Chapter Two - Living With Royalty.

The two of them would continue walking down the sidewalk. Hiro’s hands were in his pocket as he lazily walked down the street.

“I have a question…” Hiro said. Lyra looked up from the ground, raising a brow.

“Yes?” She asked. Hiro sighed, turning and looking at her.

“My family isn't going to understand a thing you say… right?” Hiro asked. Lyra rubbed her chin, thinking about it a little bit. Hiro brought up a good point which made her think.

“Most likely, I didn’t think about that…” Lyra said. Hiro sighed, looking around. He dropped his backpack on the ground, grabbing a shirt and shorts out of it.

“Stay here, I’m gonna change real quick…” Hiro said. Lyra blinked,

“What about me?” Lyra asked, curiously. Hiro sighed, looking around.

“If I’m right, there should be a Uniqlo down the street here somewhere…” Hiro said.

“Somewhere??!!” Lyra asked. Hiro groaned,

“Would you rather trust what I say or walk around in a torn-up princess gown for who knows how long?” Hiro asked. Lyra looked embarrassed and angry. She then closed her eyes, exhaling.

“I’d rather…” She paused as if she was hesitant.

“… Trust you…” She said, Hiro looked back at her, raising a brow.

“Uh, okay…?” Hiro said. She looked at him, blinking.

“What?” Lyra asked. Hiro shrugged,

“Nothing,” Hiro said. Lyra looked confused. He walked behind a bush, changing into sweats and a hoodie. He left the bush, throwing his torn-up clothes into a dumpster.

“Let's go pick out clothes. I’ll spend them with my allowance money…” Hiro said. Lyra looked a little surprised and nodded.

The two continued walking as they reached a small clothes store open 24/7. He opened the door and walked in. The clerk was sitting at the register reading a magazine with her phone playing music quietly. The buzzing of the lights could be heard.

“Just grab some things like a hoodie and pants and whatever, not too expensive, I’m not loaded…” Hiro said. Lyra nodded, grabbing a baby blue hoodie grey sweatpants, and underwear. She walked into a changing room, closing the curtain. Hiro leaned against the wall,

“Those better not be expensive, I’m not one of your butlers,” Hiro said. Lyra took her gown off, dropping it on the floor. She rolled her eyes,

“I know, would you please stop being so irksome?” She asked. Hiro chuckled, crossing his arms and looking at the ground.

“So, I have a question…?” Hiro asked. Lyra put the hoodie on,

“Mhm?” Lyra asked.

“How’d you end up in this situation?” Hiro asked. It was quiet for a few seconds, not receiving a response. He looked back at the curtain, raising a brow.

“Are you alright-”

“- I’ll tell you some other time, in private…” Lyra said, slightly quieter in tone.

“In return, I guess I’ll teach you Japanese,” Hiro said. It was quiet for a little bit again, before Lyra opened the curtain. She wore sweatpants and a baby blue hoodie. A few minutes later, the two of them walked out of the clothes store. They continued walking down the sidewalk with the average car passing them occasionally. Hiro stepped in front again. Suddenly, as they were walking, three teenage boys approached him.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Hiroyuki Uyehara, the degenerate first year!” The main boy in the middle said.

“Not now,” Hiro said with his hands in his pocket. They all raised their brows with a smirk,

“Or what?” said one of the bigger boys.

“I’ll kick your asses…” Hiro said. The three bullies laughed,

“Are you stupid? it’s three on one!” The one on the right said.

“Shut up…” Hiro said. One of them noticed Lyra standing a few steps behind.

“Who’s this Uyehara, your girlfriend?” Said the tall and skinny one who was on the right side. He was about to grab Lyra’s shoulder but Hiro grabbed his wrist. The boy turned his head to look back at Hiro with a smirk,

“What do you think you're doing-” The boy’s eyes widened.

“W-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!!??” The boy shouted. The boy began sweating and breathing heavily. Hiro raised a brow,

“Wha…?” Hiro mumbled.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME… YOU DEMON!!” He shouted, crawling away. From the boy’s point of view, he saw a demonic figure with large pointy horns. The guy then slowly fell unconscious.

“H-Hey! What the hell did you do to him!?” One of the two bullies asked.

“Uh… I… I don’t know…” Hiro said. The two bullies clenched their fists. They winded their arms back preparing to punch him. They threw their punches at Hiro’s head. Hiro looked down as their punches flew at him. Suddenly, he looked back up and he had transformed into his Ryuji state. He uppercutted both of the bullies. They flew back onto the ground from the punches. Ryuji stood up, looking back at Lyra. He slowly walked over to her, looking down at her.

