Keeping Score

"Release the princesses, Goliath!", commanded the troop of church kids, with courage that rivaled David's. "Never! They're my prisoners." Goliath, or Kuro rather, said with a mischievous grin.

And so, a great chase ensued. Kuro was running around, laughing maniacally as the self-proclaimed 'little Davids' chased him in hot pursuit.

Just your typical Sunday morning at House of Genesis Church.

"You're seriously studying now? C'mon, lighten up Arya. You've got all this youthful, positive energy around. Calculus can wait." Aiden said as he looked over her writing down integrals and calculations as though she was in some form of flow-state.

"Aren't you supposed to be Goliath's henchman right now? Henchman don't talk to the imprisoned. It's not part of the job description." Arya replied in a neutral tone, eyes still locked on her work.

"Yeah...I don't think that's how it goes." Aiden said bluntly. "Seriously though, please stop. Seeing you doing all these calculations is increasing my anxiety for tomorrow's quiz. I don't need that right now."

Arya shrugged slightly, "Maybe it's a wake-up call for you from above. Get to work champ." A giggle sounded beside her, "You'll never win with her," Star said. "Believe me. As her best friend, I've tried enough times to know."

For the first time in several minutes, Arya set down her pen, "I'm just trying to use my time effectively right now. See how Kuro's complacent enough to run around without a care in the world? He's probably really confident in his calculus skills so I've got to make sure mine are just as sharp."

"I'm curious - how does Kuro study? He's always so active and yet his grades are always so good. I need some of that energy and willpower for myself..." Star sighed dramatically, sprawled across the grass. "Well, we've got his trusty buddy right here. Why don't you enlighten us, Aiden?" Arya turned to him, eyes gleaming with interest.

Aiden awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm just as clueless as you." Arya eyed him suspiciously, "Isn't there a specific time that Kuro shuts himself from the world or something? That's probably when he locks in."

This caused Aiden to chuckle, "Kuro's actually the most free..freest? What I mean is that he's always down for anything. It's like time's non-existent for him sometimes. Honestly,it's pretty weird."

The spark in Arya's eyes was quickly replaced with a frown as her investment returned to the numbers on her notebook, "Yeah right, you're probably under some oath to not tell." She punched numbers into her calculator with more force than before, "But it's okay. If you don't wanna say, I won't pester you."

Sensing the underlying hostility in her voice, Aiden crouched down to her level, "Aww, don't be like that Arya. I really don't know, I promise." He reached to pet her head but Arya immediately swatted his hand away.

"Anywaysss," Aiden said as an attempt to divert the topic, "The service should be ending soon. We should probably round up the kids before their parents come out."

"I'll get them!" Star jumped to her feet and runs in Kuro's direction all too eagerly.

Weird...

"What's with the side-eye? Does she have a secret crush on Kuro or something?" Aiden's words cut through Arya's introspective gaze.

"Was that a serious question?" Arya asked, partially convinced that this had to be some new form of ragebait.

Judging by the way Aiden immediately raised his hands in surrender, her opposition must have been written all over her face. "Hey, it's not a far-fetched conclusion. Kuro's a great guy. Makes me wonder how you could bring yourself to hate him so much."

"I don't hate him. Hate is an emotion unbefitting of a child of God after all." Arya said in a matter-of-fact tone. For some reason, a loud cackle resounded from Aiden. "HEY!" Arya glared at him.

Aiden tried to compose himself, struggling to form a full sentence without laughs interjecting, "Sorry...It's just..." He wheezed, "The contrast between your words and facial expression was sending me." He wiped tears from the corners of his eyes before adding, "In all seriousness though...you don't hate him? "

"I don't." She hesitated before continuing. "In my eyes, Kuro's like Paul's thorn in the flesh."

"Wow," Aiden snorted. "A thorn, really?" With a shrug, Arya replied, "Being around his excellence can be frustrating sometimes, but I can't deny that he pushes me to be better. In that sense...I'm grateful God placed someone like that in my life."" Aiden's amused expression softened. "That was surprisingly wholesome of you."

Arya clicked her pen and is just about to return to work on yet another maths problem when the figure running up to her caught her attention.

"Oh my gosh, Ezra! What happened to you?" Standing before a bewildered Arya, was her little brother Ezra, whose clothes were currently decorated with stains of sweat and dust from all the running about. As she pinched the stained fabric between her fingers, she could practically see the carefully planned afternoon she'd intended to dedicate to calculus disappearing before her eyes.

Ezra followed innocently looked down at the fabric in her hand and the reality dawned on him. He smiled apologetically, "We were having too much fun so I...I'll wash it myself. Promise."

Arya sighed and smiled back in attempt to hide the frustration, "No, I've got this. Besides, you might not be able to get all the stains out on your own."

Ezra puffed out his chest "I'm a big boy. I've got this.""Have you seen the dishes you wash? You can grow bigger bud," Arya teased, earning a look from her brother.

"He'd make a stellar athlete though. The boy sure can run."

As she looked to the voice, it dawned on Arya that her brother hadn't come alone. "Kuro, you were supposed to keep the kids entertained and in check. We can't give 'this' back to the parents." She reprimanded, dirty fabric still in hand.

"In my defense," Kuro replied, "the other children were returned in much better condition. Your brother was...an outlier." Arya looked to Star, who nodded to affirm Kuro's words.

This only made Arya's frown deeper, "That doesn't make it better, y'know. My plans have been ruined. How am I supposed to study with this hanging over me now?"

"You've been studying all service, maybe this is your sign to relax a little," Aiden interjected, adding to Arya's damped mood, "Again, that doesn't make it better."

"I could come over and help." Kuro suddenly offered. Arya blinked at the words, "...What?"

"With the laundry. And maybe studying, too."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "My calculus is pretty good so consider this as an apology."Kuro added.

"Yeah no." Arya shook her head disapprovingly, "Firstly, what kind of request is that? And secondly, my mom wouldn't let a guest come into our house, just for him to become some sort of manservant."

"I think it's a great idea! Kuro could come over and help you out with studying and we could play some more after!" Ezra jumped in, eyes ecstatic.

"You don't get a say in this, bud." Arya said as she took her brother's hand gently, though he pulls away, "I'll just have to use my favourite child powers to convince mom and dad then."

"So you do admit that you're the favourite? Unfortunately, now not the time for that. Let's just go home." Arya reaches for his hand again.

"No! I'm trying to make your life easier here. Kuro offered to help, plus you were the one crying about how impossible integration was yesterday." Ezra argued.

Arya nearly dropped the opinion that inviting Kuro would in fact be the opposite of helping her but she contained herself for the time being "That was yesterday. I was tired and there was-"

But Ezra had already sprint away somewhere and as Arya's gaze followed his path, she realized that he's running towards the procession of adults leaving the church.

The service had ended.

Great, just great...