The First Day

'I will be home soon. The South armies were currently on standby. Let's meet.'

The familiar cursive of a man's penmanship permeated a mossy scent. Arlert closed the letter as the door creaked and a Lady glanced at him, his dull sapphire blue eyes looking at the unconscious boy carried by a guardsman. Floor thudded as the stone-faced man entered the room and put down the boy on the next bed.

"He will be your new roommate, Arlert. Class A," the brunette Lady stated, and they shut the door closed, leaving the room in silence. Arlert rose up from the chair and scanned the new face. Shades of red in the corner of his swollen eyes, and lips formed a blood clot in the underside. Droplets of water dropped on the pillow from the lad's fringes. Arlert sighed faintly and put a blanket on him. Minutes of contemplating the boy as a Japanese, drooping shoulders showed his sorrow from the fact that the recent departure of his former roommate could not be processed in his progression.

Now, a different fate from a different walks of life appeared in front of him and with prudence, his assumption of the new boy in trouble might arise any minute.

Black eyes widely opened up and saw another unfamiliar plain white ceiling, he heaved and took off the blanket around him in haste. Swayed from rising up, he staggered through the doorway. A creak from the door of the armoire halted him to click the doorknob and saw the golden locks, showing his peculiar eyes on him wearing a white dress shirt and black straight pants. Arlert strode closer to him as he put his necktie on.

"I'll be your roommate starting today-"Arlert's eyes glistened, his foot stepped aback as the lad tightly grabbed his arms. Tremble hands, wavering eyes and puzzled brows, the taller boy went frantic.

"What are you doing?! We need to leave!" his voice cracked and expectation of the usual openings in the walls were out of sight. His mouth parted from confusion however his determination did not stop and altered it to the boy in front of him.

"H-hold on, I- I'm putting my tie on," Arlert hardly uttered, restraining himself to denote equal reactions with the aggressive lad. He was stronger than him in strength and built, although it was not the main reason Arlert could not put up his defense towards the young man.

"Hey! Help me-" A pale hand swiftly covered the boy's mouth. Arlert gritted his teeth to calm himself, and lifted his index finger in front of his lips. Silence entered the room. Restless eyes decried the unknown. Anxiety lowered down the same goes with the hands tightly hurting the blonde lad. Arlert slowly moved away his hand on him, still his index finger on his pursed lips. He had no idea who the new Server was and his name, but his reaction persuaded himself; he is a smart one.

Henceforth, the new roommate discerned the composure of the blonde boy and he clenched his fist not to start a sudden racket again. Clock ticked, Arlert put down his hand where steady eyes on the black ones staring back at him still confused.

"I'll be back," he affirmed, yet the Japanese lad glared at him and bumped his shoulder causing Arlert to stumble, then grabbed a garnet red wine color of a hardbound on the nightstand. 'The Servers Manual' , the title emptied his mind. A knock on the door echoed in the room which stopped the moment of time. Sapphire blue eyes narrowed, a strike of agitation raced his pulse. With a quick turn, his hand reached the wrist of the new Server who was eager to face the unknown. His grip clutched on the boy's arm, and the other on his wrinkled shirt paused its wavering; the owner noticed it which calmed him down.

"Arlert, this is why I could not just leave you alone. You're not there yet, again," a lax voice from a woman Arlert knew. She was his Lady the day he started living in the Hub akin to the other Servers which were appointed by the specific group of people who listened to every concern of the boys.

Arlert gulped the rump of his throat.

"Coming! Wait a sec, I forgot where I put my shoes on!" he exclaimed, and gazed at the new lad beside him, black eyes eyed him. "Please, stay here till I come back." Soft voice furrowed the lad's refined brows. A person who was obviously not identical to him and a possibility that he was born outside his nation, appeared to be a servant in a vile place and the area was hiding in their country. The Japanese lad stood in front of him.

"You should be searching where you came from. You're not Japanese." Arlert went speechless. For the first time in a long time, glimmering words came back to life.

A knock again from the same Lady calling his name, the blonde boy fixed his necktie. Black eyes followed his finger point at his upper chest, prodded at him a couple of times. Eyes were mad, yet shining with delight. "Let me tell you what you need to know first. I'm Arlert, by the way." Impatient knocks from his indolent Lady arose to pick up his black shoes under his bed and hurried through the door. "Coming, coming! I got good news for you today." Arlert looked back at his new roommate as he held onto the doorknob, eyes were on him, feet firm on the ground with a face of wonder. Thin lips of the blonde locks curved upward, he giggled a little and put his index finger in front of his lips again.

"Even your shoes, you're forgetting them? You're only 18," stressed the Lady.

The door creaked a little as it closed. Ryuu did not see the face of the woman, nor did she. He saw the hallway right in front of it even so, his mind was occupied by the last words the blonde boy left with him. His eyes checked the room and confirmed the windowless place. Solely from this strange layout of a building convinced his confusion of the unknown danger he must know first. He turned around and saw a small mirror on the wall, a visible deep cut scar from his cheek stirred up the abiding struggle of his body to submit to the unknown man behind him. His body flopped down the bed; limbs cowered around him and shut eyes held out against the rage evoked all at once.

He had no clue of his current location and what happened before he passed out from the Subway. Ryuu whined and bit his lip hard which turned it to dark red. His mother, white hair covered the top of her head with wrinkles all over her face, fragile body which never stopped selling their original ramen made from the wheat of the mountainside of Wakayama, he left her alone and unsure of where his Father was. How could he get in contact with them? The black phone popped up in his memory, he vaguely remembered the Japanese girl whom he last met from the scene. Could he see the girl in the place he was currently in? Was the girl also kidnapped?

Ryuu stared at the golden locket peeking underneath the pillow next to the bed he was sitting in. The blonde boy who introduced himself with a full smile on his face. Would he be the answer to them all?

Unending simulation of time to endure the apprehension at hand. Ryuu chose the latter.