Once again will try to keep the A/N to the minimum.

Just trying out this story. Advice and recommendations encouraged.

Enjoy!


Spring in a small village of 2300 people called Sotoba was always quite enjoyable. It wasn't too hot, nor were the winds too strong. People were usually quite content with their lives at this village.

It hadn't rained, so the roads were slightly dusty and the dust rose and created a small cloud every time someone took a step.

"Hadrian-kun!"

A slightly short 13-year old with dark black hair, long enough to lay somewhat flat and yet not long enough to reach past his ears, looked towards the source of the voice, which happened to be coming from an old lady, waving from the front of a small café.

"Back from your camp?" the woman shouted.

"Yeah. It was fun," Hadrian replied. He hoisted the dark blue backpack onto his shoulder and kept walking.

It was true. His spring camp had been fun. The camp had been an offer from his teacher for some extra Sword Wielding training, which he had gladly agreed to.

Hadrian had been training since he was very young and was currently one of his teacher's favourites.

He stood on a hill, letting the spring breeze stroke his hair. Then, he looked down. Below, at the foot of the hill was a small part of the village, which looked empty, but not rundown or forgotten.

Houses, gardens and even a small shrine stood proudly, but no one lived there. They had built that area as a memorial of sorts and it now stood, peaceful and unharmed.

Children of Hadrian's age were kept away from the knowledge of why the memorial was there. But, no matter how hard the adults tried to hide the legends and myths, some things still slipped through and made it into the ears of the younger generation.

In fact, not all adults were too sure of what was going. It was the special forces of the village that took care of everything. Only no one really knew, what that 'everything' really was.

All everyone knew was that 60 years ago there had been a huge war in the village. Almost no one had survived and the village burned down. 5 years later a survivor had returned and with the help of others started to rebuild the village.

No one knew who they had fought against.

"Let's go, Michi," Hadrian said quietly to his dog, his best friend for the last 4 years. Michi had been a gift from his aunt and uncle, who had raised him. They were never as nice to him as they were to their son, Dudley, whom they had spoiled rotten, but they treated him well.

"I'm home!" Hadrian shouted, as he entered the house he lived in.

"Hadrian-kun, welcome back," said his aunt, as she greeted him in the hallway. "How was Spring Camp?"

"Entertaining," Hadrian answered as he took off his shoes and headed towards the stairs.

"Dinner will be at seven and we have guests over tonight, but I can make you a snack if you're hungry now."

"It's alright, Tunia-san," Hadrian told his aunt. "I'm not hungry. I had a good breakfast."

"If you're certain."

He entered his room and closed the door as Michi slipped in with him. He dropped his backback on the floor, opened his window and leaned back in an armchair, sighing.

"I'm going to get a drink, want to go for a walk, Michi?"

The dog whined slightly and curled up next to his bed.

"Fine," Hadrian mumbled. "Traitor."

Michi pretended to sleep.

To be quite honest, there wasn't much one could do in that village. Thankfully, the city was a two hour ride away, so during summer break it was bearable. To prevent boredom Hadrian read many books and learnt to play the violin and had once started practising playing the piano, but there wasn't enough space for a piano at his home, so he couldn't really practise there.

Since that was nowhere enough to kick out boredom, Hadrian also invested his attention to sports. He joined the football team and badminton club at school, played frisbee with some neighbourhood children and practised his sword skills. He enjoyed throwing knives at targets and it became his most commonly practised hobby.

Hadrian always found a lot of energy in himself and quite early on he figured out how to take that energy and 'mold' it into something he wanted.

So, he was able to increase his speed, he could jump high and could land from distances that were supposed to kill him.

Perhaps the most unusual thing about him was the eyepatch he wore. He had never shown what was hidden under the eyepatch, but even the eyepatch couldn't hide the thin, yet long scar that started somewhere on his forehead and zig-zagged like lightning through his eye and stopped at his cheekbone. He had gotten that scar that ruined his vision when he was 1, when a murderer had tried to end his days only to vanish without a trace, quite obviously failing his mission.

Young Hadrian found himself to be with his mother's sister early on when he was 4, who decided to flee to a village instead of staying in a small town like they previously had.

