This all started when I was in middle school... Let's go back to that time, back to the early Summer of 2014. I was in the 8th grade, and it was a year I would remember forever...

The dismissal bell rang, and it was time to go home. Then suddenly, I heard something. I heard some people fighting. When I got close enough, I could tell it was no fight. It was one person completely dominating another. “Give me my money back!” A small girl, maybe in 7th grade, said this, as a girl my age held her just out of reach while she laughed at her.

Oh. It's Karen... Things never change... She's nothing but a fucking bully, this bitch... I hate her. All she does is pick on people that are weaker than her... it makes me sick...

“Karen, stop it!” I stepped up closer to her, and pushed the younger girl away. She looked at me, surprised. I had fought Karen numerous times for picking on people like this. I was the kind of person who did this, who would fight a bully like her and make her stop what she's doing, but this keeps happening...

“Go away, Prince.” I don't say anything in return. “What's the matter?” She said, as she made that disgusting smirk she always did.

I facepalmed... “Look, if I see you picking on anyone again, I'm gonna kick your ass.”

“You don't want to kick my ass.”

“What?”

“You'd rather grab it with your hands, huh, Prince?”

Here she goes...

“You'd want to touch my ass, wouldn't you?”

“Oh, fuck you.”

“I know you want to, Prince...”

“Stop throwing insults like a child! When I send you to the hospital you won't be saying anything!” I heard gasping and saw most of the crowd starting to back away because they could tell there would be a fight. “Now, get lost. I'm tired of looking at your face.” I started to walk away, being stupid enough to think Karen would actually listen to me... I could hear her footsteps coming after me...

I whirled around, left arm outstretched, and backhanded her with a loud SMACK. Karen fell. However, I wasn't done with her... I pulled Karen from the ground with my right hand, and started pummeling her with my other. It probably would have been enough to just knock her over, but she really pissed me off, and I wanted to hurt her that badly...

What is this feeling?

She fell to the ground, but then I picked her up by the collar of her uniform and kept punching her, giving her more pain and enjoying giving it to her... I punched, punched, and kept punching... as tears started to well up in her eyes and she started to bleed... I just continued to feel better and better about everything. I kept hitting her and she could do nothing... My fists were starting to hurt, the skin on my knuckles had torn open, but I didn't care. I'd keep hitting her forever as long as I could enjoy it this much...

“Trace, stop!” I heard a girl's voice, but quickly brushed it off. “STOP IT!” I am pushed off of Karen, and now I saw someone else standing here. I recognized this girl... Her name was Emerald Crux. “Karen, come on, let's go home.” They walked away, and most of the crowd was gone, too. The girl who was being picked on was still there...

“Are you okay?”

“I... I'm fine.”

I kind of felt a little embarrassed... “Sorry about all that. I usually get here before that happens.”

I faked a smile. At least she seemed to believe it.

She smiled back, and said: “I don't want to make trouble for you. I should be the one apologizing.”

“It's not your fault,” I said, as I tried to keep calm. “You did nothing wrong. You have a right to walk around here and what Karen just did... it's sad, and the adults don't do shit about it.”

Silence.

“I'm gonna walk home, now, okay?” She left, and so did I.

I missed the school bus, so I had to take a public bus home. I got off the first bus in a neighborhood, surrounded by the sounds of small children, barking dogs, other noises like that. There was also a small house on a hill, closer to the woods than any of the other houses here. I waited for my bus, and then I saw a girl around my age walking in this direction...

She really was a normal looking girl. She had brown, shoulder length hair and blue eyes... She wore a black uniform, as opposed to my school's brown, and she seemed a bit bigger than me. Not really taller, or fatter, just... “bigger”, y'know? She stood there, staring at me, once she got close enough...

“...is something the matter?”

That's a weird way to start a conversation... “Well, I don't really like waiting for the bus--”

“No, I mean something else.” She looked at my hands, which I tried to stuff into my pockets. “Your hands... did you get into a fight?”

Ah geez...

