Ah. God fights.

One of the biggest hindrances across the whole land. Gods were temperamental, petty and incredibly destructive. No mortal spell could stop them, no matter how strong. That was why Goshiki hurried behind the other seven students and the headmaster as they rushed to get indoors. The castle was the only truly safe place on the entire grounds, as it had once been blessed by a Goddess. Once they were inside, they could live.

The sphinxes and chimaeras on the walls bounded inside before them, huddling carefully inside and climbing up on the walls. Semi was inside first, dragging Shirabu in close behind him. Yamagata nearly tripped but Taichi caught him – if they weren't running for their lives, they'd probably blush. Tendou fell over on his last step, landing chin-first on the floor, but safe inside. Ushijima helped him up. Reon made it in a few milliseconds after Washijou and they all turned to look outside at Goshiki. Goshiki was the last one to reach the entranceway, ready to leap inside and stay safe when he realised something. Oh no...

"Oh, shit!" He whispered, spinning around on his heel and looking out across the grounds in a panic. Why did this have to happen now?

"What?!" Reon shouted, trying to reach out to him, offering his hand to help pull the first year inside. "Goshiki, get inside, now!"

"My spellbook!" Goshiki cried back, eyes already methodically scouring the grounds for it. "It's still out there."

"Leave it!" Yelled Shirabu. "It's too dangerous!"

Goshiki shook his head, the winds whipping his wet black hair from his face. "No, I won't! I need it!"

"Tsutomu!" Tendou cried out desperately.

"Goshiki, get inside," Ushijima said, his deep voice nearly containing worry. "We can talk about it in here!"

Goshiki ignored them, beginning to run away already.

"Goshiki, no!" Screamed Reon and Yamagata at the exact same second.

"Goshiki!" Yelled Taichi, beginning to run out after him, fully prepared to drag his apparently crazy friend indoors but Washijou made him stop. It was too dangerous to risk two students.

"It'll only take a moment!" Goshiki shouted back, picking up speed as he went.

He had always been a fast runner, and the weather didn't halt him. Every time he slipped on the muddy grass, he'd easily scramble back to his feet, without a seconds' hesitation. He reached the place they had been training in and looked around frantically. It had to be around here somewhere.

A wizards' spellbook is his most prized possession. If a wizard doesn't have one, then he is an amateur conjurer, with a few tricks. To cast any practical or long spell, hours of study would have to be spent memorizing it and very, very few people could memorise a spellbook. Not even Washijou had.

If Goshiki didn't have a spellbook, there was a high chance he wouldn't be able to attend Shiratorizawa Academy. His life was a risk he was willing to take just to keep the important things with him. Finally, he spotted it, in the distance, its leather-bound cover glistening in the rain and the purple jewel embedded in the cover reflecting every single lightning flash.

Upon seeing it, Goshiki sprinted over, dropping to his knees and scooping it up close to his chest. He squeezed it tight against his beating heart, feeling it was still there: knowing he still had a chance.

For a brief moment, he let out a relieved sigh. Then he turned his attention to the fight, just for a second. Just one second. He only wanted to see what was happening...

Two giant shapes. One seemed to be panther-like, with fierce red eyes and bloody claws. Its' fangs were bared in a giant snarl, its' black fur was long and matted and he saw one paw smash into the forest surrounding the Academy, almost levelling it. The other was a huge, winged snake, that whipped through the air, never minding the rain that beat harshly against its' emerald scales. The wings were large and waterlogged, creating large gusts of winds that threw large splatters of water with it. It was at that moment Goshiki realised he really needed to get inside.

So he scrambled back to his feet, carefully shoving his book down the front of his shirt, so his hands could be free. The moment he got up, he fell over on his first step, but he kept running. The Gods were getting closer.

Inside the school, he could see the Peak Selection students reaching out to him, screaming his name and he ran faster.

He was so nearly there. Just a few more metres, a couple more steps. The storm had worsened and lightning struck the wall behind him. Instinctively, he ducked, and it simply jumped to a tree, not to him. Then he was back on his feet, running for his life. The book was beginning to bruise his chest but he didn't stop, he kept going.

Goshiki was just milliseconds from being safe. He stretched out a hand, reaching for the others when something caught his eye in his peripheral vision.

The giant, heavy paw of a panther.

Impulsively, he stumbled backwards and narrowly missed it crushing him, but its' mere touch shook the earth and made the ground crumble in, sending things flying. The last thing Goshiki remembered before he blacked out was the screams from the Peak Selection and the shriek from himself as he went hurtling backwards through the air.

