Friction (Transdim Freya Familia AU)

Friction

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Commissioned by Gopher54

Word Count: 1053

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“Eh? You left your Familia, Sensei?” I knew that to be an Adventurer, Sensei had to have a Familia, but I didn’t know you could leave your Familia and still continue to be an Adventure. Well, I suppose Sensei was so strong that he didn’t need a Kami-sama to keep updating his Falna, but I always thought that he went back to his Familia after he trained and helped me. I knew that he taught me not to make assumptions… but, it was really strange to think that the Strongest Adventurer in Orario didn’t have a Familia! “How come?”

I expected a lot of different, possible answers from my Sensei.

There was a thirty percent chance of silence.

Fifty percent chance of snark and sarcasm.

And, twenty percent chance of the truth.

But, I didn’t expect the answer he gave at all.

“My Kami-sama is too crazy when I’m around.” That deliver, utterly deadpan and lacking in any insults towards myself, told me that Sensei was telling the whole and entire truth. Orario’s Thunderous Tempest told me the truth, just as he did whenever I asked a question that I really, really needed to know the answer to because my life depended on knowing it! “I left her alone for her own good, because she can’t get anything done with me around.”

…Wait.

If… if I read into those words just a little…

“Eh… Sensei… are you saying that you’re in a romantic relationship with your Kami-sama?” 

Those words he said were definitely like grandfather’s words. Grandfather said he’d leave behind the women he loved, because he just made their lives difficult, but he cherished their moments together. He’d also laugh very loudly at the end, say things like he’d have faced on all the bastards baying for his blood, but he didn’t want to ruin the lives of others just for his own sake. I didn’t really get it, but I was getting a gist of grandfather from Sensei right now. 

“Oh? Uhhh… I guess I am.” Sensei scratched his cheek. I only saw him do such a thing when he was nervous. That was very rare. He usually never backed down, not even in the face of the most terrible of monsters. I can count the times he scratched his cheek on one hand, and that was because he apologizing to someone named Totsuka when he thought he was alone. It was probably an old lover of his that crossed his mind every now and again, but he’d had to leave behind. “A-anyway, what’s it to you, C-cranel!?”

Oh no.

If I didn’t want to be yelled out and have my sense of self-worth destroyed, I needed to provide a perfect answer!

That was what the stutter and blush meant if it involved Sensei!

“Ummm… Ah… I just wanted to congratulate you! That’s amazing, Sensei!” Praise! Sensei was weak to praise! Whenever he gets praised by anyone, all he can do is take a step back, look away, and blush! I needed to use that as much as possible! I praised him from the bottom of my heart, looking up at him with a gaze as wide and devoid of deceit as possible, whilst holding both my hands against my heart. Ah! Yes! It’s working! “You’re amazing—

Things went far too fast for me to describe.

One second, I was praising Sensei and making him stutter, and the next I was against the floor, with Sensei looming over me, his weapon in hand, and the field we were training in was utterly covered in thrown weapons.

“Dammit, you idiots! This is a guy! Cranel’s a guy! Leave me to train him in peace! He’s not a damn threat!” Eh? Ah? What? All around us, in the trees, above stones, and in shadows, were more than a dozen individuals all clad in from head to toe in armor and cloth. Looking at them… was difficult! They seemed to fit in with the environment! And, ummm, Sensei was talking to them very familiarly! “I’m not interested in his body, dammit! Think about how it makes me feel when you try to kill a guy for fuck’s sake! You should all know I like girls!”

I briefly heard a whistling sound, before Sensei’s boot contacted my shin, and sent my fully sprawled on the ground.

A knife passed through the air where my face had been.

“Didn’t you just hear a word I said, Arde!? This is a boy! A boy! Look at him! He’s thin, gangly, and honestly kinda effeminate, but he’s a boy!” Ahaha… more of Grandfather’s stories were rearing their head. This time, however, they were fables that preached warnings. The way Sensei was speaking to these people in such a familiar way, and how he could react to them so easily, meant that they were his Familia. And, judging from how he talked about his Kami-sama being his lover and how he left her so she could function, I knew what the situation was. This is one of those women that Grandfather said one should always run away from. Those who love too much! “He’s not even cute! He’s just stupid and that makes you want to protect him, dammit!”

Ah, Sensei, I understand that you’re saving my life from the whims of your Kami-sama, but can you please not hurt my feelings too much?

Whatever mean things Sensei said about me seemed to work though.

One by one they all retreated while he glared at them. One and all they seemed to fade away into the shadows. I would’ve thought that they were simply hiding again, but Sensei stared at certain spots, like he was watching them, before sighing and shaking his head. When he reached out to me to help me up, I was sure it was safe, because he wouldn’t have let me raise my head if I could still get killed.

Or, uhhh, at least I hoped he wouldn’t.

“C’mon, brat. Let’s get something to eat.” Hikigaya Hachiman sighed after patting away some dust from my clothes. Despite how irate he looked on the outside, I couldn’t help but think that he seemed just a little happier. “I’ll go apologize to Freya about ogling you later, so you don’t have to worry about dying.”

Wait… what!?