Kusanagi Chronicles:

Tales of a Confused
Boy

1
 To Mae, Joy, Ash, Franz, Ed, and Sai, who have greatly influenced me from the early stages of
this volume and throughout all the remakes, be it in actively participating in my writing or being a big part
of my life while I was making this. I’d rather you not see this fairly embarrassing page, but I wanted to
express my deepest gratitude either way.

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 Perfectly Imperfect:
An Introduction to Kusanagi Chronicles Volume 1
We have more or less gone through that thing called “falling in love.” We get so close to
someone, and start wishing to always be with that person. And there are those who find themselves
falling for two girls or more, unable to decide which one they really want to be with, perhaps not even
taking into consideration whether their feelings would be reciprocated at all. Teenage students are
vulnerable to these problems, and it’s in this period in their lives that they experience various things, learn
from them, and change; whether it’s for the better or for worse depends on the person, because despite
all being human, people are always different in many ways.
The main character of this story, Rae Kusanagi, is very much unique; he’s always at the top of his
class, he has strength that makes delinquents shiver in fear, and he’s an amnesiac orphan who has a
finger-sized angel entity for a companion. In the middle of his search for his memories, he experiences
the sensation of “falling in love,” and becomes confused. Falling in love with two girls doesn’t help either.
However, despite being “out of everyone’s league,” Rae is, in the end, still a person; a teenager who
enjoys being with friends, and who occasionally finds himself struggling with problems in his life.
A completely out-of-this-world young man suddenly appears and shows everyone that even the
most perfect, ideal person can find himself struggling to get back up after falling, get the urge to stop
moving forward, find himself in trouble…that in the end, there is no such thing as a perfect human being.
He skipped a year, and now he has transferred schools. In this new environment, he searches for
his long-lost memories while seemingly avoiding his more recent past. This is the story of Rae Kusanagi,
an amnesiac orphan genius who still has a lot to learn.

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 Chapter 1
(Boy Meets Girl)

†-o0o-†
The entire village was lost in a sea of flames. Houses burned down, and the people inside who
were not fortunate enough to escape eventually met their doom. Outside the wooden structures, other
villagers who were able to escape the burning houses faced a more terrible dilemma; soldiers. The
soldiers who were the sole reason for the outburst of fire in the place were intent on not letting a single
person survive. The villagers hid, yet were found; struggled, yet were killed. In this time of bloodshed and
death, there was no hope for survival.
In the midst of this chaos, a boy stood in a dark corner, watching as death visited his fellow
people one by one.
“What's with all the fire? And why is everyone panicking? It’s scary.”
Just then, a hand found its way into the child's right shoulder. The child turned and saw a man. He was in
his early 30’s, had a long face as opposed to the child’s round one, a crew cut, and some traces of a
beard.
“We’re under attack, son,” the man said. And he followed up in a whisper: “Damn, this is really
bad.”
“Are we in trouble?”
The man bit his lip. “…yeah. And we have to get out of here before the flames reach us.”
The child looked around frantically. “But what about mom and-”
The man shook his head. “First things first. We have to keep ourselves alive. Then we can think
about them. All right?”
The child nodded slowly. “O-okay…”
They ran at the same speed at first, but then the man suddenly tripped after a few steps, fell on
his knees, and groaned in pain. The child soon got ahead without noticing his father’s abrupt stop.
What’s going on? he wondered, oblivious to his surroundings. He then shook his head to clear his
mind. A-at any rate, I just have to follow what dad said and get away so I can look for them…
Before he could finish thinking, however, he heard his father scream from behind: “Son, look out!”
Without much thought, the child sidestepped, just in time to avoid the strike of a knife that would
have stabbed him had he not reacted quickly enough. He looked up and saw who the attacker was: a fat
man whose clothes were covered in blood. The man was breathing heavily as he held the knife with
shaky hands.
The man looked at the child with eyes so large they seemed like perfect circles, and the child
gasped in fear. He stepped back at first, then tripped. Oh no! With his legs frozen in terror, he had no way
of getting away.
As the man began to thrust his knife, the child closed his eyes. Help me, dad...!

4
 Then he was pushed out of the way.
The child opened his eyes. He saw the faces of the soldier and his father, which were a mere
inches apart. What happened? Then he rolled his eyes down in an attempt to look at their bodies, but
before he could see anything else, his father intervened.
“Get out of here now! Close your eyes, turn back, and start running away!”
But...
“I'm okay!” the father continued. “I'll catch up later. Get away from here quickly!”
Everything else was shrouded in darkness.
†-o0o-†
A young teenage boy quickly rose from his bed, gasping for air. His forehead was sweating
heavily, and his eyes were opened widely with dilated pupils. After a few big breaths, he blinked, held his
head, and gritted his teeth. “The same dream...” he told himself. “It's the 1185th time now. This is just too
much, really.”
Out of nowhere, a voice spoke to him. “Don't you think you should start getting prepared for
school?”
“Just let me calm down for a bit,” the boy replied. “And besides, where are you, Tenkai?”
An angel about as tall as a finger suddenly appeared in front of the boy. He courteously bowed
his head in a manner similar to that of a knight or servant presenting himself to a king.
“You called, master?” the entity called Tenkai said sarcastically. “But really now, are you sure you
have the leeway to hold your head and think about stuff? Do you have any idea what time it is, kid?”
The boy looked at the clock that hung on the wall. He froze. “…uh-oh.” he said in a monotone.
“You better hurry up.”
The boy shook his head, snapping out of his initial state of shock, and quickly ran to the
bathroom.

