Author's Note: Hello, readers! This is asSweetAsSwirlix. After reading through many stories in this fandom, I decided that it was time for me to contribute as well! I will warn you all ahead of time that this story will start off to be very confusing with all the different names of the places I made up. Also, the specifics regarding the tension between the two countries in this story will be discussed in more detail later. If you have questions please let me know. Next chapter will be up in a couple of days.

Rated T for language and disturbing imagery.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.

Prologue

Takano Masamune stared down at his feet in front of him as his mother and step-father spoke in hushed tones with the young man in front of them. All four were situated in front of a rather miniscule house which was obviously the stranger's domain. Neither his mom nor his step-father spared a glance at him as to not alert him of what was in store; however, despite being an eight-year-old, he knew exactly what was going on. His mother recently got married to a foreign man and was going to go live with him in his country of origin, Listriv, and the child was not invited to come along.

Takano and his mother were born and raised in Heliconis which is to the north of Listriv. These two nations make up a continent on the world called Glyphdeyn. Although these two countries border each other, their political and cultural ideologies clash. Heliconis is a nation that is ruled by a republic and is striving in the technology department. While Listriv is run by a monarchy and is home to magic users. This difference creates a rift between these countries in which they disagree on many issues.

Takano gathered the coat he was wearing around him tighter. Takano was being abandoned in a small village named Viburm that was to the very north of Heliconis. This, and the fact that it was winter, gave him little comfort in his thin garment. Suddenly, the promise of warmth inside the stranger's home was enticing.

His mother turned to him and crouched down so that she was eye level with her son. "This is where you'll be staying from now on, Masamune, and this is who will be taking care of you." She motioned to the man she was talking to a second earlier. "His name is Onodera Ritsu."

He knew this was coming, but he couldn't stop the rivers of liquid sorrow from flowing down his cheeks. He huffed, and his breathe turned into a little cloud in front of his face. "Mommy, why can't I come with you?"

At this, Takano's step-father rolled his eyes and sighed as if he was impatient. Not wanting to anger her husband any longer, Takano's mom gave her son a brief pat on the head and brought him closer to Onodera Ritsu. The young man gave Takano a very sweet smile which eased him immensely, but it wasn't enough to stop him from crying. There, she let go of her son and said, "Now promise me you'll listen to him and stay in this house." She motioned towards the tiny building with a look of disdain painted on her face.

Takano said nothing. He just stood there sobbing in front of her. She knew her husband did not like to be kept waiting, so she turned her back to her hiccupping eight-year-old, "Good-bye, Masamune." She said over her shoulder. All the child could do was stare at her retreating form in disbelief.

Once Takano calmed down, the brown-haired man took him inside his house and sat him on a padded velvet chair next to his electric fireplace.

"I'm sorry about all this. You must miss your mom. I'll try to treat you just as well as she did. And you're probably really uncomfortable here too." Onodera picked up a nearby pillow that matched the velvet chair, fluffed it up, and handed it to Takano.

Takano said nothing. He just stared at the fireplace and thought about what just transpired. It was a lot to take in.

The older one took his silence as that he wanted to be left alone. "Umm… Okay, how about I make you something to eat. What would you like?" Takano made no indication that he had heard him so Onodera took that as a cue to continue. "Not comfortable talking to me? I guess it's alright for now, but you'll be expected to talk to your teacher when you start school tomorrow." Onodera decided that he would leave it at that, and he then walked out to leave Takano by himself.

The child placed his hands over his eyes that burned from the tears. He knew that he should be grateful towards Onodera for taking care of him, but he knew the older man couldn't be happy like this. He must have thought of him as a burden. Moreover, if he could figure out the way toward Listriv, he could eventually come across his mom; if he is persistent then she would eventually have to continue to take care of him.

Takano Masamune wasn't even in his new home for an hour, and he resigned to the fact that he was going to escape the place somehow.

It was bright when Takano left his school the next day, but slowly the night was coloring the day. He walked for about two hours, and as he did he felt the wind chilling him to the bone through his light jacket. It was dark now and the already cold air dropped down to a deadly temperature. Takano started regretting his choice to leave, but that was a fleeting thought when he noticed something shiny that was underneath a patch of dead shrubbery next to the road. Whatever was on the ground was reflecting the light from the moons that had recently risen that night. Glyphdeyn had three moons in total that were rotating around it, but two of the moons were visible and giving off an ethereal glow.

Takano ran up to the mysterious object and held it in his small hands. The slab of silver metal was chipped and was dirtied all around. It was decorated with two serpents intertwined in the center. Takano would guess that it fell from a foreigner's pocket since it was written in a language that he did not recognize. However, the longer Takano stared at the coin, he found that he was able to actually read it.

'Find the strength for protection through sage thoughts.'

Takano thought about the feelings the print enticed in him, however, he felt a headache brewing. He put a hand to his head, and it felt like it exploded from a loud shout. "Hey! Kid!" At the sound of Onodera's voice, Takano swiftly concealed the coin in his pocket before standing up to look him straight in the eye. "Why are you all the way out here?"

The boy could not focus on what Onodera was saying. He placed a hand on his head, and his knees gave out. His face would have met dirt, but the older one was quick in catching him. Takano just hung limply in his arms. The brunet knew that he was terrible in dealing with children, but the boy's mother entrusted her son to him. No matter what, he wouldn't give up in retrieving Takano's trust. But for now, he knew that it was time to get out of the bitter cold. He gave the younger one a piggy-back, and started the two hour journey back home.

Takano was in and out of consciousness as the man carried him away. He couldn't believe that the young man came all this way to find him. He knew that if it were his mother, she probably wouldn't even look for him like Onodera did. The man who'd known him for a little over a day cared for him more than his own mother had. Takano gulped at this realization. The least that he could do was trust this stranger to take care of him. He then rested his head on Onodera's shoulder as sleep overtook his small body.