“Here, let me see your hands.” I tried to pull away from her but she was stronger than I expected, so I just let her see. “This is pretty bad... I can fix it, though. Want to see something?” Suddenly, she started mumbling something, and her hands started to glow! She touched my hands, and the pain was gone.

“What did you just do?!”

She smiled and winked. “It's a secret.”

I looked at my hands, and they were healed. I didn't see anything wrong with them. “Amazing... Thanks.”

She didn't say anything for a second, just sort of sat on the bench next to me, still touching my hands. “You're so warm...”

“Huh?”

Awkward silence...

“Oh, I'm sorry, I said something weird, didn't I?”

I laughed it off, and said, “Ah, it's alright.” She smiled back at me and we just sort of sat there for a second.

“Are you waiting for a bus, too?” I said, addressing the girl once again.

“No. I just thought it would be okay if I sat here with you.”

"..."

“Is it a problem?”

I shook my head. “It's fine with me.” We sat there, not really saying much to each other. “Just make sure you get home soon, okay?” She looked up at me, confused. “Do you watch the news? You know they've been talking about this killer who comes out at night, right?” She made... a face... I was unsure if it was shock, worry, or something else. “They found that the corpses were drained of blood... whoever it is doing this, they seem to have started around here.”

She seemed a little nervous. “It's okay, I'll head home before it gets dark. I'll just see you off.” After a few minutes, my next bus showed up. “Goodbye.” She waved and started to leave.

...I wondered if I would ever see her again. It didn't matter all that much though. I just rode home.

After I arrived home, no one was there.

My parents must be at work, as they usually are... No homework to do, I don't think, so I'll open up Outsider and read for a while. Whatever they wanted me to eat for dinner should be in the fridge, so I'll heat it up whenever I get hungry.

Hours later, I found myself watching the news.

The killer strikes again... it's crazy how this person hasn't been caught yet. It's like the police don't give a damn how many people get butchered like this... I wonder if they're even looking for this person at all. I can't stop thinking about these murders... Why are they doing this? All these victims seem random, and there's no way of telling if there's a connection to the killer... The police don't care, the killer won't ever be caught—Wait. Now that I think about it, when was the last time anyone was caught for anything? Even I could get away with a murder if I wanted to...

...I wonder, could I really? Wait, no! I shouldn't even think about things like that. I'm getting hungry. Maybe I should just eat dinner now. Help me take my mind off these things. It's 20:00. Guess they won't be home until morning... Why do mom and dad work so much? Would they even know if something bad had happened to me or if I had done something bad with how often they're away from home? Ah, whatever. I'll read for a few more hours and go to bed.

The next morning. I woke up, got dressed, but I didn't leave for the bus stop. Not yet. I went through Dad's drawers, found a pocket knife, stuffed it in my pocket, and left.

...I'm such an idiot. What am I thinking? Do I really hate Karen that much? I know it's wrong, but I can't stop entertaining the thought... As I rode the school bus, I tried to keep calm, and not let anyone see what I would try to do...

“Trace? Something wrong?” It was Emerald. She was sitting across from me, and could see something was up with me.

“I'm alright. I just feel a little sick...” What a crappy lie... I just hope she buys it.

Most of that school day passed without incident. Although, at lunchtime, I did go speak to Karen, who was sitting with Emerald.

“What do you want, Prince?”

“I just... wanted to say sorry for what went down yesterday, you know?” I said, trying to seem as friendly as possible. “See, I don't really like fighting, so I was hoping we could get along a bit better.”

“Don't fuck with me, Prince,” Karen said. “Do you think I'm really going to fall for that bullshit after--”

“Look, I just want us to talk things out. We're not going to be kids forever, so we ought to stop acting like them, eh?” Damn, I know I'm losing her with that... “I'm gonna make it up you. I can treat you to dinner if you want. You'd like that, right?”

I had a decent idea of what she would say next.

“Psh... of all the girls in the school, you come after me... You fucking dykes must be even weirder than I thought.” Trying to hide my discomfort from her using that word to describe me, I just went on listening. “Fine, I'll humor you. We can go out. Maybe we could even have a romantic walk in the park afterwords, huh?” Karen laughed at me, then stood up. “I'll meet you Downtown later tonight. See ya.” She walked away.