In a certain school, a group of girls were gathered together in a corner of the quadrangle, among
them one who had brown, shoulder length hair that had its front sides tied in pigtails. She was sitting on a
bench along with her friends as they talked.
“Oh, by the way,” one of her friends said. “Did you hear? We’ll be having a new classmate. I
heard it was a guy.”
“Really?” another one said. “I hope he’s hot. Is he from another country?”
“I believe he’s from this country,” the first girl replied. “From what I heard, his admission here was
delayed. I’m not sure about the details, though.”
“Then if that’s the case,” a third girl in the group said, “Sarah will finally have a seatmate.”
The girl with the brown hair nodded. “I guess that’s what it means more or less,” she replied. “I
just hope he’ll be nice.”
“You’re not excited at all?”

5
 The brown-haired girl shook her head. “No, not really.”

A few minutes later, the boy ran out of the house with a loaf of bread in his mouth.
Tenkai laughed as he flew beside his panicking companion. “You haven't changed one bit,” he
commented. “I thought you would be a little more disciplined after your intensive alarm-clock-responding
training, but I guess when it comes down to the practical test, you can’t seem to help but fail.”
The boy tried ignoring him since he couldn’t speak with a loaf of bread in his mouth. As he
continued running at an increasing pace, he took a bite of the bread and took the remaining part in his left
hand, then started chewing.
When he finished chewing the part in his mouth, he sighed and stopped momentarily. “My
stomach hurts – damn all this running – but I'm still hungry...”
“And you're slowly running out of time,” Tenkai interrupted.
“Shut up. I know that much already. Anyway, I’m almost at the train station. Gotta finish this loaf
now.”

Around half an hour later, he finally reached his destination: a high school campus. He stood in
front of the gate, his eyes widened in amazement.
“New State High…” he said to himself. “I still can’t get over how gigantic this place is.”
“Stop looking in awe there, kiddo,” Tenkai interrupted. “Do you remember what time the first
period is?”
“Of course I do,” the boy replied. “7:00am.”
“Look at your watch,” the small angel said with a grin. The boy did what he was told.
“Damn,” he mumbled calmly, followed by a quick sprint toward the building where his classroom
was. He ran so frantically that he looked like a person running away from a house that had just caught
fire.
When he got to his classroom, he immediately went in without any hesitation.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, getting the attention of everyone in the room. “I, uh, had problems along
the way.”
“Ah,” the teacher said, surprised. “So, you’re the missing student, am I right?”
“Yes, ma'am,” the boy replied, his head bowed. “That’s me.” But you know, calling me 'the
missing student' is a bit harsh, don't you think?
The teacher looked around the classroom. Some students were smiling and some were
whispering to each other, among other things. After briefly scanning the room, she turned back at the boy
and said, “Introduce yourself to the class first.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He went to the middle of the classroom. He took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t
mess up.
“My name is Rae Kusanagi. I live at…well, it’s around an hour if you take the train and walk the

6
rest of the way.” He paused to think of other words to say. “Anyway, it’s a pleasure meeting you all. I’m
looking forward to a fruitful school year with all of you.” He shrugged after saying his last sentence.
‘Fruitful school year with all of you?' That seemed so...friendly. Ugh. “I hope I can get along with everyone
here.”
He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts, then looked at the teacher. “Is that
enough?”
“Address?”
Rae did not reply.
“I guess it’s all right if you don’t want to say it,” she decided, then added with a laugh, “I can
always look at your student profile, anyway. Now, for your seat…” she looked at the entire classroom and
pointed at a vacant seat. “You’ll sit there.”
Rae, however, was not listening; instead, he was looking at the classroom, inspecting the seats.
There are 15 desks… he told himself. …one desk for two people. For every desk, there is one boy and
one girl. Come to think of it, according to the list of students in this class, there are 15 boys and 15 girls
all in all, including me, which means there’s exactly one more vacant seat for me…assuming that
everyone's here. He scanned the area until he found his place. Heh, I guess there was a good reason for
calling me the missing student, after all.
“Mr. Kusanagi…” the teacher said, growing impatient. “Please sit down.”
This interruption in Rae's thinking surprised him. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “Sorry.”
He went to his seat. After taking a quick view of his surroundings from his desk, he glanced at his
seatmate. She was a rather beautiful young girl; she had brown, shoulder-length hair that had its front
sides tied in pigtails. Her skin was fair and she had a beautiful face...
He was about to look at her eyes, but thought better of it and shook his head before he was able
to do so. This isn’t right. This isn’t right at all! Classes are going on right now; I don’t have time for this.
Suddenly, his mind got bombarded with quick flashes of mental images. With eyes wide open, he
held his head and screamed in pain. “Urgh, what’s going on?!”
“Oh crap, this is bad!” Tenkai said. “Hold on, kiddo! Hang in there!”
Sea of flames, falling roofs, people screaming frantically. “Please…stop it…” Rae whispered. He
then took a deep breath and shouted, “Stop it, it hurts!!”
The entire class was alarmed at Rae’s sudden outburst. While they were looking at him in
surprise, his seatmate held his head. Rae stopped screaming, then he looked at her.
Their eyes met.
Rae stared at her blankly – a temporary relief from the headache – but before he knew it, the pain
went back.
“Urgh, damn...” he muttered, forcefully trying to keep a calm tone in his voice. “It hurts so much,
my head...maybe I should...bang it on the...wall or...something.”
The teacher went to Rae and helped him up. Rae continued struggling, but his shaking body

