and cuter with the small blue scrunchies around them, raised in time with her eyebrows in amusement. “Nothing. I’m just repeating what Yugo-san said.” She shrugged, but the unwavering smile on her face told Alban that she was having too much fun teasing him. Him! Her senpai of all people. Whatever Yugo had been teaching her all month, it sure wasn’t manners. He was going to have a talk with that DJ the next time he saw him.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Emi stretched her arms behind her head. For the first time he realized she had a tail as well. He must’ve stared at it too long because she waved her hand in front of his face. “Knox-san? My face is over here you know.”

He blushed furiously at her comment, immediately coming back to attention and shaking his head, “No, I just, you remind a lot of some friends of mine.” ‘Except cooler and cuter somehow.’ he thought to himself and instantly reprimanding himself right after for thinking it.

She tilted her head to the side as a curious look came into her eyes. The topic must’ve piqued her interest, because she delayed her departure to answer. “Yeah. I’m one of Elira and Selen’s cousins, the other being my sister, who’s been here a bit longer than I have.” She was smiling softly as she seemed to be remembering a fond memory.

Alban was about to interrupt when she startled him by suddenly snapping out of her thoughts and looking him straight in the eyes. “I thought Elira and Selen explained that when I got here?” Alban open and closed his mouth, but for whatever reason, as her bright but piercing gaze bore into his own, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

Emi sighed, and for God knows why he regretted not having paid much attention to Elira and Selen’s welcome speech for her. The girl adjusted the strap of the training knife she carried at her left side as she spoke, “I have to go. Yugo-san is waiting and I promised to meet up with my sister and Elira and Selen in a bit..” She furrowed her eyebrows slightly. “...Why did I tell you that?”

Alban, getting over his strange moment of silence, smirked. “Maybe cause you think I’m cool?”

He watched her narrow her eyes at him. “Um, no.”

With that, she turned and began jogging down the street, tail swishing and feathery ears bouncing slightly. He didn’t miss the subtle hint of pink that had decorated her face when she had turned away, however, or the soft call of, “See you later Knox-san. Don’t forget the schedule.” which gave him both a sense of victory and ticked him off at the same time.

When he turned back inside and slumped grumpily towards the kitchen to begin making his breakfast, he muttered under his breath the same two words that had been floating around in his head since this whole mess had started.

“Stupid kohai…”

****~(^.^)~****

Chapter Text

Monday morning came, much to Alban’s dismay, faster than he’d expected.

Trudging through the dew covered grass and squinting through the misty morning air, he spotted the training grounds in the distance. As he got closer he rolled his eyes.

Of course she was already there.

Grateful to get his boots out of the wet grass, he stepped onto the cool earth of the grounds and greeted Yugo before coming to a standstill in front of the pair.

“So,” He started but Yugo was already speaking. “Alban! Right on time.”

The DJ grinned at him and Alban attempted, (Unsuccessfully), to give him a smile, but ended up grimacing instead. Luckily, it seemed his friend paid him no mind and was already bouncing to the main topic.

“Right, so the way Sonny explained it, it’s pretty simple. We’ll go over what we’ve been working on and her improvement and stuff and then we’ll compare schedules,” (Alban internally shuddered, hoping that his schedule wasn’t too different from what Yugo and most likely Sonny had used, despite the help he’d had from Yugo’s papers.) “And then I hand her over to you!”

Yugo’s eyes darted from Alban to Emi, blissfully oblivious to the tension that hung between the two.

Alban yawned, “Alright, let’s get this over with. I don’t have all day.”

“Actually you do.” Emi pointed out, but Alban ignored her and decided to focus on Yugo instead.

After a short explanation, Yugo stretched his arms. “Well, that’s about it. I promised to meet up with Ike and Elira about some stuff so… have fun!”

With that, the DJ turned and with a wave of his hand, disappeared into the mist, leaving Alban alone with his new trainee.

He stared at her a minute before pulling on his cool face and, with a wave of his hand, beckoned to the empty, mist shrouded training ground. “Well, let’s see what you’ve got.”

He could see the protest linger on her lips, but instead she centered herself in the large circle before she blinked. “Now what? And isn’t it too misty to fight properly?”

Giving her a frown, Alban shook his head. “I didn’t say let’s have an all out brawl, I just wanna see what you can handle. I’ve seen Yugo exaggerate so..”

