School Days | A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Nephis's decision to allow Sunny to continue his slumber hadn't been one born on impulse. While it was true that admiring him as he slept without fear of repercussion had been a driving force, his lack of interest in the lesson also meant they had more things to do together as the summer break arrived.

The idea of teaching Sunny the curriculum once more in as strict a fashion as possible deeply amused Nephis; the smirk on her face, however, remained hidden from sight. Almost like an open secret.

However, what she didn't expect was for Sunny's head to snap up. Sweat beading off his forehead as an expression of horror painted itself across his features, snapping his head towards Nephis, he let loose a sigh of relief before attempting to focus on the lecture once more.

'He's shaking.' Nephis thought to herself with a frown; it was clear he couldn't focus on the lesson, yet he still needed to keep up appearances. Sunny wasn't a man who got nightmares often; however, on rare occasions, glimpses of a past he'd like to forget or brief premonitions of horrible futures liked to snake their way into his mind.

He had seen it all too vividly, that dreaded man with golden hair standing next to the wretched woman and her velvet eyes. Those two had been a constant source of terror in his life, throwing him into literal hell all for their machinations. It wasn't like he had a choice, the alternative was far too painful to even allow to cross his mind. But what made it even worse was that the vile fiend in golden form had encountered Nephis.

At that point, Sunny couldn't take it any longer. Forcing himself out of his dream wasn't a difficult affair; however, it left sweat pouring from his body in droves. Sunny attempted to train his expression, trying to force the look of indifference Nephis always wore onto his face to no avail. His mind was simply too terrified, too infuriated to forget what it saw.

Aided by his terror, the minutes of the lesson flew by as Sunny remained firmly planted onto his seat. His eyes appeared hollow, and his lip unconsciously quivered. All of this, however, ended as soon as Nephis placed a hand on his shoulder. Slowly turning his head in her direction, Sunny looked up at her with a forced smile.

"Sorry about that; I must have freaked you out." He apologised; Nephis only shook her head in reply. "It's fine. Do you want to talk about what just happened? It seemed like you had…an interesting nightmare, to say the least." For the first time in her life, Nephis saw Sunny's eyes flash red as he shook his head firmly, slowly rising to his feet.

"No, I'm…well, I'm not fine. But you don't have to worry about it. It's just a nightmare." Moving to leave, Nephis shifted in front of him, barring his exit from the class. "Sunny, I'm worried about you. What happened in your dream?" She made sure to phrase what she wanted to say as a question. Nephis did feel slightly guilty at abusing his defect, but if it helped Sunny get the weight that rested on his shoulders off his chest, all would be well.

"I remembered some people who I used to work for. Very unpleasant lot." Sunny sighed before attempting to shift past her once more. Nephis allowed him to this time, but not before enveloping him in a tight hug. She hadn't done this for anyone, not even her closest of friends. Yet, hugging Sunny felt natural; it felt right.

Sunny returned the gesture, taking a moment to enjoy her warmth and smell before pulling away. This time, the smile he gave her was genuine. And Sunny quickly made his way out of the classroom. He hadn't even noticed Nephis remained behind him with a barely restrained blush on her face.

"I hugged him." She whispered to herself, slapping a hand over her mouth. "He smells amazing." The grin she held was much larger than anything she had ever done before, yet despite her efforts, it refused to escape her lips. After taking a few breaths to gather herself, she scanned the room and realised Sunny was no longer present before darting to history.

With Sunny's fast pace, he had taken a moment not to be too mindful of his surroundings. After all, the prestigious individuals who roamed the academy couldn't possibly get involved with someone like him. That would be absurd. For that reason, Sunny was even more surprised than usual when a figure slammed into his chest with force.

Thankfully, through years of experience of getting hit, Sunny was used to this. Shifting backwards, Sunny gazed down at the person who he had just collided with. It was a small girl with beautiful features and a sea wave cloak on. Her eyes were covered with a blindfold, and her walking stick was on the floor beside her. It didn't take a genius to tell that she was blind. Crouching downwards, Sunny grabbed her walking stick before gently guiding it back into her hand.

"Sorry for bumping into you." Sunny said as he pulled her to her feet. The girl before him only nodded in reply before offering him a small smile. "It's fine; I couldn't hear you coming at all! How do you even manage to walk so silently?" Thankfully, her voice sounded more excited than angry as Sunny offered her a smile to match her vigour. "It's a skill I've learnt through the years. I'm Sunless, but my friend calls me Sunny. What's your name?"

