The Power of a White Lotus!

Chapter 19 - Two Shy Boys...

Alois's savior appeared very stoic. He barely gave a glance to Alois but still made sure to ask if the other is fine.

"May- may I ask for your name?"

"It's Elias."

And that was all for their exchange.

Elias Wisteria took after his father with the dark blue hair and violet eyes of his. However, this boy lacked the scholarly air and replaced it with an intimidating presence which originated from his relatively strong stature.

Most of the children his age are afraid of Elias due to these characteristics. Only the boy's family know that this child is just putting up a front. In reality, Elias is just extremely protective, especially of his siblings. This boy cannot bear seeing injustice and is especially fond of-

Those chilling eyes gazed down at Alois.

-small and cute things-

But that "affectionate" expression had always been misperceived.

Currently, Elias remained standing upright, casting a long shadow on the weak Alois who still could not find the strength to stand. With the remnants of blood remaining on Elias's sword, any outsider might think that the eldest master of the Wisteria House is bullying those weaker than him.

Alois took the initiative to speak again.

"Thank you for saving me, Elias, ummm-"

But this prince is also an introvert who had been shut in the castle all his life and never made friends...

Elias squat down so that he won't appear as intimidating. The sword he was holding had at some time been put down on the ground.

The two shy boys just sat before each other. Alois looked away timidly...but then his stomach growled.

"..."

"I-I-I... apologize... for the noise!" He stammered and blushed heavily.

Elias appeared as stoic as ever, but an barely noticeable arc had formed at his lips. He reached his hand inside his pocket to search for snacks-

-and found nothing.

Alois watched with curiosity at the older boy as he got up and held a hand out to him.

"Come with me."

It was just a few simple words but Alois's heart warmed up greatly.

.

.

.

Moments later at the center of a plaza, the two boys sat on a bench at the giant fountain. The sunlight shinned down warmly upon the two, chasing away the chill from that dark alley.

Alois munched eagerly at a large sandwich, his cheeks stuffed to the point of bulging like a hamster.

After he swallowed a huge bite, a hand reached over beside his mouth with a cup of water.

"Sip." said Elias.

"Thank you." So with his hand full of food, Alois could only lower his head to drink, giving Elias the misconception that he is feeding a small, furry animal.

And so the two children, one ate and the other fed got along quite harmoniously. After Alois finished off his last bit of food, he sat back and let out a sigh of content. However, before he can completely relax, Elias took his hand and left him off the bench.

"Now, let's go find your parents." The boy lightly pulled the hand of the younger child, but instead finding the other not budging an inch.

"No, I'm fine."

"?"

Alois looked up straight, facing the taller boy and voiced determinedly:

"I'm grateful for the help but I do not need assistance with looking for them."

"Why..." Elias started, but a sudden gust of wind blew in his direction. The wind came on strong, carrying a bit of dust which forced Elias to shut his eyes. But when a shout of alarm sounded before him, he opened his eyes just in time to see a hat fly past him.

He clearly could have reached out to grab the boy's hat, but his eyes caught sight of Alois's raven black hair which tussled like waves beneath the golden sun.

The boy reacted instantly by frantically covering his head. Even if he knew such actions are pointless, he held the hope that his savior won't notice.

Elias reached over to remove his hand but Alois reacted strongly, quickly crouching down in a defensive position like an egg, now using his both his arms to completely cover his head.

Alois felt so panicked that he wants to cry...rather, his eyes are already tearing up, his cheeks reddening...in his mind, he thought of countless ways to get out of this situation but in all of them, he can just picture the image of Elias looking down at him in contempt.

Just when he started sniffling, something covered his body, it was warm, comfortable, and the soft scent it omits smells lightly of the sun.

Alois blinked away his oncoming tears and recognized this fabric to be Elias's jacket.

So with an inkling of hope, he peeked out from his arms, meeting face to face with the stoic boy.

No, Elias can't be said to be stoic anymore as he gently patted Alois's hair. Albeit faint, his usual deadpan face  also held a trace of a kind smile.

It was a smile that Alois could only dream of but had nobody who would make that expression for him. It was a form of warmth which Alois desperately pleaded and asked for but received nothing but scorn instead.

With this, the tears Alois tried to keep back overflowed beyond the dam. Two thin arms reached out and hugged Elias tightly.

The older boy was surprised at this sudden reliance but was happy to comfort the frail child within his arms, patting him, stroking his back to relieve the hiccups.

All while disregarding the strange glances they were getting from the passersby's.

Though Elias did find the location to be a bit inconvenient so he picked up the sobbing Alois and rushed them off towards a more quiet place.

.

.

.

"Do you not hate me?" Alois chocked out from between his sobs as Elias ran.

"It's my first time meeting you today, so why would I?" The boy replied coolly.

"You saw my hair didn't you? So you must know who I am by now..."

"..."

Elias went silent for a second as he pondered. He never needed to pacify anyone before so he felt lost. So rather than trying to rack his brain in order to form some sort of heartfelt dialogue, he simply said what he thought:

"Why should it matter? I just like you."

This is just a simple sentence said with a straight tone. But to Alois, it was all he would ask for.

A/N: Next chapter will be the last of Alois's backstory! It will end badly just like Flynn's so just a little heads up QAQ...Anyways, if you all finished Flynn's backstory I'm sure some of you can predicted the ending so have fun with that (￣▽￣)