Infinite Darkness

Chapter Three

Joshua was engrossed with the scene unfolding in front of him. His breath hitched in his throat, and he was standing on the tips of his toes. He was watching Seungcheol spar another Spirit Slayer at school. The high school Joshua was attending was called NHSS high school. Regular humans and Spirit Slayers attended and taught at this school. Albeit there were only a small amount of Spirit Slayers at this school, 16 students, two student teachers and one teacher. There was also a tiny amount of Licensed Behemon's attending the school as students, 5 to be exact. 

Joshua felt a hand grip his shoulder, unwillingly he ripped his eyes away from the combat practice and turned to see who the person was. His teacher Mingyu was standing next to him. Mingyu was a student-teacher at NHSS and was one of the few Spirit Slayers at the school. Despite being a student-teacher, he and the other student teacher Wonwoo taught their classes without the aid of a full-time teacher due to their competence.

"Enjoying the fight?" Mingyu asked, taking a step forward to stand next to Joshua. Seungcheol had just delivered a hard jab into his opponent's chest, who stumbled backwards and fell over.

Joshua nodded, and his eyes slowly trailed back to the fight "Very much."

Mingyu also turned to observe the fight, and his lips curled into the smile. Both proud and impressed with his students. He then looked at Joshua from the corner of his eyes, he seemed to be entranced by the battle and looked like he was itching to go "Do you want to fight too?" 

Joshua frowned slightly, he looked away from the battle and stared up at the sky. He sighed and shook his head before looking at Mingyu, who had his eyes raised "You know I'm not allowed to."

Mingyu shrugged "You could always fight Vernon and Dino."

Joshua chuckled even more "I'd be in even bigger trouble then! You'd get into trouble too Mingyu."

"I just don't like seeing you sit out like this. You look lonely."

Joshua laughed and shook his head. He stared at the floor and then looked up to see that Dokyum was lining up to go next. Dokyum looked excited and waved at Joshua enthusiastically, Joshua chucked and waved back. "No, I'm used to it. It's not a big deal. I've always been by myself for as long as I can remember."

"Don't you feel like an outcast?" Mingyu asked curiously "You're always alone if Seungcheol and Dokyum aren't with you."

Joshua let out a small chuckle, and stood silently for a while, staring at the ground and reflecting on himself. Quietly he muttered under his breath "Haven't I always been alone?"

Mingyu couldn't quite hear Joshua and leaned down, so his ear was in like with Joshua's mouth "Sorry, could you say that again? I couldn't quite hear you."

"Seungcheol and Dokyum have always been nice and accommodating to me" Joshua replied, quickly composing himself before Mingyu could realise or pick up on anything "Are you going to fight Wonwoo?" 

Mingyu hummed thoughtfully before shaking his head. "No, but we are planning to go Behemon hunting today." 

Wonwoo strode over and hooked his arm around Mingyu's neck, pulling him down so Mingyu would match his height. Mingyu yelped and glared at Wonwoo, who greeted Joshua. "I heard my name and decided to be included."

Mingyu rolled his eyes and freed himself from Wonwoo's grip "The world doesn't revolve around you."

"That's what you think!" Wonwoo winked 

Mingyu ignored Wonwoo but had a fond smile on his face. He turned to Joshua "Are you aware there is a meeting after school for all Spirit Slayers."

"No, but why are you telling me?" 

"It sounds rather important, so I think you should be there" Mingyu shrugged, his eyes turned back to the fight after a roar was heard. Seungcheol had won, and everyone was celebrating "You don't have to go if you don't want, I suppose you can do whatever you want."

"I'll go if it is that important." 

Joshua sat down between Seungcheol and Dokyum, with him were Woozi, Vernon, Dino and a couple of other Spirit Slayers. Standing up were three adult Spirit Slayers, student teachers Wonwoo and Mingyu, and full-time teacher Hayoung. Wonwoo and Mingyu stood slightly behind Hayoung who coughed, drawing attention to herself.

"Students, you may not be aware of this, but a week from now an S-ranked Behemon will be passing over the city. Many students in the past would always try to attack S and A-ranked Behemon's passing through the city, despite being against the law. This year we will be taking this more seriously following the death of a 15-year-old Spirit Slayer from the city over. We do not want a death in our city, we already have a small Spirit Slayer population in this city, and we can not afford to be any smaller."

A boy with a long fringe and glasses narrowed his eyes and scoffed "I'm sure we would have a larger population if the Cade Clan didn't shut everyone out and isolate us from the feast of the world." 

"Can it Soogen" Seungcheol snarled "The Cade Clan is more than capable of handling the city with such small numbers. You should be grateful that my brother gave you and your weakling family amnesty after what you did in the last city you were in!"

"Enough you two!" Hayoung growled, "Any underaged student caught outside near the Behemon will be punished severely."

Dokyum raised his hand to get her attention "Hayoung, Seungcheol and I always help our brother barricade the city whenever a strong Behemon passes… are we supposed to sit back."

"You two would be a special exception in this situation, but the rules apply to every other Spirit Slayer."

"That's not fair Hayoung!" Soogen grew "Why do they get to help."

"Quiet Soogen, you come from an E-Class Clan" Hayoung snapped "You'd be dead before you could even see the Behemon."

