Silent Resilience

And So She Met Him

(A/N: How Aaron and Adriel first met...)

A month after Adriel got dispatched from the hospital, he and his father moved to Tokyo.

Asher had gotten a new job there, one that could support the two of them. Because now, there were only two of them of course.

Ever since that day, her name was not spoken between them once. Neither did they ever mention the events of that day. The closest thing that counted was when Adriel, who was still getting used to his new prosthetics, would quietly ask for help. And even then, the 8-year old boy did not ask very often.

Because oftentimes, his father couldn't respond. Recently, Asher had been bringing bottles home, collecting them on the table as though they were antique trinkets. With each time Asher downed the unfamiliar liquid (Adriel called it bug-juice), his words would get more and more muddled.

Adriel was slowly getting quieter and quieter. If he wasn't already shy, it was almost as though he spoke only five words a day now. Because who could he even talk to anymore? His father was out of the equation, and Adriel didn't have any friends in Tokyo. Besides, he could still barely speak Japanese.

Adriel hoped there were some Singaporean kids at his new school. Or at least, some kids he could have a semblance of relation with. As he waved Asher goodbye from the front entrance of the new elementary school he would attend, the pit in his stomach grew.

Today was his first day. At school, alone.

It was the first year he had ever gone to school on the first day without a kiss of goodluck from Mila.

'It's okay. Mom said so' he bit the inside of his cheek.

Yet as he passed unfamiliar faces in the hallways, his nerves only grew. Kids around his age were already whispering: about his skin colour, his scars, his prosthetics. He was sure they would only get worse.

Adriel paused in front of the headmasters office. He was told to go inside, get directed to his homeroom class, wait outside until being invited in, and then introduce himself.

'Hello, my name is...no wait. How do you say that again? Hello, I am... no, that's not it either...'

"Alright, come inside"

Adriel paused for a moment, translating the words in his head before opening the sliding doors. His quiet footsteps gathered the attention of the other young students, each tilting their heads up at his presence.

Adriel walked to the front of the class by the chalkboard, before looking up. His breath caught in his throat.

There were a good thirty seven students. Thirty seven pairs of eyes stared into him expectantly,eyes boring into his soul blankly.

Actually, wait. Thirty six.

A girl, near the back of the classroom raised her eyebrow at his appearance. Her dark, bronzed skin contrasted against the white sailor uniform every student including himself wore. Dreadlocks hung from her head, draping over her shoulders like tapestry, swaying slightly when she moved her head. A small, purple, witch-themed pencil case sat on her desk covered in stickers and scratches.

Blinking, Adriel looked at Mr. Masuda, his homeroom teacher, expectantly.

He was a stern looking man in his thirties with glasses that sat on the bridge of his tall nose. The white collared shirt he wore was perfectly cleaned and crisp, not a single wrinkle in sight. Similarly, the black trousers and dress shoes had not a speck of dirt on them. Mr. Masuda himself wore a steely, narrowed expression. He cleared his throat, gesturing his hand at Adriel as though he were a new toy.