“Rei, wake up! It’s already twenty minutes past six!” Somebody who was shouting from outside of my room roused me awake.

I groggily got up from by bed and opened the door, only to see my father fixing his tie in front of the mirror that he bought the other day. Although, his tie was facing the wrong direction with the knot looking very loose.

I forced my half-asleep mind to command my legs to go near him and fix his collar and tie.

He’s an adult, but he still doesn’t properly take care of his appearance. If only he could keep his job this time. I’m tired of moving around from city to city.

“Thanks” He said.

I then hand him the comb that was on a table next to the mirror. He brushes his hair backwards a few times before he strikes a pose as he looks at his reflection. Flexing his muscles while he was wearing a suit to get him pumped up.

What a silly man.

After looking over my father’s appearance a few more times to check if anything was out of place, I then made an okay sign with my right hand and headed towards the bathroom while stifling a yawn.

I usually don’t oversleep in the morning, but Al had kept me up throughout the night with his lectures.

I started calling Al with a ‘him’ last night while listening to him talk nonstop. I couldn’t stand calling him ‘it’ in my head when I was hearing a males voice, so I changed it. I didn’t verify with him though, so maybe it’ll change in the future… but if Al told me he was a ‘she’ all along, then that would be very weird.

We talked until past midnight, or more like, Al talked. From the small and mundane things, and then going over to the more serious ones like my thought process of overthinking situations about interacting with others. It was too much to handle and I was getting sleepy at that time. Therefore, I just wrapped my blanket over myself and said goodnight.

He refused to stop his lectures though, and insisted that I should keep on listening. However, I just closed my eyes and ignored him.

A few minutes later, I drifted off to a world of slumber. I didn’t have a good dream, and it was probably because of Al’s constant nagging.

I clearly remember what I dreamt a few hours ago. It was about my talking shadow that kept on pestering me to eat my vegetables and wear a bulletproof vest whenever I go out. And when I didn’t do as my shadow said, it swallowed me whole.

I screamed as I fell into the abyss that was inside of my shadow. It kept going on and on until I came to the decision to slap myself awake while I was falling. After a few times of my hand making contact with my face, I then woke up with my body covered in sweat.

“You forgot to put some toothpaste on your toothbrush” Al said.

Noticing that there really wasn’t any, I grabbed the tube that was on the sink and squeezed some out on it.

“Rei, I’m going to come home late tonight, so go have dinner in the restaurant from last night, or just order something. Also, make sure to lock up when you’re leaving for school. Bye!” I peek out of the bathroom and gave my father a thumbs up before he left.

I guess I’m having pizza for tonight.

After taking a bath and putting on my clothes, I looked at the mirror to see a young man with a tired face and huge bags under his eyes that had red irises.

This crimson colored irises of mine where also one of the reasons why people stare at me. It wasn’t every day that you’d get to see someone with this type of eye color. So, I grew my bangs out to cover my eye catching… eyes?

“You should definitely go and get a haircut. Do you remember what I told you last night? It’s a hazard when you can’t properly see where you’re going. And with your hair covering…”

There he goes again. Good thing I can phase out his voice most of the time when I’m doing something.

Getting my bag and umbrella ready, I then head towards my school. It was raining again today, and it was fine with me. The annoyance of most people is a delight for me. Although, I would like it if the sun would come out at some time. I need to get some Vitamin D to keep my bones and muscles healthy.

Making sure that I didn’t get splashed from the puddles that formed on the side walk, I manage to arrive at my school without a single drop of water on me. It was still too early though, and I was the first one to come into my classroom.

I saw that there were a few pieces of crumpled paper on some of the desks, so I picked it up and threw them into the trashcan. A clean learning space is always the best. That, and Al who was asking me to clean up my own desk was the main reason. Therefore, I just cleaned up the others too, while I was doing mine.

A few minutes later, more people came into the classroom. They formed a group at the front most desks and started talking amongst themselves. Some school gossip and whatnots that I had no interest in.

”How about you try to make friends with them?”

Make friends, huh. I looked at that group of people chatting about, and immediately came to the decision that I wasn’t going to.

“… No” I muttered under my breath.

“Why not?” Al asked.

It’s not that I don’t want to be their friend. It’s just that I don’t think they would be interested in what I have to say or vice versa.

“… No common interest” I said quietly.