“So… Princess no more…”

“Cyrus went through with his plan…?” Ryuji said. One of the bullies ran behind Ryuji planning to pounce on a sneak attack. As the bully pounced, he leaped to tackle Ryuji. As he flew toward Ryuji, he was close-fisted back-handed by Ryuji knocking him out.

“And what became of your poor old paranoid roach?” Ryuji asked. Lyra grits her teeth in anger,

“Don’t call him that…” Lyra murmured. Ryuji chuckled,

“Or what!?” He laughed.

“You’ve lost all your ground, Fournier, your leverage, everything…”

“Everything you have… IS GONE.”

“And it's time you accept that?” Ryuji mocked her, turning and standing there, looking at the unconscious bullies. He knelt, smirking at their black-eyed faces.

“So…” Lyra said. Ryuji looked back at Lyra, raising a brow.

“… You’re still Cyrus’ dog even after what he did to you?” Lyra shot back. Ryuji looked irritated.

“Unlike Cyrus, I have my own ideals… Until he put an annoying screw in my plans…” Ryuji said. Lyra looked more serious,

“You’re not talking about-” Ryuji cut her off, putting a finger over his lips.

“Shh. He doesn’t like his name being spoken.” Ryuji said. Ryuji then closed his eyes, falling onto the ground unconscious. Hiro woke up, slowly standing.

“What the crap… How’d this happen…?” Hiro asked. Lyra stood there with a straight face,

“Nothing…” Lyra said.

“Okay…? W-Whatever… Let's get out of here…” Hiro said, walking down the sidewalk. Lyra nodded, following him. A few minutes later, they would arrive at a two-story building with a staircase to a door on the second floor of the building.

“We’re here…”

“... Just let me talk when we get to the house since I’m the only one who knows Japanese,” Hiro said. Lyra nodded,

“Understood…” She said, quieter than usual.

The two walked up the stairs, and Hiro put a hand in his pocket, grabbing a key. He put it in the keyhole, unlocking the door. He opened the door and walked in.

“I’m home…” Hiro said. Footsteps approached, getting louder and louder from a corner.

“Welcome back big brother!” said a little girl with short black hair with thick bangs.

“Hey Hina, are you home alone?” Hiro asked. Hina shook her head, smiling.

“Nope, Pa’s here making dinner for us!” Hina exclaimed cheerfully.

Hiro smiled. Lyra watched this with a somewhat hollow blank look on her face. Hina looked around Hiro at Lyra.

“Who’s that big bro?” Hina asked. Lyra’s eyes twitched up slightly, looking at Hina. She smiled, giving Hina a small wave.

“Oh, she’s a new exchange student, her host family accommodations got mixed up so she’ll be staying here until they’re ready…” Hiro said. Hina nodded,

“Okay, well, come on in, it’s cold out.” Hina said.

The two walked into the house. There was a large living room with a tv across from them on the left corner. A large sofa sat across from the tv with a wide coffee table. There was then a large entrance to a dining room with a square kitchen next to it. Hina walked over to the couch with a bright smile on her face.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Hiro said, looking at Hiro.

Lyra nodded. Hiro walked through the dining room, into the kitchen. His dad stood there wearing an apron. He was a tall man with a muscular frame. He had a black t-shirt on and blue jeans. He wore a pink apron with flowers on it. He had a somewhat scruffy but neat beard and short messy hair similar to Hiro’s. He also wore black glasses with thick rectangular frames.

“Ah, Hiro, welcome home.” His father said. His dad had a deep but warm voice.

“Yeah, hey dad…” Hiro walked over to the fridge. His dad would be dicing an onion while talking to Hiro.

“How was school?” His father asked. Hiro shrugged, grabbing a canned tea out of the fridge.

“It was alright…” Hiro said.

“You got into a fight, didn’t you?” His father asked. Hiro coughed,

“What!?- How’d you know?” Hiro asked. Hiro’s father sighed,

“Do you remember what your mom said before-”

“-Yea, you can stop reminding me…” Hiro said. His father sighed once again.

“It's true, you need to look out for yourself, and not get into danger…” His father said. Hiro nodded,

“Alright, Alright…” Hiro said.

“Hey Hiro, can you take out the trash for me?” His father asked. Hiro looked back,

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Hiro said.

He placed the can of tea on the counter. He walked over to the trash can, pulled the bag out, and tied it up. He walked over to the side door, opened it, and descended the stairs. He walked over to the dumpster. He opened the dumpster.

“Sorry to bother you.” Said a voice in the distance. A dark hooded figure would walk over to Hiro.

“Can I help you?” Hiro asked.

He walked over, still covered by the darkness of the night. He was too far for Hiro to make out his face, but he had a young voice, a young man, who sounded to be around his early 20s.