7
could not hide his desire to scream in pain again.
“You don’t look so well, young man,” she said. “To the infirmary you go.”
“Yes…ma’am,” Rae replied weakly. He knew he could not shout in front of the teacher – in front of
the class, even; it would be a very embarrassing scene – and his continued resistance made the pain
worse. “I…I’m terribly sorry for interrupting class right when I just got here.” He removed himself from his
seatmate and started going out of the classroom. From the look of his shaky movement, everyone
thought it was very likely that he would collapse before he even got close to the infirmary, and so the
teacher looked at Rae’s seatmate.
“Sarah…” she said.
“Yes, ma’am?” the seatmate replied.
The teacher went to her and whispered something, to which she responded with a nod. “Yes,
ma’am, no problem,” she said. She approached Rae and put his arm around her shoulders, giving him
support, and the two of them continued walking.
The teacher heaved a sigh. My goodness, I can’t believe the transferee would make such a
grand scene on his first day, she thought to herself. She then turned to the class. “Now, let us continue
with our lesson.”

Meanwhile, on the way to the infirmary, Rae’s pain suddenly stopped. He looked at Sarah. “I’m all
right now,” he said.
“We need to be sure,” she replied.
Rae thought for a bit, then said, “Fine. But at least let me walk on my own.”
Sarah nodded. “Okay, then.”
After a few steps, Rae stopped and asked, “What's the doctor like?”
Sarah also stopped walking and replied, “Her name's Sheila Goldworth. She's a really nice
person. I'm sure you'll easily like her.”
“Wait, don't tell me she's the beautiful-mature-woman type that most guys like or something,” Rae
said cautiously. “I wouldn't like that one bit.”
Sarah laughed as she shook her head. “No way. She's almost 40 years old. The reason why I
said you'd like her is because she has this motherly feel about her. All of the students see her as a tender
second mother.”
Rae nodded his head as the two of them continued walking. “Mm-hmm, I see.” So people love
getting beaten up or sick in this place, huh?

After a few minutes, they reached the infirmary. The only person around was a female doctor who
seemed to be in her late thirties. She focused her sights on Rae for a brief moment before adjusting her
glasses and noticing Sarah's presence.
“Oh hi, Sarah,” she said. “Who's the guy with you?”

8
 “He's a transferee,” Sarah replied. “He had a sudden headache a while ago.”
Mrs. Goldworth looked at Rae from head to toe. “So you're the new kid I've heard about, huh?
What’s wrong?”
Rae had been staring at the doctor the whole time with examining eyes. As soon as he was
addressed, he was taken aback, but was able to quickly recover. He shook his head to clear his mind. “It’s
nothing, really,” he said. “Just what Sarah said: a sudden headache.”
“Just give him a little check-up, I guess…” Sarah suggested.
Mrs. Goldworth raised an eyebrow. “You seem fine, but sure, come.”
“I’ll be waiting outside, then,” Sarah said. “See me once you’re done.”
Rae bowed his head politely. “Sorry for dragging you into this mess.”
Sarah smiled. “Nah, I was pretty much not interested with the lesson, anyway.”
“Is that so? I guess that’s good, then…in a way.” The two of them laughed briefly before Rae
continued. “Anyway, I’ll see you later.”
“Sure.”
Sarah went out and walked toward the quadrangle and sat on a bench. The sun was bright, but
not too much. As she looked around, she noticed a flock of doves walking around on the ground nearby.
“I sure hope it won’t take long,” she said to no one in particular. “I wonder what happened to him
in the first place…?”