Conversing with Al would be a lot easier if we could communicate without talking, but that wasn’t possible. It was also hard to find a topic to talk about when the both of you don’t have anything in common. Sure, there are some people out there that you would find like that and can befriend, but I don’t have the confidence to reach out to them.

“How would you know that you have no common interests with them if you don’t start talking first?”

Good point, but still a no. I already got the gist of what they were talking about and, guess what? I am not interested on who this Gerrard Langston is, and whom he’s currently dating.

I shake my head one last time to reaffirm that I’m not going to do what he was asking me to.

“Okay then. I’m going to start setting up a goal for today. And that is, if you don’t at least talk to one person for ten whole minutes, then I’m going to have to do the talking for you for the whole day” Al said.

“Please… don’t”

I just found out last night that Al was the reason for my introduction mishap and the ‘friendly and nonthreatening’ conversation that I had outside of school.

“Then, you better start talking because you only got until the school bell rings this afternoon”

But… who am I going to talk with?

When almost everyone was already in the classroom, I looked around to see that most of them were in a circle of friends. Some were more than eight people, and some had a small circle with only three people talking fervently.

I didn’t know which person to talk with, but the more larger groups were out of the question.

The person sitting next to me was just leaning back on his chair and waiting for the bell to ring, but… he just threatened me yesterday and… yeah, I don’t think there needs to be another reason not to talk with him.

“Is something bothering you?”

Someone asked from in front of me. I then turn towards the voice, only to see a smiling girl.

She had dirty blonde shoulder length hair and alluring yellow eyes. Her body was quite voluptuous for someone of her age, and coupled that with her attractive face. I think most people would find her to be quite the beautiful girl.

“?” I was confused as to why she approached me, but to answer her question, yes, something is indeed troubling me. I’m being blackmailed by the voice that said he was going to help me out. Help equates to forcing me to do something that I don’t like.

“Oh, it just looked like you were troubled about something and I just came here to ask, that’s all” She scratches the back of her head and blushed.

“This is your chance! Capitalize and don’t let it go to waste! Go go, fight fight!”

Al was cheering me on from the sidelines, but… I don’t know what to say to her. Should I just reply with a ‘yes’, but then what? How will I move on from there?

“Uh…” I was trying to come up with something, and she was patiently waiting for me to reply. Which, it really took some time until I just closed my mouth and looked down.

“Yes?” She said.

Think! Come on, this is my chance and I don’t know what to say. Just come up with anything. Even the age-old starter ‘the weather is looking fine today’ is good enough.

“T-the…” On second thought, the weather isn’t looking fine at all. It’s raining very hard right now, unlike the light drizzle just thirty minutes ago. It would be very odd to say that now.

“The?” She asked in confusion.

What now…

“…Sigh” Al sighed loud enough for me to hear it ring through my ears.

“Did I miss anything yesterday afternoon?”

Words suddenly came out of my mouth without my doing. Is this because of Al? Probably.

“Oh, yes. You missed a few assignments from some of our classes’ yesterday afternoon. I could let you borrow my notes and copy them if you want?” She said.

“S-sure”

Does this count with the ten-minute thing that Al was talking about. I should ask him later after she leaves.

“And by the way, my name’s Felicia. You can also ask Gerrard there for anything if you have problems related to our class or school. Right, Gerrard?” She looked at the person sitting next to me for confirmation.

“Of course, just ask away and I will do my utmost to answer it” he said.

So pretty boy’s name is Gerrard… the same Gerrard that those people were gossiping about?

I look at the man sitting next to me, seeing that he was giving me a confident look while he puffed out his chest.

Huh, he isn’t as scary as I thought after all. Maybe I just caught him in a foul mood yesterday… or was he just pretending right now?

“O-okay… uhmm… thanks”

After I said that, the bell rang and then the teacher came in. Felicia walked back to her seat and class started. I had to listen attentively just to catch up from zoning out yesterday, and it definitely was a lot to take in. I should start studying at home too, lest I’d be left behind.

“Ah… I see, but what is this thing called a parabola?” Al was listening in too.

Should I answer him?

I can imagine that if he had a head, it would be bobbing up and down while looking at the black board and the teacher.

Maybe later, if he asks me at that time.

Lunch break soon came and I was trying to find an unoccupied table. I found one and took a seat, but before I could start eating my sandwich, some people came to my table again.

“May we sit with you?” It was Gerrard and his gang.

