Blood Vein 01: Crimson Iris

He would always find himself wondering what his life would have been like if not for that one encounter, that one whim to walk down the alleyway, the whim that’d lead him to live a life far beyond the streets of Noir...

“Ken K. Vein” is the name that belonged to the boy with pale skin and white, he bore two deep crimson eyes and spoke with a slight whisper. In his youth, he lost his parents.

Every morning, but not too early, he wakes up and eats a small breakfast, he would normally eat cereal, store-brand, since he couldn’t afford much else. Due to his lack of family, and general lack of support from others to provide what he needed, he worked at a small gas station, as the stock boy. He’d spend each afternoon taking care of supplies, be it to see what was to be ordered or to be put on the shelves, he was the supply manager, which led him to create a decent living considering the circumstances. He could pay for his needs and keep the electricity running, but out of everything, he always had enough money to buy books.

Ken had inherited his love of reading from his father, who used to own a bookstore, however, to his disheartenment, he couldn’t remember the name. Despite this setback, he would still go to his local bookstore, a cozy place called Lycoris Radiata. Lycoris was a mere mile from his small apartment in the June district, tucked away in an alley where the neon signs of Noir couldn’t be seen, further enforcing the somewhat secluded nature that separated it from the busy streets. Even though June was quieter than many of the other twelve districts, the noise of the Skyetransit trams and Juniper brand cars could still be heard at all hours of the day.

Every June, Lycoris would hold a book sale to celebrate the district’s month, while this was a common practice for stores in all districts to hold sales based on their district name, there was something special about the bookstore’s sales. In essence, the only way for him to describe Lycoris Radiata was that it was “far from ordinary,” which would prove to be more true than he’d realize.

This morning, in particular, was like any other, he woke, dressed for school, ate, before heading out the door, all before the clock even struck seven. He’d be on his way to his high school, which was three miles away. He always arrived at school within the hour, preferring not to take a bus or tram, he always believed walking was the healthier option, that and it was too much money. As he’d walk, he would look around at all the transport vehicles flying through the sky, and watched the cyber bikes driving by. The air was somewhat choking, the polluted atmosphere was covered with a cloud of smog that only grew thicker as the elevation increased. He found the school was not much better.

The school itself was divided into three separate sections, not including non-academic sections. Each section increased in the number of floors as it went up, from elementary, one floor, to middle, three floors, and finally high, five floors. Including a single sub-level, where the utilities such as cleaning supplies, the electrical panels, and so-forth were located, and an extra two floors of offices at the very top of the building, the school housed twelve floors total, not as tall as the high-rises around it, but still tall, although each district had at least one of these schools. Though there was maintenance, it wasn’t very good, the holo-displays that displayed the date or important announcements barely worked, now and then a teacher could be seen tapping the display lenses, this usually resulted in the hologram glitching or it would defocus for a moment before displaying the image correctly. The holo-displays weren’t the only thing outdated and in desperate need of repair, almost everything in the school needed to be touched up, even the loud-speakers that would occasionally fall to the floor with a screech during morning announcements, the automatic doors that would get stuck and would have to be pried open by someone with hydraulic cybernetics, otherwise whoever was stuck on the other side would have to wait until a janitor or IT to fiddle with the electronics panel for several minutes.

As much as he didn’t like the dingy atmosphere, it was both necessary and most importantly, free. He bared with it, even to the point where he was in every honors class, he had plans to move to the December district at the center of Noir, the university there was well known throughout North America, even places not part of the UCA, the United Companies of America. UCA held control over the majority of the eastern side of North America, even had its hands wrapped around Greenland, it was formed a few hundred years prior to the establishment of Noir, after the old United States of America collapsed from tension, sending the entirety of the western world into a bloody civil war, resulting a world ruled by companies, entirely cut-off from the rest of the world, and even space. Even several hundred years after the wars died down, the tension was still high between the UCA and the minor nations to the west.

The university simply called Winter University, had a broad range of courses, anywhere from simple mechanics classes to complex arts like cybernetics surgery. However, although rare, now and then, a few rumors about the happenings of the eastern world could be heard. The western world wasn’t the only place to discover magic, herbology is what was believed to be what the magic was called, however, no one knew if the rumors were true. In the UCA there was a special sect of the government called the WHA, the Witch-Hunter Association. Witch-Hunters were people who could wield magic, generally called Witches, these Witches would join the military and hone their skills, developing spells and learning to use special armaments called thorns that let the hunters choose melee or ranged attacks without needing to switch weapons. Ken himself displayed an aptitude for magic and was planning on taking the advanced magic courses at Winter University.

