"Hurry up, Saga!" A certain brunette said excitedly, tugging at the hand of his blue-haired friend.
"I'm coming!" came the latter's answer, "you're running too fast, Aiolos! You're going to drop Aiolia!"
"Nonsense!" the brunette said back, grinning, "nii-san has you perfectly safe. Right , Aio?"
Saga watched as the little boy in the brunette's other arm nodded enthusiastically, his green eyes bright. "I want to meet new friends!"
"Just can't wait for the new trainees, can you?" Aiolos laughed, "well, so do I! It's finally going to be a lot more fun around here!"
It was an early morning in Sanctuary, but already did Saga feel like it was going to be a long day, especially with his best friend as energetic as this. He knew Aiolos was looking forward to this day since weeks ago, but the Gemini just could not comprehend...what's there to be so excited about a bunch of kids?
Nevertheless, he followed without another word as he and the brunette brothers reached the grounds just outside Aries temple, where the Pope was waiting, surrounded by a bunch of small figures, all with multi-colored heads and big round eyes.
"Hello, you two," Shion greeted with a smile.
"Good morning, lord Pope," Saga greeted politely, slightly bowing.
The violet eyed man smiled. "Saga, what did I tell you about honorifics? You can forget all formalities when we're alone."
The Gemini was about to answer, only to be interrupted by Aiolos, who chirped cheerfully, "Morning, Shion! Are these the new kids? They're all so adorable!"
Aiolos squatted to set his younger brother down, but did not get up so he could literally see eye-to-eye with the newly arrived boys. They all cast him a wary – but rather shy – look, and took a step back.
"Yes indeed," Shion said, "excluding Aiolia, there are now nine candidates for the gold cloths. Our scouts had searched all over the world, and have handpicked boys who show lots of potential in combat and cosmo-handling."
Saga watched as his friend held his hand out to a young boy with turquoise hair, who looked about to cry and backed into the crowd.
"That's little Camus," Shion whispered to the Gemini saint, "he's very shy. The first time I came to see him, he didn't even want to get out of the room!"
"I see..."
"Well," Shion said a little louder, so Aiolos could hear him, "training will start tomorrow, when their mentors arrive. In the meantime, Saga, Aiolos, I want you to help these kids get settled in their temples, alright? And whenever you take them somewhere, don't forget to count. Nine children is a big group, and if one or two goes missing it would not be as obvious as in a group of three or four."
Saga gave a nod. "Yes, Sir."
Aiolos started counting right away, but then frowned. "Hey...I only count eight."
Shion blinked. And then his eyes brightened as if realizing something, and turned around to look.
"Ah, there you are, Mu."
Aiolos and Saga peered behind him, and they saw a pair of round jaden eyes staring back at them, which belonged to a small pale boy with lavender hair and dots instead of eyebrows that reminded them immediately of their grand pope. The boy was clutching Shion's tunic tightly, his legs slightly shaking.
"This is Mu," Shion explained, picking up the boy, "he's always tottering behind me that sometimes completely I forgot he was there! Say hi to Aiolos and Saga, Mu."
The little boy held his hand up. "Hi.." he said quickly, and instantly turned his head and buried his face on Shion's shoulder, causing the pope to chuckle.
"He's also one of the shy ones," Shion whispered.
"Oh he won't be soon enough," Aiolos grinned, "not after he's got some training, that is!"
Saga sighed, his green orbs resting on the children before him, who were mostly crowding Shion and whining to get out of the heat. Few weeks earlier, the ex-Aries had summoned both he and Aiolos to his chambers , calmly saying, "I need you two to do me a favor." It was then that both gold saints received the news that the remaining gold cloths would have masters soon, and they were to help with the training. Of course, core practice would be handled by each candidates' respective mentors, but self-training were to be supervised by both him and Aiolos. Because no matter how big a potential the candidates have, they were all still children between five to eight years of age, and they – like all other children – need to be constantly watched over.
"Oh, and also," Saga remembered Shion adding, "I'll have you two handle their needs, okay? Like, if they have trouble bathing themselves, or something."
Saga groaned. Compared to himself, who found the idea rather troublesome, Aiolos had been more than happy to carry out the order. The latter had always complained, whining how the Sanctuary feels lonely with just two gold saints (and one trainee) around. Besides, Aiolos has Aiolia. Seeing that the future Leo was about the same age as the newly arrived kids, the Sagittarius saint would at least have some experience on how to handle children – unlike him.
Saga wasn't sure if accepting this task would be as exciting as his best friend made it sound to be. According to his imagination, it would be like having a lot of younger brothers!
And it was trouble just having one, too.
AN: Thankyou so much for reading! I hope you look forward to the next one!