The Darkness he Carries

The price of freedom

Time: 8:00 am, Est. 2 years ago

Location: Private estate of the Ayanokoji family

Tsukishiro POV

I remember that day clearly even after all these years....

I remember myself as a child.... abandoned by my parents who wanted to explore the world and gave up on me to chase that dream. I was left to rot in the slums of Tokyo. Each day, I picked through garbage to scavenge what food I could find and slept wherever was dry.

I wandered the streets begging people while on my hands and knees for food and water. The adults would just glance at me only to turn away instantly. They couldn't bother themselves to help someone like me as it didn't directly concern nor benefit them. These people would continue their lives turning a blind eye to the less fortunate.... this world truly is cruel.

And I.... a mere 5-year-old boy, had to fight against that cruelty to survive.

Alone....

But....

That was until you found me.... sensei.

Flashback:

"What's your name?"

As I laid there in the alley of an apartment complex, I heard someone talk in my direction. I opened my eyes slightly to see a young man, perhaps in his mid-twenties, looking at me while holding an umbrella to keep me dry from the rain.

"T-Tsukishiro...." I said while raising up to see the man before me.

"Tsukishiro-kun hm? Tell me, what is a kid like you doing in a place like this all alone at night?"

He crouched down to eye level with me; getting a better look at him, he was a physically fit man. His hair was well trimmed and by his uniform he appears to be a soldier.

"It was the only place I could find to rest for the day.... the only place people wouldn't chase me away from."

"And your parents don't care you're out like this..."

"T-They're.... on vacation...."

His mouthed parted slightly upon hearing my words, it looks like he was hoping for a better answer.

"I see.... never mind what I said then."

I guess he figured out what I meant. No decent parents would allow their child to live like this.

If only I knew what it was like to have good parents, then they could hold the umbrella to keep me safe and dry instead of a stranger....

"Well, let's get going then, come on. You can stay at my place tonight, it's not a big place, but its dry at the very least."

With that, he took me in his arms still holding the umbrella to keep me dry as he took me back to his home. Despite only meeting this man.... I felt safe and happy....

"Excuse me minster.... what's your name?"

As he walked, he looked down at me with a warm, calming smile and said,