After a moment, I noticed that Emerald was still sitting there. She had been watching the entire time. That must have been weird to watch...

“...what in the world was that all about?” She eventually asked me. I couldn't blame her.

“Weren't you listening? I felt sorry for Karen, so I'm making it up to her. Simple, eh?”

“You hate Karen, though...” That much was true.

“I know, I know, but... sometimes, you've just got to try and bury the hatchet, y'know?”

“Yeah, I understand,” she said, seemingly still not buying it, “but why are you taking her out on a date? I thought you said you weren't--”

“I'm really not,” I said, trying to spend too long talking about this. “I'm just not interested in boys, but I don't like girls that way, either. Karen never listened when I tried to explain that to her, though...”

“Trace, has puberty even started for you, yet?” As she said this, I could see her eyes were fixed right on my chest. My flat, undeveloped chest... “After all, you still...”

“Oh, shut up!” I said, standing up to leave. “This stays between us, you hear? I don't need people spreading weird rumors about me.”

“Your secret's safe with me.”

I left.

The rest of the school day went by normally. When we were dismissed, I thought to walk to where the buses were going to stop, but...

"...?"

I smelled something awful... I had no idea what it was, at the time, but I noticed other people were complaining of the stink, as well, so it wasn't just me.

For some reason, curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself going closer to the source of it. I walked forward, approaching a bush that was near the wall of the school... I decide to look behind it, and when I saw what was back there, I immediately wished I hadn't.

So that's what a dead body looks like...

When the police arrived, they said that person must have been dead since last night. It seemed to be another one of the “vampire murders”, they told me. After asking a few questions, they let me go.

While I was in the school with the police, the rest of the buses took everyone else home.

Such misfortune... So, I was paying for another public bus ride, then.

Blah, blah, blah, I rode the bus, got off in that same neighborhood, all that good stuff. The important part is that I saw that girl, again, and she spoke to me.

“...is something the matter?”

“You must be able to read my mind,” I said, trying to be casual. “Last night, the killer struck again. Someone had died right outside the school. It wasn't until this afternoon that the body was found.”

“Ah, that's dreadful...” She said, remaining calm.

“Yeah... I... I saw the body.”

“Oh, how horrible... I feel awful for you.” It seemed she was actually really sad to hear that.

After a minute of silence, she reached out and touched my face.

“You look sick...”

I was so surprised at her touch, I couldn't speak. It was then that I noticed how cold her hands were...

“...are you hungry? You look like you haven't eaten...” I just shook my head. I skipped breakfast that day. Lunch, too. Understanding that I hadn't eaten at all, she smiled at me and took my hand. “How about... I share some food with you?”

“Wh--”

“It's okay, I live in that house right there, near the woods.” She pointed to the small house on the hill I saw yesterday.

“You sure you wanna let a stranger like me into your house? I dunno...”

“Oh, come on, I won't bite you...” She just pulled me along to her house.

What a strange girl...

When we got there, she made two bowls of soup. I just stared at it... “...Is it okay?” I had to hide the fact that I was feeling paranoid...

She isn't trying to poison me or anything is she...? “Hmm... Hey, can I switch bowls with you?”

“Huh?”

“Y'know, it's just that, uh... yours looks better for some reason.”

She looked at both bowls. “I... think it's your imagination, but if you insist...”

She switched, and I assumed it was okay. I took a spoonful into my mouth... “Hey, this isn't bad. Where'd you learned how to cook?”

“Um... The Cooking Academy of Trial and Error?”

“What?”

“Yeah, I taught myself how to cook. It wasn't easy though... I taught myself pretty much everything...”

“What do you mean? You didn't have anyone teach you anything? What about your--” I stopped. In this house, I saw no sign of anyone else living here. No parents, no siblings, nobody. “Never mind...”

“Don't worry about it. Yes, I live alone.” A bittersweet smile... “It's not bad... I just get a little lonely sometimes...”

“Well... I, uh...” Oh boy, this is getting awkward...

