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Maybe it was a little beyond his ken.

Of course it was, what was he thinking? He wasn't, and therein lied the problem. But then again, when he let his turbulent emotions get the better of him, he rarely thought clearly.

The boy sighed and retied the modest pouch and shoved it back into his bag. He hadn't anticipated this, and he was far enough from home that this would be a huge obstacle to overcome. The short of it all was: he needed money. And lodging, but money first.

And he had no idea how to go about fixing said problem.

He was a 13-year-old, far removed from his home and everything familiar, with no marketable skills to speak of and very little experience with the world outside his village and how it worked. Now here he was, in a large, bustling city with thousands of people who weren't concerned with the obstacles he'd admittedly brought upon himself.

He felt like a newborn kitten again.

Swallowing the lump of fear in his throat, he hoisted his bag higher up onto his shoulder. There had to be some form of manual labour he could do somewhere in this vast city. He was young and strong, he could handle manual labour. Mustering up whatever hope he could find, he started down the street, peering in the passing store fronts for "help wanted" signs. Minutes passed and that faint hope started to dwindle. This was impossible. He was in way over his head and he should just give up now before things got any wo-

Help wanted.

He let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. Thank every deity ever.

Hesitantly, he pushed open the glass door, bells jingling cheerily. Inside, a middle-aged age man was sweeping away, humming something the boy felt was vaguely familiar. When he heard the bells, he looked up from the floor.
The boy bit his lip and straightened out his tunic. He probably looked like a stray.

Not the best way to ask for a job.

Gathering his courage, he stepped up to the man, still fiddling with his sash. With a respectful bow, he started to speak.

"Hi, I... my name is Rei. I saw the sign out front and I was, um, wondering what kind of openings you had...?"

The man blinked at him. Once. Twice. Three times. Rei felt his cheeks colour and his eyes found the floor.

"... How... how old are you?"

The boy looked back up, "Oh, um... I'm thirteen,"

"Where are you parents?"

"It's... a long story," Rei paused. There was something... soothing about the older male. Something that made him feel like everything wasn't so hopeless. He took another deep breath and told him the story- albeit leaving out choice parts like his village and such.

The man frowned. Studied him again. Under his gaze, Rei felt so small. Like he was a kid again, a runt running around with kids twice his size. The feeling didn't pass even when the man looked away from him, back towards the kitchen.

"Honey, do we still have that mattress in the spare room?"

Gold eyes widen in shock. He was... what?

"I'm... what are you..."

The older male turned back to him with a smile, "I can't just let you sleep on the street. We have a spare room upstairs, and you can work as a waiter here during the day- we'll pay you decently enough,"

Thank all the deities.

Rei couldn't believe his luck. Fear and nervousness was quickly replaced by gratitude, and he made no secret of it. The man- who'd introduced himself as Cheng- smiled and told him it was no trouble at all.

Maybe this wasn't beyond his ken after all.