Akimoto Kazuma is the son of a king. A prince. Prince of Sui. Kazuma has three older brothers, meaning he likely won't ever become king. He's able to live his life in leisure, free of the troubles that come with ruling a kingdom. Many feel that Kazuma is a spoiled brat because of this, and maybe he is.

Eli is a person. Nothing special, really, but lives a life a thousand times more meaningful than that of Kazuma. He lives in the kingdom of Sui, but does not bind himself to his own race. Doing so is unheard of, but it's for just that reason that he gets a thrill out of it. There are only six people who will ever know who Eli is; not even his parents will know of his existence. As far as Eli is concerned, he doesn't have parents.

Akimoto Kazuma is expected to be strong. Not just physically, but in every way possible. He's not though, really, he's not, no matter how hard he tries. He feels weak when he's scolded or criticized. He tries his best to please everyone while keeping a carefree face. His father, his mother, his brothers, his sisters, his teachers, his servants, his people. He wants people to like him, and maybe he cares just a bit too much.

Eli is strong. Well, stronger than Kazuma. He's free to hate. Free to feel angry. Free to cry. Free to talk to anyone he wants to, of any race, and befriend who he wants. He's free to have his own opinion. He's free to be who he wants to be. He doesn't have to please. He can do what he wants. Well, as long as he doesn't get caught. And it's because of this, because he's happy, confident, and free that he is strong.

Akimoto Kazuma does not have control over anything in his life. You'd think he would. The peasants would probably laugh, probably roll their eyes and shake their heads, saying, “You don't have any control over your life? Yeah, right, no control my .” But, he still doesn't. What does he have any control over? The clothing he wears, the food he eats. But what kind of choices are those? He does not get to choose anything that matters. He does not get to choose his opinions, his studies, his style of living, or who will one day be his wife. He does not get to choose his friends. His religion. His schedule. His hobbies. These are all chosen for him. Part of it was his own fault, though, for wanting to please everyone.

Eli is the one in charge of his life. Well, he has more control that Kazuma does. He can't get caught, can't get caught, and that's what limits him. But, within that limitation, he has choices. Power. And Eli will never take that for granted, even the little freedoms, but still longs for more, more choice. He doesn't want to hide.

Akimoto Kazuma met Kinji at the age of nine. Kinji is a prince in Chi. He was obviously from Chi, you could tell just by the structure of his face. But, the dead giveaway is the markings on his arms, the black lines that look cracks on dry earth. Kazuma could see them disappear into the sleeves of his shirt, but knew that they continued over his shoulders, crawling down his back. This was the defining feature of anyone from Chi. While Chi and Sui were closely allied, Kazuma knew it was best not to become close to him the moment he saw him. He knew, but he did not listen.

And they talked. Really, that was it, that was the sin that Kazuma had committed. They became friends. They sent letters to each other, in secret from their parents. And, Kazuma was pretty sure that neither of them were really all that good of friends because they just get along that great, rather they became friends because of excitement it gave both of them, the secret they got to keep. Friendship and trust had come second.

Eli was the name that Kazuma had chosen to go by in order to avoid getting caught. He made it up, and signed his letters with it. A code name, of sorts. Kinji did the same. Made up the name AJ. Kazuma thought the name was stupid, though, an opted to call him by the second choice name that Kinji made up, JaeSeop. Still, Kinji made a persistent effort to sign his letters, AJ.

Akimoto Kazuma decided that Eli was more than just a codename. Eli was the name of the person he wanted to be. His alter ego. And, in these secret conversations with JaeSeop, he was this person. He didn't just want it to stop there, though. He wanted to be Eli all of the time, every second of every day.

When they got older they realized that the code names were unnecessary. No one cared about the person Eli was sending letters to. No one even seemed to notice the fact that there was some kind of joke whenever the two were in the presence of each other, for whatever occasion brought them together. There was really no danger in calling each other by their real names. But, both chose to keep their fake names, because they both felt like those names were much more real than their birth names.

Eli can't pretend that he still isn't Kazuma, either, though, just as JaeSeop is still Kinji at the end of the day. But, Eli hoped it wouldn't always be this way, even if he knew he would just be lying to himself to believe it.

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A/N:  Yeah, it's really short, but I've already written the next chapter, which is about 5,000 words long.  It'll probably be even longer once I finish editing it, since it usually ends up that way.  You can expect  the next chapter within the next few days; probably tomorrow.

Sorry, it's really boring so far.  I think that'll change pretty soon?  I hope.

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