The blind girl cocked her head to the side. "Sunny? What a nice nickname! I'm Cassie!" She extended a hand, which wasn't directed at Sunny in the slightest; however, he grabbed her by the shoulders and lightly shifted her to face his direction. Upon doing so, he gently took her hand and shook it. "I like your name too!"

Sunny and Cassie continued to exchange pleasantries, so much so that Sunny had forgotten that he had a lesson to get to. However, this didn't last very long as Nephis poked him in the side quickly getting his attention as a jolt of electricity shot through his body. Turning to her, he quickly relaxed and offered her a warm smile as he locked eyes with her.

"Hey Neph, this is Cassie. We just met. Cassie, this is Neph. She's my best friend in the school, which doesn't mean much since you two are my only friends. But she'd still be my best friend regardless!" 

Nephis blushed lightly at his onslaught of praise before exchanging greetings with Cassie. Soon enough, the two went their own separate ways, with Sunny and Nephis briskly making their way into history together. Sunny eagerly took down notes as he greedily absorbed the information he was being taught; Nephis, on the other hand, wasn't writing much at all.

Studying the entire curriculum before the school term started was really showing its benefits, despite how much she hated it. With that, she had the opportunity to see an entirely different side of Sunny as he continued to greedily write down notes, even occasionally raising a hand to ask questions.

It was an interesting sight to say the least, for someone who had been deprived of such opportunities his entire life; any piece of information that struck Sunny's fancy would be absorbed without remorse. And Nephis had the opportunity of witnessing Sunny's progress firsthand. Oddly, she felt a strange sort of pride at being the first to reach out to Sunny and pull him from his shell.

Just thinking of any woman giving Sunny offerings disgusted her.

Soon enough, the lesson ended, and it was time for the two to go home. Sunny had tried to insist on staying at his own home; however, Nephis threats of tearing his building down and personally rebuilding it shut down all his protests. After a brief car ride of being pressed against Neph's body, they soon found themselves making their way into Nephis overwhelmingly large home.

A warm smile settled itself on Sunny's face as he walked around, greeting all the maids and servants who had graciously attended to him. Sometimes, he would even offer a small bow to them before making his way to the next one. Sunny's string of conversations was cut off by the sound of his own stomach, as he placed a hand on his stomach with a blush on his face.

Before anyone knew it, Sunny had rushed into his unofficial room before slamming the door shut. Nephis had no clue why he had done that; it seemed like a bit of an overreaction simply because he was mildly hungry. It happened to everyone after all.

That curiosity at his reaction is what fuelled her to gently and silently crack open Sunny's door, letting a slight beam of light into the room. Her eyes widened at what she saw. She had incidentally happened to be peering at Sunny changing from the sweaty shirt he had worn the entirety of the school day to another more comfortable article of clothing.

To say Nephis was captivated by the sight of Sunny changing would be an understatement. She couldn't peel her eyes off his form as he ran a hand over the snake tattoo that coiled itself over his body with a frown. "This wretched thing, why did I allow them to do that to me?" Curiosity only soaring, Nephis remained at his door before watching him fall onto the bed lazily.

"I have something good going for me, Mom; hopefully, Rain is safe. I had to fight her way back to safety last time I saw her, and she was only two! I hope she's forgotten me; who would want a good-for-nothing like me as a brother anyway?

A frown slowly tore its way through Nephis's face as she continued listening. It appeared like Sunny speaking to his parents, who Nephis could only assume had died, would be a daily occurrence. But what truly bothered her was the self-deprecating language. She found Sunny quite amazing after all.

"I had a nightmare today, one of that bastard meeting Nephis. I hope he never comes into contact with her. She's…become a precious person to me in such little time it's crazy!"

Nephis wanted to burst into the room, envelop Sunny in a huge hug, and do things she'd never even write down in a diary. But her restraint was masterful; simply listening to Sunny shower her with compliments was enough to make her weak at the knees. 'When did I become such a pushover? You just met him, and you're becoming a fangirl,' she mentally berated herself.

Yet, despite her mental critique of herself, the warm smile that placed itself on her lips never disappeared. Sunny was just like her; both of them felt like they had something missing in their lives, a hole they needed to fill. Sunny was exactly what was needed to fill that hole.

Hearing Sunny sigh and finish putting on his shirt, she quickly turned as he removed his shorts, sliding the door shut before making her way into her room. 'I should have stayed,' she thought to herself with a red face before emerging from her room, armed with the indifferent expression she had trained herself to wear.

Sunny was hungry, and she would see to it that he was fed.