“Hey, what's your name?”

“Wha?”

“I never got your name, bus stop stranger girl.”

Oh... Is it okay? I think so... “My name is Trace Prince. Nice to meet you, friendly stranger.”

She took my hand. “Cleo Arkald. The pleasure is mine.”

For what felt like quite a while, we just sat there, smiling... “So, Trace.”

“Yeah?”

“How about you... come visit again sometime? I'd be happy to have you here.”

I nodded. “Sure. Whenever I can.” She just smiled. “Ah, I'm gonna miss my bus. I gotta go. See you tomorrow, Cleo.” I waved good bye and left.

“See you.”

Time passed, and I began thinking about my “date” with Karen. At about 18:00, I took a bus Downtown, and met Karen there, like we agreed. I let her have a choice of where we were going to eat at, which was probably a bad idea, since she chose Ambrosia, which is probably the fanciest restaurant you can find around here.

So we ate, and we talked. It was strange. There was no bullying, no insults, none of that. She just ate, occasionally speaking with me normally, about stuff like school and TV. As the night went on, she even started to ask about my hobbies and stuff, like she was really interested in me. It was strange...

And yes, we even did the “romantic walk in the park” after we were done. We were alone, as the park was pretty much empty at the time. Even still, Karen didn't try to mess with me. She just walked alongside me, speaking to me, listening to me.

“So Trace, I gotta know,” she started. I think that was the first time she didn't just call me  'Prince', now that I'm looking back.

“Hm?”

“Just... are you actually... y'know...”

“Oh... that.” I rolled my eyes.

“No, no! I'm not... listen, okay?” She tried to calm me down.

“Don't worry about it.”

“Huh?”

“It's not really important,” I said. “All that matters is... we had fun tonight... right?”

Karen laughed at that. Maybe it was too much... “Ha, well, I just want you to know I don't swing that way, girl, sorry. Still, though, you can be alright, y'know? Whoever you end up with is gonna be real happy, I'll bet... you know what, Trace? You're right, let's put that childish shit behind us. We're gonna be adults, soon,” she said, reminding me of my own words from earlier. “We can be cool from now on. Come on, give us a hug!”

“...Karen, thank you for that, really, thank you,” I started walking into her embrace, “but...”

“Hm?”

...but I've already made my decision.

I quickly took out the pocket knife and jabbed it into Karen's gut. I looked into her eyes as I did it... She was shocked. She was surprised. More than anything else, though, she was hurt. Obvious pain from being stabbed aside, she seemed to have been hurt by the fact that I would do such a thing. Me, who she was finally saying she'd learned to accept... In that one moment, part of me would have given everything in the world to take it back...

...so why didn't I stop...?

Did you really think being nice to me for one night would have undone it all!?

Not feeling content with just one, I pulled the knife from her flesh, and jammed it in again.

You've had this coming for a long time, bitch!

I stabbed her again.

This is what you deserve for fucking with me,

another stab,

and everyone else!

Stab.

Die, bitch!

Stab.

Go to Hell!

Stab.

Don't ever let me see your face again!!!

I rammed the knife in one last time, then watched as she toppled backwards. She was just... lying there, despite being so full of life mere moments ago... Her life was gone... I took it from her. Karen was dead.

...she's dead... It took until that moment to truly realize it. Realize what I had done... She's dead, and I killed her... I... I killed someone... I killed someone... I'm a murderer...

Suddenly, I felt extremely sick... I felt something traveling up to my throat... the bitter taste hit my tongue, and it came spilling out of my mouth...

Just then, I felt eyes on me. I looked in the direction where I thought someone's gaze was coming from, thought I saw someone's blue eyes for a moment in the darkness, but...

It must have been my imagination.

I thought to myself that I couldn't just sit there forever. I had to do away with the body, get away from the scene, and make myself not look suspicious. I was covered in Karen's blood... I would probably have to get rid of this outfit, too. At least me running around in my underwear would be easier to explain and justify than that...

So went down to the river near the park to do just that.

