How does a person attain happiness? Someone once said that happiness is a state of mind. Another person similarly said that heaven on earth is a choice. Does that mean that finding happiness is as simple as changing one’s way of thinking, even if your lifestyle stays the same? Either way, perhaps such thoughts were better left away from the dinner table.

“Hey Haru, are you thinking about something stupid again?” Haru’s 12-year-old brother Junichi asked after swallowing a bite of the fried rice their mom made. Junichi was extremely well-behaved in front of strangers, but when it came to his family, he didn’t mince words. His scathing remark made Haru realize he’d been staring into space for the last 10 seconds without taking a bite.

“I don’t want to hear that from a kid brother that can’t eat a meal without his phone in front of him.” Haru decided to respond with equal harshness. He wasn’t wrong though, while Haru on occasion would use his phone while eating, Junichi would rarely do so. According to him, just eating and nothing else is a waste of time.

“Reading these message board posts is like my break from homework. They let me connect with people too. It’s much more useful than pondering the meaning of life or whatever.” Junichi retorted back. This was a usual exchange so there wasn’t any real hostility between them. With their dad working late and their mom mainly eating in the kitchen instead of the dining table, most mealtime conversation was usually between the two of them. Once finished, Haru would generally go for a short walk, then finish up whatever homework was left before helping himself to his games, and he didn’t want even the unusual events of today ruin his relaxing evening plans.

“By the way, mom’s taking me out to buy some craft stuff for a school project, so take a house key when you go for your walk. Should only be a couple of hours.” Junichi said as he took his plate to the sink. He seemed to have his own plans as well. Come to think of it, that project he mentioned wasn’t due for several weeks. Maybe he just wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Well, that’s a good work ethic at least.

“Mom, I’m heading out for a bit.” “Take a key with you.” “I know”

Along with the key, Haru also grabbed the bell he was given. It gave a gentle ring as he placed in in his front pocket. Somehow, he had a feeling it wouldn’t take look before he got annoyed with the thing, but for now it gave his walk a bit of extra novelty.

The park was only a 5-minute walk from his house and the walking path going around it was just under a mile long. Perfect for a short walk or sprint. Since it was summer, there was still quite a bit of sunlight, but once winter rolled around it’d already be dark by this time of evening. Looking at the pond in the center of the park, Haru thought about his plans for tomorrow and realized something important.

“Tomorrow’s my birthday. Nearly forgot about that.” Tomorrow would be the day he turned 17. For some reason, the shift from 16 made him feel like he’ll take a big step towards becoming an adult. But, does being an adult mean his standards of joy would change?

He pushed those pointless thoughts out of his mind and began a light sprint. Alongside the sound of his sneakers kicking off the asphalt, the bell also chimed rhythmically in his pocket. He passed by some kids and adults casually playing or loitering around the park, but no one else was currently using the path. As he reached the opposite end, Haru slowed to a walk and caught his breath. On one of the benches nearby sat a boy wearing the same kind of school uniform as Haru, but he looked a bit older, so he was probably a senior. Since he wasn’t anyone he knew, Haru decided to walk past without showing too much attention. The older boy had his hands pressed together as if praying and was staring at the lake with a glassy expression. He looked rather stressed out, so Haru silently hoped for his well-being and that the increasingly noisy sound of the bell in his pocket wouldn’t bother him.

“Hey. You go to the same school, right? I’ve seen you in the underclassman halls before.” To his surprise, the upperclassman boy started talking to him instead. “You do well on tests normally?”

Haru hesitated for a bit, then politely answered, “I do okay, I guess.”

“You think just doing okay is enough once you become a senior? Let me tell you. You either have to be at the top, or you don’t even matter. To the teachers, to your parents, it’s all or nothing. It’s all about performance and grades and colleges. You don’t even get to have fun anymore.”

“I…see.” Haru wasn’t sure how to respond. This senior clearly needed someone to vent to, and Haru just happened to be a suitable target. The best he could do was give some consolation, empty as it may be. “As long as you do the best you could, there’s no reason to feel ashamed. I’m sure you can get into a good college.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“A good college means even higher standards, more tests, and expectations to find a good job. The older you get, the higher the bar becomes. There’s no end to it.” The boy lamented. Something about this situation was off. And why was the bell ringing so much? Haru was standing still at this point. Then he saw it. A black, smoky substance seemed to emerge from the senior’s head, forming into a small cloud.

