Label... awaken Label.

“Oh dear Label, let the poor child wake up,” prayed one of the nuns beside the bed he was resting in.

 He slowly opened his eyes and everything still seemed fuzzy.

“Oh, thank Label! The child regained consciousness. Call Father Ferguson over Nelia dear.”

“Yes, ma'am,” said the other nun clad in a blue robe.

“Where am I?” he got up on his elbows.

“Stay put, young man. Your recklessness almost cost you your arm and a leg and for what, an apple? You should know better than to steal when you have another's reputation at stake. You are one of Inala's children, are you not? I believe she is taking care of everyone at the orphanage and I never heard any of the kids were hungry, so why would you go and make a mess like this?” the nun preached, all while attending to his minor wounds and changing the wet cloth on his forehead.

She’s pretty, he thought while not really paying attention to what she was saying.

“Tell me, child, what is your name?”

“Label,” he answered, scratching on the bandaged shoulder.

“Oh, the poor kid is delusional… No wonder after falling down from such a height. There, there, you'll remember in no time.” She patted him on the head and started to gather the medical supplies.

The boy looked down and frowned.

After putting everything together, she left the room and was replaced by Ferguson.

“Father,” she bowed slightly.

“Thank you Merlotta,” Father nodded and then sat on the chair next to the bed.

He was a tall man with short hair and a scrubby beard. His attire was adorned with golden decorations but still mostly white. A pair of reading glasses rested on his nose, behind them hiding a look of concern.

“What is your name, son?”

The boy silently turned his head away from the man.

“It's alright, you can tell me.”

“...it's Label, as I said before.”

“sigh... You insist on that, I see. You do realize that is the name of the Holy Lord that watches us from beyond? If that is your idea of humor, I must warn you, people will not find it funny and some may even take it further than words; considering you a heathen or even worse. What if you found yourself in the far lands of Toukoku where our Lord is not as revered as here, but despised instead?”

“My head is all fuzzy. I can't remember my name, sir. I'm sorry about all the fuss,” he continued.

Father got up from his chair, “Now that's better, at least you are coming back to your senses. Feel free to lie down and rest a while until you get better. Your friend is learning discipline as we speak. You were brought here for the same reason.”

“My... friend?”

“Oh don't play games with me. The other lad that the guards chased around, was an accomplice, no? But not to worry, we went easy on him. He just needs to clean the bell tower staircase,” smiled Ferguson before he let Nelia in to keep an eye on the blond young man.

Someone else was brought here? And because of me? Great... He thought, but it wasn’t long before he fell asleep again.

* * *

The church of Label was in the middle of the village and was a place where wounded or tired took shelter. One could say it was an inn and a nursery as well.

Still, the main purpose was to pray to Lord Label; a god revered by the Kingdom of Emnikatia and related towns and villages.

After opening his eyes once more, the blond boy looked around and noticed Nelia keeping watch by his bed while knitting a scarf of sorts. She had chubby red dotted cheeks and a piggy nose but always wore a strict face.

He didn't find her to be as appealing as the nun that treated his wounds earlier today.

“Oh, you are awake. Feeling better?”

“Yeah... sorry for all the trouble I caused. I’m ready to atone for what I've done.”

“You should stay in bed. Your wounds hadn’t healed yet.”

“But I feel fine,” he stood up.

Nelia jumped out of her chair, surprised that the boy can already move about.

“Let me check you first,” she insisted to at least have a look at his injuries, but it looked like he was indeed fine.

 “Follow me. You are to help your friend finish cleaning the stairs,” she led him to the tower, greeting Merlotta through one of the opened doors in the hallway.

The gentle nun was taking care of another patient, but she waved and smiled as they were passing the door.

The boy smiled back, now in a better mood than afternoon, noticing it was almost six o'clock, as he looked through a stone window.

The sun was hanging low as it will fall into the sea. The salty smell splashed him across the face as he inhaled deeply.

When they arrived at the tower, Nelia opened the door using one of the keys.

“I'm sorry, it's a precaution. You fellas were stealing stuff just this noon after all,” she chuckled and locked the door behind him.

After looking around a bit, he noticed the black-haired boy mopping the floor. The boy didn't look his way, so he decided to make the first move.

“Hey there!” 

He tried to be friendly but the young man ignored him and continued mopping instead.

“Hey, listen I realize you got caught because of me. It must be because we both have long hair and are about the same age, right? Who would have thought? Hahaha!” he put his arms on his hips and laughed like a fool.

The dark lad stopped mopping and looked in his direction. A look of annoyance spread across his face. He turned around, mopping in the opposite direction of the blondie.