Joshua sneaked away from the meeting, and it was turning out to be irrelevant to him anyway. He walked through the school hallways, the soft tapping of his shoes against the floor echoed throughout the empty school. An hour had passed since the meeting ended and not a single student wanted to stick around for any longer, leaving Joshua alone in his massive school. Joshua stayed because he lost his shoe as he from when he was doing P.E earlier, and it took him quite a while to find it. He was unsure if it was a mean prank from one of his classmates or he was absentminded, regardless of how he lost it, his shoe was beyond repairable and was most likely he'd have to buy another pair. Joshua sighed at the thought and continued to trudge down the long white hallway. He was walking out of the school entrance and decided to look for his friends. Dokyum and Seungcheol tended to hang around the front of the school for a while after meetings, and he was hoping to catch up to them.

Joshua's ears perked up as he heard a soft sigh and the sound of footsteps. Joshua whirled around, and he was the only person left in school. There was no way someone else could be here unless it was a ghost! There was no one behind him, or around him, so Joshua shrugged it off. Probably just hearing things. He turned around and continued to walk, he exited the entrance of the school and was about to find his friends until he heard some muttering and more shuffling of footsteps. Joshua turned around once again, narrowing his eyes he scanned the area around him, he looked up and saw a girl! A girl was standing on the school rooftop without a care for safety. He had never seen this girl before, and he was sure he had seen everyone in the school at least once. She seemed to feel his gaze since she looked down and their eyes met. Joshua took a step forward to get closer, to warn her of her impending doom. Was she going to commit suicide?

"Hey, Joshua!" Someone jumped out and looped his arm around Joshua's neck and pulled him close. Joshua turned to see Dokyum with his signature broad smile. Joshua chuckled awkwardly, his senses still alert for the girl who was going to jump off the rooftop. With a sense of urgency, Joshua greeted Dokyum and Seungcheol who was right behind him. Seungcheol greeted Joshua with a smile and a wave.

Joshua turned to look back at the girl, but she had vanished. His heart lurched, and he scanned the ground below the rooftop, and to his relief, there was no dead body lying there. However, this left Joshua was confused, and he turned to Dokyum and asked if he saw the girl on the roof. Dokyum scrunched up his face "A girl? I didn't see any girl."

Joshua frowned and looked back at the rooftop, the ground and then back at Dokyum. The two brothers looked concerned and also looked towards the roof. Dokyum raised his eyebrows questioningly and asked once again if Joshua if he was okay. "Y-yeah I'm fine." Joshua chuckled nervously 

"You sure?" Dokyum frowned, scratching the back of his neck

Joshua nodded quickly and waved his arms frantically. Another awkward chuckle leaving his throat "Yes I'm alright I was thinking."

"Thinking out loud?"

"Well I mean- I do it sometimes."

"You think about girls?"

"Well, I am a human."

"Sure, you can tell yourself that if it makes you feel less crazy" Dokyum chuckled

Joshua rolled his eyes playfully, and Dokyum removed his arm from Joshua's neck and began to walk away from the school "Now that school's over, what do you plan to do?"

Joshua shrugged and began to follow the brothers "Go home and eat, do my homework and then sleep."

"Lame!" Dokyum snorted "Seungcheol, and I are thinking of going Behemon hunting, you should join us if we decide to."

"Maybe another day" Joshua smiled

"Boring!" Dokyum huffed, throwing his hands up in the air

"Let him live his life" Seungcheol sighed as he rolled his eyes. Dokyum turned to look at Seungcheol and childishly stuck his tongue out at him. Seungcheol angrily flicked Dokyum's forehead which sent him recoiling, whining and yelping in pain. Seungcheol grinned "Serves you right!"

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Dokyum yelled

"I'm glad I don't have any siblings" Joshua chuckled

"Trust me. I was much happier before this one was born" Seungcheol pointed towards Dokyum.

"EXCUSE ME!" Dokyum yelled offendedly

"You're excused" Seungcheol snickered

"Stop being such a smartass" Dokyum frowned "My birth graced the world with my presence."

"Stop you sound like him!" Seungcheol rolled his eyes

"At least he appreciates me."

"I was kidding, can't you take a joke?"

"I can, but that was too mean!"

"Geez, I'm sorry! You're such a baby."

"How can you apologise and then insult me again?"

"Okay, you two should stop arguing," Joshua said pushing them away from each other "You're both brothers remember?"

"Arguing with your siblings is a part of the family life" Dokyum smiled

Seungcheol nodded in agreement "Fighting with Dokyum is sometimes needed."

Joshua raised his eyebrows "Is it needed now?" 

The brothers looked at each other sheepishly and sighed "Fine. We'll stop." 

Joshua shook his head, but as he shook his head from side to side, he caught a glimpse of a girl, but not just any girl. It was the girl on the rooftop. She was crouching on the ground, and she was patting a small animal. Joshua quickly turned to look at his friends and blurted out "Sorry, I need to go now! Have fun Behemon hunting."

The two brothers looked puzzled and looked at each other, sharing a look, and they both had no choice but to say goodbye. Joshua then snapped his head to the side, but the girl was gone! It was as if she had disappeared. Joshua frowned, and Dokyum and Seungcheol who both had not left asked if he was feeling alright and told him that he was acting rather strange. Joshua ignored them and ran forwards.

Dokyum sighed and looked over at Seungcheol "What do we do?"

Seungcheol pursed his lips and closed his eyes "What we always do."

Dokyum nodded "I guess we are going Behemon hunting after all."

Joshua ran as quick as he could trying to find the girl. He needed to know if she was okay if she was trying to commit suicide or not and to talk her out of any future attempts. When Joshua did see her, his heart jumped. Joshua ran straight to her. She was standing still and observing him and when Joshua came close before he could even say a word. She stabbed him right in the chest.