“Sorry to hear that, but I gotta go now.” Haru forcibly ended the conversation and took off along the path, but looking back, he saw a long, smoky tendril pursuing him faster than he could run. Letting out a shout of fear, he tripped over his feet and managed to fall onto the grass along the pass, avoiding scraped knees, but not the smoky creature. The tendril pressed down on his chest, and now Haru knew that it definitely had mass. Excruciatingly, abnormally so. Pinning him to the ground, it moved upward, starting to wrap around his neck. He tried to move, but his arms were stuck under his body and wouldn’t move. Plus, the ringing in his ears was deafening. Wait, no. That’s actually the bell. The thing still wouldn’t shut up. But a moment later, he heard a small cracking sound, and the next, he felt wind rushing away from him as the tendril let him go, or rather, dispersed. Unsure of what had happened but acting on instinct, Haru made a run for it while he had the chance. Stealing a glance backwards, he saw the senior staring at him, glass-eyed, and the black cloud reforming and moving towards him one again.

Then it happened again. Time around him stopped, including the birds, the movements of the people, everything except the cloud, himself, and the boy from earlier that day that had again seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Unbelievable. Forget 6 months, it hasn’t even been 6 hours. Are you like catnip to shades or something? What is your deal? Actually, I shouldn’t complain. This gives me more stuff to put on my report. Just stay still and act as bait for me.”

The older boy was wearing the same clothes as before and was brandishing the same sword as well. The smoke seemed to momentarily stop its pursuit, then charged straight at the boy.

“This one actually wants to fight. Just what I wanted.” The boy swung his sword at the smoke and seemed to cut through, but it reformed almost immediately and sent a tendril towards him from another direction. Shifting his feet, he avoided the strike and cut through that one as well. Haru noticed that the boy had to exert himself to cut through the smoke, there was a considerable amount of resistance there unlike regular smoke.

“Come on. Where are you?” The boy was practically egging the thing on. The loose bits of smoke cut from the tendrils moved quickly towards a thick section of smoke as if pulled by a vacuum. “There you are. But with that density, it’s time for another one of these.”

The boy pulled something small out of his pocket and lobbed it at the smoky mass. Haru nearly missed it but barely noticed that it was a wooden bell. As it contacted the smoke, a crack was heard, and a large hole was blown in the smoke as it dispersed in every direction.

“Eat it!” The boy shouted as he immediately leaped forward and thrust his blade into the hold the small explosion made. A second later, the smoke emitted a hissing sound and completely dispersed, vanishing into the summer sky.

Haru was unable to tear his eyes away from the ordeal. It was like something out of a comic book, or some superpowered young adult novel, and yet, here it was happening right before his eyes. The older boy approached Haru once again, not with an expression of anger, but rather of amusement.

“I might as well restore space first.” The boy said as he sheathed his sword. As he did, the entire weapon, sheath, strap, and sword, vanished and the surroundings began to move again.

“Looks like there’s no choice but to have you involved now. I know this is sudden, but you mind if I visit your place for a bit? There’re some things I should explain”

“Uh…sure. The house is empty right now, so it’ll be just us.” Haru found himself answering in the affirmative without thinking. He was still reeling from the shock, but more than that, his curiosity was killing him. Just what kind of world did this guy live in? If he didn’t get the answer to that soon, it would bother him the rest of his life, he was sure of it.

“Excellent. Let me just check on Mr. schoolboy here real quick and make sure he’s okay.” He turned around and walked over to the senior, who was still sitting on the park bench. Strangely enough, he seemed a lot more animated than when he spoke with Haru. After a short exchange, the two approached Haru together.

“I don’t know if it was your encouragement, but my head feels a lot clearer now.” The senior said, his voice having lost the gloomy tone from before. “There’s no point in stressing out over the results, I just need to do everything I can so I won’t have regrets no matter what the outcome is. Thanks for hearing me out. And thank you as well.” He gave a slight bow to the two of them before setting off towards the residential district.

“That takes care of that. Lead the way then.” As soon as the senior was out of earshot, the boy turned his attention back to Haru.

“Hey, uh…you think you could tell me your name right now at least?” Haru asked tentatively.

“My name…” The boy pondered for a moment. “Yeah. Self-introductions are important and all that. Why don’t you start then?”

He was definitely the kind of person that liked to lead a conversation but disputing the point wouldn’t lead anywhere.

“I’m Haru, seventeen starting tomorrow.” The age part wasn’t necessary, but Haru felt like saying it anyway.

“And my name’s Tsuki. My age isn’t important. Nice to meet you Haru.”