Emi gave him a very indignant glare before she pulled out her training knife and charged at him. His eyes widened as he quickly jumped to the side and pulled out his own knife, taking up a ready battle stance as he watched her wheel around to face him, not three feet from him. She lunged. He watched her expression and movement closely as her knife clanged against his own. Despite having told her to go for it, he was still surprised by the sudden bursts of speed and power she was displaying.

As he parried, a thought entered his head, although it was more of an unwanted observation.

‘Maybe, possibly, she has a little bit of talent, hidden beneath that incredibly annoying persona of hers...’

He jumped back and observed her a moment, the smallest hint of a grin appearing on his face. Maybe he could work with this...

‘Maybe this won’t be a dull month after all..”

****~(^.^)~****

He was late.

His second morning and his first chance to start proving himself to be a better senpai then his friends thought Emi-chan a kohai, and he was already blowing it.

The wind whipped past his face and billowed his coat as he raced down the streets, trying his best to think of an excuse that sounded more plausible than ‘my bed was too soft.’

He was so preoccupied trying to think of ways to get out of any potential disaster, that he ran headfirst into one. One that happened to go by the name of…

“Millie! Are you okay?” The concerned voice of Shu Yamino sounded from somewhere to his left. Alban sat up and rubbed his head before he realized with a pang of guilt that he’d barreled right into Millie Parfait.

“Oh Millie, I’m sorry…” His apology ended with a snort however when he realized that it wasn’t just Millie he’d run into.

“Getoffme…” The muffled and more than slightly pained voice of Yu Q. Wilson sounded from beneath Millie, who quickly jumped up, obviously trying very hard not to burst out cackling. Shu also seemed to be having trouble keeping his face straight, but when Elira stepped out of the Potion store behind him and doubled over with laughter, the dam broke.

Between chortles Shu and Elira helped the unfortunate hero peel himself from the sidewalk and Alban, still trying to catch his breath, attempted his second apology. “Aw man, I’m sorry guys, I didn’t mean to, it’s just I’m late and-”

Realization hit him faster than he’d hit the pair of blonds.

“Shoot I’m late! I gotta go!” He bowed hastily before darting back off down the streets, leaving the irate hero and chuckling group behind him.

****~(^.^)~****

“You okay?” Emi regarded him with skeptical eyes he struggled to catch his breath.

“I’m… Fine…” He wheezed as he peeled off his coat which had become much too warm. After another minute or so, he was more or less back in shape.

“Alright,” He nodded towards the exit of the training arena, “Let’s go.”

Emi followed him quietly, but he could feel her confusion boring a hole in the back of his skull. “I have something I’ve got to take care of today, and I thought you could come with me.” He explained without looking back so as he wouldn't get distracted by her cute indignant face. Feeling satisfied with his explanation, he didn’t say anything else until they arrived in front of Rosemi’s botanical shop.

Emi squinted, “A flower shop?”

Alban rolled his eyes, “Yeah. I mean no!” He frowned at his kohai, “Rosemi’s botanical shop. Someone asked me to run some errands today, so I thought that this would be a great chance for you to get a good look of the town!”

Emi frowned. “You mean be your personal assistant..” she muttered under her breath as they walked inside.

As always, the shop smelled like fresh flowers and tangy herbs. Pots of soil with small seedlings were lined against the left wall, the right wall was covered in huge racks of large pots overflowing with green vines and bushes, while the front and back walls were dotted with flower pots of all shapes and sizes.

Alban led his kohai to the counter where he told her to wait a minute as he peeked through the door on the right of the counter, which led to the greenhouse. “Rosemi? You in here?” He called, but his only response was the mew of a small black and white cat that seemed to emerge out of the forest of dripping green leaves on his right. He blinked, about to turn around to escape the hot humidity of the room when he saw a pink shape bobbing between the plants.

“Rosemi? That you?”

“Huh?” Rosemi’s face appeared amongst what seemed to be a sea of green. “Oh Alban! Give me one sec, I’ve just got to, ugh, lug this pot over here, and-” She stood up and Alban assumed she dusted off her skirt before coming towards him, which was rather comical seeing as it still seemed as if it was just her head moving through the tall plants.

