Chapter 1

~ An Ordinary Day ~

SW/SW/SW

A solitary figure sat on the balustrade. One leg dangling above the cold stone while other was folded, making a triangle symbol on the stone barricade. The night wind was gentle yet chilling. However, he didn’t care if his clothing had the barest warm to combat the cold.

A simple, white buttoned t-shirt and black pants.

The wind played with his long bangs, the black strands flying happily in the air as he stared at the solitary silver moon.

How many days had it been? How many weeks had it been since his first day coming into this world? Ever since he had accustomed himself, he had stopped counting. He had been living in this world for a long time that the world he came from seemed like a passing dream.

He heard rustling of clothes.

From the corner of his eyes he found someone approaching. A woman. He didn’t bother to look at her, let alone acknowledge her presence.

A minute later she asked, “…can’t sleep?”

“No,” he answered curtly and tilted his head to the left.

An elf, with blonde hair and blue eyes, blinked back her fear and stood straight before him.

“Mind your own business, slave,” he spoke in a chastising tone and her face flushed under his harsh words.

“Is that how you repay my worry?” she quietly demanded.

“Need I remind you that your performance greatly affects the safety of your great kingdom?” he delighted in seeing her trembling with fear and hate. Enough in making fun of her, he asked something different,

“Your lips still hurt?”

She averted her eyes at the question, pale cheeks lit aflame in pink. Her left hand instinctively reached to her groin and gone was her pride, replaced by meek submissiveness, “Y-Yes… the ointment works fast.”

He said no more and continued moon-gazing.

“…reminiscing about your hometown?” her clear voice, like the sound from an angelic bell, didn’t even manage to break through his black heart.

He looked at her and then inclined his head a little. She didn’t know the truth about him. If she indeed knew, she’d use the words ‘your former world’ instead of ‘your hometown’.

Not only was he reminiscing about his previous world, he was also remembering the day where it all began…

0000

“Kail, how long you are going to sleep? Wake up! It’s six thirty!”

A voice echoed in the morning. It came from the floor below.

A teenager, dressed in school uniform, was brushing his teeth. Hearing the all too familiar voice, he turned his head to the bathroom door, thinking that it was annoying. Had been living with him for such a long time, she should have known that he was a morning person.

“Kail, wake up!”

The teenager called Kail didn’t answer. How was he supposed to answer with a mouth full of liquid? Besides, she had lost his respect a long time ago and didn’t feel the need to say anything to her, let alone answer to her calling.

He gurgled and checked if his teeth were brushed perfectly. They were, so he walked down the stairs to the first floor, taking his brown bag along with him.

It was yet another day. His family members, which were his dad, mother, and little sister, were waiting for him in the dining room. Yep, it was just another ordinary, repetitious, boring, and normal morning...

...except that it wasn’t.

Wearing her usual soft pink apron, his mother was staring at him in annoyance. Arms akimbo and a nasty expression on her face, she looked mighty pissed.

Kail knew what the reason was, “I was brushing my teeth.”

“You should have stopped and answered me! You’re always like that! What have I done to deserve this treatment?”

You’re always like that.

Like what?

Kail made no effort to say sorry. She always made every trivial problem bigger than they were, while making herself looked like the victim, regardless of whether she was right or wrong.

“While my mouth was full of water and toothpaste?” he sat down and ate his sunny-side up.

“Still, you always wake up late every morning and I’m tired of waking you up! I hope you’d be more like your nephew! Oh, he’s such a sweet child!”

Why would she compare him to his nephew, anyway? Why wouldn’t she accept him just like the way he was?

His dad wasn’t even listening. He was too engrossed in his newspaper to notice. Another figure Kail hated in this household. Even though they were a family, his dad seemed to live in a different world. He was just an ordinary salaryman, but all he cared about was politics, politics, and politics.

His parents were stupid, egoistical beings, but not his sister. Kail felt she was the only one who cared about him. She was making that sad look again, but it disappeared once he flashed a small smile at her. He didn’t want to worry her too much.

After taking a bite of his sausage, Kail heard his father speaking, “How’s school?”

He stopped eating and answered nonchalantly, “Fine.”

“I hope you aren’t doing something that will embarrass us.”

Kail’s grip on his fork tightened. Was this just his imagination or was everyone ganging up on him on purpose?

Around seven o’clock, Kail and his sister, Nia, walked together to school. The morning air was fresh, helping his mind to recover from the over-reacting mother. He had been thinking of escaping for some time now, but he needed to save a lot of money to rent an apartment and to support his well-being.

“Mother is being unreasonable again,” Nia murmured.

Kail snorted, “She isn’t. She is unreasonable to begin with. How could father marry someone like her? All she can do is make me feel guilty all the time and compare me to someone else.”

“B-Brother, that’s a bit...”

He exhaled and closed his eyes for a while. “...sorry, Nia, I didn’t mean to.”

