To be honest, when Griselda was hyping up a dorm of in-training pro exorcists for a crazy secret society of magic people under the fucking Vatican, this was not what Vin was expecting.
[SLASH!] A TV hummed aloud.
"Fuck! WE'RE GOING AGAIN!"
"Dude, you've lost the last eighteen rounds, give it a break."
"EAT A DICK!"
Yeah, wow. Just… wow.
The door led Vin and Griselda right into the common room, where multiple black leather couches faced a large flat screen television mounted to the wall. Atop one couch sat a large dark-skinned man casually lounging back wearing a bright pink fluffy hoodie and a pair of grey sweatpants. His expression the definition of serenity, as he held a controller in his hands.
Meanwhile his companion was the exact opposite. Erratic, and particularly incensed; an angry, short red-haired boy wearing a Pokémon shirt and a pair of black shorts. He sat on the floor at the foot of the couch, an arcade stick in his lap that looked ready to break from abuse.
The taller of the two looked over towards the door, his eyes widening, as he gave a soft nudge to the redhead with his foot.
The redhead looked up in response, and went equally wide-eyed, but actually managed to vocalize himself, and as he eloquently put it.
"Oh shit, new guy."
And then he scurried off further into the complex. Well… That was… interesting.
Meanwhile, the tall boy got up, and holy shit, he was tall. Standing at what must have been a good six-foot-something. Even Vin, who by most standards fell into the category of 'gangly teen' had to look up to meet the boy's eyes. Damn, he hadn't had to do that with anyone since he was thirteen… Hah, how he does not miss the days of his dad holding things above his head…
A sprout of encompassing emptiness swirled in Vin's stomach. Dad. He took a deep breath. Bury it… bury it… annnnnnd gone.
He stretched his hand out in greeting, "Hey, it's nice to have a fresh face around here. I'm Jafar, and you're...?"
Vin returned the handshake, "Vin. It's nice to meet you."
Jafar gave an easygoing smile, "Likewise, man. I'm sure Ethan's already running off to tell the others about you, so I'd suggest getting ready for that."
"Jafar, I trust everything's been orderly since I've been gone," Grisleda asked.
Jafar gave a nod, "Yup, everything's been pretty chill. I decided I'd finally humor Ethan, give him something to do while I keep an eye on him, you know how he can get."
Griselda pinched the brow of her nose, "Do I ever…"
"Yeah guys, new kids right over here," The distant voice of Ethan called out, as he soon emerged, leading a group of teenagers who all stood a good few inches taller than him.
Vin could vaguely recall a few of the faces from the little crowd that found him after awakening his… what did they call it? Sacred Gear? Yeah… yeah, that sounded right. But amongst the crowd of people, there were two faces that stuck out to him more than the others.
"Oh! Vinny, you're really here!" Irina enthusiastically called out, hopping out of the crowd, and effortlessly breaking his personal space bubble.
Vin looked down at Irina hanging off his arm, clad in a pair of fuzzy purple pajamas, wow she looked way too good in those. He strained his eyes to focus solely on her face, and tried to ignore the fact that he could probably catch a glimpse of something if he looked down at her shirt's collar.
Really didn't help that Irina was a very pretty girl who was probably the first super pretty girl who was practically hanging off of him. Try to stay calm Vin, try to stay calm, give a response!
"Eheheh, uh… yeah, I am."
Nailed it.
"This is gonna be great! You're going to have so much fun here with us!" Irina beamed.
Oh boy, just what the hell did Vin manage to get himself into?
"Hey, guys, c'mon and introduce yourselves to Vinny! Trust me, he's like, the sweetest guy in my class." Irina called, as she finally released Vin, instead opting to stand slightly to his side.
But wait, did he really get called 'sweet' by the Irina Shidou? Oh boy, what the students at school would do to him if they ever found out that little tidbit.
But before Vin could indulge anymore in hypotheticals about being 'put in his place' by an angry student population in the name of their sweet Irina's honor, an unfamiliar boy stepped out of the crowd in front of him.
"Very well, I shall be the one to measure the caliber of this new budding warrior," Declared a boy with messy black hair, and… was that a cape?
Vin blinked, yep definitely a cloak. The boy was wearing a long black and satin purple cape over a pair of shorts and a Iron Maiden t-shirt.
Oh, well at least he had good taste.
The boy tossed his cape theatrically with his hand, "Greetings budding warrior of the sacred crystals. I am the Jet-Black Conduit, the Blade of Divine Judgement, you may call me… Ezekiel."
Vin shifted his eyes towards Irina, whispering, "Hey, so is he like…"
"Oh!" Irina perked up, before leaning into his ear; the feeling of her breath on his ear causing goosebumps to break out across his back, "Zeke's kind of… special. He thinks up the funniest things, like he's a real life superhero or something. Once you get used to it, it's actually pretty cute."
"Ah. So he's a Chuuni," Vin stated matter of factly.
"Chuuni? Oh! Chuunibyou! You know Japanese?" Irina smirked, as she poked Vin's cheek with her index finger.
Ah shit, that just came out. Abort! Abort!
"Not a word…" Vin deadpanned, a faint dusting of pink crossing his creeks.
"Alright, I guess I'm up then!"
Vin nearly fell to the floor as suddenly, a weight leapt up onto his back. After regaining his balance, accompanied with a feminine giggling just behind his head, a head of brown and dark orange hair filled his vision. With a flick of the head, the hair flipped over to reveal the face of a youthful girl with a playful smirk.