image [https://i.imgur.com/V2vDBRY.png]image [https://i.imgur.com/ZU0OhRQ.png]

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I sat alone under the tree, watching the other kids play around in the field. Every once in a while the sun brightened over the clouds, and sometimes the clouds caused it to wane in impatience. The school buildings surrounded the rest of the open area, while the other side had fences overlooking the nearby street. A breeze ran through my braided hair as I crouched down, looking from afar. Here on my side, a lone tree comforted me as the grass barely grew along the fence. In the right corner, the fence had a hole which some delinquents accidentally blew open using their skills.

My patch on my Aquitani-style uniform shone brightly as the insignia of the Royal Archery Academy, a place mom told me I had to go because it was necessary. ‘High dexterity of the bow and arrow’, she called it. But I didn’t like it here. Because there were other people.

Cheers and laughter of the children echoed while they chased each other around like idiots. That one idiot, Taqumi, especially. “Let’s play Demons & Angels!”

“That one game from Aquitaine? Why don’t we play Qendamacup-and-ball?”

“Not that one. The rules are simple!”

Mom told me about how she gave birth to me. That was why I didn’t want to play with them. That was why dad didn’t exist. I simply hated school. So I hugged my knees to my chest and loathed the children without a word. They didn’t want to play with me anyway. Even if I did want to, they would end up hating me. I didn’t want that. Mom would yell at me.

“Hmph.”

The next day the class spent our time in the gymnasium. People from the Imperial Court came to examine us, saying that if we didn’t want to do archery anymore they would take us home. Rows of children lined up as the space was long enough for a wide set of targets. I neared the shooting line, holding one of the bows they provided.

I didn’t understand why it made us special. We could shoot bows from a young age, why did that matter? Boys and girls alike made it to this school for that reason, yet I witnessed some cry and others terrified. I didn’t get it.

The Imperial Court representatives complimented me as if I was special, but I couldn’t believe that. Like mom said, they might take me if I talk too much. All I could do was nod my head silently. Soon enough after a couple of times, not one of them dared to approach me any more.

In the classroom, I did what I was told to do. I did because I knew what awaited me when I returned home, and wished to avoid it as much as possible. But I couldn’t figure out how. No matter what I learned, it didn’t matter in the end. I would always be alone. I thought nobody would ever talk to someone that had isolated themselves from the world. With an ink brush in hand, I struggled to write what it was I wanted in words.

Again I found myself sitting under the lonely tree. Mister Tree stood here for as long as I’d been at the Royal Archery Academy, but its bark darkened with each passing week. I wonder if it was going to be okay. Every once in a while I brought water from the well, but that didn’t seem to help much. I placed a hand over its bark and closed my eyes, praying for it. Even though everyone stopped believing in Chibu the Pacification—I remembered the sutra just in case.

The sound of running children caused me to flinch. I looked back at them playing Demons & Angels. It was a similar game to Onigokkogame of tag, but the kids thought the Aquitani version sounded cooler. Aquitaine was a world away from Waqwaq. Even our uniforms were different from the robes the Imperial Scholars would wear.

Rustling came from the side of the fence. I stumbled backwards and tripped over Mister Tree's roots. I forgot that my scratches still remained on my face from last night, so maybe I didn't see that well. As I looked to where the sound came, a boy hopped from the hole in the fence. His hair was silver, his cheap vest rugged of dirt and sand. He was a bit taller than me.

The boy noticed me and came walking. My mind raced. Was he going to attack me? I covered my face with my hands. Was a repeat of mom's story going to happen?

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice neither mad nor bore any bad guy feeling.

"G… Go away."

He backed off, seeing the other schoolchildren at a distance. "Alright. What is this place then?"

"The Royal Archery Academy."

"An academy for archers? Sounds fun. I'm from the cram school across the street. Guess what, I'm staying here in Han'ei for a few months." He sat down with plenty of space between us, watching the kids play too. "You aren't going to play with them?"

"I... d… don't know."

"Well, what's your name then?"

My words became stuck in my throat. I questioned whether I really should be talking to this boy. But he was the one that talked to me first. "Qawasumi Ruri."

"Qawasumi Ruri... Nice to meet you, Miss Qawasumi. I'm Totshigui Sorah. How long you've been here?"

I held my fingers out, and Totshigui counted out loud.

"Two years, huh?"

"Mhm." I rested my head on my knees.

"Why don't you join in with them?"

I didn't know what to say. Totshigui stared at me, waiting for a reply.

"I... don't like them. So I won't talk to them, and they won't talk to me." My mind blurted out my thoughts word per word, while I buried my face into my legs. The boy's eyes widened. For a moment, all I felt was the breeze urging me to keep going.

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"That's..."

"I learned from my mom that, if I talked to them, they would attack me. That I have to keep to myself and not cause trouble."

Totshigui scratched his chin, thinking. "That's not a good way to live. Your mother must have meant for something else."

"But if your elders say it, it would be true. Elders always say the truth. They know more than us."

From there we continued to argue about topics that meant nothing. Topics we knew nothing about. Waqwaq and beyond, the Imperial Court, Demons & Angels and Qendama, I thought that this kid sought to disprove everything that I knew. But he softly laughed at my so-called opinions and thoughts, and continued to ask me more.

Eventually he left with a determined face after seeing the sun reach noon, and I soon returned to silence. But that was the start.

He came back the following days ahead, sneaking out every lunch break. For the Royal Archery Academy, it was recess. Whenever Totshigui Sorah visited, he never sat too close or too far to me, but just enough that he was in the shade of Mister Tree.

¨Languages are useless,¨ I complained to him one day, remembering what I learned in class. ¨Why learn another when we can speak Wawaqi?”

