It was a light summer day, with a cool breeze and a hot sun barely hidden by the hazy clouds that occasionally drifted across the sky. Numerous people all stood around the well-trimmed lawn, laughing, talking, and drinking. Someone was playing the acoustic guitar, and the music set a peaceful, happy atmosphere to the scene. A barbecue sizzled with sausages as the cook laughed at a joke someone else had told.

It was the second birthday of a little boy named Lavi, the son of Camille and Reginald, a well-off married couple who lived in the suburbs of a large city. A number of people had been invited. So many people, in fact, that the happy couple didn't even notice (or care) when complete strangers began to show up.

The Earl looked around, and sighed. "Doesn't anybody die anymore? I'll never be able to make more pets at this rate. Ty-pon, would you be able to look around for me?"

Tyki Mikk let out a sigh. He was thirteen, and had a world of better things to do than celebrate someone else's birthday party. "Can't Road do it?"

The Earl gave him a warning look. "Ty~ki, who did I ask?"

Tyki shrugged it off, and walked over to the table everyone was crowded around. There was a little boy sitting on a chair with a grin the length of his face. Everyone was smiling, joking, talking, laughing. This little one was evidently the birthday boy, Lavi.

Tyki observed him quietly for a while. He had adorable red hair that hung down in front of his right eye, and stuck up at the back. His eye was a bright, iridescent green. His face was tender, innocent, and sweet. In short, he looked exactly as a two-year-old should—except he was cute. Like, really cute. Tyki had a strange desire to grab the boy and muss his hair up, or kiss him on the cheek. He restrained it.

The boy's eyes wandered over to Tyki's eyes, and he stared for a moment. Green met gold, and then the boy's smile faltered. He reached out one hand towards Tyki, and clenched it slightly. It could have been a wave, a friendly hello. But it reminded Tyki of a horror movie he'd once seen, where the main character/damsel in distress had been drowning, and as her hand vanished beneath the surface, it clenched a little bit.

Tyki blinked, and he reddened a little bit. Suddenly, microphone static swept over the party.

"He-hello?" It was the mother Camille's voice. "Um, hi! I have an announcement! Me and dear Reginal- ah, Reginald and I have decided to enter Lavi darling in the Bookman School of Learning!"

There were several cheers.

Tyki cocked his head curiously. What the fuck kind of parent entered their own child in the BOOKMAN school? It was the best education anyone could get, but the child would spend their life touring the world observing history, and chances were that the parents would never see their child again. Evidently the applauding acquaintances had no idea what their friend had signed up for.

Tyki noticed a small teardrop fall from the father's eye. The mother gulped, and continued. "We- we were running a little low on-on money, so… I… um… Oh well, Lavi will be… intelligent… and," she choked. "Happy."

Everyone cheered. Tyki was repulsed. Those insufferable bastards were congratulating the mother on her choice.

An old man stepped up to the make-shift podium the mother was speaking at, and motioned to her. She moved and he began to speak into the microphone. "Hello everyone. I am Bookman. Lavi will be leaving now."

Cries of "Leaving?" and "Now?" ran throughout the crowd. Lavi stood up on his chair. Everyone fell silent, and turned to the small boy.

He blushed at the attention, and then said in a small voice that carried throughout the crowd, "Bye Mommy. Bye Daddy. I love you."

Tyki watched, shocked with the rest of the crowd, as the old man walked over calmly, picked up the boy, and walked him away.

The Earl suddenly appeared at Tyki's shoulder. "Tyki-pon, we're leaving now!"

Tyki blinked, and nodded, his usual demeanor returning.

As they entered the arc, Tyki's ears were still filled with that little voice.

"Bye Mommy."

"Bye Daddy."

"I love you."

Gaarin: This is one of MY stories. If you like it, vote for me. The soundtrack for this chapter included Castles in the Sand by the Philosopher Kings and Bleed it Out by Linkin Park. This story will be continued, no worries! I'm not sure where I want to go with it yet though. BTW, Tyki is (in current times) 29, and Lavi is 18. Yeah.