Should I just shake my head and refuse? But, that would be rude, and they’re just here to eat their lunch…

After a few more seconds of thinking, I finally nodded and let them take a seat. Even though they didn’t really need my permission in the first place.

“It seems that I have forgotten to formally introduce myself to you yesterday because of certain reasons. And it’s been weighing on my mind for quite a while now. My name’s Gerrard Langston, a pleasure meeting you” The pretty boy with the shoulder length blond hair said.

“Yes-yes, ‘forgot to introduce’, heh. Gerrard here has been pestering us yesterday because of what he said. By the way, I’m Ailon Presidio and this two are my cousins, Howard and Fredrick” The brown haired man with a scar on his right cheek said. He was also the one who took out a knife from his pocket the other night.

“Don’t take to heart what Gerrard said. Underneath all of that formal and serious bullshit on the surface, is a big softy that’ll pummel you with cotton candy” The man named Howard said. Fredrick who was at his side just nodded along with him.

“Go on, introduce yourself to them too” Al urged me on.

“My name’s… Rei Feld” I was going to extend my hand for a handshake, but I didn’t go through with it. It would be very embarrassing if I put my hand out and then they’d just ignore it. It would make me crumble on the spot if that happened.

“Rei, don’t worry about what happened yesterday and the night before. As long as you stay clear on what we’re doing, then you’re fine. It’s also for your own safety” Ailon said.

“But, why did you attack him?” I said quietly, so that no one else would overhear.

“Certain circumstances have arisen that night, and we just did what we are supposed to do” Gerrard said.

“Supposed to do?” I was surprised. Not because there was some kind of event that led them to do that to the man, but because it seemed like it was their job to do it to him.

Are they some kind of hired gangsters?

“Don’t sweat about it. More importantly, tell us what you’ve been doing before you transferred here” Howard said.

He was staring straight at me, as if he was observing a wild animal that’s been put inside of a cage.

“Just breathe in and breathe out. Stay calm and start talking. This may be the only time that you can make friends without being the first one to initiate a conversation. Remember to capitalize! Cap-i-tal-ize!”

With Al’s insisting, I finally started talking. Although, I stuttered a lot. They were confused as to the difference of how I spoke yesterday and right now, but they didn’t mind it at all and waited for me to calm down and get myself together. Overall, I think I did a good job.

The sound of the school bell rings throughout the cafeteria. And it signals that lunch break was about to end, and classes will soon start again.

“Well then, I’ll be leaving our ‘pretty boy’s’ care in your hands this afternoon” Ailon said with a laugh.

Gerrard tried to punch him on the shoulder, but it misses its mark as he evades it by moving his body to the side.

“See you guys later” Howard waves at the both of us before they left the cafeteria.

They really aren’t as bad as I thought they would be. If you told me that they were a bunch of violent delinquents right now, then I wouldn’t have believed you.

“Let us go” We then head towards our classroom and sat at our seat at the back.

Huh, Everyone was currently staring at the both of us, or more accurately, at me. Did something happen again?

Gerrard asked what was wrong when he saw that I was flustered by something. I just shook my head from side to side and ignored the people who were staring. Maybe there was something stuck on my face from the sandwich that I ate earlier.

When class started, I searched my face with my hands to see if there was anything on my face, but I got nothing. The teacher misunderstood my action as if there was something wrong with me and that I needed to go to the nurse’s office. I just meekly replied with ‘nothing’ and concentrated on the lecture again.

“Open your text books and answer the following pages. We’ll check them before the class ends” The female teacher said, and I had to quickly scramble to get my textbook on the right page.

When the teacher called for everyone to start checking his or her own work. I grimaced at the sight of my paper. It was a total failure. I got everything wrong because I didn’t attend yesterday’s lesson.

“That’s why I told you that you shouldn’t skip out on school”

Even If I had been here yesterday, I doubt I could concentrate in class when something like a talking voice and the urge of wanting to hole myself up were weighing heavily on my mind.

After that, someone spoke using the speakers that littered the school. It was the principal. He was broadcasting about a meeting that involved the teachers and the student council to attend five minutes from now. Meaning, classes are ending a lot earlier for us.

“Hey! Gerrard, let’s go!” Immediately after the announcement ends, Howard’s loud voice was heard from outside of the hallway. Even when the teacher was in the classroom and still hasn’t dismissed us, he goes and shouts something like that.

Isn’t he embarrassed doing that kind of thing?

