A Soldier Adrift: An Isekai Story

Jason looked in the mirror, wearing the suit his mother bought him.

The suit was dark blue with gazes of white. The jacket had two buttons and a single slit in the back, with simple, classic lapels. The pants were slim but comfortable, ending neatly above his black shoes. Underneath, he wore a crisp white shirt, and the dark tie was tied neatly at his neck.

He stared at his reflection for a while before groaning.

In the end, it was just a simple suit! He suffered hours just for his mother to choose this?!

Even the rest she didn’t pick looked far better.

He didn't know what to feel at the moment.

Yet, looking at himself again, he felt a strange feeling inside him.

The suit was nothing out of the ordinary, but somehow he could feel its value was higher than that.

A small smile formed on his face.

The smile on his mother's face as he wore the suit back at the mall was strange. It wasn’t the smile he saw her every day, but different.

“It does look good though,” he muttered, finally getting a good look in the mirror.

Then the knock on the door sounded.

“Sir Jason, are you ready? The party is about to start.”

“Hang on, I’ll be there in a moment,” he replied, adjusting his suit once more before opening the door.

Albert stood by the side waiting; he too was wearing a suit but it was less flashy than the one Jason wore.

“You ready, Sir?”

“How many guests are there again?”

“Plenty.”

He gave no reply other than a nod.

They walked across the hallway until they arrived at the main hall.

Albert didn’t exaggerate much on the "plenty" part. There were a lot; every inch of space was filled.

“Who are these guests?” he quietly whispered.

“Most of them are co-workers of your father and your mother. Your aunts and cousins are also here,” Albert replied, his voice as low as Jason’s.

“I see,” he nodded, bringing his attention back to the crowd below.

Albert was really useful for handling information. Jason realized that he barely knew his aunt and cousins; the boy’s memory was no help either. He barely interacted with his other family members, and other than their names, he knew nothing else much about them.

“Ahh, there’s the birthday boy!” one of the guests shouted. The once lively chatter among them ceased, and all their attention was now placed on him.

He gulped. He wasn’t used to being stared at by a lot of people.

“Sweety, why did you take so long? The guests are waiting,” his mother said, appearing beside him.

“I was, uhm, doing stuff.” Mostly being nervous for no apparent reason, he added inwardly.

“Oh?” His mother raised a brow. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Come here; you should greet your guests. And also, your Aunt Carry is here!” she said cheerfully.

He let out an awkward laugh. “I see.”

His mother pulled him into the crowd, greeting guests on the way. He wasn’t familiar with any of them. Albert stayed behind, which was rare since he was almost always with him.

The guests all greeted him with smiles on their faces and said praises about him. He knew better than to believe those smiles; they were clearly fake. He didn’t mind, as long as they didn’t harm him or his family.

“Margarette! Oh my! Is this Jason? He looks grown up now!” a cheery voice almost the same as his mother’s sounded.

He found the source of the voice to be a lady with whitish-blue hair. She had glasses and a noticeable black spot near her eyes. She was wearing a rather fancy dress like his mother and wore high heels. She was waving at them.

“Carry, it’s good to see you back so soon. I missed you so much.” His mother swept in and hugged his aunt.

His aunt returned the hug. “I missed you too, little Margarette.” Then she saw her eyes shift to him in an instant.

As he guessed, his aunt broke up her hug with his mother and immediately went toward him.

“Not again,” he thought as he was being suffocated alive by another extremely strong hug from a person.

Seriously, are all the women strong like this in this world?!

Thankfully, it was a rather short hug. “How are you, Jason? It’s been years since I last saw you. You’ve changed a lot,” his aunt remarked, smiling as she ruffled his hair.

“It’s good to see you too, Aunt Carry,” he responded. “And I’m good, thank you for asking.”

Then he saw his aunt frown.

“Weird, I’ve never seen you this formal before,” she noted, tilting her head.

“Oh shit, she noticed,” he thought, panicking a little but feeling relieved at her next words.

“It must be because you’ve matured, am I right, Jason?” Aunt Carry grinned.

“Yes, Aunt Carry.” He had no reason to disagree.

In response, she ruffled his hair harder.

“See, Jason is a lot more mature now compared to back then, isn't he?” his mother commented from the back with a smile. “Jason, would you like to meet your cousins? They're on the couch near the paintings. I’d like to talk with your aunt for a bit.” She sounded serious after her last sentence.

“Alright, Mom,” he nodded and went his way, leaving the sisters alone.

As he made his way toward his cousins, random guests often stopped him for a chance to talk. They were annoying to deal with. He had to muster the best polite smile just to excuse himself and hold back the urge to yell at them to just leave him alone. It was tempting, and he could feel himself wavering every minute, so he decided to play the good guy and just smile and wave. That’s right, smile and wave.

Just as he thought he could finally get out of the crowd, someone bumped into him who appeared to be in a hurry. He didn’t fall; rather, his body jerked back but he still maintained his balance. The person who bumped into him, on the other hand, did not and fell instead.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Jason apologized while extending his hand to the stranger.

“Oh~ It’s okaaaayyy, It was my baaaad as weeeelll.”

He blinked, not expecting the stranger’s way of speaking to be…unique.