“Yeah, I’m trying to find a high school, my sister goes there and said she needed me to pick something up.” The man said. Hiro raised a brow,

“Uh, there’s a high school a few blocks up the street… But it’s kind of late so I don’t think anyone will be there…” Hiro said. The man nodded, turning and walking.

“Not an issue, thanks for the help!” The man said, slowly beginning to jog before turning the corner.

“Hey wait!-” Hiro walked around the corner but the man vanished.

“What the hell…?” Hiro whispered, looking a little confused.

He shrugged, walking back toward the stairs. He walked up the stairs, opened the door, and walked back inside the house. He walked back into the dining room, his father still absent. He raised a brow, looking around. His little sister still sat at the television and Lyra stood at the door, blankly. He walked back over to Lyra.

“The weirdest thing just happened…” Hiro said.

Lyra raised a brow. Hiro’s eyes jumped slightly as if he remembered his sister was in the room to hear the mysterious language Lyra would speak.

“Right, I’ll tell you later, let me show you to your room for now…” Hiro said.

The two walked up the stairs. There was a long long hallway with two rooms on the right and one on the left, with a final bedroom at the end of the hallway.

“So uh… These two rooms on the right are me and my sister’s rooms, the first one is mine… If you need anything just knock or something.” Hiro said.

Lyra nodded. The two walked over to the room on the right, opening the door and switching on the light. The light blinked a few times before switching on fully. Hiro looked up at the light, sighing.

“Guess nobody’s been in here for awhile…” Hiro said. He cleared his throat,

“Anyways, this is where you’ll be staying…” Hiro said. He walked over to a closet on the left wall of the room. He opened it grabbing a futon and blankets out of the closet.

“I’ll go get a pillow in a second.” Hiro said, placing the futon on the ground flat, and slowly placing the blanket on top of it.

“My dad’s finishing up dinner, if you want to join us you can.” Hiro said. Lyra nodded,

“Thank you, I am deeply grateful to you…” Lyra said. Hiro looked at her blankly for a second,

“Uh, yeah… Sure.” Hiro said. He chuckled,

“See Ya.” Hiro said, smiling. Lyra smiled, chuckling slightly. He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. When the door was closed, Lyra turned around, looking around the room.

She sighed, walking over to a corner. She leaned her back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. She then sat against the wall, concealing her tears behind the safety of her arms.

Meanwhile, Hiro would be at the dinner table, eating with his father and little sister.

“So, who is the girl you brought home?” Hiro’s Father asked. Hiro looked up from eating his food.

“Oh, uh she’s just a tutor like I told Hina.” Hiro said. His father nodded, grabbing another piece of salmon with his chopsticks.

“Is she getting you into trouble?” His father asked again. Hiro rolled his eyes,

“No, dad she’s just a tutor it's not like she’s my girl friend or anything...”

“She’s just an exchange student who’s willing to help me out with English and stuff.” Hiro said. His father nodded,

“Alright, Alright, I’ll quit bugging you.” His father said. Hiro nodded,

“Thank you…” After a few minutes, Hiro got up from the table with his plate, walked it to the sink and rinsed it off. He placed the rinsed off plate and chopsticks in the sink, walking over to the pantry. He grabbed a bag of potato chips,

“Potato chips? Right after dinner? Jeez, big bro.” Hina said.

“I still feel a little hungry, that's all.” Hiro said. Hiro walked upstairs, walking over to the guest bedroom. He knocked on the door, looking around the hallway. Suddenly, the door opened slowly. Lyra wiped her eyes, looking up at Hiro. Hiro raised a brow,

“Are you okay?” Hiro asked. Lyra nodded, sighing.

“Y-Yea, I’m alright…” Lyra said. Hiro nodded, lifting up the bag of chips.

“You hungry?” Lyra looked at the bag,

“Yea I am…” Lyra said.

“Come on.” Hiro said. He walked over to his bedroom, turning on the tv across from the bed. He sat down against his bed, opening the chip bag. Lyra sat down next to him, looking at the tv in confusion.

“What’s that?” Lyra asked. Hiro looked over at her in confusion.

“A tv…” Hiro said. Lyra nodded,

“What does it do?” Lyra asked.

“You can watch like uh…” Hiro said. He began rubbing his chin,

“You can watch very long theatre performances that switch scene’s in an instant.” Hiro said. Lyra looked surprised,

“Really! That’s brilliant! I’ll have to make that a thing when I get back to Aetheris!” Lyra said. Hiro looked at Lyra, laughing.

“You speak so formally, you don’t have to.” Hiro said, smiling. Lyra looked confused,

“It’s just how I speak, is there something wrong with it?” Lyra asked. Hiro chuckled,

“Nah, it’s alright.” He took a chip, and threw it in his mouth, beginning to chew it.