It is really awkward for Day to walk me home but I don't want him just to let go all of a sudden. Even if my mind is telling me to let him go and I walk home myself, I can't just bring the words to flow and tell him it directly.

I know that the right thing to do is for me to let go. It should be me who should do the first move. The only problem is that, I can't bring myself to do so.

I missed just being with him even in this simple walk down the streets at night. I missed being so close to him and on the circle of his protection.

He even told me that I can trust him to be someone I wish to be with. He just didn't know that I don't need to think so because he is all I wanted to be with and no one else.

I remember how I even break up with Anden years ago, making it firm and sure, a conclusion that I don't know if I'll regret it or not—there's just no hope for I to love him back the way he wanted me to do so. I don't want to play with his feelings, that's why I know that at that time Anden deserves to know the truth. And even if I know I'll hurt him, he needs to hear it from me directly. Before issues starts to spark around the Republic and even say that I'm just using him.

I shake the thoughts of Anden away. What matters now is that I'm with Day now.

Day is dead, I keep the reminder in myself. The one you're with now is Daniel not Day.

But he agreed with my choice to call him 'Day'? So what's wrong it. I know what's wrong: Day is different from Daniel. Day is the boy who grow up and survive in the streets for five years, lives in the slums as long as his body could manage and ever since he was born, never remove his worry over those he cares about, and will always carry a pint of hatred against the government, becoming a barrier or glue to keep the people of the Republic and the Republic itself together and intact.

And now that those memories of him had gone, who then is Daniel?

I finally break down the silence that have lingered longer than I even know. I asked plainly, "You've kept quiet during the dinner celebration of my birthday. You haven't spoken a single word after greeting me. Are you thinking of something? A girl back in Antarctica, I suppose."

Day finally looks at me, curiosity looming on his handsome and matured face. Though his hair is now short, I don't know why I can still see glimpses of his long hair. It's like a ghostly effect that flows behind him. "A girl back in Antarctica?" he repeated and shakes his head. "I've never dated anyone for the past ten years."

"Why?" I asked. "You have good looks you know, boyish charms that could attract any girl in Ross city."

He smiled at me. "You just don't know what happened I guess, that's why. Except with the fact that I lost every short-lived memories of mine before the past ten years."

"Well, I'm sorry if I wasn't in Ross to find out how you are doing there. I'm not a stalker, you know?"

It was on my last statement that he laughs. Compared to the last time that he does, Day now laughs and smiles whole-heartedly, without any trouble to think of, no fear clouding his eyes and no sorrow being his burden to carry on his way to the future waiting for him.

"Did I even suspect you to be a stalker?" he asked with a charming grin.

I smiled back at him. "Nope. But it seems like you're about to prefer that I should have. In order for you not to spill your history of what happened in Antarctica for the past ten years."

He sighed for a while and runs a hand on his hair again. "Actually, life in Ross for the past ten years is like a normal routine. Nothing really strange to share, I supposed. I spend most of those ten years taking medications, entering doctors' rooms to check over any improvements, and even some psychiatrists' consult in any case that few of my memories will start returning back. But I seldom have reminiscent of those that I've lost. And you'll find it weird that my first question to them is something they can't explain to me."

"And what's that?" I asked, intrigue with how he states his last statement.

He looks at me for a while and looks ahead, straight and like he was deep in thoughts. "The question is... how life was for me before I arrive in Antarctica, or to be specific, what are the things that I need to remember and regret that I've lost them."

It struck me. Even though his words seems to bring tears to well up in my eyes, I just gulped in and nod at him. I don't want him to see that his words make a very huge impact on me, wherein we are supposed to be at least, just acquainted with each other.

Day then stops walking and I halted as well. We are 50 meters away my apartment building when he seems to notice something. He glance and look at me in the eye. There's something that he wanted to say, a communication through the eye. And on the way that his eyes seem to be much more alert and ready, I already sense it.

The moment that Day reaches out for something behind him and immediately aim a pistol gun at his left, I also did the same. My gun was securely placed on my holster.

"We seems to have a guest," Day stated calmly and in my peripheral sight, I can see that his lips are starting to curl into a menacing grin. Now it appears like he is more of a predator than the calm Day I used to know.

I then give him a look for a while before saying, "Seems like he is late with the party."

A few seconds had passed, the street is nearly empty. The light post by the corner of the street (three meters away from us) and the lights on my apartment building and of the moon were the only radiant energy sources that illuminates faint descriptions of where we really are.