A minute later, he was standing in front of the counter beside Emi and watching Rosemi set a couple of boxes out in front of her. “Alright… I think that’s it.” She dusted off her hands before smiling, to Alban’s dismay, at Emi, who blushed. “Ah I’ve seen you around, but I never realized how cute you were! Just like your sister, but the bouncy version.”

She turned to Alban, who was frowning. “Hmm. You should stop frowning like that, jealousy, like wrinkles, is unbecoming.” She aimed a jab at his forehead which he skillfully avoided as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Anyways,” He nodded at the boxes, “Where are we taking these again?”

Emi raised her eyebrow, “You already forgot? You’re the one who explained it the way here!”

Alban narrowed his eyes at her. No matter how cute her ears bounced or her hair framed her large, skeptical eyes… ‘Stop Alban… She still shouldn’t be talking back to her senpai.’

Rosemi hummed knowingly, observing the look on the thief’s face as she shook her head, “They’re herbs and plants for Millie and Shu’s place. They don’t make potions out of nothing you know?”

“They also make a lot of prank junk, that made out of these too?” He smirked at his pink haired senpai’s defiant snort as he handed three boxes to Emi before balancing the last four in his arms. “Alright thanks. See ya later Rosemi. Come on Emi-chan, lets go.”

He held the door open for Emi as they exited the store, and spent the next few minutes of their walk questioning himself why he couldn’t tear his eyes off the way her hair bounced with each step, or how those scrunchies around her ears matched her perfectly.

‘Haa, I really am screwed aren’t I...’

****~(^.^)~****

Chapter Text

(Emi’s POV)

Emi listened to her senpai’s shoes clack against the pavement as she tried to ignore the fact that he was staring at her again.

It wasn’t that it bothered her, but it was the sheer amount of scrutiny and intensity that made her wonder if she was doing something wrong again.

Her senpai was making her life a lot more complicated than she liked. He was one of the coolest people she’d ever met: in looks, actions, reputation, and she considered herself blessed to have ever come in contact with him. But he was also the most frustrating and infuriating human beings she’d ever laid eyes on. Just when she thought she was beginning to understand him, maybe even let herself like him, he turned around and acted all standoffish as if he was too good for her.

In short, it was driving her crazy.

“Hey, on your right.”

She blinked herself out of her thoughts, stopping to see where her senpai had gone.

They were standing in front of a store she’d seen before on her walks through town. It had a large wooden sign on the front above the door that read ‘Magic and Mischief.’ There was a large window on the left of the door but she couldn’t see inside due to the glare from the sun.

Alban cleared his throat. “Come on, or are you just gonna stand there gawking all day?”

Emi clicked her tongue in annoyance, which earned her a frown from her senpai as he entered the building and left her to handle the door and the boxes by herself.

She struggled a moment, muttering curses to herself as she tried to balance the boxes in one arm in order to hold open the door. She was about to set the boxes on the floor when she heard the clacking of shoes and she looked up to see Shu Yamino holding the door open for her with a smile. “Hey, I see you’ve met Alban now. How’s the apprenticeship going?”

Emi gave him a dark look as she slumped inside the significantly darker, cooler building and placed the boxes on the counter.

Shu laughed. “Yeah Alban can be a bit much, but he’s got a good heart. Elira says hello by the way.”

Emi couldn’t help but smile at the sorcerer's calm and happy mood. “Thanks. I wanted to drop by this morning, but my ‘senpai’ planned our training to start early. Ironic how he ended up being late.”

Shu raised an eyebrow as he recollected the morning’s activities with a smile and muttered vaguely. “Ah… that makes a lot more sense now.”

Just as Emi was about to ask him to elaborate, Alban appeared again, now freed from boxes and looking a great deal happier than earlier. “Alright. Your stuffs in the back.”

Emi glanced guiltily at the boxes she’d placed on the counter but Shu placed a hand on her shoulder before she could move. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

Alban blinked. “Take care of what?”

“Nothing.” Shu reassured him. “Oh that reminds me,”

Emi and Alban watched him eagerly a moment as he rustled in his pocket. “Here, Mysta stopped by and asked if you had time to help him and the VSF out with a case.”

The sorcerer must’ve caught Emi’s crestfallen face because he added with a smile, “He said Emi was welcome to join you.”

Alban, who had seemed rather excited at the prospect of being needed in a case, deflated and took on a sour expression. “Why her? Won’t she just get in the way?”