After a few minutes, at the infirmary, Rae's check-up had ended. He sat across Mrs. Goldworth,
eager to know the results, hoping that she was able to figure out what was wrong with him.
“You seem fine,” she said, much to Rae's dismay. “In fact, you’re very much healthy. So, do you
know what caused your sudden headache?”
Rae bowed his head. “I don't know, really…”
“Is it your first time experiencing it?”
“I think so,” Rae replied. “But I've experienced the same...sensation...” He paused for a while.
“That headache made me feel the same way as during the times when I get this certain recurring dream.”
“Dream?” Mrs. Goldworth showed interest in what Rae had said. “What kind of dream?”
“I'm not sure, but it seems to contain hints about my memories,” Rae replied. “Memories I lost
when I had amnesia back when I was around 5 years old. That was…9 years ago or so.”
“What did you see in those dreams?”
Rae held his head in an attempt to recall the vague pictures in his dreams. “A...a sea of flames,”
he said. “And a man...a man with clothes covered in blood.”
Mrs. Goldworth seemed shocked, and at the same time felt sorry for Rae. “Oh my, that's terrible,”
she said. “Such a frightening past is probably better left forgotten, in my opinion.”
“You may be right, ma’am,” Rae said. “But then again, you may be wrong. It's not completely
clear whether my dream really was an event that happened in the past. Besides, the things that I've seen

9
may have been different from what I thought I saw, if you know what I mean.”
Mrs. Goldworth nodded. “You have a point,” she said. “But you said your dream was a recurring
one, right?”
Rae nodded.
“How many times have you had it?”
“1185 as of now.”
He kept count of all of them? “When was your first time?”
“I was told that I was out unconscious for a few days,” Rae replied. “It was when I had the dream
one night that I woke up. When I came to, I was already at the hospital on my own.” He held his head.
“That dream…it was as if my past was bugging me to remember everything, but I just couldn’t, even until
now. I started counting when I got the same dream for three consecutive days.”
Mrs. Goldworth sighed. “Looks like you have it tough, huh?” She chuckled for a reason which Rae
did not know. “Don't worry; I just find it a little interesting how I'm not the only one with problems.”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
Mrs. Goldworth shook her head. “No, it's nothing. Never mind what I said.”
Rae wanted to know what the doctor meant, but then he remembered something. Sarah's waiting
for me...I can't stay here any longer. “Uh,” he said. “I think I should be going now.”
Mrs. Goldworth nodded. “I agree,” she said. “But before you go, I have a little piece of advice.”
“And that is...?”
Mrs. Goldworth took a deep breath. “Be careful with your memories. Sometimes, the human
subconscious 'seals off' certain traumatic experiences for the person's own good. If that’s the case, then
you’ll have to be really prepared to face the worst when you try to get your memories back.”
“I'll keep that in mind,” Rae said as he started walking toward the door.
“Wait,” Mrs. Goldworth suddenly interrupted. “I have two more questions. Please hear me out.”
Rae stopped and turned his head back. “Yes?”
“During the years you've spent after losing your memories, have you ever regained anything?
Anything at all, like bits and pieces of your past?”
“All I remember is the name of the place where I was born and raised,” Rae replied. “I'm not even
sure if the place is right.”
“And that place’s name is...?”
“Cosmo Village.”
Mrs. Goldworth nodded. “I see...you can go now.”
“What was the other question?”
“You happened to have answered it already; the place where you lost your memories.”
“Oh, okay.” Rae faced the door and opened it, then left the infirmary.
Mrs. Goldworth looked at the ceiling, deep in thought. Cosmo Village...I think I've heard that
name before...an event that happened 9 years ago seems familiar, too...

10
 Whether an idea came to her mind or not, she didn't exactly know. The only thing she was sure of
was the stinging headache she felt when she thought about Rae's words.

When Rae got out of the infirmary, she noticed that Sarah was not around. Damn, she’s not here.
Where did she run off to…? First, he searched the corridors; she was not there. He then stumbled upon
the quadrangle, which was a large space with almost no people and lots of birds in flocks gathering
around the center of the area.
Then he saw her. Her face was being highlighted by the rays of the sun.
“Sarah...” he muttered softly. “Why must you be so beautiful...?”
As if on cue, he suddenly felt a quick, stinging pain on his chest and head. Both were equally
painful, and he could not figure out which one to focus his attention on.
“W...what's...happening...?” he asked Tenkai, who was floating beside him.
“Looking at those birds seems soothing, don't you think?” Tenkai said, as if not paying any
attention. “Come on, look at them.”
Rae shifted his eyes to the nearby doves and panted. Soon, he could feel the pain disappearing
as quickly as it had appeared out of the blue.
“How did you know how to get over my headache?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?”
Just then, Sarah spotted Rae, although she did not notice that he was talking to Tenkai. She
stood up and approached him.
“Hey Rae,” she called out with a wave of her hand. “How long have you been here?”
“I guess that's my cue,” Tenkai said before Rae could say anything. “See you, kid.” After giving
Rae a wink, coupled with a mischievous grin on his face, he disappeared.
Rae looked puzzled. Cue? What? Where did he run off to now?
Then Sarah, who was already in front of Rae without him noticing it, stared at him. “What's
wrong?”
Rae suddenly noticed Sarah's presence and was taken aback. “Oh, sorry,” he said as he
scratched his head. “Did I look weird again?”
Sarah shook her head. “No, not really. You looked pretty cute there.”
“Cute?” Rae asked, his eyes widening. “What?”
“No, uh...” Sarah started blushing. “Uh...ignore what I just said.”
Before Rae realized it, his face had turned red as well. As the two of them blushed at each other,
Rae’s mind started to go in a state of panic, and he desperately tried thinking of a way to make things
natural for them.
Why did things have to end up like this? What do I do now?
“First of all, calm down,” Tenkai whispered. “Using your brain while panicking will get you
nowhere.”