He played with the dirt and formed it into a mound. “Ah… It may seem that way, Miss Qawasumi.”

“You got something to say?”

“Languages are important in this world. It connects us and bridges people together like family.” He refuted my previous statement with a solemn answer. “Plus, it improves your Lingual Cognizance. Your school had a field trip to the Guild to increase your Level Cap, right?”

I looked down reluctantly and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then you should be able to learn new skills the more languages you learn. See? Zuhyo.”

I witnessed his array of stats as he summoned his chart. I’d seen the adults summon their chart, but never seen someone my age do it. I wanted to peek at what it read, but I couldn’t bring myself to scoot closer to him. Going near someone, let alone a boy? No way.

The reason he wasn't coming close to me was because he was letting me decide.

Those few days turned into weeks. Then he crouched again through the hole in the fence, and spotted me staring off at the children playing once more. I didn't even notice that he sauntered over and yelled from afar. "Miss Qawasumi!"

"Huh?"

"Wanna try playing Demons & Angels?" He jumped up and down with his clothes flapping enthusiastically. I couldn't believe it.

"I… Is that a trick? But we only have two people?"

"Not at all. We can start with just the two of us."

For the first time in a long while, my legs were able to move. I was surprised at how I wasn't trembling. He gestured for me to stand. "Do you even know how to play?"

"No idea, but I think I can guess. If it's Onigokkogame of tag then it should be easy."

I stood up to him for the first time, while we had our own little spot in the field. It was less green and lush than where the other kids were, but it was better having a corner to ourselves. I gulped, knowing that we had to tag each other in the game. For a while we tried to make up some rules, coming to the conclusion that the demons chased the angels. If the angels were tagged, then the demon and angel would switch sides. I sighed, as with two people it simply became two weirdos chasing each other.

"You'll be the demon first!" Totshigui Sorah pointed at me. I flinched at his beckoning gesture. He left himself wide open. I didn't know whether I should actually chase him or not.

"O… Okay."

And so the game began. My heart pounded in my chest as I moved towards him. He didn't move. I'd never gotten this close before. Eventually I was in range and extended my hand. He stepped backward.

"Eh?" I tried reaching for him again and he moved out the way. I bit my lip and kept going, getting faster and faster. Eventually my arm reached him and he staggered back. He laughed and ran, and I chased him around the corner of the school. My reluctant walk turned into a run, feeling the fresh air. My hair flew with the wind. My cheeks flushed from the effort.

It took some time before I finally cornered him and touched him on the chest. By that time, I panted and wiped the sweat off my face. Totshigui leaned against the outer wall of the gymnasium and took a deep breath.

"You got me."

"Now you're the demon!" I pointed back at him as I walked backward. I tripped over a sudden dip in the ground and fell over.

"Miss Qawasumi?"

I pushed myself up and ignored the pain on my rear. Totshigui Sorah appeared to my side and grabbed my hand. My legs turned into liquid and I fell over again.

"Are you alright?" He asked again before he stopped. His gaze fixed onto my arm, which was blackened. "What's this?..."

"It's okay. I got these bruises when I fell over just now."

"Tell me. Where did you get them?"

I stared at the ground. He saw through my lie. I had them for a while now. She'd hit me last night. "My tutor..."

"Tutor?... Why would they?" His voice suddenly rose as I backed farther away from him.

"Because..." I paused. Nobody ever asked me before. "I didn't listen to her."

"Did they hurt you anywhere else?..."

I kept my head down. I nodded slowly.

"..." His fists trembled without saying anything. His usual deadpan face formed into a frustrated frown before lifting his head. "Miss Qawasumi. If there's anything I can do—"

"Why?" I interrupted his burst of anger, holding my hands close to my chest. "Why do you keep talking to me?"

He was taken aback by my question, but he gave it thought. " I don't have a lot of friends. So I decided to become yours."

My lips trembled. "Is it because you want something out of me?..."

"Why would I?"

A couple days later, my tutor stopped visiting the house. I never knew what happened to her. She probably found work elsewhere. Months passed. I was sitting under the shade of Mister Tree, and heard the rustling sound of the fence. My gaze snapped over to see Totshigui Sorah climb over the fence with a stern look on his face.

He told me that he was leaving the city.

"Leaving?" I repeated, standing up.

"My studies in the capital are over. I'm returning back to my hometown, Itogutshi."

"But... why?"

"It was temporary after all." He scratched his cheek. The clouds covered the sun as the open area became darker. "So I came to say goodbye, Miss Qawasumi."

"Wait!"

"What is it?"

"Can... I come too?"

I don't know why I asked him that. I was the one that didn't want to get close to him in the first place. We'd only just talked to each other for less than a semester, yet he was leaving. That meant our interactions here would stop. I would sit in silence again. Totshigui Sorah closed his eyes.

"You can't. You're in the Royal Archery Academy right? I bet your mother would want you to stay here."

My mouth couldn't say it. Refute his comment. That I didn't want to be here. "Why are you leaving?"

"My family's poor. So I'm going to bring my family to La Plage. I'm going to get super smart, and earn a lot of money. That has always been my goal." He faced his back to me, his shoulders quivering. Then he turned around. "I'm glad I got to know you. Surely we will meet again some day."

What I saw then, was a smile that cleared the clouds for the sun. An expression I never forgot since that day, an expression I didn't want to lose. I took a step towards him. Another. Until I was within arm's length. I wanted to run away from here, this city, this life. From my mom, from this school. Whether it be the mandatory participation in the Royal Archery Tournament by the Imperial Court or the constant loneliness I imposed on myself, my heart yearned for something more.

Years later, I would slip out of the city without warning, searching for that genuine smile once more.