"It's tiring being a zoo animal, isn't it?"

With those words uttered by Melliacci Tratto, I continued to hold my broom as I looked over at him.

What I'd searched for was returned to me, an understanding.

It was a bittersweet moment for me. My heart felt relieved as what I wanted had come to me, but the bitterness laid in the fact that Melliacci was the one who'd said that to me.

Of all people, it had to be him.

That I and Melliacci, the popular, rich and handsome guy at school were two sides of the same coin didn't sit right with me.

If we truly were so similar, why was I the one left in the dirt with no compassion as he soared in the sky, free with wings?

Perhaps it was a matter of nuance, but I didn't understand complicated stuff like that. It was so abstract.

What separated me from the success he'd obtained?

I continued sweeping as silence took hold, both of us half-staring at each other with no words forming.

But it wasn't empty.

Besides the cold feeling from the forest, there was something else that filled that verbal hole left in between us. Like a construction company had come and dumped clay and dirt to fill a hole left. It was temporary, but it worked. My fire had been quelled, for the most part, silently burning in the background as I worked.

I chuckled to myself as I said

"A panda, huh? Don't complain when you're so popular!"

Melliacci smiled as he said

"As if! Pandas have issues too, don't they? Being a hyena could also be seen as nice, right? With the freedom they exhibit and the looseness of people not wanting to watch."

We both broke out in laughter. For some reason, it felt like I understood Melliacci a lot more as developed his thesis.

What could've been turned into an argument so easily was suddenly the reason why we were laughing, a thing I hadn't done in so long.

Even though it was only morning, it felt like stars winked at me as they shot across the sky. A cosmic event that shouldn't have happened.

But time had its limitations, and Melliacci noticed the time

"10:23!

I have to go home, quickly! I have so much to do! Amaimono will kill me!

Alright, I'm leaving Kaharu, thanks for letting me tag along. Although it was forced."

Kaharu continued sweeping as he said

"I'm used to it. However much I dislike it."

As he left though, he dramatically turned around with a melancholic glimmer in his eye and said

"I should reiterate though, I really think you should reform Kaharu. It's for your best."

Before I even had the chance of rebutting, Melliacci turned around and quickly sprinted towards the staircase, mildly cursing at himself as he went.

I was left, alone again, with my own thoughts spinning around. The world had suddenly been turned upside down, a dizziness making my head spin and a fear making me unable to move. The confusion he had thrown at me left me silent.

I was unsure of what to think.

Was 'Order' the road to happiness for me? Was conforming all I could do? The image of a posing Melliacci smiling at a group of cheering classmates popped up in my head.

I cursed the thought of everything I'd done since the Turn Around being completely wasted, I didn't want that.

I fell to the ground as I stared into the vacant sky, not even clouds wanting to see me.

I frowned

- Who am I? -

…

Tsunamis conquering cliffs and lightning igniting a scary shock in the water, Tsukino Scott felt as if she stood on top of a cliff in the middle of chaos.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

With that came the fear of being killed and the courage of conquering all that was around her. She felt as if she could do everything at that moment, like she usually did. It wasn't often she needed assistance with anything, so her curiosity for things often subsided quickly.

But that didn't matter to her, since her curiosity often reignited as she stumbled upon something new and interesting.

That was how it was supposed to be, but she'd recently only been able to think of one interesting mystery.

That of Kaharu Kahari.

He'd been in her mind a lot during that period, making her irritated. If he had been one locked mystery, then it wouldn't matter.

But she'd already opened it and completed the first level, she'd seen something interesting that day at the park. An uncompleted mystery was unacceptable to Tsukino on a subconscious level, as it left a weird obsession inside her.

That was all about to change, that was why she stood on a cliff in the middle of the ocean, having conquered all that was around her. As she had seen Melliacci, the vice president himself, accompany Kaharu to his usual working spot, and then them laughing together, there was nothing for her to fear.

The reason she had been unable to approach before laid in Kaharu's off-putting aura, basically blocking her from even approaching him.

Even after his humanity had been shown to that black-haired kid, the aura came back. It almost felt stronger after that, so Tsukino stayed put.

But, she knew now that the aura was only a front. Or if it wasn't that, it could be conquered, as she'd done with everything else.

Seeing Kaharu Kahari lying still on the ground interested Tsukino once again. She wouldn't have expected something like that.

Kaharu wore an extremely serious frown as he was lying on the ground, eyes closed and with direct contact with the ground. He'd never been in that position with his uniform on.

