Ares no Tenbin: Ever-Changing Child

Chapter 1: Origin

The moment my mother turned her back to me and walked away, it was also the moment I realized that I was abandoned in this Eisai Children Center.

An institution that gives children higher-level education for free.

At a glimpse, it seemed to be an ideal education center for poor children but practically, it was an ideal garbage can for parents who gave up raising their child.

Originally, I was neglected both at home and kindergarten, and my mother just left me here without my consent. It was quite impossible for me to accustom myself to this environment, not to mention I was only a 7 years old child.

Almost all the children there were the same as me. Someone cried. Someone plunged in melancholy. Someone became unable to speak. And I only watched and forced myself to control various kinds of emotions that swelled up from the depth of my heart.

I would cause trouble for others if I became selfish. I would get scolded if I became selfish.

That was what my mother always told me. So, for the first few days, I decided to remain in a corner without trying to blend myself with others.

Or that was what I thought until one day, other than me, there was another child who didn't join other children. A boy who was around the same age as me leaning his back against the wall and reading a book.

His graceful features and pale skin shoulder-made his gender really ambiguous. Mysteriously, the honey-colored eyes which could be seen under his azure-blue bangs had a charm that drawn people. I could sense a calmness from him which seemed to not fit his age.

Normally, a child who got sent to this children center tended to be pretty emotional out of bewilderment to sudden change of environment. Yet, if I had to describe that boy's expression in one word, it was mysterious.

He seemed to have no interest to his surrounding and also didn't show any trace of negativity. He simply behaved as if nothing happened.

Then, his attention span suddenly transferred from the book to me. As expected, he actually realized I was staring at him the whole time. Though, I was flustered when our eyes met. I was afraid what if I might had made him uncomfortable.

Most of all, I did not know what kinds of words should I be saying.

But, he was also one who broke the silence.

"Your legs may get numb if you keep standing like that."

.

.

.

"Huh?"

My mouth was wide-open after hearing the unexpected words. That time, my face might have been pretty stupid. In return, he just tilted his head to the side out of confusion. There was no change of expression but that gesture had blown away the mysterious atmosphere I first seen, and I thought he was also a child like me.

"You can come here and sit down if you don't mind. It wouldn't be good if your legs feel fatigued, right?"

This was the meeting between me and Shigure.

==========

If Nosaka Yuuma could, he wanted to go back to the children center years to give a warning to his past self. It was also not verbosity if he said that was his dark history.

The beginning of everything was also because of his own curiosity and it got backfired when he got called out and flustered. His past self immediately got carried away afterwards. He definitely did not want to show that sight to anyone.

Besides that, Nosaka did not actually dislike him. Rather than that, he enjoyed his honesty and apathy that never failed to amuse him. However, that personality was also the only factor that he often had a hard time to deal with.

His train of thought negated when he finally reached to front door and just held the door handle without a second thought about knocking. When the door was opened, the first thing he saw was his back turned as the longer strands of his asymmetrical light blue hair on his left side fluttered on the air.

The honey-colored eyes met with the gray eyes.

"Yuuma-kun, please knock the door before entering...is what I would like to say. You wouldn't listen regardless of how many times I have to tell you." He gave a polite response.

As usual, the unbalance between his blank expression and politeness never changed. There was no sign of displeasure in the tone of his voice. Unfortunately, Nosaka was in no position to criticize since that was also how the opponents thought of him as.

"I would say the same thing back to you, Shigure." He said as he walked into the room and closed the door. "But joking aside, you already know today will be the first game of A-Block Preliminaries?"

"Observation? I see where you're coming from. Are you talking about the match between the number one ranking school, Seishou Academy and the new Raimon Eleven, right?" Shigure asked.

"Yeah, Nishikage will also be coming with us. You'll feel bored anyway if you keep staying inside the room so observation doesn't sound bad at all."

After saying that, the corners of his lips tugging into a tiny, mischievous smirk. Be that as it may, it was obvious that he said it on purpose as an attempt of teasing.

It was a rare sight to be seen from the "Emperor of Tactics" who always put a poker face in front of people.

In return, the recipient did not seem to be provoked by his joke and remained impassive. Instead, he gave a different reply.

"It doesn't matter for me but, there's no doubt that Seishou is definitely superior when it comes to experience and techniques though." Shigure stated it politely.

That was not a vicious insult and neither verbal abuse. It was his true opinion. Though, Nosaka decided to remain quiet and ignored it because he already knew. 

This partner in crime is someone who has no ulterior motive.

Amaya Shigure, vice-captain and midfielder of Outei Tsukinomiya, my first 'friend' and also 'partner in crime'. By the way, he's also an elusive person who's pretty hard to understand.