“I can see your expression and I already know what you’re thinking. There’s just some people that are outgoing like him… or maybe happy-go-lucky is the right term” Al said.

A few minutes later, the teacher dismissed us. Ailon, Howard, and Fredrick then went into the classroom to pick up their friend. It must be fun to have some people to hang out with when classes end this early.

“I feel like drinking some tea today” Fredrick said, as he sits on the desk in front of Gerrard’s.

“You sly dog. I know what you’re planning” Ailon looks at his cousin with a grin plastered on his face.

“Planning? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just want to drink some black tea to warm my body because of the rain” He said in a defensive manner.

“Of course you do” Howard was also grinning from ear to ear.

Gerrard just watched from the side with a raised eyebrow directed towards Fredrick.

When I was about to head out of the classroom, Ailon stopped me. To my surprise, he wanted me to come along with them.

“Want to tag along, Rei? We can show you around while we head to the teashop” He said.

“Good heavens. So many chances in one day! Rei, GO!” Al was enthusiastic about what was happening. I didn’t know why, but he is.

“Uhmm, are you sure it’s fine?” Maybe I was a hindrance to them, so I asked just in case.

“Of course” The three of them nodded, while Gerrard just watched everything play out.

“Then, let’s go!” They dragged me out of the classroom.

People were looking at our group and I think I found out why they were staring at me when I came into the classroom after lunch.

This four must be the school’s ‘idol’ or something.

They were respectively handsome young men with their own different styles. Ailon was the rough looking bad boy, Howard was the carefree spirit that can’t be contained, Fredrick looked like the cool and silent type, and Gerrard… well, he was a very formal blonde haired young man with a handsome yet beautiful face, and a slender frame that nine out of ten people would find quite attractive. And that leaves me… the odd man out.

We then went towards the east side of the city where the teashop they were talking about was. Showing me around the place because I told them at lunch a few hours ago the reason as to how I found them that night. They found it rather funny that I got lost on my first day here because of my negligence. It's really not that funny if you ask me...

The building of the teashop named ‘Dragon’s Den’ enters my vision from a few meters away. Honestly, I thought it sounded very cool for a teashop’s name. Couple that with the stone dragon on top of the shop, and this place might become quite the popular attraction in the city.

“Julie, where here!” Howard shouted as we enter through the door.

A black, longhaired girl wearing some traditional clothes from the east came walking towards us. She had a small face that people from the eastern countries would have. Round eyes, a slightly sharp nose, and small lips made her look younger. She wasn’t that tall too, but I think her height was below average for a girl of her age.

Well, to describe the young woman in front of me with one word, I’d probably choose ‘cute’.

“Hey, guys. Came to drink some tea again?” She said.

“No, Fredrick here wants to see y-“

Before Howard could finish talking, he got punched in the stomach by Fredrick. Making him fall onto his knees while releasing words of agony.

“Yes. We came to drink some tea” Fredrick said with a dashing smile.

“Then a table for four- oh?" She looked shocked as she looked at me.

"REI!?"

“?” Huh, why does she know my name? Have we met before?

“Eh!? Don’t you recognize me? It’s only been a year and you already forgot about little old me? What about all of the time we spent together?“ She wipes away a tear from her left eye and looks at me as if she was hurt.

I don’t know how to respond to that… should I just say ‘Oh, hey! Just kidding, of course I remember’ when I clearly do not?

...

“Umm… nice to see you too?”

Let’s just go with the flow. Al would probably say that to me too… or not. He’d probably question me on how I met her and some intricate lectures about the relationship between men and women.

“You two know each other?” Fredrick was very curious, and when I mean curious, I meant ‘A new unwanted rival has entered the fray. I need to adjust my plans to eliminate him as soon as possible’ type of curious.

“Yeah. We met like a year ago, where he helped me a lot of times with my family back then” She smiles brightly, as she stands on her tiptoes while she tries to reach for a hug.

“You did that?” Al asked in disbelief.

I don’t know. I can’t even remember meeting her before. I thought of that while I backed away so that she couldn’t put her arms around me. It made her go ‘Hmph, why won’t you let me do it?’. I have a very strict rule of not letting strangers touch me, even if you say that we already met before.

“But, enough about that. We’ll catch up later since I’m on duty right now. And you better tell me EVERYTHING that's happened” She winked at me, as she walks to the room in the back.

““Heh~”” Ailon and Howard gave me a smirk, while Gerrard just watched with a mild interest.

