CHAPTER 1: ANOTHER DAY AT THE ARGESTUS HOUSEHOLD

My name is Ares Argestes. I am a male Griffon currently living in the outskirts of Japan, waiting for a response to one of my many letters to receive a coordinator.
I was currently just sitting on my enlarged bed, staring up into the lightless ceiling. Every second that went by felt like minutes, every minute hours, and every hour days as I daily waited for some sort of response. I've been tempted to give up before, but something just continued to push me. To be completely honest, I wasn't even sure what kept me going at this point. I lived completely alone, as it is within culture that the parents must leave their children to fend for themselves once they reach the age of fifteen...I was 20. It's been five years...five long, horrible years of loneliness. However, the loneliness seemed to get worse once the Interspecies Exchange Bill passed, as it meant that I now had a chance of no longer being by myself, but due to my species, my odds seemed to get even more slim. It was a truly depressing feeling.

I took a deep breath and let out a depressing sigh as a sat up in my bed, slowly beginning to walk towards my dresser to get myself ready for yet another lonely day here in my small house. I slowly approached the dresser, eventually looking up to see myself in the enlarged mirror that was built to fit to my massive height of 7'3.

I was a mess.

My dark grey hair was completely in shambles, and the feathers attached to my matching colored wings looked like they haven't been properly groomed in days. Even the patch of fur on the end of my tail was a complete disaster. I eventually found myself looking into my own light blue eyes, thinking to myself that there must be hope for me somewhere on this planet.

"Somewhere." I quietly mumbled to myself, noticing that my voice was still fairly groggy from just waking up not too long ago.

I began to slowly get myself ready for the day. I knew that I more than likely wasn't going to be seeing anyone today, but it was still shameful to walk around looking like this. I turned and walked to the bathroom, then proceeded with my everyday hygiene activities: Taking a shower, brushing my teeth, deodorant, and all the others were fairly simple other than the fact that showering took me a bit longer to accomplish simply due to my wings. Once I got out of the shower I headed back to my dresser, grabbed my wire brush, and then proceeded to brush out my rather disastrous hair, eventually moving onto my wings, and then my tail. Once the three were to the point of being presentable I began to get dressed. Starting with my leather arm and hand guards so I wouldn't tear holes in any of my clothes. I slid on a pair of jeans, which were slightly modified in the back to make it comfortable for my tail. I then slid on a shirt and a zip up hoodie, which were also modified in the back with holes just large enough for me to slide my wings through. These modifications were something all Griffons needed to do to our clothes, that is if we can even find any in our size.

I was now ready for yet another disappointing day. I knew my odds were slim, but that didn't stop me from daily going outside and checking my mailbox for any sort of response to my letters. I slowly approached my front door, eventually walking outside. I slightly covered my eyes as the massive burst of sunshine slammed into my eyes. It was just enough to knock my vision out of focus, but it wasn't long until I was able to see again.

In all honesty, it was a rather nice day out today. It was currently the middle of the summer where I lived, so the outside scenery would usually be enough to bring smiles to most people's faces, but it still wasn't enough to help my depressed feelings. I walked over to my mailbox with my leather covered claws in my hoodie pockets. I slid open the box's lid, to no surprise being greeted by yet another empty filling. I let out a sigh and began walking back towards the entrance to my house, lowering my head back to the ground in the process. I began to re-open my front door, but was stopped by the sudden distant noise of an engine. I slowly turned and looked down the long, gravel road that was connected to my house. So far, I could see nothing over the horizon, but my ears were still picking up the distinct noise of a car engine coming from that area. It slowly began to get louder, but I still couldn't manage to see anything coming down the road.
Even though I couldn't see the vehicle, I knew that there was one approaching. This actually confused me, as I have seen cars come down this road a handful of times sense the six years that I've lived here. I slowly re-shut the front door and began focusing on the road, waiting to see what kind of vehicle was about to come over the horizon. Luckily, my curiosity was eventually solved as I watched a white van-looking vehicle pop up into view. I don't recall ever seeing a vehicle like that ever coming this way, so this struck my interest.

I had a feeling it wasn't even for me though, as I've only had one visitor, other than my parents, sense I've lived here, and It didn't take long for them to leave. I leaned up against the house and watched as the vehicle approached. It seemed that even though I had a deep feeling that whoever this was wasn't here to see me, I was still getting slightly more nervous the closer the white car grew.

I eventually began second guessing myself. Thoughts like: "They couldn't possibly be here for you" and "This is the day" were colliding in my mind, building up butterflies that eventually began making me feel sick to my stomach.

