BIRD OF PREY | a reiner braun spinoff

chapter f i v e.

And that dinner was the reason why Saito fell in love with Marley.

It wasn't his first meal in Marley. But it was the one meal that would stick with him forever.

Because that dinner would lead the boy to develop a gargantuan taste for the thing they called a taco.

When his rigid father noticed the unspeaking boy inhaling it, the first time he's ever seen his son truly expressed anything, he's treated him tacos for dinner since. And the boy loved every kind of it equally. His eyes would sparkle and shine at the slightest mention of it. Like a puppy that was excited for a walk.

However on that particular day, Saito had come to the base once again. His nanny had an emergency to attend and Saito was, again, left with his father. But as always, his important father was busy with a million matters that needed him to address to. And it was once again Saito's job to be understanding-- and move out of the way.

At first the low grumble in pits of his stomach didn't bother him. But as the sun slowly began to sink in the sea of the horizon, his tummy was screaming to be fed. At one point, Saito had gotten up to see if his appearance would remind father to feed him. He crept quietly down the halls, like a mouse -- as how the Azumabito had preferred him to move around their presence-- and he peeked into his father's office. However one look at the towering adults, looking displeased and frigid as they spoke to one another, Saito quickly scurried back to the Wisteria Courtyard where his father told him to stay earlier.

Saito panted, out of breath, as his little boots came to a stop as they met the fallen blossoms at the courtyard. He shivered at the image of scary, glowering men from the room. How could someone look so angry? And they were so tall. Like trees from the pine forest back home. He wondered if they ever got cold standing so high up like that.

Or lonely.

Saito sighed. Most adults were scary enough as it was. His father was a little more terrifying at first, but that was before Saito had spent some time with him. Now he just seemed.. confused. Like he didn't know what to do with Saito. But all the other adults at the base looked like monsters. Which is why he hated coming there. He felt like an ant every time they looked down at him. And he realized just how small and helpless he truly was...

But by now, he was starving. And it made the little boy angry that no one thought about him. In a little burst of tantrum, he kicked the ball by his feet in frustration, launching it towards the flowering vine covered walls of the courtyard. Through the thick and oversized goggles that he wore, he could see the ball landed hard on the wall before recoiling straight past him to the other side of the courtyard and came to a stop by the pillars of the building. Saito grumbled as he trudged his tiny feet to retrieve it, his eyes down on the ground angrily.

He muttered in annoyance under his breath, shouting in his mind, a frustrated mix of his native tongue and Marleyan. However when he was steps away from the ball, a hand appeared from behind the big pillar, picking up his ball.

Saito froze in place. He was cautious, ready to sprint away at the first sight of another person.

A face revealed itself from behind the pillars. And golden head emerged.

"Yours?" The boy with the tawny eyes asked, as he looked over to Saito, catching the last light of the day in his eyes.

Saito blinked into those golden eyes in a daze.

His eyes are like the color of the sunsets in Hizuru, was Saito's first thought before he realized he was being spoken to. The boy sniffled as if he had just been crying, and he stood up. He was taller than Saito. Looked a bit older as well. He stepped out from behind the pillar, ball in hand as he gently leaned the broom on his other hand on the pillar.