11
 Rae took a deep breath and tried thinking of all the cute girls he knew, comparing them with
Sarah to make the latter look less interesting in his eyes. He thought about famous celebrities from TV
shows, girls who took part in pageants, and the ones in his previous schools who were very famous for
their cuteness.
Dammit, she's the cutest of all the girls I know! This isn't working at all!
Then he suddenly heard Sarah taking a deep breath. When he looked at her, her face was back
to normal, and she looking back at him with a casual smile.
“Please forget what I just said a while ago,” she said.
Rae nodded slowly. “Err, sure...no problem.”
At the back of his mind, Rae felt relieved. It's a good thing she can keep her cool after what just
happened, or else I would've gone crazy.
Just then, Tenkai sat on his head. “Are you stupid or something? Keeping your cool at a time like
that was the appropriate and only thing to do. You're in the quadrangle, for crying out loud! Feeling
uneasy and going crazy about it in this wide open space is something only an idiot would do.”
“So you're saying I'm an idiot?” he whispered.
“Well, for one thing, you should have been distracting yourself with something else other than the
faces of cute girls.”
Before Rae could say anything else, however, Sarah interrupted. “What are you doing?”
Oh, shoot, I forgot that she was here. “Um...n-nothing, really.” Rae soon started feeling
embarrassed. “L-let's just forget about it, okay?”
Sarah nodded, but her curiosity was still there. “Sure,” she said after a while.
Silence enveloped the atmosphere for a few moments, with both Rae and Sarah not knowing
what to do next. Every second felt so long for Rae, and his nervousness increased with the awkward
situation.
“Hey Rae, would you like me to give you a tour of the school for a while?”
Rae's eyes widened; for the second time, it was Sarah who had put a stop to the tense
atmosphere. I can't believe myself, being a total wimp in front of a girl and not doing anything in front of
her...
“Um, Rae, are you listening?”
Rae scratched his head and laughed nervously. “Oh, uh, yeah, of course I was.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow to show her doubt.
“I was listening, seriously,” Rae continued. “It's about showing me around the school, right?” He
looked at his watch for a brief moment. “We still have around 25 minutes left, so I guess a quick tour
would be nice. It saves me the trouble of looking around on my own.”
Suddenly, Rae felt Sarah's hand grabbed his. He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his
face, not knowing what to say in response.
Sarah smiled at Rae and gently pulled his hand. “Let's go, then.”

12
 Before Rae could process in his head what had just happened, Sarah forcefully dragged him out
of the quadrangle.

Soon, the two of them reached the cafeteria. Rae felt hesitant to go inside, so Sarah forced him
by pulling one of his sleeves.
“It looks like there are no students around,” Rae commented, looking at his sleeve as Sarah kept
a firm grip on it, deciding to let her hold onto him for a while longer. “But then again, at a time like this, I
guess it's just natural for no one to be here.”
“Yeah, of course.” Sarah tugged Rae's sleeve again as she turned around. “Oh well, I guess
there's nothing much to do here, so let's go.”
“H-hey, don't pull me so forcefully!”

As Rae and Sarah walked around, they ended up at the quadrangle yet again. Sarah stopped for
a brief moment and grabbed Rae's arm. “Let's stop here for now,” she said.
“What, are you tired already?”
“No, of course not!” Sarah turned her back against Rae. “You're so mean!”
What did I do now? Rae heaved a sigh. Understanding girls really is too much of a task for me.
Sarah suddenly placed her left elbow on Rae's right shoulder. “Anyway, this is the quadrangle, the
most spacious part of the school.”
“Don't tell me the obvious stuff.”
“You're so mean.” Sarah removed her arm from Rae's shoulder and grabbed his collar, pulling it,
although making sure she doesn't put too much force into it. “Let's go.”
Rae followed Sarah, his feet moving backwards as Sarah's grip on it did not cease to loosen.
When does she plan on letting me go, I wonder…?

After a few more minutes of walking, Rae and Sarah ended up inside the library. The place was
air-conditioned, the shelves full of neatly-arranged books. Upon closer examination, Rae could see that
some shelves on the left side had old-looking books and the ones on the right side had newer-looking
books. He went to see for himself how the shelves were arranged, and found out that the books in the
shelves were arranged according to the subject that they tackle from front to back, and by date from left to
right. He found it strange, yet somewhat amusing.
“The library looks pretty neat.”
“It's the best place to study.” Sarah pointed at the tables near the window. “If you sit there, you
can get a good view outside.”
“What can you see outside?”
“There's a basketball court, a garden wth a pond, some tennis courts...”
Rae's eyes widened, a bright smile involuntarily creeping on his face. “Tennis courts?!” As if by

13
reflex, he ran toward the window, his anticipation increasing as he got nearer.
When he reached the window, he looked at it and saw a number of tennis courts, most of them
being used by teenagers. The excitement that he had felt seconds ago soon faded as he continued to
watch. He slowly frowned, his eyebrows nearly crossing.
“Are those guys beginners?” he asked no one in particular.
“They're probably just playing for fun,” Sarah replied, “although I can't really tell the difference
between beginners and pros; they all look the same to me.”
“They look like beginners.” Rae tried looking at the faces of the players and saw them smile as
the ball charged towards them. He smiled and shook his head. “They're beginners, but at least they enjoy
playing, and I guess that's what's important. After all, I play tennis myself because I love it.”
“You must be a really good player, huh?”
“It doesn't matter. Let's just continue the tour.”
“Okay.” Sarah went outside, with Rae running to catch up with her.