I wouldn’t be bothered by their reactions, but Fredrick was… well, he was giving me the evil eye and it’s making me very uncomfortable.

After that, every one of us then waited for the tea to be served, while Julie prepared them in front of us. She just said she’d give me the thing that I usually ordered back then, so I just nodded my head. I don’t know what she meant by what I usually drink, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try out something new once in a while.

“Here you go” She said after she was done pouring it into a porcelain cup.

I grabbed the cup and pulled it closer for me to sip a little. It was very nice with a sweet and fragrant aftertaste. I liked it very much. Maybe I should come here again whenever I want to read my books.

“Rei…” Ailon’s tone suddenly turned serious when Julie left to tend to the other customers.

“Y-yes?” I felt that the atmosphere was somewhat tense, and I don’t know why.

“Are you wearing any eye contacts?” He asked.

“No?” I replied.

“Then, are you affiliated with anyone?” Ailon looked around for a bit and said that in a quiet voice only for the five of us to hear.

“Affiliated?” I asked confused.

“Yes, affiliation, group, organization, cabal, cult or something like that” He said.

I shook my head at the words that he was saying.

What is a cabal anyway? I know what a cult is. It’s those religious things where a small group worships something or someone and doing something sinister like sacrificing people in an altar and stuff.

“Strange…” He said while thinking.

“Is it possible for someone like him to go under the radar without anyone noticing?” Howard interrupted his cousin’s deep thought.

Ailon looked at me for a good few seconds before he shook his head. "No"

“I doubt no one noticed” Fredrick also chipped in.

I was very confused right now, and I didn’t understand what they were talking about. Maybe I should just keep quiet until they ask me something… well, that’s what I’ve been doing the whole time anyway.

“Do you know what a Soul Well is?” Ailon asked me. I just shake my head, not knowing what it was. Is that some new kind of trend nowadays? I'm not particularly up to date about those kind of things. So... Yeah.

“How about a Dominion Lord, Eye Insignia, Soul Affinity, Gaia’s Breath, anything?” He asked once again, which I replied with another shake of the head. They fell into silence once more. Howard then whispered something into Gerrard’s ear.

“Hmm…” Gerrard went into a thinking posture and stayed like that for quite a while. I really didn’t know what was happening right now, but I hope it isn’t something bad. Everyone seems to think that there was something serious that needs to be dealt with.

Howard then claps his hands together to change the mood.

“Well, let’s go home already. We can’t stay lounging around here all day” He said.

“Yes, we should” Gerrard agreed with him. After that, we bid farewell to Julie and went out of the shop.

“We’ll see you at school tomorrow, Rei. Take care not to get lost this time” Ailon said.

“Y-yeah…”

I won’t get lost anymore, since I have Al to show me the way home.

The others then said their goodbyes and left to go somewhere else. This day wasn’t as bad as I thought it would go because of yesterday. Contrary to that, I think it went very well.

“Feel good?” Al asked.

“Yeah…” I replied.

It was nice having to join in with some people to hang out somewhere. I hope that I could have the chance to experience this in the future again.

“It’s almost sunset. How about we head home first before we go to that restaurant from last night”

Al wants me to eat at the restaurant?

“Pizza?” I said.

“Definitely not. You aren’t ordering any pizzas when I’m around”

This… this is going to be a problem.

When I arrived back at my apartment, it then started. A battle of words between Al and me on whether I was going to order pizza or to eat something healthier than that. It went on for a good few hours until I finally gave up because of all of the diseases or illnesses that I could get from an unhealthy lifestyle. He really went into full detail with those, and I don’t want to hear any of them ever again.

“?” When I was on my way towards the restaurant, however. I saw a man covered in blood walking down the street. His body was twitching as if he was being repeatedly electrified every few seconds.

“I think you should get away from him. As in, right now!" My mind and Al were telling me to make a run for it right now, but my feet won’t move. I was bound in place by something that I couldn’t see.

Now that he was under the streetlights cover, a single face surfaces into my mind. It was when I first came into the city and got lost. The man who I helped that night.

“You” He points towards me and something flew from his finger with an unnatural speed. I couldn’t even react properly because of the suddenness of it all.

“Ah…” A bloody spike embeds itself into my chest and neck. A few seconds later, my body grew weak, my vision began to blur, and then I lost consciousness.

I must say, this day didn’t end too well for me.