“Fancy meeting you here, Trace.” I looked up, slightly panicked. Who would it be other than Cleo Arkald... smiling down at me, while I knelt near the river.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Well, I, uh, I just came back from a... pretty crazy party, that's all.” I felt bad, lying to her... Cleo was my friend, and the fact that I wasn't being honest with her hurt pretty badly, but I had to...

“Trace, you do know it's not proper to walk around town dressed like that, right?”

“Well--”

“Trace, you do know there's a killer running around, right...?” Cleo asked this, still smiling...  

"..."

“Come now, Trace... it's mistakes like this that make people too dumb to live.” For some reason, this kind of made me smile... then the sadness I felt from lying returned...

“Cleo...”

“Hm?” She seemed to be so energetic, and in such a good mood tonight... even more than normal.

“You're my friend, right?”

“Of course!” She said this, still smiling at me... somehow, making me feel even worse...

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“What if... what if I did something horrible... What if I did something so bad, that if anyone found out, they'd hate me...?”

“I don't know,” she said. “...but I'd probably forgive you. We're friends... right?” I had a hard time holding back my tears... As if my body was moving on its own, I stood up and embraced Cleo in my arms...

There's no way she'd forgive me... I don't want to ruin this...

“Trace, why are you being so depressing?” There was a hint of worry in her voice. “Let's talk about something else.” We walked around in the park, just talking... “There's this really cute boy at my school, Trace. His name is Azul Ryukawa.”

“Oh? Uh... that's nice, I guess.”

Awkward silence...

“D-do you have any advice...? You seem like... you'd be pretty popular with boys, to me.”

“Popular? Yeah, I guess... but no, I don't have any advice for something like this.”

An expression of confusion and disbelief appeared on Cleo's face. “Nothing? How do you catch a boy's attention, Trace?”

Wow... what do I say? “I don't. In my whole life, I've never had a boyfriend.”

“You're lying, Trace. A good looking girl like you I'd imagine would have been through plenty of boys!”

More awkward silence. I raised an eyebrow.

“I'm sorry, I said something weird, didn't I...”

“Haha, no, it's okay...” The awkwardness disappeared for a moment, and Cleo started to speak some more.

“Seriously, though, Trace. You look great. I think you're beautiful.”

I blushed. No one had ever said this about me and meant it, except my parents, of course. As this conversation went on, I started to feel more embarrassed than I should have...

“A-anyway, Trace, why? Why don't you have a boyfriend?”

I shrugged... how should I have answered that? I wasn't completely sure, myself... “I don't know. I guess I'm just... not interested...” She stared... Suddenly, I felt a frown forming on my face. “I'm not gay!”

Cleo laughed out loud at me and how defensive I suddenly became. “It's okay, Trace... hahaha!” I kind of felt like laughing, myself, but I kept silent, as Cleo was about to say something else. “I didn't think you were. If you were a lesbian, I'd assume you might have made a move on me by now.” She was probably right. I did like Cleo, still do, but I've never felt... that way about her.

“We've gotten so far off topic,” I pointed out. How did we get from Cleo's crush to this!?

“Oh!? Y-yeah, you're right...” She clumsily returned to talking about Azul, who she started calling Blue, because of his blue-colored eyes and hair...

“You do know that Azul is just 'blue' in a different language, don't you...?”

“Yeah, but... Oh, come on, Trace, Blue's easier to remember for me.”

I nodded. “Okay, okay...”

“Anyway... Yeah, I like Blue. He's kind of shy and girly, but when I talk to him, he's really nice to me, I feel like he'd understand me, and he's so cute... I want to be close to him, but he won't let me in...”

“You'll think of something.”

“I hope so. The school year will be over, soon...” She was right. It was the beginning of June. “We're going on a field trip this month. I hope he comes...”

I took a look at my watch. It was 23:00. Holy crap, I've been out for a second. “Cleo... I think I ought to head home.”

She seemed sad to see me go... “I enjoy talking like this, Trace... Are you really that tired?”

“Yeah... you're not? It's okay, I'll visit you tomorrow, okay?” I waved goodbye...

