Daybreak:Alpha Chapter

Chapter 1 - ???

(under work)

"Morning Ma! Morning Pa!"

Stifling a mild yawn with his hand, Kaede strode into the modest kitchen-bar-dining room his family shared.

"Morning, Kaede. I was wondering if I might need to wake you up for once."

His mother offered a bright smile before turning back to face the kitchen counter. Her long ponytail swaying behind her as she chopped vegetables to prepare lunch at a quick beat.

Honoka was petite and light of build. At just below one-fifty centimeters (4'11"), she was shorter than even the average Japanese. Although technically she was of Ainu ethnicity, a fact that the more flatulent and xenophobic locals reminded her of, even up in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.

"No practice this morning Ma," Kaede explained in Russian as he stepped up to the two pieces of jam-covered toast his mother set on the kitchen bar.

It was routine in the Suvorsky household to speak Russian when only family members were around. Kaede's parents had been afraid that his skills with the language would deteriorate after years of living in Japan. There was truth to that, as Kaede's writing skills were already regressing. Reading, on the other hand, was kept up by a endless flow of articles shared by his father.

"Those dickwads still haven't given up," that same father swore from a dining chair as he finally put the tablet down, an electronic news article displayed across the screen.

"Language dear," the mother admonished, her voice still more gentle than stern. "It amazes me to this day that Kaede didn't grow up with a foul mouth like yours."

"Perhaps I'm just too cultured for him," the youth grinned back, only to void his own statement as he stuffed an entire piece of toast down his mouth.

"Oh please! Who taught you all that--" his father spun around the chair as he began to retort, only to halt as the mother cleared her throat aloud. "--Well, at least half that culture?"

Kaede shrugged back, still grinning as stuffed cheeks grounded down the sweet breakfast with haste.

Konstantin was a Slavic Russian by birth, with bright, cobalt-gray eyes, sharp eyebrows, and a prominent nose, all well-centered upon a somewhat rectangular face. The thin hair above his surprisingly-smooth forehead was graying steadily, which gave a respectable professor look alongside the large spectacles that adorned his image.

"Whaf--" Kaede shoved the remaining food to one side of his cheeks before pointing at the tablet laying on the table: "--happened this time?"

"Damn Japanese government is pestering over the Kurils again," Konstantin half-snorted out.

"What's the point? Putin wouldn't pay one ruble over what the government here phinks," Kaede forced out before he resumed chewing.

"Political posturing for the elections, now that Nationalism is on the rise once more," the father spoke as he slowly stirred the hot bowl of Shchi cabbage soup he preferred in the morning. "Enough years have passed that the younger generation is daydreaming their glorious Dai Nippon Teikoku days again."

"Are you any different? Mister Russian Empire?" Honoka calmly noted from the kitchen, her posture never changing.

Konstantin couldn't help but snort again:

"Can't deny that. Us, the Brits, the French. Hell, the Americans too! Even if they won't admit it and are still trotting the globe. Putin might be an ambitious bastard, but he's right about one thing: 'the US don't need allies, only vassals'. And to hell if Russia is going to be some satellite of the EU or US!"

"Kaede, you might want to take off before you father's rant makes you late for school," his mother turned to voice with another gentle smile, amusement dancing within her jet-black eyes.

"Got it Ma! See you Pa! Try not to argue with your fellow professors too much today!" Kaede called back as he rushed out, the remaining slice of toast soon dangling from his mouth.

...

"Daichi! Kaede is already here! You're going to be late if you take any longer!"

Mrs. Ho called into the house before turning back to Kaede with a shallow but respectful bow:

"Thank you so much for coming here everyday Kaede."

"No not at all Aunty," Kaede rushed to reply with an even lower bow.

It always made him uncomfortable when people a generation above him showed so much courtesy.

"I'm coming I'm coming!" Daichi finally rushed into view, put on his shoes, and swirled right around his mother to dart out the door. "See ya later Mama!"

"Have a good day at school!" the elegant Mrs. Ho waved from the door as the two boys turned to leave.

Daichi was a high school boy with a classic athletic build. Rounded headed with rather large eyes for an Asian, he strode at an one-meter-eight (5'11") height with a lean and confident stride. He might not be the best looking in their grade, but he was certainly up there in popularity, and being the Kendo team captain certainly didn't hurt.

