Damian’s jaw tightened. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"And then..." Alessio’s hands clenched tighter. "For the first time in my entire life, someone stopped me. Someone looked at me, really looked at me, like I was a person instead of trash."

He looked up at Damian directly now, his dark eyes wet but not crying.

"For the first time in my life, someone addressed me with dignity." His voice gained strength. "You didn’t look disgusted, you didn’t look away and you asked my name like it mattered... Like I mattered."

Damian said nothing, his crimson eyes fixed on Alessio’s face, but his hands, hidden in his pockets, clenched into fists.

’You reminded me of my past life, Alessio.’

"For the first time in my life..." Alessio’s voice cracked again. "Someone brought me to a restaurant. A real restaurant with clean tables and actual food. Not scraps or garbage, but real food that people paid money for."

His breath hitched.

"When that manager tried to throw us out because I was dirty, because I smelled bad, because I was ruining his business..." Alessio’s voice went quieter. "For the first time in my life, someone got angry for my sake, someone threatened another person for my sake."

’Roman Wells.’ Damian remembered the fat manager’s terrified face. ’I would have actually done it too. Would have made him disappear if he’d pushed me further.’

"We left that restaurant and started walking." Alessio continued, his voice barely audible now. "I was trying not to cry because I knew this was probably the only time I’d ever eat real food. That tomorrow I’d be back in that alley, back to dying slowly."

He swallowed hard.

"And for the first time in my life..." His voice broke completely. "Someone noticed I was sad... Not hungry or dirty, but... sad."

A single tear rolled down Alessio’s cheek, but he didn’t wipe it away.

"You saw something in me that nobody else ever saw, something worth saving and worth caring about." His hands shook. "You brought me to Old Man Mike. You gave me a place to live. You gave me a future when I had nothing but death waiting."

’Stop.’ Damian wanted to say it but couldn’t. ’You’re making it sound like I’m some kind of hero when I just did the bare minimum of human decency.’

"I used to curse my fate every single day." Alessio’s voice came faster now, years of suppressed emotion bleeding through like blood from a wound. "I’d look up at people walking by, people who ignored me, people who kicked me aside like garbage. And I’d ask... why? Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Why was I born just to suffer?"

His breathing grew ragged.

"They’d look at me with disgust, like I was something they’d stepped in, like I was a stain on their perfect world that needed to be cleaned away." His voice gained edge. "Nobody ever answered and nobody ever cared enough to even acknowledge the question."

He looked directly at Damian, his dark eyes burning with intensity.

"But for the first time in my life..." Alessio’s voice cracked. "When I asked someone who was being kind to me why... why they cared... why they bothered..."

He couldn’t finish as the words choked off.

Damian remembered that moment perfectly, the two of them walking back to Mike’s shop and Alessio trying so hard not to cry. His own voice, barely a whisper.

’Why not?’

"You said..." Alessio’s voice came out broken. "’Why not?’ Like it was the simplest thing in the world. Like caring about another person didn’t need justification. Like I was worth saving just because I existed."

The dam broke.

Tears streamed down his face, mixing with the bruises, making them shine in the afternoon light.

"Those two words..." He gasped for air. "Changed everything... Changed how I saw the world and changed how I saw myself."

Damian stood frozen, his own eyes burned, but he refused to let anything show. His throat felt tight enough to choke him.

’He was just a kid. Just a starving kid who needed help. I didn’t think–’

But he had thought... He’d seen Alessio and seen his own past self, seen the hunger and desperation and worthlessness that came from being alone in a world that didn’t care.

And he’d decided that if he had power, he’d use it to make sure no child ever felt that way.

That was all.

But for Alessio, it had been everything.

Damian’s hand came down on Alessio’s head again, slower this time and more deliberate.

When he spoke, his voice came out hoarse, rough with emotion he couldn’t quite suppress.

"Alessio Crimson."

The world stopped.

Alessio’s breath caught as his eyes went wide and the tears stopped falling as shock overtook grief.

’Did he just–’

Damian’s hand lifted as he turned and walked forward to catch up with the others, his crimson hair streaming behind him in the wind.

"Let’s go."

But his voice carried something softer now, something that hadn’t been there before.

Alessio stood rooted to the spot, his mind replaying those two words over and over like a mantra.

’Crimson... Alessio Crimson.’

His hands came up to his face, but this time it wasn’t from grief.

’Master’s hair... Master’s eyes... Master’s Aura... Everything is Crimson in color.’

The color that said: I am Damian Valcor.

’And he gave it to me...’

Alessio couldn’t finish the thought.

"I–" His voice cracked. "I need to... I’m going to call the others, the ones from the orphanage who joined in the first year."

He needed to move, needed to do something before the emotion overwhelmed him completely.

Damian nodded without turning around. "Take your time."

Alessio turned and ran in the opposite direction, his small frame disappearing around a corner at full speed.

As soon as he was out of sight, out of anyone’s view...

He collapsed against a wall, sliding down until he sat on the cold stone, and let himself break.

’Alessio Crimson.’

The name echoed in his mind like a promise, like a vow... Like everything he’d ever wanted but never dared to dream.

He wasn’t a nobody anymore.

He was Alessio Crimson.

And he’d die before he let anyone hurt the man who’d given him that name.