“Trace!” I looked over at Cleo again. “Don't worry about your sin. If you truly feel guilty and sorrowful over such a thing, I'll forgive you, unconditionally.” I didn't answer, I just smiled and left. I knew she said she'd forgive me for what I did, but I was sure that if I told her the truth, we couldn't be friends anymore...

A few days went by and I let life go on like nothing happened. I'd show up at school, go to visit Cleo everyday, and go home. Oddly, every once and a while, I'd watch the news.

Apparently, the other killer is still on the loose... Nothing has changed. The only thing that's different outside is Karen is gone. It sucks...

Anyway, after school, I took a public bus to where I would hope to meet Cleo. She showed up after a minute or two.

“What's up, Trace?”

“...”

“Helloooo... Trace?” I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Cleo, smiling like always... “You okay?”

“Y-yeah...” I said, looking up at her.

“Well, Trace, today I hung out with Blue! You see...”

“...you know what, Trace? You're right, let's put that childish shit behind us. We're gonna be adults, soon...”

“...and he was sitting there all by himself, see? So...”

“We can be cool from now on. Come on, give us a hug!”

“...and the whole day was like that. It was wonderful...”

I'm such an idiot...

“So, Trace.”

“Wha—huh?”

“You were listening to me, right? I want you to come and meet Blue.” She pointed up the hill. “If we hurry we can catch him. He said he was helping a teacher with some stuff.”

“Cleo, I dunno...”

“Come on, Trace,” Cleo said, feigning sadness, “I already told him you'd come. He's really eager to meet you!” Looking back, this might have been a lie, but...

“...okay.”

With doubt in my mind as to if this was the best option, I followed Cleo up to the school. I went inside. The building was mostly empty right now, but I could clearly hear footsteps...

Someone approached us. Long blue hair, gentle blue eyes. So this is the boy Cleo's been talking about. I might have been confused if she didn't tell me--

...wait. Those blue eyes... I know I've seen them before. Those eyes... they've looked at me. Seen me. Is it...

Blue looked into my eyes just as I looked into his, and he showed me fear. It was at that moment that I knew... and then he knew, as well.

So he ran.

Blue ran from me, into the school, and without saying anything, I gave chase.

“What? Trace, what are you doing!? What's wrong!?”

Sorry, Cleo. He saw what I did. He's the only one that knows. I have to do something about it...

Blue went running up the stairs, and I followed, and once on the third floor, I hid in a classroom. While I was hiding, I saw him in the hallway...

I moved from my spot, pulled out the knife, and thrust it into him...

He fell over after I stabbed them in the ribs. Blood poured from the wound... Kicking him over, I then held him down and continued to stab. The stomach. The chest. The ribs again. Die... Die... Die...!

...a presence. Behind me. I turned around to see who it was.

It was Cleo.

I looked into her eyes...

She was shocked.

She was surprised.

More than anything else, though, she was hurt...

Don't look at me like that...

“Trace... what are you doing...?” She looked like she was going to cry... I made Cleo cry...

Don't look at me with those eyes...

“Trace... what the hell is this!?” Tears started running down her face as she shouted.

Stop it! Don't you think I already feel guilty enough!? Stop!! Stop looking at me!!!

“Ugh...” All of the sudden, Cleo doubled over, clutching her heart... “Trace... r-run...”

“Wha...?”

“Trace... get away from me...”

I was scared, and confused. I didn't think to move from where I was. I just watched in horror as my friend screamed out, shook, changed...

And then, that girl that was my friend was gone. The thing that took her place dove at me at a speed that I couldn't comprehend. While she was on top of me, for a moment, I saw her eyes again.

Is this really Cleo...? It can't be. My Cleo... doesn't have such red, hateful eyes...

“I'm sorry, Trace,” she said, looking at me, “I have my secrets, too. I've committed horrible sins, too... I...” Again, tears welled up in her eyes, and they dropped onto my face. “I'm a murderer, just like you!”

“Wh--”

I didn't get to finish that sentence. Before I knew it, Cleo's face disappeared from my view. I felt sharp pain in my neck... cutting into it like little daggers...