“Uhm, still, sorry about it.”

The stranger accepted his help and finally, he got a good look at him.

The stranger wore a peculiar outfit, strange as it was colorful. His clothes, though clean and well-fitted, were unusual, a mix of bright colors that somehow worked well together. His hair was neat and clean, but his choice of hairstyle was unique, to say the least. It was styled upwards in a way that made it look like an upside-down letter L, making it look like it defied gravity itself.

His overall impression of him was that he looked like he came out of a circus.

“I’m Raynoooold Daaaazmond, Sir Jason. I’m veeeery pleased to meet you,” Raynold said with an overly expressive bow.

“Uhm, nice to meet you too, Sir Raynold.” Jason bowed as well to show respect.

Raynold smiled somewhat creepily in response.

He had to hold the urge to not look at him in a weird way. It was rude, and people are differently unique, he told himself.

“So, I guess that’s it. I’ll see you,” Jason said somewhat hurriedly, sensing the awkward atmosphere.
Raynold still kept his creepy smile and waved him goodbye. “Toodles!”

'What a weird guy,'Jason thought.

+++==+++

Finally getting out of the thick, heavy crowd of people was a breather. Literally, what Jason did first was take a moment to relax and breathe slowly in and out. This will probably be the last time he will go to parties.

He scanned the area, trying to find where his cousins were. Thankfully, he soon spotted a few people sitting on the couch, whom he assumed were his cousins.

There was a raven-haired girl with an aloof expression and a boy next to her. The boy appeared younger, with white hair contrasting with her black, though there were a few visible strands of black in his hair.

If he remembered correctly, the girl's name was Rosina, and the boy's name was Roy. Apparently, they were twins.

He approached them, and the girl immediately noticed his presence.

She has sharp senses, he noted.

“Hello, it’s good to see you, Rosina and Roy,” he greeted them with a smile as he closed the distance between them.

Rosina appeared indifferent as she spoke. “It’s good to see you too, cousin.”

“Hello, Big Brother Jason!” Roy's face lit up with enthusiasm.

Twins they may be, but their differences were obvious.

“So, how’s the party for you two?” he asked while taking a cup and pouring soda into it.

“It was fun! I got to meet a lot of people,” Roy answered with his ever-cheery smile.

Rosina didn’t meet his eyes but instead looked at the crowd, her expression remaining distant. “It’s alright.”

“Alright,” he repeated, taking a sip from the cup. “I assume you don’t like crowded places?”

This time, Rosina looked at him, a hint of curiosity in her gaze. “I’m surprised you can guess that.”

She didn’t seem surprised, he thought otherwise.

He shrugged, swirling his cup. “It’s obvious.  Both of you are here, away from the crowd. Also, judging by the look on your face, you seem uncomfortable.”

His deduction triggered a reaction. The stoic girl showed a glint of surprise in her eyes, momentarily breaking her composure.

“My parents never told me you were this perceptive.”

He grew a bit nervous. ‘I think I overdid it.’

He remained calm nonetheless. “It’s not hard to tell since I don’t like crowded places either. So, I am quite familiar with what you’re feeling.”

What he said was true. Even back on Earth, he didn’t like to talk much to people; he was just forced to sometimes, especially by his friend Mike.

“You don’t look like the type to be uninterested in people,” she quirked a brow at him.

“Well, appearances can be deceiving sometimes. I think that includes you.”

“Who said anything about appearance?” Rosina replied, her lips falling into a thin line, eyes narrowing slightly.

They both stared at each other.

“Oh! Are you guys doing a staring contest? Can I play? Can I?!” Roy suddenly interrupted, bouncing with eagerness.

“We’ve just finished the game, little brother,” Rosina said, placing her hand on Roy’s head gently. “Isn’t that right, cousin?” She then looked at him.

He nodded at her words. 

“Aww, can I play next?” Roy asked, his face brightening again, eyes wide with hope.

“Of course,” Rosina said, her voice surprisingly softer.

“Yay!” Roy bounced with joy.

He watched as the two siblings battled it out. He knew Rosina was somewhat cold at heart, but when it came to her little brother, she was as soft as a feather.

“Jason, I finally found you.”

He looked behind him to see his father approaching. His father was wearing a formal suit, similar to his own.

“Dad.”

His father closed the distance between them and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Happy Birthday, Jason.”

“Thank you, Dad,” he acknowledged his father's greeting with a slight nod and a smile. Despite his father's stoic expression, he knew he was truly happy.

Then his father's attention shifted elsewhere, his eyes scanning the room.

“I see you’ve met your cousins.”

“Uncle,” Rosina said, her tone respectful but reserved.

“Uncle Edward!” On one hand, Roy's voice was filled with excitement in contrast to his older sister.

“How was the trip back here?” his father asked the two.

“It was pleasant, Uncle. We didn’t encounter any mishaps,” Rosina replied.

“I see, then that’s good,” his father said, nodding at her words. “Come, the three of you. The party’s barely begun, and Jason, you’re the celebrant. You should be out there entertaining the guests.”

Under his father’s gaze, he had no choice. Reluctantly, he prepared to face the crowd once more.

He really hated parties.