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On Ash's 14th birthday, he meets Blanca.
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Ash awoke to a lackey knocking on his door and entering the room.
“Papa Dino wishes to see you in the dining hall.”
He laid in bed for a few more moments, unmoving.
“Now,” the lackey ordered.
“Alright, alright!” Ash groaned as he threw off the covers. He watched the lackey close the door before fully getting out of bed and beginning to get dressed.
He took his time as he made his way through the halls. Any time spent away from Dino was time well spent. But he knew he couldn’t take too long, or else there would be some kind of consequence.
When he finally came to the dining hall, he saw Dino sitting at the head of the table as usual, and a man sitting to his right. He was tall and broad, with long dark hair and sharp features. He wore a heavy dark coat despite the heat outside.
“Ah, there he is! This is Ash,” Dino introduced him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ash. My name is Blanca,” the stranger said with a gentle smile.
“Nice to meet you.”
Usually, when Dino invited someone to have a meal with them, it was simply to discuss some sort of business. Ash was mainly just an accessory. Occasionally, Dino would “offer up” Ash in order to help the deal go smoothly. That’s all he expected this meal to be.
“I’ve hired Blanca to be your personal teacher.”
So this wasn’t just a regular business deal.
“He will be in charge of both your studies and your combat training.”
“I see. I look forward to working with you.”
There was something about Blanca that put Ash more on edge than usual. This was someone he would be around regularly, and everything about him seemed like a front. Ash remained silent throughout the meal as he listened to their conversation.
Afterwards, Blanca took Ash out to the courtyard in order to “get to know him.” It was a bright and sunny mid-August day. Guards patrolled the edges of the garden and around the greenhouse, but made sure to stay away from Ash and Blanca. Blanca hummed some sort of classical tune which Ash recognized as Russian. Finally, they reached a bunch where the young boy was prompted to sit down.
“Tell me about yourself, Ash. I’d love to know.”
“I read novels. Salinger, Nabokov, Woolf.” It’s his go-to conversation topic. The old men always eat it up.
“Oh? Is that so? That’s what I would expect from Golzine’s boy.”
Ash wanted nothing more in that moment than to deck Blanca. He had that urge a lot since Dino took him in. But doing so would result in dire consequences. So he forced himself to be polite.
“What about you?”
Blanca chuckled at that.
“There’s not much to tell. I’m a man for hire who enjoys novels just as you do. My life is just as much a tragedy as yours.”
Okay, screw politeness! Ash jumped up and grabbed the front of Blanca’s shirt. The taller man didn’t seem to react.
“What the hell do you know about my life?!”
“Quite a lot, actually.”
Even as Ash fumed, Blanca still had that smile on his face. It pissed Ash off to no end. A couple of guards noticed the scuffle and started to make their way over.
“So you just wanna get something outta me, huh? Just like all those other old creeps?!” Ash’s voice started to break. He hadn’t cracked in front of someone in so long, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“No no, I assure you that’s not what I want. I just want to be a good teacher to you, and maybe even offer you some sort of freedom.”
Ash froze. The guards stopped, and Blanca just waved them away.
“If everything goes well, you can move out of this mansion. In a few years, of course.”
“...what’s the catch?”
“You will still belong to Golzine, and you’ll have to report back to him whenever he requests. Other than that you’ll have more autonomy than you’ve ever had before. Join a gang, read novels, whatever you want to spend your free time doing.”
He didn’t like the way Blanca phrased that. He did have plenty of autonomy when he lived in Cape Cod. Before all… this. His father would often let him go wherever he wanted as long as he said where and for how long, and occasionally took Griffin with him. Blanca really did know nothing about his life.
But here was his chance to have all of that again. He lived in a big city now, a city he barely knew aside from this mansion, Dino’s restaurant, and the hotels “customers” took him to. It almost… excited him.
“All I have to do is make sure you give a good report to Dino?”
“All you have to do is be a good student.”
Ash couldn’t believe it. It could be a lie. But he needed to know everything Blanca would teach him anyway. Maybe, just maybe, he could use it to take down Dino one day.
“Okay, I’ll be a good student.”
Blanca smiled wider this time.
“Wonderful. Oh, I forgot to mention, I heard it’s your birthday today. Maybe I’ll get you a present next year.”
“How about every year?” Ash joked.
“Sure. I can do every year.”
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It’s a warm mid-August night in Izumo, Japan. Aslan comes home to a house filled with music and his soulmate, Eiji, cooking dinner in the kitchen.
“I’m home,” he says.
“Welcome back! There’s a package from Sergei on the counter for you.”
Every year, his old mentor would send him a gift for his birthday, just as promised. Since Dino was taken down and Sergei went back into retirement, it was usually souvenirs from whatever interesting place he visited that year.
“Where did he go this time?” Eiji asks.
“New York,” Aslan says as he pulls out a set of skyline wine glasses.
“New York? What’s he doing there?” Eiji wipes his hands off on his apron before coming over to inspect the package. “Oh, these are pretty.”
“No clue.”
Aside from the glasses, there’s also a candle inside the box. ‘Homesick.’ Aslan puts the candle down and sighs, causing Eiji to give him a questioning look.
“You know, Eiji. I think we should take a trip down there ourselves.”
Eiji smiled.
“You know, Aslan. I think that can be arranged.”
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Thank you to @syanara for betaing!
Tag list: @syanara @mycatshuman
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