“Ah, Trace, you're so warm...” Cleo showed me her face again, blood spilling from between her lips... my blood... “I'm so sorry...” She kept crying, but now she was smiling... her face had the look of someone who was somewhere completely different... a place much happier than here. “I'm so sorry we can't be friends, anymore... but... but...! Now you get to be a part of me...!” Her cold hands touched my face. I could barely feel it. “You get to live on inside me forever and ever... We'll still be together, y'know...?” It was like she was trying to make me feel better as she murdered me... As she consumed me... “Isn't that beautiful!? Aren't you happy!?”

Again, Cleo bit down on my neck, continuing to drink my blood...

I feel... so cold. Everything's blurry. Ah, that's it. I... I...

I was dying...

I'm dying... Of course. It would be fitting for my fate to turn this way, wouldn't it? Someone like me doesn't deserve to go on living happily. To be eaten and killed by someone I was able to accept is perfect, so go ahead, Cleo. Take me. Take me away from this shameful, disgusting life...

Suddenly, a light blinded my vision. I felt safe, and protected, as if I had been taken somewhere else...

“Are you alive?”

A voice? From where? Who is it? “Who are you?” I shouted back, not knowing if they could hear me or not...

“So you can hear me... I was right to think we live under the same Birth Star...”

What...?

“You don't know what that is?”

I shook my head.

“...never mind. Do you want to live?”

“I don't... know. I don't know what I'm supposed to do... Can you fix it?”

“Look, I—Oh, don't worry about that! If I don't do something now, you're gonna die!”

"..."

“Do you wanna live or not...?”

No.

“Yes.”

“You seem mixed up... Don't worry, though. We'll find out the answers as we go. Alright?”

Not sure where this is going, but... “Okay.”

“Thank you. I am the Magic Knight's Force Grey. Allow me to lend you my powers!”

Weird... This is all so weird...

“You are definitely going to need some protection, so will lend you my... Mystic Coat!”

All of the sudden, I was returned to the school... but something was different... I felt more powerful than ever before!

My vitality has returned... With this much strength... I can... push Cleo off of me...!

And so I did it. With one shove, Cleo went flying back... right through the window that was behind her.

I looked down and saw that girl who may have been my friend lying on the ground, having fallen hard enough to make cracks in the concrete. I hoped to myself that I didn't kill her, too...

“She'll be fine. We must see to the boy!”

“Huh?” I "said", accidentally. I hadn't quite gotten a grip on how we were “speaking”, back then.

“If we do nothing, this boy will die. You must call for help. Call an ambulance, or something!” He spoke again... Why was I doing this? Something still didn't feel right.

I did this. This is the outcome that I've created with my choices. My actions. It's too late to regret any of it. So why... why do I feel so guilty...?

Unexpectedly, someone came flying through the window, into the school. “Is something wrong? I saw that girl fall from here, and...” She was an older girl, maybe a high school student. She was blonde and had green eyes, and she walked over to see what was going on... “Oh my! What's happened? She's so badly hurt...”

Hey, Blue is a boy, I thought, but I didn't bother saying this out loud.

“You've called for an ambulance, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“She won't make it... I—I've gotta do something. Wanna see something cool?”

I raised an eyebrow. “What are you gonna do?” She raised her hand in the direction of Blue, and it started to glow...

“Huh!?” I watched as the once fatal wounds started to disappear from his body...

The girl muttered something to herself and stood up. “She'll live. You should still have her taken to the hospital, anyway.”

I nodded, then remembered Cleo... “Also, the other girl. Did you...”

“It won't be necessary.” Cleo also came back in through that window, despite her wounds, and walked over to pick up Blue. “I can hear the ambulance...” Sure enough, they showed up. She started to leave through the window...

“Cleo, wait! I'm sorry...”

“Trace, don't worry about it... right now, I want to make sure he's safe.” I felt pathetic... Even now, I still do. “Trace... I still want us to be friends... I want to give you another chance, but... for now, goodbye.” She left.

“...what just happened?” The older girl hadn't left...