Emi huffed. “I’m right here!”

Shu shushed them both. “Come on now. Alban, we took you on missions all the time! How else are you supposed to grow skills if not from experience?”

Emi smiled gratefully at Shu but Alban just turned on his heel toward the door. “Come on then.” He snapped and disappeared outside, leaving Emi feeling doubtful, again, of her seemingly unwanted and disrupting presence.

Shu shook his head and chuckled. “Don’t worry Emi.” He spoke soothingly as he walked her to the door. “Alban has a hard time expressing what he really means. He doesn’t hate you. He’s just a bit conflicted at the moment. Maybe you should talk to Sonny about it, if you’re still worried.”

Emi frowned as she stepped into the bright sunlight. What did that mean, conflicted? “Thanks Shu-san.” She waved before turning and jogging to catch up to her senpai, who was already many feet ahead, his skulking figure clearly visible due to his black t-shirt and pants.

As she followed him quietly down the sidewalk she smiled to herself. A mission! She would definitely prove herself now and show her senpai that she wasn’t as useless as he thought…

****~(^.^)~****

Haaah?! We don't start till tomorrow?!"

Sonny Brisko's eyes widened at the sudden outburst. The briefing papers, which had previously been clutched in his hands dropped to the ground.

"Of course not." He frowned as he bent to pick up the paper, smiling slightly when Emi bustled forward to help.

Alban did not budge. "Why bother to ask for us today then?"

Sonny sighed. "Because you need to be filled in on the situation and sit with us to formulate a plan, or, in this case, have you go over our plan and give your advice."

Alban stared at him and Sonny could see the gears turning in his head. He leaned back against his desk and smiled. He knew the boy wouldn’t be able to pass up a chance to be in charge, or close to it anyways.

“Fine.” Alban muttered, a pink tint in his cheeks. “Where do we go to see your plans?”

“The briefing room. Out the door, down the hall past the main room and then on your left.”

Alban turned without a word and swept out the door. Emi moved to follow her senpai but Sonny stopped her. “Emi, I’d like to talk to you a sec.”

She turned nervously and the clack of the door closing behind her made her jump.

Sonny laughed. “You don’t have to be nervous. I just want to ask how it’s going, and kind of fill you in on how this mission is going to go.” His violet eyes were filled with both loving warmth and concern. Emi always felt that they could see right through her.

She took a deep breath and averted her eyes to the window. “Honestly?” She asked, and Sonny nodded. “Honestly. Lay it on me.”

“Alban-senpai is driving me nuts.” She frowned, feeling the irritation swell inside her like an angry balloon as she continued, “He doesn’t listen to me, he treats me like a kid, he’s an arrogant, ignorant, heartless, handsome bastard who doesn’t care for anyone but himself!” She was panting now and at once she realized she’d just bad mouthed a senpai and the best friend of the man who stood before her. She promptly turned a dark shade of red.

“I-” She began, but was cut off by his laughter.

She watched him wipe a tear from his eye before he spoke. “I’m sorry. Seriously. It was my idea to have him coach you. I thought he’d step up to the plate better than this though, after what happened last time…”

He broke off in what seemed to be deep thought for a minute and Emi remembered what Shu had told her. “Sonny-san, Shu-san said something happened with Alban that you could tell me about. Something that would explain his behavior, or help me understand him better?”

Sonny’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Did he now.” Sonny gave her a gentle but dismissive smile. “Maybe another time. It’s a long story.” He paused as he beckoned to a chair. “Right now I’m going to prepare you for your first mission. But listen,”

She looked up from her chair.

“If he gets any worse, I want to know.” His tone was serious and she frowned slightly as she tried to imagine what her senpai could have done to deserve Sonny looking so grim.

She nodded. “Of course.”

Sonny’s face turned back to his easy smile. “But give him a chance. He is only human after all and he tends to be the type of person who has a hard time expressing what he really means.”

Emi puffed out her cheeks indignantly. “That’s what Shu-san said.”

Sonny laughed. “Well then it must be true. Alright then, scoot forward and have a look here…”

****~(^.^)~****

(Alban’s POV)

The sun was long gone by the time Alban finally stepped into the serenity that was his house.

