|| Black Clover || Valiant [OC INSERT]

[7]

Iris sat on an outside field with her legs crossed and eyes closed. Her hands were resting on her knees as she meditated; it was another form of training for her. She had been busy the past few months with her assigned missions. Recently, she had decided that she would work on her magic detection ability.

She could feel all the life around her, breathing with an almost unnoticeable inhalation and exhalation. The wind blew through the plants, causing the scent of the newly bloomed flowers to travel. Every living thing had a hint of magic energy--at least, that's what she had been told.

She slowly opened her eyes seeing a male figure standing in front of her. "Iris, it's time for us to get going. Captain Yami is waiting for us at the front of the base, and you know he's not exactly the patient type."

Iris exhaled as she stood up. "Thanks for coming to get me, Finral." She stretched her arms out, tired of sitting down for the past thirty minutes in the same position. "I can't believe it's already the day of the Magic Knight Exams. Time flew by pretty fast, huh?"

Finral smiled at the reminiscing Iris. "To think that just six months ago, you were ranked lower than me." Finral had fake tears running down his face with one hand over his heart, thinking about how he had been outdone by a mere newbie.

Iris playfully punched Finral's arm. "Aw, don't say that! You're amazing and you're still my senpai~"

Finral covered his beet-red face with his hand, turning away from Iris. "We should go. Yami's waiting." Finral tried his best to compose himself before appearing in front of his captain. 'Geez. It's embarrassing being complimented so casually,' he thought. Normally, Finral would be the one who would --flirtatiously-- pester others. He wasn't used to getting a taste of his own medicine.

Iris followed right behind her senior, happily waiting for the day's events. She wasn't oblivious to how she had made Finral act. In fact, she found him getting flustered cute, in the way you'd find a pet adorable.

Yami was surprisingly in a better mood than what the two mages had previously thought. He hadn't demanded either of them to hurry when they were spotted. Instead, he tiredly told them to do their job properly.

"Captain~! Aren't you excited? We get to see the kind of magic the examinees have!" Iris beamed at the thought of observing the abilities of others.

'This kid is exactly like Julius sometimes,' Yami grimaced at the fact that he had a mini-Julius with him. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with." All Yami wanted to do was take a dump. And now, he couldn't do that because then he'd miss the Exam.

Making their way to the testing area, Iris looked up to the sky, thinking about home. She hadn't gone back in through the six months that she had been away, but she would always send letters. 'Should I go and see how everyone's doing? I'm sure they miss me as much as I miss them--I mean, who wouldn't?' she thought.

"Captain Yami, where are you going? The other Captains are waiting for us over there," Iris said, pointing to the direction where the said party members were. They had been wandering off to their destination with Yami appearing to want to go somewhere else.

"Kid, you go on ahead. I needa go do something." Yami quickly changed his course, leaving Iris to continue on her way. Finral and Gordon also followed in pursuit of their Captain.

'Well, there they go I guess,' Iris thought, bitter about being left on her own. 'I hate being the only responsible one here; it's inconvenient.' She turned back around, trying her best to cope with the situation at hand.

As Iris continued to make her way to where the rest of the Captains were waiting, she kept thinking about whether she should stay and watch or return home. Though it has only been six months, those passing days felt like an eternity to her. After all, she had never been separated from them for such an extensive amount of time. Of course, she had her days off, but that was different. She would refuse them to focus on the agreement she had been subjected to.