Hadrian took a sip from his cool drink and continued walking. He passed by his neighbours house, which had been vacant before. Now, a silvery Toyota car stood in front of it.

A window was open on the first floor and a bedroom was clearly seen through. A girl with pinkish hair that was in two tails, was hiding in the bushes.

'Looks like she finally found someone else to spy on,' Hadrian thought, relieved. He knew all too well how she nagged those that she got a crush on.

"I'm home!"

"Hadrian-kun? Oh good. Help me set the table."

He did as his aunt requested. Just as he set out the glasses for the drinks, his uncle came home.

"Hello darling," said Petunia.

"Tuney," the overweight man greeted her.

Hadrian placed the last glass on the table, placed his hands at his sides and gave a short, curt bow.

"Welcome home, Vernon-san."

Vernon acknowledged him with a short nod and rubbed his hands together.

"Ah, dinner."

"Wash your hands first, Vernon," Petunia called to him from another room.

"Tunia-san," said Hadrian, as she re-entered the kitchen. "May I take my meal and eat it in my room?"

"But Hadrian-kun, can't you at least try to keep our guests company tonight?"

He didn't answer her. She sighed.

"Very well, but you may not take the meal with you. Just eat it here before they arrive."

"Thank you, Tunia-san."

When he was little, Hadrian was always encouraged to have excellent manners and be extremely formal everywhere, including his own home. However, as time passed, his relatives were becoming fond of him and started trying to make him more relaxed. He was encouraged to call Petunia 'Tuney-san' and Vernon 'Vernon-san' instead of by his last name 'Dursley-san' like before and Dudley was to be called 'Onii-san', however he never got used to calling anyone his brother. Even though he finally got used to at least calling them something more informal, Petunia didn't even try to make him refer to her as 'Mother'.

Hadrian quickly ate his food and then retreated to his room to sit in his arm-chair and to read a nice book. Michi curled up by his feet.

Downstairs, he could hear Petunia greet their guests and start their small-talk.

"I heard that you had two boys," said Asuza Koide, their new neighbour. Her husband and son turned to look at her.

"Oh yes, we do," said Petunia. "Only Hadrian-kun is unfortunately quite shy and wary of strangers, so I'm afraid he won't be joining us today."

Natsuno, the son of Asuza was not impressed by their hosts. He had been slightly hopeful, when his mother mentioned that there were boys his age in the neighbouring house, but there was no way he would spend his time on an overweight, loud and unintelligent guy like Dudley. He assumed the other boy was similar to that pig in front of him as well.

As they finished dinner, the adults started to talk amongst themselves and Dudley, under the impression that he was having a conversation was actually giving a monologue to no one in particular since Natsuno was completely ignoring him.

"Dursley-san," said Natsuno loudly and everyone turned to look at him. "May I meet the boy who didn't wish to grace us with his presence."

"I...well..." Vernon turned to Petunia.

"Well...his room is on the second floor...first door to the right-"

Natsuno stood up. "Thank you."

He followed the directions and came to the door he was supposed to. He opened it.

The room was dark.

The window was open and the gentle breeze was making the curtains flutter.

The room wasn't big. Nor did it have much furniture in it. Just a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, some bookshelves and an armchair.

The last rays of the sun landed on the armchair, illuminating a figure in it sitting cross-legged, reading a book. He was nothing like Dudley or Dud-kun as everyone seemed to call him.

The boys hair was black and it moved along with the wind. His head was propped up by one arm. The boy's one eye looked at him calculatingly. He looked quite bored.

"Who are you." It wasn't a question.

"I'm your neighbour."

"What's your name?"

"I don't like my full name. Tell me yours," said Natsuno.

"I don't like my full name either."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"My name's Natsuno, but don't call me that."

"Hadrian. Likewise."

The silence that followed the exchange however, was not awkward.

"You don't look like the other Dursley's. Were you adopted?" Natsuno asked.

"They are my aunt, uncle and cousin."

"I see."

The question was hanging in the air and Hadrian sighed.

"A murderer came after my family when I was 1. Father wasn't at home, but my mother was with me. Because of that day I wear this eye-patch. The day the murderer attacked, my mother vanished without a trace, as did the killer. Three years later after I lived with my father he suddenly became ill and died," he said.

"You certainly talk about it easily."

"I've told it enough times."