Nia smiled a little, but said nothing. Focused on their thoughts, they remained quiet during their walk. It took fifteen minutes to reach the school by foot, but they went to a nearby park to relax. There was still 45 minutes until the first period started.

Suddenly his phone rag.

Kail took out his phone from his pocket and saw that there was one new message in his inbox. The sender was Alisa. He read it...

His heart warmed up at the message.

Alisa was Kail’s childhood friend. A totally different being from him, she was kind and a bright student, whereas he was ugly and stupid. Living several meters from his house, she loved to visit him on several occasion, usually bringing cookies and cakes along.

The last time she visited him, she brought a small box with a half-cut Black Forest Cake inside, saying that it was a leftover.

A tasty sweet like that a leftover? Ha!

Kail pushed several buttons on his old cell phone and sent a message...

Kail smiled slightly and put his cell phone back inside his pocket. Alisa was in the track and field club and usually had a mornin­g practice every Tuesday. It had decent runners, though not as good as the other schools.

He’d love to join sports clubs, but the idea of him leaving late from school was horrible. He hated school. That place was a nest for vultures. They preyed on the weak, extorted their money, and beat the shit out of their victims.

He’d stay away from that place as possible.

Finally, they arrived at the school after spending a couple of minutes in a park nearby. There was still thirty minutes until the first period started. They separated since they were in the different classes. Kail was in 2-B, while Nia was in 2-E.

Since the distance between two classes was quite far and the break was only thirty minutes, he rarely went to her class. It would seem that talking to his twin sister sped up the time without him realizing it.

The last time he went to 2-E, the bell rung while he was still in her classroom and he ended up standing in the hallway as a punishment. However, they always made it a habit to go home together after school.

He had nothing to do in the classroom and decided to see Alisa. She must be in her clubroom, either preparing for the first period or chatting with friends.

Kail walked down the stairs leisurely to the first floor and headed to a long building located behind the main school building. The place housed many clubs, from normal ones to unique ones. There were sports clubs, a manga club, a choir club, and even an otaku club.

He wouldn’t join any of the clubs, anyway. They didn’t interest him that much and he preferred to be on his bed reading a book.

Knocking twice, he entered the girls’ track and field club to find Alisa reading a book. Her club friends stopped talking when they caught sight of him. One of them nudged Alisa and the other teased her by saying, “Your prince is here.”

The brown-haired girl blushed and smacked her fiend’s arm slightly with her book, “Wh-What are you talking about?! Kail is just my friend...!” hurriedly, as if to prevent another merciless tease, Alisa dragged him away from the two mischievous girls to the corner of the room.

“S-Sorry about that, okay?” her face was still red as she murmured.

Alisa was a bit shorter than him with a slim, yet fit body. Her brown hair was let down and her emerald eyes captivated him the most. It was like he was seeing lush greenery and could stare forever without blinking. For a runner, Alisa’s complexion was little bit pale.

He flashed a smile at her, “No problem. We’re nothing but friends, so it’s okay. Just relax.”

“Friend, is it? I... I guess you’re right.” Kail saw disappointment on her face, but it quickly disappeared as soon as it came.

“What’s wrong?” he leaned closer. “You don’t look well. Are you sick? Are you hurt somewhere?”

Alisa shook her head no, a whisper escaped her mouth, “...no, I’m okay. Just a little tired from the morning practice.”

“In that case, you probably should go to the infirmary. I don’t want you suddenly collapse during lessons,” he took hold of her hand, “c’mon, I’ll take you there.”

Alisa jerked her hand with a face as red as a tomato, “N-No! I’m okay, really! A-A-Anyway, I’ve made you a lunch! Will you eat with me later?”

Kail placed a hand on his hip, leaned sideway, and tilted his head, a habit when he was annoyed by someone’s stubbornness, “Again? I told you; you don’t have to. I can buy lunch for myself.”

“Oh...” Alisa’s enthusiasm faded gradually and Kail felt like he’d done something stupid.

Quickly he apologized, “Sorry, Alisa. I’m grateful that you have cooked something for me, but I feel kind of bad for making you do this kind of thing.”

“You’re wrong, Kail. I like cooking and I want to show you my skill. You said that my cooking is delicious and it matters so much to me. Besides, eating lunch together means we can talk and relax in the rooftop, right?”

Kail didn’t deny it, though. Eating with her brought calmness to his mind, not to mention the breezy wind out in the rooftop. Spending his time together with her helped him forget the unfairness of life.

He smiled, “Yeah, you’re right.”

When he smiled, Alisa beamed, and Kail felt like he wanted to freeze the time. Her smile always made him at ease.

As much as he wanted the time to stop, the bell to the first period was ringing, harshly dragging the two back into reality. They turned around to see that the clubroom was totally empty.

Kail slapped his face. He had forgotten that there was another person who, when talked to, made the time went a little bit faster than usual. That person was Alisa.

Alisa gasped and ran outside, before she realized that she was leaving Kail behind. A moment later Kail showed up running. Alisa waved at him to go faster and the two darted quickly to their classroom.