His brain was still swirling with plans, maps, and blueprints by the time he was pulling on his sleep shirt and slipping under the covers of his soft bed. He felt a proud sense of excitement at the thought that Sonny had personally requested him and his skills and that his friend had spoken so highly of him. It made his heart swell with pride.

He blinked sleepily and rolled over, intending to close his eyes and drift to sleep but tonight his brain seemed to have it out for him. The minute his eyelids were shut the image of his new kohai leaped into his mind.

“Gah!” He groaned and flipped onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

Tomorrow he and he alone would be responsible for that girl. He wouldn’t be able to focus properly on the mission at hand, no, he’d have to tow her along and-

He paused, a strong feeling of guilt hitting him harder than running into a wall. Sonny was counting on him to act like a senpai. He had and was fighting for him, trusting him to be the dependable friend the officer seemed to believe he could be.

He rolled onto his side again, curling up and pulling the blankets up to his chin. Would it really kill him to act like an adult? That of course would be admitting he’d been acting like a kid. She was just so…

He blinked. Why were the only words coming to mind compliments?

His brain felt foggy and his eyes heavy as he sank into the image of Emi smiling, laughing. Her hair bouncing along with the wings on her head, which were crowned once again by those adorable scrunchies…

*

    *

He was running.

At first it seemed the darkness around him was so deep that there was nothing else. Then suddenly he was perched on a hill, thick fog curling around the edges so that only the bit he was standing on was truly visible.

He thought he saw a flash of something lurking in the fog and jumped backwards, only to bump into something hard behind him.

He whipped around and saw a book the size of a house looming before him. He gulped when he realized that it was a mega sized copy of the book Fulgur had shoved at him a week earlier. He frowned and turned to clamber back up the small hill when a booming voice made him freeze.

“Hey Alban, don’t walk away from it before you tried it!”

Alban’s eyes widened in horror when he saw a goliath-sized Fulgur towering over him, smiling as he reached for the giant book.

“What? Fulgur what are you-” He froze as he watched Fulgur raise the book over his head, his arms moving in slow motion as Alban realized with a start what was happening. He scrambled up the hill, tripping and stumbling down the other end at a horrifically slow pace, the book sure to be out of the enormous Fulgur’s hands and crashing down onto his head any minute.

The thud of the book colliding with the ground above him was so loud his ears rang and he lost his balance, causing him to tumble all the way down and crashing painfully against something at the foggy bottom.

“Ow…” He grumbled as he rubbed his head. “I thought you couldn’t get hurt in dreams?”

“Alban-senpai?”

He yelped and leaped up only to gaze into the seemingly disappointed, angry face of his kohai. “Emi? What-”

She frowned at him. “Oh don’t bother. I just came here to tell you that I’m done training with you. I’m going back to Sonny.”

“Wait, no-” He stuttered, his brain desperately trying to understand the situation. “No, I-I can do better, I promise! It’s not my fault Fulgur is huge-”

Her voice was cold when she spoke. “It’s too late. You can’t turn him back, and I can’t work with you anymore. It’s all your fault.” Her ponytail swished as she turned and started striding away from him.

He scrambled after her but kept tripping as the world around him grew darker and Emi was swallowed up by the fog.

“Please, give me another chance!” He shouted but the fog was now so thick and suffocatingly close he couldn’t see an inch in front of him. His voice echoed through the emptiness and strange whispering voices floated back to him.

“You’re useless…”

“Nobody needs you…”

Alban his his head in his arms as he tried to block them out, a feeling of dread and panic rising in him.

“No, NO!”

      *

  *

Alban woke with a start, sitting up quickly and gasping as he looked around in bewilderment. He was soaked in sweat and sitting on the floor beside his bed, his blankets in a tangle around him. He frowned as he reached up to his throbbing head.

“What the hell?”

Chapter Text

Hey to everyone who's taken the time to read this. As much as it bothers me to leave another series unfinished, I am afraid I'm going to have to apologize for the discontinuation of this work. I wrote this without a real plot line in mind and I lost what I was trying to do. I probably will, in the future, try again, with a thought out storyline and try to do Alban some more justice. 
That's all. Again, sorry for leaving you hanging. I will be taking certain requests for other stories or short ideas and I am definitely taking requests for x reader or couple pairings for my shorts collection Da Fluff right now, so if you want I can do some stuff there. 
Thanks for reading.