Tsukino noticed the tough atmosphere again, now even more impenetrable than before. She wondered how a man could change moods that quickly, it stuck out as peculiar to her.

Although it did feel resonant to her in one sense. But the aura exerted didn't bother her at that point, it just blew past her to her sides.

Like a strong wind working against her, she managed to get closer.

With her conventionally attractive face pointed towards the ground, she stood just above the resting boy as she looked down.

Kaharu noticed something weird, not only was the sun blocked. He also saw the image of an angel displayed in his mind, gently looking down at him with the grace of something sacred. He thought

- An angel, in a Shinto shrine? -

But that wasn't his main concern. The gentle image of an angel disturbed him, as it partly reminded him of another girl from his past, but also as it seemed like some sort of symbolism that tried to convey something he didn't like.

Being a little too immersed in his thoughts, he reached his arms out to get rid of the angel. His arms in reality heeded his calling as he quickly lifted his arm.

With Tsukino's face poking down, his arm quickly made mild contact with her chest. No damage was made to Tsukino, but the shock made her quickly back away.

A sexually harassing zombie had just risen from the dead, in a surprising manner, and reached out to its first victim.

A streak of red ran through her face as she stared downward.

Kaharu only got more confused as he thought

-An actual angel!? With a pretty soft face... -

Tsukino had planned to run away, just for safety measures. But after being reminded of Melliacci's successes before, she tested her courage and said

"Uh, um, Kaharu, are -----"

Having peeked with a single eye, and discovered the unremarkable reality with an "oh...", Kaharu quickly blew her off and said

"Shut up, leave me alone."

The sentence stunned Tsukino, frozen into place like time had been rewound and an ice age was actual. Kaharu, with no real patience to his actions, just rolled over to a spot where the sun shone again.

He didn't want to deal with people at that moment, much less talk, with his bitter attitude taking the best of him. Although he was slightly embarrassed, without even knowing what he'd touched, he quickly threw those emotions into some landfill, never to see the light of day again.

Tsukino quickly reacted

-My dreams!

My hopes!

My self-confidence!

My dignity!

All gone, in a flash of a second! -

The cold rejection that left Tsukino frozen didn't feel abnormal to Kaharu, it was just a part of his everyday language. For that reason, he reacted to the fact that she stood completely still, and after hearing some stuttering from Tsukino

"I, uh, oh, um, ---"

Kaharu sighed heavily and with furrowed brows said

"What do you want?"

Tsukino felt as if a flash of light had flown through her heart. No matter how small, a space had opened up in Kaharu's heart, and the opportunity Tsukino had waited for came. For some strange reason, a smile was the reaction she got at that opening. She then said

"I was just wondering if you were okay. You're lying on the ground with a frown."

Kaharu got slightly disappointed at the line. After all of that, the thing that was said was just an empty dialogue of concern.

Like she even cared.

He scuffed slightly and said

"I'm fine, Tsekuno. I'm just going through one of those ---- middle-life crises."

Tsukino dropped her jaw

- It's 'Midlife crisis'! Also, why would you go through that now when you're just 16! Also also, that's not my name! Also also also, that's concerning -

Her rebutting aside, the line only intrigued her more. But that would be settled, she had gotten an opening at last. She figured that she'd better leave as Kaharu didn't seem to be in the best mood for interaction.

Kaharu's concerns for Tsukino's intentions weren't completely uncalled for, but he was taking an overtly negative stance to her initiation.

As Tsukino backed off with an "I see", Kaharu returned to his original stance and thought

- That's right, leave me alone. That's what I had expected.

If only…

If only I had powers. Powers that allowed me to retain acceptance, my ability to be myself and independence.-

As I reached my hand out into the air, I felt so powerless.

Despite having the strength to beat down my enemies, I always returned to this, didn't I?

To Uselessness.

A fire was ignited.

…

~Sunday, the thirteenth of October, 22:44~

Standing in the middle of a crowd, he felt confused.

Confidence had surged in him the past two days, but he still felt hollow at the core. His coping mechanism stood in getting stronger, and conquering his own power.

Developing his powers was what would lead to his goal being achieved, and the possibility of it was placed firmly in his hand as he smiled bitterly.

There was no way he could fail, his natural talent had been confirmed after all. Otherwise, he would have never gotten the powers in the first place, he was chosen for this.

He was without a doubt the chosen one, justifying his actions.

He snapped his fingers with an experimental spice to it.

A red-haired kid, with a red school uniform, stood in the middle of a crowd, he felt confused.