I laid on the ground, contemplating the battle that had just passed.

I caught a glimpse of the victor, slowly making his way to the supporters he had cheering for him. The golden glaze casting its shiny rays on his back really made it look like the champion was retreating.

A hero that returned to his clique of supporters, as the villain was left on the floor in defeat.

Was Kosuto in the right? Or was I in the right?

I obviously wanted to say that I was, but no one was in reality in the right.

We were both fighting with the same motivation and for the same goal, only luck and nuance separated the two of us.

The one who won was the hero and the one who lost was the villain, that's how simple it was.

But that didn't ease the pain, the slow and searing sting of defeat, the returning feeling of wanting revenge.

Retribution, a chance of proving yourself worthy in the activity you staked yourself in.

As annoyed as I was, I realized that constantly thinking about that wouldn't solve anything, so I just rolled to my back as I stared into the sky.

An image of the shrine popped into my head, I thought

- School probably just ended, I'm going to be late.

It doesn't matter, does it? As long as I do my shift… -

As much as I didn't want to think about it, the thought of powerlessness came back to me.

I once again reached my hand out to the sky, to try and grasp it. The vast sky under my own control, it was an enticing thought.

To have power over something that large, it would be different from what I was used to.

But I'd lost to a rival delinquent, someone I had won over several times before, the sky wasn't within my grasp. Not even my own potential was.

- Curse it all...! -

To avoid a number of problems to surface all at once, I quickly tried to stand up.

I'd been hurt, but I managed to get myself on my feet. After tripping a few times, I got used to walking again and started doing so towards the box.

I was like a young child, who'd recently learned to walk for the first time. The job was done though, as I ascended the stairs.

An hour, maybe two had passed and school was without a doubt over. I doubted if even teachers were there, but that wouldn't have been a problem since many of them mysteriously were absent.

I hadn't thought about it, but it was strange that so many were absent so quickly. Not even substitutes were able to be called in, like the absences had happened out of nowhere.

But I was in a bad mood, and not in a mood to be thinking about mysteries, so I dropped the subject as I proceeded through the hallway. I suddenly heard some quick footsteps, mixed with water.

I became paranoid in an instant, thinking

- Someone's here! Is it that student who reported me the first time? If it is… I'll beat him up too! -

I neared a corner, where to the left was a small area that led to the restrooms.

I sneaked up, in a quiet manner.

It was like I only saw darkness from the corner to the space it inhabited, like my field of vision had been limited and only mystery laid ahead. There was an anxious feeling I had as I approached.

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It wasn't like it was actually dark there, it was well-lit thanks to the sun but I was unable to see what was ahead.

The sight I saw beyond the corner stunned me to my bones. Something unexpected had entered my sight.

I looked at my chest to see the pieces of my heart fall to the floor as I had heard it break.

Those heart-pieces weren't picked up by me nor Naomi Shirazawa, who stood only a couple of meters in front of me.

Naomi Shirazawa, the smartest girl in class, was standing by the restroom door, sobbing to herself.

I stood completely still with a neutral face as heard

"Why are you crying? It's just like it always is..."

Tears were dropping, soft sobbing was heard and quiet gazes were pointing down as I observed the tragic sight. I looked at it and paused my neutral face. As I thought back on the day, I thought

- The smartest girl in class is crying right in front of me. Could it be because of me? No way, this doesn't concern me. It isn't my problem, so why should I care? -

…

~Monday, the fourteenth of October, 16:43~

As carelessly as he'd entered the seen, he quietly escaped the scene, sneaking past the place and out of the door.

Immediately as he walked outside, he felt something was wrong.

A sudden strike to his consciousness, that made him dizzy for a second. But he persevered with his own mental strange, as he slowly started walking.

The dizziness was probably just from all of the hits he'd taken.

That must've been it, Kaharu was sure. He couldn't help but feel that as he walked down the path he took that first day of going to the shrine that his walking got more and more unsynchronized as he proceeded down the road.

He could've sworn that an earthquake was happening, as the vision around him distorted and tilted.

He was the reason Naomi Shirazawa was crying by the restroom

-No, it wasn't! It could've been a bunch of other reasons, who says I did it. -

Kaharu knew that the reason Naomi Shirazawa was crying by the restroom was that he'd left her completely alone during lunch.

- No way! Shut up, It did cross my mind that she perhaps was lonely, but that was only a thought, nothing else! I saw her face as I left the classroom, but I didn't do anything wrong, I was the one being bothered -

Kaharu Kahari knew that the reason Naomi Shirazawa was completely alone, crying by the restroom was that he'd been ignorant to both his and her thoughts, inflicting unnecessary pain.

- Shut up, shut up, shut up! Be quiet! I didn't do anything wrong, I just did what I always do, there's nothing different this time. I don't get why people always bother me! Why can't they leave me alone! Why do I have to shoulder all of this!? Why can't I be left to myself, without anything to worry about!? Why do these thoughts have to pester my mind!? I just want to live my way! -

Kaharu Kahari, who'd recently engaged in a long, unnecessary fight over pride, was too scared to take responsibility for his actions, only blaming the people around him for his own lack of compassion.

- …! -

He had nothing more to add, or too much. His head was spinning fully now, filled with too many thoughts to account at once.

It kept spinning, in circles, and another layer of thoughts were added as he thought about his battle with Kosuto, and the heroism and villainy that accompanied it.

He couldn't take it.

…

I grabbed my head as the world continued to swirl and swirl, there was no end to it.

It was without a doubt the toughest moment I'd experienced in my life, as I had a hard time grasping reality.

There was no distinction between the two, reality and fiction had melted into one thing: My state of mind.

I went around kicking and punching anything that came into sight, whilst screaming at the same time. The culmination of my pain so far had come, as the boiling point of several days of frustration.

A mental breakdown was in the process.

I put myself to the ground as I continued to grab my head as hard as I could and squealed in pain.

I wasn't in tears, but the growling burn of potential tears was felt in my throat as I was reminded of That day.

With the added layer of memories, I reached the peak of my breakdown.

Pains shooting up and down my body as quick as lightning, Thoughts shuffling around in my mind as quickly as they could without reaching conclusions, and a warped reality rendering me unable to even see properly.

"I made a woman cry..."

It was at that moment that I faded into unconsciousness, losing the little control I had over my body.

Laying completely still, I was asleep, but my body started moving.

It was quickly propped up, and stood in a ready position.

All the layers of pride, pain and hesitance removed, my pure instincts were put in the forefront.

With an emotionless face, my body started running. Running with all it had, using all energy it could.

I zoomed by as bystanders stared in disbelief.

Despite not having any control at all over my actions, my body was heading towards the place that I, at my soul, wanted to go to.

To a place where I could perhaps find any sort of answer, and maybe put my mind to rest.

It wasn't like my instincts themselves were fueled by good morals, they simply wanted to end the suffering, to end the overdrive my brain went into.

A strange survival-mechanism that was put into effect as I tried to increase my speed.

With that, I headed to the place where either peace or chaos laid.

Either way, I had no other choice but to go there.

…