The Shedding Season

0. Prologue

Peaceful silence filled the ambient, occasional sounds of footsteps breaking it as Ladon walked on the wooden tiles of the bookstore. Pale fingers slid across organized book spines, his violet pupils shifting over titles even though he did not care much about them. The teen was just thankful that his employer oversaw new deliveries at the post office so that he could be alone. He took in the smell of fresh pages, scented candles, and almonds. Ladon was one of the rare people who liked his workplace. However, he wondered if he would still adore it as much if it wasn't a part-time job.

Ladon lifted his head, silver strands of his straightened hair sliding to the sides of his temple, his gaze piercing the clock on a wall. Five more minutes, he thought to himself this shift was done rather quickly. Perhaps because not many people visited... He pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jeans. There weren't many notifications, just news about the infamous heist that was the talk of the town this whole week and his mother's message. Ladon raised an eyebrow as he read that she had already gone home and started preparing lunch. That meant he could just go straight home now, after closing shop of course.

A tall high schooler was cleaning up the counter, putting dislocated books back into their places, and rolling the blinds of a store down. He swiftly took a beige apron, his work uniform, off himself and folded it onto a shelf across the counter. Ladon sent his boss a message that he was done with his shift before walking over to the backdoors of the shop.

Once he stepped outside, he deeply breathed in fresh air and stretched out his arms. Ladon's neutral face lit up slightly, he felt proud of getting his job done on time. Maybe he should treat himself to a-

Thud

Ladon's expression hardened as he whipped his head around to the other side of an alleyway he was standing in the middle of. He just finished locking the backdoors too and was ready to leave towards the street when a sudden noise startled him, but he did not let it be shown. He gulped down a slump in his throat as he scanned the area beside him, there was nothing more than trash and a brick wall behind it.

In the end, he convinced himself it was probably a cat before picking up his pace as he left the alleyway without looking back. Ladon could tell he was on edge lately, he moved to this place again a few months ago after all. He sighed to himself, finding the situation rather ridiculous and irritating since there was not much he could do about it. With that, the hardworking teen walked off, deciding to think about a meal that was waiting for him back at his and his mother's shared apartment.

Coughing and wheezing were heard behind two bins once the alleyway was seemingly empty, two figures clothed in black tight-fit attire straightening onto their feet.

"Damn it, you always find the greatest path back to base!", a ginger person hissed, looking down at the other.

A higher-pitched tone erupted in response to the first, "It... It was safe last time, do not blame me for everything"

"You are my higher-up", it was pointed out in a voice of disbelief as the shorter one awkwardly scratched the back of his head with an innocent smile, shrugging. They would have continued the argument if it weren't for alarms going off from nearby, the duo only had time to share a panicked stare before running off in the opposite direction.

A pair of azure blue eyes landed on the back of Ladon's head for a moment, making him shiver. However, when he turned around, no one was there. He heard sirens in the distance.

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SO I started this finally! I am so nervous about how will this turn out, I mean I just typed the summary and prologue but please do let me know guys if you are interested/curious about the story so far. I will probably post art with characters when I finish it too. Once again, I am curious about your opinion so far!