The Descendants of Ardwall

1. A Visitor for Arthur Massimo

It was a sudden knocking that made Hajime jump out of his skin, nearly making him drop the book he was holding when he quickly sat up on the couch.

His heart raced when he looked up to stare at the door. He held his breath for a few moments, as if he didn't want whoever was out there to hear him breathing. After all, what if it was somebody dangerous?

Don't be such an idiot, Hajime tried telling himself, though he made no move to see who it was. Somebody dangerous wouldn't knock.

More knocking came. Whoever was out there didn't make it sound very urgent. For a moment, Hajime wondered whether he should just let the visitor think no one was home. A glance at the clock above the door told him that it was already fifteen minutes past eleven. Who would come visiting at this hour anyway?

He glanced backwards into the hall, silently wishing Arthur would come out and take a look himself. That, of course, wouldn't be likely. His stepfather had been cooped up in his office all evening trying to get rid of some paperwork. He hadn't even come out to have a proper dinner with Hajime, though he must have apologized about it over twenty times by now. Growing up twelve years with a Councilman made you wonder why your father's workload only seemed to triple just as you were finally out of school for the summer.

Not wanting to disturb Arthur – and convinced that no danger could have come from anyone who had the decency to knock twice already – Hajime got up from his place on the living room couch to see who it was. He'd been looking through a book of atlases Arthur had wasting away atop the coffee table. Before the knocking interrupted him, Hajime had been trying to memorize as many Northern Country towns and villages as he could. One day, he swore he'd visit all of them.

He pulled the door open once he reached the end of the long hallway. Almost immediately, he took a startled step back, eyes widening slightly at the sight before him.

The stranger sure looked like he could've been trouble. At first glance, it appeared that the young man had come to the wrong address. He looked six or seven years older than Hajime was right now but was definitely at least half of Arthur's age. Why was he wearing such dark sunglasses even when the sun was already asleep? You almost couldn't have made out the stranger standing there in the first place, what with all his clothes being black. Only his pale skin stood out against the evening.

Well, that – and a silver emblem Hajime didn't recognize, embroidered right on the sleeve of the young man's leather jacket. It took only a moment for Hajime to realize it was of a slanted archery bow with some kind of bird right in the middle of the open space. Strange. What did it stand for?

Perhaps a better question would have been: who was this young man, and why was he here?

A heartbeat later, the stranger cleared his throat and spoke. "Is this Arthur Massimo's place?"

Hajime wasn't sure what shocked him more: the young man's clipped and serious tone when he talked or the fact that he was looking for Hajime's stepfather.

"Uh..." Hajime stared at the stoic face. "Yeah, this is where he lives."

Guess he didn't get the wrong house, after all, Hajime thought.

So he was here to see Arthur. Most of the visitors that came to see Hajime's stepfather weren't ever this young. Not that the Massimo residence got a lot of visitors in the first place, being all the way near the town's border as they were. Those who did come were usually friends or other Council members. This young man looked as if he could have been a fresh graduate from the Academy. He couldn't possibly be another Council member like Arthur, could he?