What a weird outfit. He must not be from around here. “Say, what's your name?” blondie insisted.

“*sighs* …you are supposed to introduce yourself before asking another's name,” the green-eyed boy was agitated. He took his bucket and mop and went upstairs to clean the rest of the tower.

What's his problem? thought the other boy as he took his own bucket and a brush. 

* * *

It was a few hours before they were finished.

The kimono-wearing boy went down to the first floor where he found blondie sitting on the last stair, resting and looking at the floor. He sat down by him.

They didn't look at each other for some time but after a while, he told him; “I'm sorry I was acting up earlier. My name is Anciel.”

“I'm Label! ...No, I mean, I'm not Label. Well... sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, but it's just that... You see eh... if you are from Toukoku, then I'm definitely not Label, so I wanted to make sure you are not from Toukoku... Aaaah!” he started scratching his head with both arms, messing up his hair.

Anciel looked at him all confused, but then...

“Hahahaha... you... you are something else. Alright, let me make this easier for you. No, I'm not from Toukoku.”

Pointing at his kimono he admitted; “I stole this outfit a while ago.”

“Oh…”

“I should have taken one for you as well,” he remarked, looking at Label's toes peeping through the hole on his shoe.

Label put a hand on his mouth first, but then both burst, and their laughter echoed through the tower.

“Hahaha…so, I'm sorry you got caught because I stole an apple.”

“Yes, you should be. What a stupid thing to do,” he then took the apple from his pocket and started eating it casually.

“Yeah, I'm sure you would... wait what? Hey!” Label swung lightly at the apple.

Anciel dodged him, “But I would still be strolling the market and enjoying my freedom while you would be here cleaning, instead sleeping all day in the nursery,” he winked at him.

 “I guess you are right,” Label sat back defeated.

“So tell me… That jump at the market. How did you do it?”

“I could always do some stuff other people couldn’t, though I would always get scolded by Inala if I did any of it in front of the other kids.

“Stuff?”

“Yeah, like this for example,” he put his hand over one of the cleaning buckets and the water slowly turned to ice.

Anciel was not as surprised as Label expected him to be, “Tough crowd,” he remarked.

“No, it’s not that,” the other boy shook his head, “It’s just that… it makes me happy.”

“Ice makes you happy?”

“No! …not being the only odd one makes me happy.”

“What do you mean? I don’t get it.”

“Fine, watch closely,” he pointed his index finger at his other palm and moved it swiftly across. At a moment's notice, there was a small cut there and he started bleeding.

“Whoa there, don’t hurt yourself!” Label jumped, “But, how'd you do it?”

“I’m not sure myself, but I can choose if I want to cut something the same way as if I had a knife in my hand, yet I can do it without any tool. And then there’s this…” he lifted his palm closer for his friend to see.

Label watched the wound close itself and the bleeding stop. Although not instant, it was unusually fast, he thought.

“All of my injuries heal a lot faster. To what extent, I don't really want to explore, but these… gifts of mine saved me more than once.”

“Show me some more!” blondie was eager, but the raven hair boy crossed his arms unwilling to reveal all his secrets, “It’s your turn.”

“Well, it’s only fair I guess,” he pulled his hair into a tail; “Cut my hair,” he gestured.

“Are you certain?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, go on,” the boy insisted.

“Alright, suit yourself; “Anciel swung his hand and the blond tail was cut shorter.

Yet only moments after, Label’s hair grew back to its original length.

“Yeah, you should have seen Inala try and make me a nice haircut, just to see me back to my old self the very next moment. Also, my nails don't grow after this length, so I don't necessarily have to cut them. “

“Come to think of it, I never tried cutting my hair shorter. It’s been like this as long as I remember.” he tried cutting his own hair, but it grew back all the same.

“That’s all good but copying me doesn’t count. I wanna see a new trick now.” Label crossed his arms.

“Hmm… I can’t really show you this but I can sleep less than other people with no consequences. I can also go without water for weeks and food for months.”

“Huh, you don’t say… I never tried that,” just as he said it though, he noticed his newly met friend look a bit sad, or maybe envious.

“Good for you.”

“…”, Label wanted to break the awkward silence so he decided to show something really flashy; “Check this out.”

He brushed the remains of their hair on a single pile.

“Don’t get scared now,” he warned as he took a big breath.

Anciel moved away a little bit as Label put the hair on fire with his breath alone.

“Impressive, I’ll give you that,” he smiled.

“He-he,” blondie scratched his nape. “I can—”

“Wait! Someone’s coming! Hurry put it out.”