“This is the last place I'm gonna show you.”

Rae looked around dumbfounded. They were in a secluded area in the school campus, right
behind numerous buildings. It was a place filled with a large variety of plants, bushes, shrubs, and trees,
with a cool breeze blowing all over. What caught his attention most, however, was the large tree situated
in the middle of the place as if its position in the center had been predetermined. He looked up at the tree;
it was as if it was a king overlooking its subjects.
“What a humungous tree,” he said. “I was wondering where exactly that big tree was when I
entered the school. So, how many centuries old is this thing?”
“I don't really know.” Sarah walked in front of the tree and touched its trunk. Rae simply stared at
her. “I heard it's been here before the school was made.”
Rae walked around the tree, looking at the surroundings while he was at it. “No wonder its
location seems so well-planned,” he said. “Maybe this place used to be a park...?”
“Or maybe a forest.”
“Yeah, that's also a possibility, I guess.” Rae looked around with a puzzled look on his face as he
felt an unknown presence nearby. “This place seems so soothing, yet somehow it gives me the chills. I
don't know why.”
“Oh, that's probably just the ghost of this area.”
Rae's eyes widened, but he managed to hide it in front of Sarah. I have a finger-sized angel with
me, so I’m not as skeptical about ghosts as others are. “Ghost? There's a ghost here? In this very place?”
“At least that's what the rumors say. It's probably the reason why I'm the only one who comes
here during my free time.”
“That must make everyone else think of you as a freak who sold your soul to the dark side.”
“Oh, stop exaggerating.”

14
 “Still, I can't shake off the fact that this feeling is not really creepy. It's more like a presence that I
can't see, yet something that I can manage to ignore.”
“Like me,” Tenkai interjected.
“Besides,” Rae continued, paying no heed at all to Tenkai, thus proving the small angel’s point,
“you’ll want a companion to stay with you in this place that everyone has deemed creepy, right?”
Sarah turned her back to Rae, a secret, sweet smile creeping on her face. “Thanks a lot.”
There was silence for a few moments, both Rae and Sarah not knowing what to say. For a while,
Rae decided to simply look around once again and wait for a chance to talk with her. He once again felt
the same tension he felt in his chest when he and Sarah were surrounded by the atmosphere of awkward
silence – he was already familiar with the feeling – yet he had no idea exactly why he felt it.
“Hey kid,” Tenkai said, appearing from out of nowhere and floating above his head. “You're
probably unaware of this, but your face is all red.”
“W-what?!” There was no mirror to confirm whether Tenkai was right or not, but he felt for sure
that his face felt somewhat hot. What's wrong with me?
“It's...almost time for the next class,” Sarah suddenly said amidst Rae’s confusion.
Rae turned around and saw Sarah looking at her watch. He felt so relieved that he involuntarily
sighed. “Is that so?” he said. “Well then, let's get going. We don't want to be late for the next class, now
do we?”
Sarah nodded. “Right. Let's go.”
With the tension out of Rae's mind, he followed Sarah as she went toward the classroom for the
next period.

Author’s Note: Finally, the first chapter is finished! Around 2 and a half years ago, I was making
this same thing, with the same plot and all, but I can say that this one’s a lot better. I hope this
chappy of mine got you readers interested into reading more. Comments and suggestions are
welcome; I can always edit (or delete) this chapter, if it would make it better, so please don’t hold
back.

15
 Chapter 2
(New Acquaintances)

“Rae, you might not know this because you’re new here, but the teacher for the next subject is
very strict about tardiness.”
“Hm? In what way?”
“If you’re not inside before the bell rings, you’re considered absent. If you’re even 1 second late,
you won’t get any considerations.”
Rae looked at his watch as they continued running. “20 seconds…”
The two of them quickly got closer to the classroom as time ran out. Rae kept track of the time
mentally, “8…7…6…5…damn, we won’t make it.”
“4…3…oh, screw it.” Without much thinking, he pushed Sarah forward, and was able to force her
into the classroom right when the bell rang, where she almost lost her balance, but was eventually able to
stand straight. Right behind her, Rae was standing with his eyes fixated on the teacher, who in turn was
also looking at him.
“I heard from Sarah,” Rae said. “I’m already absent on my first day, huh?”
The teacher’s eyebrows met. “Out.”
Rae nodded his head. “Yes, ma’am.” He walked away and sat on the wall right outside the
classroom. “I can at least sit in, right?”
There was no reply.
“I guess I’ll stick with the saying ‘Silence means yes,’” Rae concluded. “Sitting on the floor is not
too bad, anyway.”
Sarah made her way into her seat, which was directly opposite to the wall where Rae was leaning
on. “You didn’t have to go out of your way for me,” she said through the window.
“I guess so,” Rae replied. “But I thought it would be best to at least save one of us. Well, at least
that’s what I thought when I pushed you. But really, no harm done, right?”
“But what about you?”
“It’s a helpless cause, anyway. If I hadn’t pushed you in, we would have both been shunned off.
And you can’t really blame our tour around a while ago, since there’s no helping it now.”
“You don’t like dwelling in the past, do you?”
“I don’t think it’s the best thing to do.”
The teacher cleared her throat. “Now, let us get started. First, a recap of what we had discussed
last meeting.”
And with that, the class began, with Rae sitting outside, away from everyone else who were on
their seats. By the time 30 minutes have passed, some of the students started fighting the urge to sleep,
and some, in an attempt to do so, secretly talked with others. Throughout the one hour allotted for the
class, Rae and Sarah did not say a word; Sarah was busy taking notes, while no one knew what was