Day's senses has been right to find it out even I distract him with my questions and let him narrate few. He is much trained with things that has to involve events like this than me.

Of course, since he was ten years old until he reach the glory of the Republic, he is the boy from the streets who trained himself to be watchful and always alert in any case that things will lead him to a trap to get caught by the government who had cause a lot of misfortunes not only to him, but especially to his family. And again, I need to keep myself steady because it just again remind me that I cause him those sorrows.

Another reason that I really need to let him go.

"Whoever you are," Day started, loud and calm. "Show yourself."

Even if I don't want to question Day's authority on having a weapon now, I guess that it won't matter already if we are both to be killed.

It's just in time that a figure, a silhouette of a hooded person make its way to the center of the light post by the end corner. Since the shadow that it will cast was positioned to where he is, his features are hard to identify. But on my place, I can say that he is about 6'2" tall, build up but his figure suggest that he is at least, a little bit lean, and he stands with his weight equal on both feet.

"Make yourself known before I don't dare to have you get shot," I called as honored as a commander I can be. "And you won't really want to be dead before you even know it."

"Your debts are yet to be paid," a manly but teenage voice was heard. I glance behind me for a while to see if someone is behind but no one.

The guard standing on post of my apartment building seems not to care at all. I calculated it in my head, we are at the very least 50 meters away.

I even think of urging Day to run away with me to my apartment but I'm a commander of the Republic now. My life is to be in battle and running away is just the work or act of a coward.

"Day..." I muttered under my breath and I don't know why I can feel myself shudder and get taunted by the unknown man's words.

Your debts are yet to be paid.

What debts? The Republic's debts against the Colonies? Patriots? Antarctica? Or other federation or countries around the world? Or maybe, for the man to haunt us and taunt us with those words... for the first people to choose (since I haven't heard any news or words that there were other threats), is it also possible that those words were meant for either I or Day, or for both of us?

But before I can figure it out and neither I nor Day was able to shoot right away our common target, I hear Day grunts and the sound of swish when I see the hooded man accelerates on us too fast and swings a leg at Day's chest, kicking him hard on the torsos. Day falls back and I block the man's way to cover up Day and give him some time to stand his ground again. I try to aim and block his coming attacks, but he is fast, very fast. He sends a foot on my hand, throwing the gun far away from my reach and punches me on my right jaw.

Day was back on his feet and gives the hooded man a direct hit on his jaw and swings his leg beneath the man's legs, causing the man to fall over for a while before tumbling to stay upright again. It happens in a blink that Day was about to strike the man down with his fist aiming on the man's torso, when the strange man immediately caught it and for a moment, I see the flash of a steel metal straight razor on the man's hand. And I hear Day screams when I notice blood falling by Day's arm.

The young man has one hand gripping Day's right arm, now bleeding tightly and grip it harder. He leans closer to Day's ear and whispered something.

Before I could even gain my consciousness and fights the vertigo struggling inside my mind, the man was already gone and Day slowly leans down on the nearest wall of the building next to us.

"What debts are yet to be paid?" Day asked as I collect our guns and slowly walked to him. I saw how his arm is totally bleeding. "Is the peace treaty between the Republic and the Colonies aren't still settled since the past ten years?"

"The peace treaty is doing well. If there's any problem, And— the Elector, will tell it to me immediately," I answered, panic is slowly rising even the tension of the fight is already gone, and I and Day were haunted by words that regards debts that are yet to be paid.

"You know what he told me?"

I looked straight then at Day's eyes this time. His blue eyes are darker on the night. The imperfection he has on his eye is still present, his ocean blue eyes seems to devour me but now it is very clear that he is in pain due to the cut. "What does he told you?"

"He told me that, they need me," he stops for a while and corrected himself, "They need us."

What? Who are they? Why do they need us? And why are our debts still unpaid? If they need us as Day had said, why would they wound him and give him such a very deep cut in the arm?

I reach for my handkerchief and thankfully it is red that we can easily fool the guard by my apartment in any case that he'll notice that I'm with Day. He didn't let me surround the handkerchief around his arm, instead he just covers it and with the use of his other free hand, he presses it down to at least, stop the bleeding if it will come to bleed more.

"Come on," I urge him softly. "Let's get that clean up in my apartment. We can talk more about this encounter when we're finally settled in getting that injury of yours look at with first aid."