Erika was different from Ruri. Not only did she have beautiful blonde hair that flowed over her shoulder, her personality was like midday sun. Warm but not with a blazing heat. Warmth that welcomed you after the chilly morning.
In comparison, Ruri's dull brunette hair wasn't notable. Nor was her personality that nagged you all times. Being around her felt like dancing on the edge of a knife - you didn't know when you'll be sliced and bleed.
Ruri and Erika was close together most of the time.
Not to say Ruri lacked much in appearance compared to Erika, but their dispositions were different. Seeing Ruri felt like seeing a bandit from a backhanded street. Comparably, Erika was almost like a young miss from a noble family.
"You don't know Erika. This Nyurta is always up to no good when he's with me! Earlier today, he even wanted to slack off in the cleaning and stare at the sky instead!"
Hearing Ruri complaining, Erika giggled.
"What's there to see about the sky? Even with the sun out and the clouds clear, the sky is always gray! Not to mention, from that building, the windows are no good. We can only see the run down wall on the other side."
Indeed, the city's pollution had reached a point where the sun couldn't fully display its radiance. The city was always covered in a smoke barrier, with a very depressing atmosphere.
Yet, in Nyurta's view, the world wasn't so depressing. Especially when Erika was near. She was almost like the second sun in his life.
However, their differences in appearance were extreme. Nyurta looked at himself, and then at Erika.
Truly a frog wishing for swan's meat.
Nyurta's face was covered in soot, while his cloth was equally as dirty. It was even ragged and had places where another cloth had been stitched on to cover the hole.
Meanwhile, Erika's face was clean and pale with a healthy red tint on her cheek. Her cloth clean, and although plain, looked adorable.
Of course, the reason for this difference in cleanliness wasn't because of Nyurta's laziness with hygiene. In fact, all the boys here were dirty. They only had shower twice a month. And even though they washed their clothes everyday, one can only imagine their smell.
The difference in their cleanliness came from their sex. The girls were naturally favored over the boys. They had shower once a week. Their hair and etc. were also strived to be kept clean.
Not only that, their share of food were more plenty too.
'Being a girl there would be easier' one might think. But no. Perhaps exactly because of this difference, one can imagine the grim future that entailed for the girls.
Their fate as "products" had been sealed.
However, the notion of boys becoming products wasn't to be dismissed. It is just that comparably, they had a better chance of not becoming one.
Still, even if they escaped the fate, their future as mere slaves and servants was sealed.
"The clouds get me memories of before. When in my home storm" Nyurta replied sheepishly. His knowledge of the language here had naturally improved. As a young man, he was quick to understand things.
Still, the grammar and such were still very rough.
Upon hearing him, both Ruri and Erika became quiet. They understood that each of them had become slaves not because they were born in this place, but because they were brought here. By bad people.
They didn't have memories of their parents. From the moment they were conscious, they had been in this place.
"You stupid! You don't use the word 'get' like that! It is only used for getting physical possessions. Look at him Erika, don't you see that he's a dum dum? Hear him getting all passionate about a cloud too"
After a while, Ruri grabbed at Nyurta's hair and said.
"Ouch ouch!"
"Don't blame him Ruri. I also like to see the sky sometimes. I like to imagine that the stars are looking at me beyond those depressing clouds. Just like in the fairytales.."
Erika had a longing gaze as she looked towards the sky. What welcomed her gaze was just a gray mass of pollution.
Grrrrr...
The stomachs of the three grumbled. It had been a while since they ate.
"Let's eat dinner" Nyurta said and walked towards the sleg. The two girls followed.
...
"Well look who it is! The idiot who can"t speak!" a group of three boys came to Nyurta. The one who said it had a strangely rectangular body. His name was Gide. The words came out as they passed by the individual beds. The purpose being mainly to get rid of their boredom.
Hearing their words, Nyurta's brows furrowed. He had recently come to know the terms stupid and idiot. He didn't like the word at all.
So, he walked up to them. The three had a confused and belittling expression; it didn't last long though, as Nyurta's hand came swiftly through the air.
"Fuck you" He punched the guy who said it.
Immediately afterwards, there was a brawl. Gide's nose was bleeding, and his eyes were closed tight from the pain. A sliver of tear dropped.
"Ah you bastard!" the two beside Gide was initially confused, but soon came to reality. They had an angry expression as they jumped on Nyurta. Nyurta having no ability nor time to defend himself, could only fall to the ground harshly and get a beating.
Of course, there were no serious injuries to Nyurta. And also, another boy came and joined the brawl.
They all had a frail and thin body. Only getting food twice a day, and right now, they had only eaten a very nutrition lacking food while having done an entire day's work. There weren't much energy left in them.
After Nyurta's first visit, which was also his first beating, fights didn't happen often. Of course, as they had loose restrictions and in such a depressing area, fights were bound to happen.
Having learned something from Ruri, Nyurta wasn't easy to bully anymore.
He has also made a friend.
After throwing fists for a while, they all stopped, as the bell for dinner rang. It was a crisp sound that declared dinner was to be served, and also for them to quickly gather at the place.
This was important as they had a head count. If a person was missing, the supervisor would come and check the house.
If they discovered the fight, it would be bad! Once, the supervisor saw a brawl between two boys. The two were punished to having no food for a day, and also having their backs lashed with a whip. The painful cries were a grim reminder.
After exchanging vengeful stares, the three boys separated from Nyurta and Jack. The two didn't try to make things difficult for the three either as they went to the dinner serving place with their wooden bowls.
"What happened to your face Nyurta! Did you get in a fight?" Ruri asked with an angry tone.
I nodded with an annoyed expression.
"Who did it? Tell me, and I'll beat them up!" I turned away my head from her. She felt a little annoying. I didn't want to see her getting beat up by others.
The girl's sleeping place was in the same building, but a different section. So, even though they slept and lived in different places, they would unite with the boys in the evening for dinner.
"Sigh... It's so little food once again. Look at my soup, Nyurta, barely even a meat! Yet, yours has three pieces in it. Give me one!" Jack complained to me.
Jack was the friend I made during my stay here. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. However, the features weren't noticeable at all from all the dirt and soot.
"Nuh uh"
I turned a blind eye and ate my food. After all, there weren't many chances to eat food. And who knows, Jack would also get more meat later while I got none.
Ruri, Erika, Jack, and me, and another girl sat together on a table. The other girl's name was Yuri and she had brown hair and brown eyes.
"Just say it Jack, who did you two fight?" Ruri glared at Jack.
Jack and I had already made eye contact. He also decided to not say it. After all, if they fought, so be it. Not like they would get stabbed or something; no need to bring the girls into it.
Especially if the girls got bruises. The supervisors wouldn't care about boys getting injuries, but girls weren't supposed to.
Yuri and Erika showed worried expressions, but we didn't relent.
...
After dinner, we went to our respective sections to sleep.
"Look Nyurta! I found a book while I was cleaning the building. Apparently, there are these wings that can help you fly! Look at this picture" Jack showed me with an excited expression.
None of the children were literate so they can only understand after seeing a picture.
I was awed and my mouth opened up in an egg shape after I saw the picture. It was a man gliding through air with a glider.
It wasn't truly flying, but how could the two boys understand? They only saw a man in the air with bird like wings attached to his back.