“It's a long story...”

“Eh... well, my name's Muñeca.” She reached out and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you.” She was another strange girl... “Hey, I need directions. Where's the western airport from here?”

Oh... she must be a visitor from somewhere else... Lumière, maybe?

Anyway, I just gave her directions and she started to leave.

“Thanks so much! Goodbye!” I just waved back without saying anything... So Blue was saved by a weird girl who came out of nowhere and healed his wounds... how convenient. Never saw her again after that.

Then I remembered... the voice from before... “Hey! Grey, or whatever your name is! Where are you!?”

“Calm down. I'm right here, inside you.”

“What!? Is he a ghost?”

“Not exactly. Let me explain...”

“Holy—He can read my mind! Does he know what I've done? Oh, crap...”

“I said calm down! Listen...” Grey explained to me that he made a telepathic link with me, and was speaking into my mind using his...

“Oh, I see. Well... Thank you, Grey.”

“No big deal, Trace.” I couldn't help smiling. He seemed like a nice... person...

“Hey, Grey, what exactly are you...?”

“I'm a Magic Knight's Force. A hero who was chosen to gain power from a Birth Star.”

“...what's a Birth Star?”

“Hm... okay, as you know, there are many stars in the sky. 366 of them, however, are special. Powerful magicians called Stargazers used their power to allow us, Magic Knights, to use the magic connected to these special stars...” Grey directed my attention to a star in the sky, which, probably thanks to him, I could see clearly.

“That's our Birth Star, isn't it?”

“Yes. Anyway, you've heard the story of a hero named Grey in History class or something, right? That's me. Like any other mortal body, mine grew old and died... but I, well, my “soul”, lives on, and I can share my existence with someone living under the same star. You.”

“Well, surely there are millions of other people you could have contacted. Why me?”

“...you seemed familiar to me.”

I was confused. “What do you mean?”

“You remind me of an old friend... someone I knew back when I was alive.”

“Was this person a Magic Knight, too?”

“No. This friend, she lived as a normal woman and moved on when she died. Her name was Láng Shísān, the Blood Splattered Wolf.”

Blood Splattered Wolf? I remembered her from history class. She was a talented swordswoman, and some say she was a rare human who could use the Thirteen Blades supposedly left on this planet by the Tredecim Armis et Salvator. “I'm pretty sure some of that is just a legend, though.”

“Actually, it's the truth.”

“Oh, come on...”

Grey laughed. “Seriously? You've seen your share of weird things, right? This is just one more unbelievable thing. Come on, I won't lie to you.” Not willing to argue, I just went along with it. “So, Trace... that girl was your friend?”

“Yeah... I had something nice, there, too. Looks like I ruined it...” There was silence between the two of us...

“Well, I think it'll be alright if you try to fix it.”

“But--”

“Look... She's your friend, right? Trust me. I don't know all the details, but I think you can get her to forgive you if you atone for it...”

“I can't... not for this.”

“Eh... well, try anyway. I'm giving you a chance, so why wouldn't she? It's better than giving up, right?”

“I don't know. I can't think of a way to make up for what I've done. Maybe it'd be better if I just got killed, after all.”

“No. You shouldn't say things like that,”  Grey “said”, gently. “Come, now, didn't you say something like 'Take me away from this shameful, disgusting life...'?”

“What? Wait, that wasn't--”

“I've decided to do just that. That 'shameful, disgusting life' is in the past, now, but if you're still confused, we'll just find the answers as we go, like I said earlier, okay?”

“Well...”

Such a strange feeling... to have been pulled out of the pits of despair by this knightly 'ghost' fellow who seemed to care for me so much. At the time, I truly did wonder what kind of bond him and that woman had all those years ago.

“No matter what I have to do, I won't ever let you be that miserable again, so please don't say such things...” I could feel Grey emotions reaching through... He was being sincere. It was hard for me to keep thinking the way I was with someone who wanted me to live so badly. Someone who I was so important to...

“...I guess you're right...”

Grey seemed happy with that. “That's the spirit. Well then, let's go after her...”