Prologue

His old man walks gracefully albeit his age of late 50's. His hands on his back with a slightly slanted spine, his sight is clear as his Father walks ahead the subway station.

    "Do you find it amusing?" He looks at his old man, who asked a weird question. A low and calm voice that goes along with the cold wind blowing underneath their thick clothes.

Ryuu,  the mind of a 17 year old boy cannot comprehend what his Father really meant about what he asked. He only feels his cold hands wearing woolen gloves in his pocket, the cool wind makes his body tremble underneath his thick jacket and sweatpants.

    "It is." The boy's pitch black eyes are glued to the floor, and all he wants to do at the moment is to go home to shake off what winter can do in the city of Tokyo. It is not the same temperature as his in the mountainside of Wakayama, where his parents and he lives. For him, he is not used to this much coldness.

Ryuu looks at his Father who stops walking and faces him with his tired eyes, and a dark bag under his eyes. Ryuu gulps and the trembling of his lips pause in a second, watching his old man who doesn't look like he's having trouble with the current winter they are experiencing.

    "Wait here, I'll buy us hot coffee..."

Ryuu nods and walks towards the waiting bench while he watches his Father walk his way out of his sight. Ryuu's mind and eyes wander around the place where they are in.

They left the bedridden friend of his Father about seven in the evening, and it is probably about eight now, but Ryuu thinks it is bizarre to see only a few people passing by. They do not have to ride a train as it is already a shortcut road after they cross the subway.

He averts his attention to his black boots, and lets its toe caps poke each other leisurely.

    "I don't wanna go with you!" The boy's watchful eyes look at the young girl who looks about his age. A black short haired-girl who wears winter clothes and carrying a medium-sized backpack on her back. As for Ryuu's perception, she looks like a high school student like him.

Two adult men in their late twenties who wear thin clothes for winter are blocking the girl's pathway. Ryuu's calm breathing halts as the girl looks at him with reluctant eyes. He quickly looks around to see passers avoiding the scene. Ryuu makes haste and grabs the girl's arm from behind her. The scuffles between her and the two adult men stopped and looked at Ryuu.

Ryuu is not frightened of them. Yes, they are taller than him, but there are still other people passing by and he is confident in his running speed if the commotion comes out of hand, but...

    "Where did you go? I was looking for you." Ryuu puts on an act and the girl catches it easily. Only from those words, the two adult men leave them. Ryuu breathes out inaudibly in relief, creating a circle of air out his mouth.

    "Thank you for helping me." The girl laughs as she utters those words. Ryuu suddenly thinks she behaves strange still smiles at her and ignores his judgement.

    "Are you alone?" The two walk towards the waiting bench and sit there, the waiting bench can only accommodate two persons at a time.

    "Ah, yes. But, I'll contact my parents now to pick me up. Can I stay beside you for a bit?" Ryuu nods and watches the city girl take out a phone that can only be bought at a high price. Mobile phones are only getting known in the market and only rich and famous people have the privilege to buy one or two. It has a short antennae and keypad, the case is color black as it is the common color the public can buy.

    "Sure, I was with my Father. He's coming back by now." Ryuu feels more comfortable to stay with the girl. He thinks the two men pester her because she comes from a well-known family or someone wealthy. The boy alters her attention towards the direction where he last caught sight of his Father, and that is the last time he ever saw him since then.

Meanwhile, Ryuu wakes up in an unfamiliar bed where he sees two unknown men standing in the door frame facing their backs on him. They have two other men, whose faces are blocked because of the other two's stature. The lights are dim and his vision is blurry. Their voices are muffled, but he caught two words which are "Deal" and "Match".

The boy's senses are wrecked, his sense of touch feels numb from the small brushes of the white sheets, the pleasant scent like mint makes him dizzy and breathing is shallow and rapid. His sense of rationality had lost him.

His delicate body turns its back on the bed slowly and his fingers trail on his bare chest down his stomach. He feels so weak and disoriented.

The only thought that stays with him is the only matter that he will not forget...

What did I do wrong?