.:*:.

The Order of The Iron Wall, or Dateko, in the older language, was one of the most famous establishments of the current world. Legions upon legions are knights filled the temples' halls, and every single one was dedicated to protecting the village. They were always easy to spot in a crowd, usually because of their height and sheer intimidation. Any Dateko knight would have a large longsword, double-edged, with a deadly point, sharp enough to cut through a rock, and an even large shield, blessed by enchanters, who were usually graduates from Shiratorizawa Academy.

The Temple of The Iron Wall hadn't been near the fight of the Gods' but it had certainly been caught in the vicious storm. Parts of roofs and barns had been blown off, stranded outside the villages' boundaries, some debris stretching as far as the woods that surrounded the tidy farming fields, which encased the village and its' temple.

Most knights assisted the villagers or helped rebuild houses. Squires ran back and forth with messages and instructions for their knights and superiors. Any wizards that could be spared were used as healers or heavy lifters for things only magic could fix.

Koganegawa Kanji had been set to collect the rubbish in the woods and fields.

The most infuriating fact about it was that it was a squires' job. He had been a knight for two months.

Naturally, Koganegawa seemed to be the perfect Dateko knight. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and had helped out all the time on his parent's farm as a young boy. When he joined the Order at six, he made good improvements and he was delighted to now be a knight. He even had his larger, richer shield, with everlasting enchantments and blessing placed upon it.

So why, in the name of all beings holy, was he doing a squire's job?

"Stupid Futakuchi," He muttered under his breath, scooping tiles and bricks into a large sack he had been given. "I bet he thinks he's so funny just because his boyfriend is the strongest..."

Dropping the sack, he used his hand to mouth the mockery he made. "Oh, look at me! I'm Futakuchi Kenji and I am such a jerk! I'm dating Aone, so that means I can boss Kanji around! Ooh-hoo, look at me! I suck!"

With a foul scowl to match his mood, Kogane continued to drag the heavy sack behind him on the floor as he threw more debris in.

"I shouldn't be doing this," He groaned aloud. "This isn't a knights' job... If Futakuchi wanted it done so much, why couldn't he just do it himself?"

Obviously, Kogane knew why Futakuchi didn't do it himself. He had recently been bombarded with work ever since Lord Knight Moniwa, the Order's leader, had promised him responsibility once he stepped down. However, that didn't stop Kogane from complaining about his mean, hard-to-please superior.

"Ugh, it's stupid!" He shouted, picking up a rock and throwing it in irritation. The rock thudded against a ceramic chimney somewhere in the woods, just a few metres inside. "Oh, are you kidding me? All the way in there?"

With a loud sigh, Kogane dropped the sack and began to walk into the shade of the trees, still muttering to himself.

"Go clean up all the debris, Kogane! It'll be fine, Kogane! It's good work, Kogane! Ugh," He pouted, shutting his eyes for a brief second. "Why can't anything interesting happen to me?"

Just as he finished his sentence, his foot hooked under a root he didn't see since his eyes were closed, and he instantly toppled forwards and fell on the forest floor.

"Ah, shit," He whined when his chin hit something hard and an object jutted into the gap between his collarbone. "I swear, if that's the fucking chimney..."

Adjusting his position, Kogane looked down at what he landed on.

"Oh, wow," He breathed in alarm.

Lying beneath him was the most beautiful, handsome boy he had ever seen, around his age, and he looked asleep. Going bright red, Kogane sat up properly and scrambled off him in embarrassment, not knowing what to do. The chimney was completely forgotten about as he cleared his throat.

"Excuse me? Sir?" He asked. Kogane certainly didn't recognise the sleeping vision next to him. Part of him wondered, with a lot of fear, if he had just stumbled onto the God of Love – if he had he was dead. "Sir? Is everything alright?"

There was still no response, so Kogane began to look at him properly for any identification. His hair was black and seemed to have dried in messy, tattered locks. He was quite tall but smaller than Kogane, and he looked like he didn't sleep enough. Although his arms weren't particularly muscled, his legs looked like he could run quite well. His chest was rising and falling very slowly and there was a weird bulge from his stomach, under his shirt, but it was too rigid to be fat. Thin, leather strips held a skeletal eagle beak around his neck and Kogane gasped.

"You're from Shiratorizawa! But... Then... What are you doing here?" He looked at the boys' face again and then he saw the blood.