The room is quiet.

Eiji's gaze stays downcast as he kneels before his father. The suit's silk pressing against his knees as he rests his hands in front of him.

"From now on, you're going to be the proud leader of the Okumura family."

The words are spoken calmly. Like an invocation, a decree that cannot be disobeyed.

"Yes, father." Eiji feels the eyes of the family upon him as he accepts the words. As he accepts the fate he'd knew was inevitable from the moment he was old enough to understand. The fate he'd often hoped he could escape from, even as he sat on the corner of a dinky basement and watched his father tortured traitors. Even as he felt rough heavy hands holding his small body still as a needle was pressed against his back.

Eiji stands when his father stands.

Bows when his father bows.

"Young master, the car is waiting."

Eiji acknowledges the announcement by standing. "I will see you this evening father."

"Don't be late. Today you lead the council."

"Of course." Eiji doesn't feel anything when he speaks. The way he addresses his father and his responsibilities as heir had become something mechanic within him. He always said the things he was supposed to say. Always did the things he was supposed to do. He never astrayed. He never disappointed. He was the perfect heir in his father's eyes.

Eiji ignores the dozen men bowing as he leaves the house. The driver opens the door for him and he drops his backpack in the back seat and scoots over. When the door closes, he releases a breath he'd been holding for the few seconds he is alone. Releases all the thoughts and worries that turn his stomach.

His father's sudden retirement along with his illness had pushed Eiji's takeover by years. He had been supposed to take over in his late twenties. Not when he was barely eighteen and still in high school. A little bit of what had kept him composed all these years was the fact that he still had time. He had time to be free to do what he wanted and prove to his father that he could be great at something other than being a yakuza boss' son.

As the driver opens the door and settles in his seat. Eiji straightens up, the mask instantly rolling over his features from years of practice.

"Hurry," he instructs the driver in a monotone voice. "I don't want to be tardy."

Eiji stares at the track and field from the window of his classroom. Watching the track team doing their rounds during their morning practice.

It was too pretty a day to be indoors. Too pretty a day to become the boss of a yakuza syndicate. Too pretty to realize his dream had never been farther away.

Eiji rest his head on his hand as he leans closer to the window. A good thing about school was that he didn't have to wear the mask he presented in front of the family. Here he could pout when he was bored and sigh when he was disappointed.

"How am I gonna tell them I don't want to be a yakuza leader?" Eiji's eyes travel to the far side of the field. Towards the giant blue mat nested between a pair of high bars. "I want to be a pole vaulter…"

The bell tolls. The track team rushes out of the field and back inside. The noise in the room disappears as the door slides opens. Eiji doesn't have to look to know the teacher had arrived, surely ready to start yet another lesson that Eiji already knew all about thanks to his private schooling.

He listens as two sets of steps head inside the room. Listens as the teacher drops his books on his desk.

The room hushes unnaturally. Eiji finally turns away from the window.

All eyes are on a tall youth standing up front next to the teacher. A boy with deep green eyes and fair hair. A foreigner. He keeps his hands in his pockets, a small pack almost rolling off one shoulder. His face is marked by a pale white gauze and a somber look or resignation.

"Everyone, this is Aslan Callenreese. A new transfer student. Be nice to him ok."

The room agrees in unison like they've been taught to do.

"Okumura." Eiji stands as his name is called.

"Yes, sensei."

"Please show Aslan around campus. Help him adjust."

"Yes, sensei." Eiji bites his lip as he answers. It isn't that he doesn't enjoy the responsibility of a new student, the timing was just simply horrible. His obligations have changed as head of the family now. He couldn't take the luxury of staying in school after hours to attend clubs or doing anything he wanted to do anymore.

Aslan doesn't utter a word as he sits behind Eiji. Doesn't respond when Eiji introduces himself. The blond stares at his desk, barely bothering to pull out a pristine black notebook from his backpack. Eiji waits a tad longer for a response, but when he receives none, he quietly turns back to face forward.

There isn't a single interaction between them for the rest of the period. Aslan doesn't utter a word for the entire class. Doesn't ask for assistance, doesn't ask questions. It was unusual. Eiji had never met a transfer student that didn't ask something .

When the bell chimes and everyone starts shuffling for the next period. Eiji turns around to find Aslan with his head against the glass. Not sleeping. No. The foreigner's eyes are slightly open, staring at the field down below much like Eiji had been earlier.

"We stay here between periods, then we have lunch and PE at the end of the day."

Aslan closes his eyes slowly, but other than that Eiji gets no reaction.

"I can switch to English if that is easier for you."

Nothing.

Eiji purses his lips just a bit. Did the school accept a transfer that couldn't communicate? As far as he knew it was mandatory to understand Japanese or English at the very least in order to enroll. Aslan wasn't the first foreign student he'd come across after all.

The bell chimes the start of next period.

Eiji sighs.

Aslan just turns a page on his notebook and continues to stare out the window.

As the last bell rings. Eiji makes his way towards the track field.

Aslan follows a few steps behind, like a shadow Eiji has surprisingly grown accustomed to in their short time together.

The transfer student had been difficult. Not uttering a single word the entire day. Eiji was certain that the foreigner didn't speak neither Japanese nor English. But when he asked a teacher, he'd just been given the very vague excuse that Aslan must hold some level of fluency, otherwise he would not have been accepted into the school.

Eiji's best guess was Russian. He'd even googled a few words to try out, but had only gotten the blank stare he'd been subjected to all day as he uttered random Russian words.

At least the the day was almost over. In a matter of minutes he'd have completed his duties to escort Aslan on his first day. If a teacher asked he could properly report them on the experience and it would no longer be his burden to bear.

They reach the sidelines of the track field just as the team starts their afternoon practice. Both boys lean on the wired fence.

"The track and pole vaulting teams hold practice daily if you're interesting in joining," Eiji says, hoping for some sort of reaction from Aslan. He gets none.

A familiar voice rises from the end of the field and catches Eiji's attention. He watches as the pole vaulting team comes out into the field. As they round up in front of the mats and start setting up the area for practice.

For a second Eiji forgets what he's doing. Watching his classmates stretching, talking, laughing. The view causes a jab of hurt. An ache he hasn't still been freed from. It hasn't even been a month since he was forced to quit the team. He should have been over it by now. He should have been able to keep walking without looking back. Yet somehow he couldn't stop thinking if he were someone else he would be among them. If he wasn't his father's son, he could be there doing what he loved to do.

Eiji's phone beeps with an alert. He can't linger much longer. Has to return home to get ready for the meeting. He cannot be late.

"Okumura was it?"

Eiji's fingers squeeze the fence and his eyes widen at the sound of his name. Feels a bubble of nervousness he hadn't experienced before. Not even on the moment his father told him he would retire and would pass on his legacy sooner than expected. It felt like the world froze beneath his feet and nothing made sense.

Eiji flicks his head just enough so he can see the boy beside him. "Aslan." He hopes he pronounces the name correctly, watches for a reaction from the blond foreigner. The quiet stretches between them a few seconds longer than it is comfortable.

"Ash." The blond finally speaks through chapped lips. "I like being called Ash. Not Aslan."

Eiji blinks. Aslan's japanese was perfect. "Ash." The name rolls off his lips as his heart thuds loudly. "Ash..." he says it again. Suddenly desiring to know more. Every single detail. "Where are you from? What are you?"

The blond's eyes turn towards him and for that moment Eiji can't look away. Cannot think as the jade blinks and life seems to fade from them. "I'm just a toy to be broken. Nothing else."