The vehicle was very close now, and I could finally clearly see the driver through the windshield. It was a male who was wearing a white looking suit and a blue striped tie underneath. He appeared to be bald, but it suited him. I watched as his gaze slowly switched over to me, which surprisingly caught me off guard. I've had people stare at me, but this stare felt different. I averted my eyes back to the vehicle, noticing that it was beginning to slow down.

I was getting excited now. There was no way that this guy was here to see me...yet, it seemed that that was exactly what was about to happen. The vehicle eventually came to the front of my house, its brakes slightly squealing as it came to a stop. I caught yet another glance from the man as he began to exit the vehicle. I observed him, watching his every move and paying attention to all of his details, the most obvious one being an odd height of around 5'7 at the most.
What was going on? This can't be what I think it is. My luck ran dry a long time ago. There is absolutely ZERO way that this man is here for me.
"I take it that you are Ares Argestes?" The man said as he slowly began walking towards me, eventually stopping around fifteen feet away from me. His voice was fairly deep, yet kind.

How does he know my name? All I could manage to do at this moment was release a nervous nod, as my brain wasn't letting me make words at the moment.

"You're a bit bigger than I thought you'd be." He smiled.

What does that have to do anything? Who is this man? Why is he here?

"Well Ares? Do you not speak?" He questioned, his voice hitting a slightly higher octave as if to signal that he was joking around.

"Umm... yes. W-who are you?" I managed to stutter out.

"Well, my name is Johnson. John works though." He politely said as he placed his hands behind his back.

"W-Why are you h-here." I nervously spoke.

He didn't give a verbal response, but instead pulled out a large, yellow envelope from his suit. He then extended his arm to hand it to me, to which I oddly responded by simply standing there and blankly stare at the envelope.

"Don't worry Ares. I won't bite." He laughed, further extending the envelope.

I crept towards him with nervous filled caution until I was able to reach for the envelope. Once it was within my grasp I began to slowly open up the yellow flap on the top, eventually looking down inside to be greeted by a large amount of used notebook paper.

"What is all this?" I asked, looking up at Johnson.

"Just pull a few of them out, you might recognize them." He said, gesturing towards the envelope.

I, once again, slowly began looking into the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers. I swallowed my nervousness as a realized what they were... all of my letters. I quickly snapped my neck up to look Johnson in the eyes.

"Why do you have these?" I asked, having a deep feeling that I knew the answer.

"I think you know Ares." He playfully grinned as he took a few more steps towards me.

"Y-You're..." I couldn't get the words out, but a didn't have to.

"Your new coordinator. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said as he stuck out his hand to shake mine.

I dropped the envelope and papers onto the ground and quickly grabbed for Johnson's hand, only to be stopped by the sudden pulling away of his arm.

"Ah, nope, not like this." He smiled to my confusion. "If I'm going to shake your hand, I want to do it without those gauntlets on." He gestured towards my leather gauntlets.

That sentence right there was made me begin to trust this man. Naturally, I did what he told me and removed my gauntlets, then reached back out to meet his once again extended hand. I wasn't sure what it was, but the second I felt him calmly grasp my claws without flinching was what sent me over the emotional edge.
A coordinator.

I finally have a legitimate coordinator that seemed to actually want me around. I could feel myself beginning to tear up.

"Let it all out buddy." He chuckled as he patted my back.

I eventually let go and looked him in the eyes once again, my gut told me that he had more good news for me.

"You have a home for me, don't you?" I quickly blurted out as I placed my hands on his shoulder and pushed him away from our hug in order to look him in the eyes. There was a small pause, however Johnson began to slightly smile.

"Actually, yes. I know how long you've been wanting to be a part of a homestay Ares, so I held off coming here to meet you until I could actually find someone willing to accept you into their home." He said, to which he gave a small grin.

This may have sounded unpleasant as he chose to wait to even tell me I had a coordinator until he had a home for me, but I don't think that I cared how he did his job at this point. I was finally happy.

"Yep, he lives right here in Japan. He said this morning that he chose you to stay at her house, so as soon as I got the news I began to drive straight here. He also said that he wouldn't mind if you got here sooner rather than later, so if it's okay with you, you can go ahead and pack your bags. We should make it there by tomorrow afternoon." Johnson continued, to which a happily responded.

"Are... Are you joking?" I doubtingly questioned as my nerves seemed to still have the best of me.
"Not at all Ares. We can leave right now if you want." He responded.

I didn't even need to think at this point, just respond.

"Don't leave. I'll be right back with my things!" I shouted as I turned and ran back into my house, not even bothering to shut the door behind me.
I then began to gather up my things with as much speed as I possibly could. I bet to some it would appear that I was reacting like a child on his birthday, but I didn't care.

I had a coordinator... and a new home to go to.