Member
Here in this town where summer never comes
A week earlier
The pair of earphones slipped under the ear muffs seemed pretty out of place, especially in the middle of the gun range. On top of that, most people listened to music with a fast pace, something befitting of the exhilarating experience that was firing a gun. The reception of the recoil, the vibration of its force channeled upwards, the bullet flying out of the chamber. All of it was a catalyst of waking up a user. But instead, Zephyr had a relatively anticlimactic song playing into his ears, its tune drowned out with every successive gunshot. The song coincidentally ended as soon as he felt the all too familiar click of his gun. The boy pressed on the pistol’s safety and placed it on the countertop before him, then slipped off the accessories over his ears. His peripheral vision focused on the door abruptly easing open, a young adult only four years older than him stood in the frame.
”Good evening, Zephyr-dono. I got your coffee.” The guy was dressed up in formal attire, sporting a suit and tie that denoted a profession as a butler. ”What’cha listening to, kiddo?” He queried while he gently set down a tray, then proceeded to relocate an empty porcelain cup and a press full of recently brewed coffee onto a different table. ”Dawn and Firefly. Can’t say I’m a fan of n-buna, personally prefer Orangestar and out of survice, but this song strikes my fancy. How about you, Haruki-kun? Oh, and what did I say about honorifics?”
The diversity in the room’s furniture was pretty bleak. Only a few wooden tables and a firing range encompassed its pallette. ”Well, both topics are up to debate. Personally, I don’t have a definite favorite, and if I don’t designate you as such, I may just lose my job.” Zephyr chuckled at the thought of his personal butler, and best friend, being kicked out onto the stoop. In Z’s eyes, he was a big brother figure, and seemed to perform the role of a father more than required. ”Like that would ever happen~! You’ve been in our employment for four years. Besides, I’d give anybody hell who would try to fire you.” Haruki nodded while he slipped a saucer under the cup and brought it over to the boy’s table, ”So… I heard school is starting soon? Studying away from home, I see. I’m surprised, to say the least.” The younger of the two placed a finger into the finely molded handle and took a sip of the bitter beverage, savoring every last drop. ”Think you’ll have a problem making friends?” Haruki asked apprehensively, uneasiness riddling his voice. Zephyr was definitely a social butterfly, it’s just that his personality was too sporadic for people to grab a firm hold of. ”Well…” The boy trailed off, setting down the cup back on its saucer, ”I’ll just leave it up to fate!”
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Just alone, at the top of the hill, if you look down on the wet town
The boy found Lucifer’s wording and phrasing pretty intriguing. It balanced itself between the border of archaic and avant-garde, throwing in enough modern terminology to negate the outdated linguo used by the boy’s tongue. He didn’t have a short temper, just wanted to apply his time to something productive. Running around with military gear didn’t seem to meet the criteria. ”Well, I guess we… have to be… ready to make a hasty getaway when needed. This also builds up endurance.” Zephyr managed to get out his response between sparse huffs of air, and slight chuckles at his designation.
”Master Quix. Now if it was a maid in Akihabara saying this to me, I’d be bouncing off the walls.” Wishful thinking wasn’t going to take his steed in the run, though. Lucifer soon deviated from the course the white-haired boy was taking, simultaneously ending their conversation. It wasn’t soon until the student who had the tendency to hiss at Itsuko-sensei finished with their exercise, and promptly took a passive seat on the side of the track. Zephyr sighed and veered around a turn for another lap, wanting to get the full extent of this exercise, to utilize all of his energy for this final trek.
Amy made a reappearance by his acquaintance’s side, both were almost equal in height, and judging by their movements, weapon of choice. He was already aware that the European girl wielded something along the lines of a sheathed sword. Her initial reflex was to slice the young boy in half before he ended up flying into her. At the same token, a gun just didn’t seem to fit Lucifer. The boy gulped down the remaining saliva in his mouth and pressed on towards his classmates. He grinded to a halt against the asphalt, nearly tumbling over due to the weight of his gear. In one articulate motion, he undid all of the equipment and fell onto the grassy surface beside Amy, then glanced past the girl so they were both within his vision. ”Hiya~! Preeeeeeeeeeeetty tired from that exercise. Really could go for a shower right now.”
As if on cue, that dream was effectively shattered with the materialization of a few senpais. Zephyr felt one of the many problems that plagued first world citizens. ”The water’s over there… And I’m over here… uwaaaaah.” Yep. Lethargy knew no bounds. But being the most awake out of the trio, the boy opted to grab water to account for all of them. ”Be right back~” Zephyr’s energetic demeanor seemed to have made a resurgence as he pushed himself off of the viridescent surface. After a minute had gone and passed, he returned with three plastic cups of water, two in hand and one in his mouth.
”I have trained for many eons baring cups of coffee. I have crossed lands far and wide. I have seen children born and cities laid to waste. For I am, the courier of refreshments!” It was a miracle that the boy was able to enunciate all of this while keeping the liquid from spilling. He handed each of them a cup and took his own from his teeth and into his palm, then downed the contents of the cup all in one gulp. ”I guess we won’t have enough time before our next class to rinse off, eh?” Zephyr sighed and reclined onto his back on the ground, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. ”It’s time to take aim and fire away, I guess! Boys and girls, face forward! Time to find hope in the unbearable heat!”