Ken wasn’t compatible with most cybernetics, his body rejected most of them, the only one he had was a data-port, a simple device in the hand that allows someone to interface with electronics without the need of a screen, it’s also convenient for paying for things without needing a credit card. Ken was also not one for body modification, so he was fine with it regardless, he had no reason to install new optics or to reinforce his muscles with hydraulic tendons, aside from the cost, he, once again, had no reason to commit to that kind of surgery, nor did he want them.

Ken entered the school calmly, and quietly, quickly moving to the stairway since he knew the elevators would be crowded, he had a nickname given to him by the other students, “The Ghost of June,” and this was because he seemed to appear and disappear without a trace, while there were actual ghosts, exorcisms being a somewhat common occurrence in the more crime heavy parts of Noir, he did seem a lot like the dead. Ken was quiet, his appearance white all around, the air around him somewhat cold, but he was, in fact, alive. He arrived at his homeroom, where several of the other students were already sitting at their desks, some talked to each other while others quietly tweaked their cybernetics. Ken sat down at his desk in the very back of the room, nobody ever sat near him, although he never paid the other students any mind. He was left alone, nobody ever talked to him, not because they disliked him, but because he was so unapproachable, he didn’t really have much of an opinion of other people, he mostly just kept to himself, only interacting with others if he needed to.

His day was ordinary, nothing notable ever happened in that school, he did as he always did, vanish and appear somewhere else, usually his next class. In fact, his days were usually so bland that he’d end up forgetting most of the details. However, a usual, weekly occurrence, that he did remember would be the weekly counselor check-up he had to do. This check-up was to keep an eye on his mental state, he did lose his only family when he was twelve in a violent manner. The reason the check-ups were so easy to remember was due to his counselor.

Valerie was in charge of counseling students with last names R-Z, and with so many students, she was easily overworked. She was an ex-Witch-Hunter medical staff, the reason for her retirement from the force was unknown, but her attitude towards the students tended to be very blunt, it was obvious she didn’t like the kids of the school, she clearly hated children, so she only worked with the high-school level. However, she only released her frustrations out on Ken, who barely reacted, he was so anti-social that he didn’t know how to feel about her berating him. He generally sat there and did nothing, the words she said always flew over his head because of her strange, thick accent. Although throughout these beratings, he did feel a slight burning feeling in his chest, he wondered if it was hatred boiling or if it was something else, whichever it was, he’d eventually learn the truth of what he felt.

He was lucky that he didn’t have to see her that day, especially since he was already on his way home to change for work, he managed to get out early since his academic record was near perfect. The familiar smells of his home filled his nose, it may have been small, but his apartment was home. He took a moment to relax, grabbing a snack before he’d change into his work uniform. He found it was quite uncomfortable to wear, Noir was quite hot year-round, the only district that was even remotely cool was the October district, which was mostly parks. Taking a moment to look around his apartment before he left, he saw what was a fairly empty space, a single sofa, no tv, not even a coffee table, he had the bare minimum and he was satisfied with that, he didn’t need all the extra things, he wasn’t a very materialistic person.

He stepped outside and sighed, “Another bland day,” He said to himself, he walked the mile to work, where something peculiar happened...

As Ken was stocking the shelves, he noticed a boy, not much older than him, dressed in somewhat fancy clothes, these garments were black, he almost looked like he was about to attend a funeral, but with how pale he was, it almost looked as if he should have been in the casket instead. This boy, who was only a few inches taller than his six-foot height, piqued Ken’s interest, he seemed to carry a strange air around him, out of place, his appearance stood in stark contrast with the city, the complete opposite of neon. The strangest part about him, however, was that he pulled out a physical credit card, it was clear that he bore no cybernetics whatsoever. The boy caught Ken’s curious gaze, where the boy then turned and bowed, this only made him seem stranger. Ken almost wanted to ask the boy why he was dressed like that, but he was on the clock so he snapped his attention back to work and finished stocking the shelves, which was all he needed to do anyway. With his quick speed, he clocked out and disappeared from the store, while he was curious about the mysterious stranger, he was interested in the book sale at Lycoris Radiata more.

Instead of changing his uniform, he simply put on his father’s old leather trenchcoat, it hid his clothes well.