From Our Ashes

Chapter One

Alexi woke up with a killer headache. He sat up in bed clutching his head as another wave of pain flooded his senses. He winced and pushed his reddish brown bangs back from his sweat-drenched forehead. Alexi quickly realized that not only was his head crying out, but his whole body was sore. He couldn't really recall what he had done last night that could've caused all the searing pain.

Slowly moving his legs out from under the sheets, Alexi dragged his body out of bed and forced his arms to throw open the maroon curtains of his room. The bright rays of the sun rained down upon him driving him to cover his dark gray eyes from the overpowering light. After allowing the sunshine to flow into his room, Alexi took a few moments to let his eyesight adjust to the sudden change of brightness. He gradually opened up his eyes, blinking a few times until he was capable of staring at the soft baby blue sky. Alexi almost thought of admiring the view from his window, but another rush of pain crashed against his skull.

Groaning softly, Alexi massaged his forehead with his fingers and turned his back to the window. He moved sluggishly toward the dark spruce wood closet that stood in the corner near his bed. He took a single glance at the scattered mess of blankets and sheets on his mattress, but it didn't Alexi more than a second to decide against fixing it up. Using as much strength as he could muster with his aching arms, Alexi swung the brown closet doors open. He quickly scanned through the stash of clothing and plucked out a plain white shirt and a pair of jeans before tossing them onto his bed.

After changing into his new outfit, Alexi yawned and made his way over to the door of his room. He set his hand onto the copper door handle, letting the feeling of cool metal wash over his fingertips. As he opened the door, Alexi had expected to see an empty hallway, but instead came face-to-face with a familiar silver-haired figure. A familiar and particularly angered figure.

He blinked a few times in confusion. "Reina? What are ya doing up this early?"

"Early?" Reina reiterated with an irritated tone. The edges of her lips twitched upwards. "Alexi, you do realize what time it is, right?"

Alexi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and tried to calm his jumping nerves. "Um... not really? I just kinda assumed–"

The sting of the punch registered before Alexi even saw the fist coming. He flew backward onto the floor of his room. "Who the hell do you think you are!?" Reina yelled, lifting her fist and raring to go in for another punch.

"W-wha–?" Alexi stuttered out before Reina took a step forward into his sunlit room causing him to scoot back nervously. Rubbing his now aching cheek, Alexi made direct eye contact with the silver-haired menace. "Ya know what I'm like! My internal clock always wakes me up earlier than the rest of ya!" Reina raised an eyebrow and continued toward him. With every step she took forward, Alexi moved back until he was met with the wall.

Reina glanced around the room, taking into account the still messy bed. Looking toward the window, her anger skyrocketed. "Tell me, Alexi, in what world does 'midday' constitute as 'early'?" Her crystal blue eyes traced their way back to Alexi who began debating running for his life or lying to the world's labeled number one most dangerous person.

Luckily for him, another wave of pain crashed against his skull. Forgetting about the sting on his cheek and Reina's blatant rage, Alexi quickly placed a hand in his forehead and winced. His head throbbed and a faint ringing in his ears began to steadily crescendo. Alexi clenched and ground his teeth together as the crushing feeling grew.

"Alexi?" A soft voice filtered through the white noise in his brain. Sparing a moment to look up, the man in question was met with a face filled with overwhelming concern. Alexi was certain that he hadn't ever seen Reina look so worried before in his life and, quite frankly, it was his last wish to have to see Reina like that, after everything she had given to him. So he quickly brushed off the pain as best he could and flashed her a smile.