"Wish Sayuri was the one picking me up every mooooooorning," he expressed through a great yawn before looking at Kaede with drooping eyes still half-asleep.

Good thing I look nothing like your girlfriend Sayuri, Kaede suddenly thought. Otherwise his entire spine might be shivering with discomfort right now.

"Don't confuse reality with that lame anime you watch," he retorted from besides Daichi as the two walked up the hill.

"Then how come you manage it every morning?"

"Because you're my oldest friend here and you live on my way to school," came the nonchalant reply. "Sayuri is on the wrong side of town."

"I wish I had a cuter childhood friend," Daichi mumbled out.

"Even if I am cuter I'm still a boy," Kaede smirked back before nudging the other's shoulder. "Think your parents might be aghast if you tried that."

"Ugh, no! No way! Hell no!"

Daichi's eyes sprang wide, bulging with shock and alertness as his friend began to laugh out loud.

He wasn't exactly Kaede's 'childhood friend'. The two didn't meet until middle school, mere months after Kaede came to Japan. At a time when Kaede was still trying to fit in with his poor Japanese and mixed-blood appearance, he met the half-Chinese Daichi during the school's activities fair.

Kaede still remembered that moment when he walked by the Calligraphy Club's stall and hear the young boy remark: "look at those beautiful symbols! I wonder who they stole them from?"

Kaede couldn't help but start laughing right there, even after receiving several annoyed stares.

The two of them became best friends almost immediately. It certainly helped that they both showed an interest in archaic martial arts -- swords for Daichi and bows for Kaede; not to mention that Daichi was half-Chinese and therefore half-fascinated in history by blood.

"How come you know where Sayuri lives anyway?" Daichi returned to the topic once more.

"I'm the one who introduced her to you, in case you forgot," Kaede answered, his expression plain except for the tilted eyebrows.

"--I walked her and several other girls home once when they stayed late for a cultural fair project."

Daichi groaned aloud:

"I swear, you are just asking for the girls to friendzone you! No wonder why you're on such good terms with the girls yet still doesn't have a girlfriend!"

"Morning, Suruseke-kun!" a girl in class called out in greeting just as they rounded the corner.

"Morning!" Kaede waved back with friendly enthusiasm.

He had long grown used to everyone mispronouncing his surname.

"See!" Daichi cried out, his open palm gesturing between them. "This is what I'm talking about!"

"I don't know about you, but my parents taught me manners," Kaede shrugged it off with another smile. "Besides, what kind of a man would you be to not walk a group of stranded girls home?"

"That's not what I meant!" his best friend retorted, his tempo rising as he spoke:

"I meant you overt friendliness! You need to at least keep some distance with the girls so that when you do approach them it's exciting! That's what a budding relationship needs! Emotion! Thrill! Passion!"

Daichi struck a cool pose as he laid one gesturing hand right beneath his smirking chin.

"I'll never let Sayuri see me and only think 'oh hey, it's Daichi'. I want her heart to skip a beat every time she rounds the corner and sees me!"

"She's not about to round that corner ahead, you know that right?"

Kaede joked it off to bring Daichi to a normal walking posture before defending his own lifestyle:

"What's wrong with being friends with girls? I want a love that grows out of friendship anyways. Because in years from now, when that youthful spark of passion gradually wanes, its companionship and trust that keeps couples together and happy."

"Gosh what are you, forty-three?"

Daichi stared at him as though he were an alien creature.

"Quit talking like some old salaryman. You're eighteen! Enjoy life's youth and beauty while you can! Most girls our age aren't interested in some safe, platonic affair, you know?"

Kaede grimaced. Just barely, so light that his best friend never even noticed.

He didn't need a reminder. He still remembered that incident quite well.

"As you said, I'm still young. I have tons that I want to do, so I'm not in a rush for this either," Kaede declared. "If the girls we know aren't mature enough to a long-term, adult relationship, then I'm willing to wait until they are."

A distant corner of Kaede's mind wondered if those statements were really true, or if he was simply trying to avoid another possibly hurtful experience.