Shadow Slave | School Days

Orion had offered Sunny and the crew an apartment to stay for as long as Sunny decided to live in his city. Quite crudely, Orion had named the sector of the underworld his 'Palace of Neon Lights' and although Sunny would never dare to repeat such a name in public, he could not help but admit it did sound quite cool.

Living with more than one person had come as a sharp change for Sunny, although they were offered food and drink, there was only a single area for the five to eat meaning he had to share his meals with people he was quite frankly strangers with. Despite this, Sunny had given them a wide breadth, allowing them to cross paths without much need for interaction.

His odd habit of walking around the house shirtless didn't seem like it would ever change, gaining him odd looks from the female waitresses and Effie which could only be a mixture between awe and outright lust. Yet, Sunny paid them no mind as he continued his daily routine.

Currently, Sunny was sitting downstairs, headphones strapped around his head as he blasted music into his ears at full volume. Music had become his escape, he didn't know when the habit had developed but it had happened rapidly. Although he had no particular preference, rap suited his fancy much more in comparison to other types of music.

Staring at the ceiling idly, Sunny didn't take notice of Nephis coming into view as she tapped him on the shoulder. Still not paying her any attention, Nephis tapped him on the shoulder more roughly as Sunny cracked an eye open, glancing at Nephis before pausing his music with an unamused expression.

"Don't give me that look, the music can't be that good." Nephis teased, Sunny shook his head gently before showing her his playlist. "It can be, and it is. But I doubt that's why you got my attention." Nephis nodded, an awkward expression settling itself on her face as she mustered up courage within her soul.

"When is your birthday?"

Confusion spread across Sunny's face as he strained his mind to remember. He had never particularly celebrated his birthday before, and the mundane nature of his birthdays compare to every other day caused it to fade into the background. But he still had an idea.

He remembered it distinctly, his mother's gaunt features singing him and Rain a song during December Twenty First. Although, he felt particularly important that day seeing as she gave him most of her attention. So that was the only time he could suspect.

"I don't know. But I suspect it's December Twenty First, which should be in two days. Why?" Nephis had already walked off as Sunny finished explaining the date, hoping to regroup with the rest of her friend group and organise something supremely special for Sunny.

After a while of nagging, she ended up in a room with Cassie, Kai, and Effie. All three looked at her with expressions ranging from confused to annoyed as Nephis finally broke the silence. "It's Sunny's birthday soon, and we're going to do something special for him."

Effie raised an eyebrow with suspicion laced with annoyance, Nephis wasn't making a request more-so than a demand. Going out of her way to do something special for a man who had been nothing but rude to her ever since their first encounter would need quite a bit of convincing.

"I'm one for parties and all, but we don't really know Sunny like you do. And that wouldn't even be a problem if he were more...sociable. But he's been nothing but rude!" Effie exclaimed, causing nods of agreement from Kai. Before Nephis could respond, surprisingly, Cassie spoke this time which was an oddity for a girl who typically kept to herself.

"Sunny's had it worse than most. I can just tell from the way he acts; I heard him trembling just from touching me. It's clear that he has some trauma that he's been through, judging him is a bit unfair."

Her voice was meek yet piercing, her lack of speech only created more weight to her words as Effie's annoyance only grew. How people could take Sunny's side in this matter was frankly flabbergasting, Effie didn't want to be a warrior who used graceful moves like Sunny. She wanted to play sports and live her life with her family.

"I don't understand how you're taking his side! He's the entire reason we're here instead of with our families in the first place! It's his fault! Say what you will about what he's been through, I don't see it and I don't buy it either because nobody will tell me shit!"

This time, her words had struck a nerve within Nephis as she levelled a glare at Effie. Her shoulders trembled with barely restrained anger as sighed and gathered herself enough to speak.

"If you want a light description, Sunny's been forced into becoming a child weapon for the largest criminal organisation in the world! He's been branded, beaten, and abused so much so that just touching people from the opposite gender used to make him throw up!"

Watching as Effie reeled back from the explanation, Nephis's glare only increased in intensity. Repressed rage at Sunny's entire situation bubbled over as she unconsciously released it upon Effie. Kai absorbed the words she said like a dry sponge to water, not daring to interrupt the argument between the two women.

"And to make it worse, just like us he had no choice! He had no choice in the matter, yet he's been thrust into it all the same! So, levelling blame at him is entirely unreasonable and you know it! Think about it, if you had never met Sunny, what happens when someone else in here wants to use Kai as ransom, sell Cassie as a slave or use you for God knows what! Do you know what it feels like to be branded? Imagine a thirteen-year-old going through that! That's the life he's lived!"

Silence rang out through the room as Nephis vaguely heard the sound of television channels changing, indicating Sunny was still downstairs. Cassie felt tears spilling from her eyes unconsciously as she brought her hands to her eyes to wipe them, meanwhile, Effie was trying her hardest not to smack herself in the face for her hasty judging of the situation.

"Listen, I know you all are annoyed he called you weak. I would be too, but you need to understand where he's coming from. If you mess up, you'll die, you aren't in a movie scene or a game. These people hit Sunny with a godforsaken car! And if you aren't strong enough, you'll be forced to kill! Sunny's trying to protect you from that future!"

A knock on the door rang out, all members of the room stiffening as Sunny's pale locks made their way through the crack in the door. He was still wearing his headphones as he glanced around the room curiously. Pulling them off his head, Sunny ran his hand through his hair to get his hair back into shape before asking.

"Do you know where the charger's are? My phone's about to die." A collective sigh of relief erupted throughout the room, only increasing Sunny's confusion as Nephis reached for a plug and handed him her own charger. Glancing at his background, she saw a picture of herself and smiled gently before kissing him on the forehead.

"Don't lose it." She commented gently as Sunny simply turned around and left. Not a sound being heard as he walked away. Nephis waited for a few moments for the sound of the TV to resume before closing her door, turning to the rest of her friends with a small smile.

"Please, if you won't do it for him do it for me. He's been through enough already; I just want to give him a day to remember and call special for once. I've never asked you all for anything like this before, have I?" Silence was all she received, only being interrupted by Effie and Kai grunting affirmatively as Cassie nodded vigorously.

"We'll help you with his birthday, but you're going to tell us about him. In detail. Specifically, how he's able to move without making any noise." This time, it was Kai, who had directly been privy to the distinction in strength between himself and Sunny with utmost detail.

And so, Nephis began her long winded explanation of how she had met Sunny up until now. Not a single detail was missed, she had even included her families ties with the underworld eliciting looks of sickened shock from her friends.

Eventually, two days flew by with insidious stealth. The cold of winter didn't particularly affect the underworld, but it still had it's effects as the house decreased in temperature marginally. Orion too went all out to increase the atmosphere of Christmas as fake snow machines littered themselves around his kingdom.

Sunny emerged from his room with a yawn, his shower had done nothing to rid him of his mental fatigue. Strangely, Nephis had been oddly skittish around him, making movements without informing him of them that oddly he didn't take issue with. 'As long as she's safe.' Was the thought used to rationalise them, yet to say he wasn't curious would be a lie.

Making his way down the stairs, Sunny pushed open the door as he saw Effie, Kai, Cassie, Nephis and oddly enough Orion wearing bright smiles across their faces. Sunny didn't have the opportunity to express his curiosity as a resounding chant came.

"Happy birthday!"