16
going on with Rae outside.
···
When the class was over, the teacher gathered her things in her bag, followed by the students.
That is, except for Sarah, who hurriedly rushed outside to where Rae was.
What she saw came as a surprise to her; Rae was sound asleep. She walked in front of him, bent
her knees, and sat down. Then she reached out her right hand and pulled Rae’s hair gently, saying, “Hey,
wake up.”
Rae woke up, slowly opening his eyes, and looked at Sarah with a sleepy expression on his
face . “Please don’t do that.”
“Sorry,” Sarah said with a laugh, removing her hand from Rae’s hair. “What time did you fall
asleep, anyway?”
“Uh, when the teacher was...talking about…slopes of linear functions,” Rae replied. “Yeah, it was
around that time that I dozed off.”
“But that was the first thing that she said in class.”
“Oh, really?” Rae stood up and stretched, and Sarah herself stood up soon after. “I guess it did
feel a little too relaxing …”
Just then, the teacher exited the classroom. She and Rae looked at each other, her eyes focused
while Rae’s were slightly unfocused, his sleepiness very evident.
“You were sleeping, Kusanagi?”
“Sorry teach, I couldn’t help it.”
“Come with me,” the teacher said decisively. “You’ll be-”
Rae’s shook his head and changed his sleepy face into a serious one as he cut off his teacher.
“I’ll be writing ‘I’m sorry’ 500 times on my notebook? Sorry, but I don’t have a notebook.”
Sarah started to panic. “Rae-! That’s…”
“Rude?” Rae said. “I was just asking if my assumption was correct.”
“The rude part was not letting her finish,” Tenkai said.
“Shut up,” Rae whispered. “I know that. I realized it…just now.”
Tenkai sighed. “You really do fail at thinking ahead.”
“Just come,” the teacher said, walking ahead. “You’ll be doing something worse than that.”
Rae motioned Sarah to go ahead while he followed the teacher. “Actually, I find writing the same
thing over and over again the worst thing I can possibly do.”
Sarah watched the two of them walk away, until they eventually took a turn to the left, leaving
them out of her range of vision. “I hope he’ll be all right…” she said to no one in particular.
Fortunately enough for Rae’s attendance record, the teacher for the next subject, History, was not
around for the day. After hearing of the news, the students decided to have fun and do what they want.
Some of them simply went outside the building and chatted with each other, while some others decided to
have some short, leisurely walks. Sarah was sitting on a bench near the school fountain, talking with a

17
group of girls. She was laughing with her friends for quite a while when she suddenly remembered about
what happened to Rae. She stopped talking for a while and looked at her watch.
“It’s been 15 minutes,” she told herself. “I wonder what he’s doing right now…”
She had failed to take into account the presence of her friends, and they had started smiling at
the mention of a guy. “Did you just say ‘he’?” one of them asked. “What’s going on, Sarah? Has a guy
finally caught your attention?”
Sarah simply laughed. “Um, I’m talking about Rae,” she replied. “The teacher sent him to the
teacher’s office right after math class.”
Another one of Sarah’s friends grinned. “Ah, so you’ve taken an interest in the new kid, huh? He
seems like a nice person, but his sleepy attitude makes me feel like he’s a delinquent.”
“I don’t think he’s a delinquent, though,” Sarah interjected. “Maybe he didn’t have much sleep last
night and felt the toll just now.”
“See, Sarah? You’re bailing him. Aww, that’s so sweet of you.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that! Geez…”
···
Right before the end of the class’ free period, Rae was sitting across his math teacher in the
teachers’ office. He was sleepily waiting as the teacher examined a piece of paper.
“Hey,” he said. “Are you done yet? I still have class after this. Being absent for three straight
subjects is enough for me. My record’s messed up as it is.”
The teacher continued staring at the piece of paper in amazement. “I can’t see any faults. Every
single answer…it’s perfect.”
“Well, yeah,” Rae replied. “I think so too. Now can I go?”
“This test,” the teacher said, pointing at the piece of paper that she had been looking at, “is
actually last year’s final examination for freshmen.”
“Oh really? Cool. Then does that mean I’ll ace the final exam this year?”
The teacher was about to praise Rae, but she suddenly hesitated, slapped her face, and finally
ordered Rae to get out, who was more than happy to leave.
“Hey,” he said. “Will you still hate me if I ace all your requirements?” He saw the teacher’s angry
face and laughed. “Just kidding, ma’am. Well, I gotta go now.”
As soon as Rae had left, the teachers in the office gathered around.
“He got a perfect score?” one of them asked. “On a final exam? And in less than an hour?! Who
on earth is he?”
“Actually,” the teacher said, “according to his profile, he’s supposed to be a 3rd year middle
schooler. Apparently, he skipped a year.”
“And he’s already past the level of a high school freshman?” one of the other teachers asked, not
expecting any answer because he was aware that they all knew what it was. “That’s pretty amazing.”
Rae’s teacher shook her head. “I heard he was supposed to skip another yeah, but he decided

