(Julius Argenti POV)
I was being squished against Nica as she greeted us as soon we enter Amina's house. Despite her shorter stature, it was like being held against an immovable wall.
Eventually, she let me go as I familiarised myself with the mansion. It was nearly a year since I came back here.
"Elaine, Adam, it's been so long!"
Amina rushed into the living room and practically jumped on her older siblings. Adam tried to pat her head, but since she was taller, it was a bit awkward.
Elaine escaped her sister's hands and beamed a massive smile, almost like a proud parent. At first glance, they didn't look like siblings at all.
Elaine and Adam were twins and shared identical faces, hair colour and height. They looked like when you choose a character in a game— the male version and the female version.
The twins had jet-black hair like their father and grandfather and had a slightly Central-Asian face while Amina had spring-green hair with more western features. Their only similarity was their blue eyes.
"Where are mother and father?"
Elaine sighed a pointed to the other room connecting to the living room where two people were talking. The male had jet-black hair while the female had spring-green hair.
Amina skipped over to the other room. As soon as the adults noticed her presence, they lowered their heads in shame.
"Uhh, umm... Hello?"
Amina unsure of what to say only managed to stutter.
"Yeah... it's been a while Amina."
After hesitating Amina's father finally mustered up the courage to speak with his daughter. I could see a bead of sweat rolling down their forehead. They were undoubtedly ashamed of meeting her.
Amina had a complicated relationship with her parents. She hadn't seen her parents in over a decade. She was quite young when they left for the war, meaning that she barely remembered their faces.
Amina's siblings were 12 when they left, meaning that they developed more of a bond with their parents. Amina however, was only 4. It was Umbra Moria who acted as her father and guardian.
Though I had never been in the position of Amina's parents, I could roughly guess what they were feeling. Amina however, was undoubtedly excited to meet her parents.
Suddenly a black shadow passed by me and hit the two parents on the head.
"Why the hell are looking at the floor? Look at your daughter when you speak to her. Since when did S ranks become cowards?"
Umbra whacked them across the head and dragged them from where they were sitting. We all stood awkwardly next to each other.
"I don't want to disrupt this family reunion, so I'll go unpack."
I felt out of place there and wanted to leave. Umbra agreed and I motioned for Amina to give me her bags as well.
"By the way, this is my son Reginald Moria and my daughter-in-law Makayla Moria."
I left the Moria for their family reunion and I gave Amina's bags to one of the maids working here. I escaped into one of the guest bedrooms, though everyone in the mansion knew it was just my bedroom.
I heard Amina's uncle and his family were coming as well, so I made myself scarce inside the mansion. To pass the time I played video games and did some mana control training.
When I heard the laughing in the living room I felt a pang of jealousy in my heart. I cursed myself for feeling this way. I should be happy that my best friend finally got to meet her parents after over a decade.
"It hurts doesn't it."
Nica suddenly appeared behind me and started whispering in my ear. Even though I didn't see her coming, it had happened so many times, I stopped being spooked.
We both shared a couple of things in common. One of these things was that we had no blood relatives. All our family was dead.
In both of my lives, my family were taken from me. Well in the first case, I was taken from my family.
"Family doesn't always mean blood. SUITE is my family. You don't have to join SUITE, but you can always join the Morias."
I understood what she meant, but I still hesitated.
"You don't have to take their last name though. If you want to marry Amina, you still can without it being weird."
"You can stop with the jokes."
"But I'm not joking. Do you not love Amina?"
"I do, in a platonic sense. We are not like that."
"Poor girl..."
Veronica quietly muttered something to herself. I didn't enhance my hearing, so I didn't catch what she said.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing important."
I stared right at her trying to pry information from her but eventually, I relented. If she wanted to hide something from me, I would never be able to know about it.
"Anyway, since you looked bored, do you want to train with me?"
I had nothing better to do, so I accepted Nica's offer. Despite the training being gruelling and exhausting, it was therapeutic. It distracted me from the Moria family get-together and Nica helped me consolidate all the techniques I learned at Central High.
After hours of training, we retired to our rooms where we took showers. Veronica swung by my room again and we started playing video games together.
Contrary to her looks and personality, she was an avid gamer.
Soon after we started playing, the door to my room abruptly swung open. Appeared Umbra appeared and he invited (forced) us to join the party.
He gave the excuse that we were his disciples so we counted as family. We didn't want to argue with him, so we did as he said.