The Bonded: Lost And Gained

~ Chapter 19 ~

Early in the morning, Arata had prepared himself to go out into the city in search of a working guard. Unknown to him, Noriko had been following his tracks for quite some time. Her eyes never left him, she made sure to keep out of his sight and keep her presence unnoticed. Though, she wasn't as skilled as Mika in the stealth department, she was decent enough not to be noticed by 'regular' humans and that included the prince.

She was curious about what he was doing, having no idea why he would go out so early in the morning and without her consent either. All she knew was that he was walking around and seemingly to be in search of someone. Who and why? She had no idea, nor did she care but that didn't mean she wasn't curious.

The redhead sighed for the fifth time that day, having found not a single guard on duty yet. He often pondered whether to ask someone for help, but he was too shy to. So, he was left with just walking around randomly in search of his guard friends.

He sits down on a bench, his shoulders slumped in disappointment and his eyes staring at the bright, blue sky. No one took notice of him, just kept going on their daily lives and didn't bother to approach him. However, one seemed to notice his presence.

"Arata?" a man's voice cut through his thoughts.

The said boy tilted his chin back down to take a look, his eyes landing on a middle-aged man that was around his thirties. He had messy, black hair with green eyes, his face looking quite old, accompanied with a shaved beard. He wore a kimono, much like Takehiko's. Arata recognised him immediately.

"Yoshi?" he asks.

He blinked, then let a smile broke out on his face. He was glad to finally meet someone he knows and that it was someone that should have the answers to his questions.

The man laughed. Though, the reason was unknown.

"I heard you would be in the Capital, boy, but I didn't realise that you would be walking around all alo... Speaking of which, where is your guardian?"

Arata froze, thinking what he was about to say. 

"Uh..."

The black-haired man's eyes quickly scanned the area, only to stop as he felt Noriko's presence in the area. He quickly changed the subject before he could give away the Commander's hiding spot, it was clear that she was just watching him from afar.

"Never mind that, so what are you doing out here?" Yoshi asks.

He sated himself beside the redhead, who made room for him. The prince thought about his question, carefully figuring out what he would say to the man before him.

"I... I wanted to ask you something."

The man rose an eyebrow, not exactly expecting for the Prince wanting to ask questions. He knew that he was a curious lad, but he often just tried to figure out the answers himself than asking people - he was shy after all.

"Really? What do you want to talk about?"

He pursed his lips, already having second thoughts but decided that it was too late to turn back now. 

"I was wondering... Why you became apart of the military in the first place."

"Huh, why I joined the Military?" he asks, frowning. "Well, it'll make sense if I tell you the whole story, so... Are you ready to hear it? It's going to take awhile."

He nodded, waiting for the man to continue.

"Alright then. If I was being truthfully honest," the man began. "I never wanted to join the Military. I was forced to 15 years ago. You've heard of the war that happened twenty years ago, between your father's father and the vampires?"