18
against it.” She paused for a while. “There are those kinds of people, it’s just that they are very rare,” she
said. “And to top it off, he ended up in this school.”
“He will be able to boost this school’s reputation,” the other teacher commented.
The teacher nodded in response.
···
Five minutes after Rae had left the teachers office, he was walking around the school, waiting for
the next class to start while familiarizing himself with the campus. As he reached the quadrangle, he saw
a familiar-looking guy with a girl whom he did not know. He casually passed by them, taking a better look
at their faces with a glimpse.
“Oh, it’s a classmate of mine,” he told himself as he passed by them for good. “So he has a
girlfriend from another class, huh…”
Just then, he heard the guy call him from behind. “Kusanagi? Is that you?”
Rae turned around. “Oh, you were here? Haha, what a coincidence. What about class?”
“The teacher wasn’t around today.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”
“Where have you been?”
“The teacher dragged me to the teacher’s office.”
“She forced a test on you?”
Rae nodded.
“Haha, she must really hate your guts. Anyway, I won’t ask you how it went. Are you planning on
going somewhere in particular?”
“Sarah,” was Rae’s quick reply. “I need to find her.” After seeing his classmate’s grin, he quickly
added, “Well, you know, since she’s supposed to be my tourist guide of sorts.”
“Not all of the freshmen here came from New State Middle High, though. Some of your kind can
figure out the place quickly.”
It’s true, Rae admitted. I kind of already have the place memorized now. “Well, anyway, she’s the
only one I know right now. Could you just tell me where she is?”
The student waved his hand as if calming Rae down. “Easy, easy, don’t get mad. I think I saw her
in the fountain area.”
Rae quickly turned his back and waved his hand, saying, “All right, thanks,” as he ran to the
fountain.
Having been left by Rae, the two students resumed walking.
···
“Hey, it’s almost time for the next class,” one of Sarah’s friends said. “We’d better leave now.”
“Um…I…” Sarah bowed her head and looked at her swinging legs. “I think I’ll stay here for a bit
longer.”
“What are you talking about, Sarah?” another one of her friends asked. “Purposely getting late…

19
that’s not like you.”
“I...I think I’ll wait for Rae to arrive.”
“Kusanagi? Maybe he’s on his way there right now.”
“I don’t think he knows where the next class will be held,” Sarah replied. “He’d most likely look for
me, so I can’t just leave him.”
“Ah, you’re being the reliable big sister now, huh? Well, he does look pretty young; I’ll bet you’re
older than him.”
Sarah simply laughed. “You girls are thinking too much about it. I just suddenly felt responsible for
him, that’s all.”
“Well, if you say so,” one of her friends said as they all went ahead, leaving Sarah waiting on the
bench in front of the fountain.
Once they had left, Sarah heaved a sigh. “Stupid Rae, where are you right now…?”
She suddenly felt a presence behind him. Before she could look back to see who it was, she
heard the person’s voice. “I don’t wanna be late for a third time. Let’s get going.”
Sarah smiled. “So you did look for me,” she said without looking back. “How sweet, new kid.”
“Heh.” Rae smiled, turned back, and started walking. “Hurry up or I’ll leave you behind.”
Sarah quickly stood up and ran to catch up. “Hey, no fair! And to think I waited for you!”
Once the two of them were walking together, Sarah looked at Rae. “We’ll be late if we keep this
slow pace up. Wanna run?”
Rae grinned. “You think you can keep up with me?”
When he looked, Sarah was already running.
“Hey, wait up!”
···
A few minutes later, Rae and Sarah were leaning on the wall outside the classroom. They had
been shunned off by the teacher for being late, being forced their second absence together, with Rae
already being absent for all three subjects.
Rae sighed. “I can’t believe my attendance for this day is still zero. This sucks.”
Sarah nodded. “Mine is one.”
“At least you have something, even if it’s just one. Besides, I’m the new guy here. This is really
bad for my reputation.”
“You have a reputation to keep?”
“Well, I’m human, and I’m a guy. I have my pride.”
“Ah, I see. Well, we still have a few classes left. Make sure you get to those on time, okay?”
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Rae replied. “I’ll stick with everyone else.”
···
When dismissal time arrived a few hours later, Rae was the first one to leave. “In the end, I was
able to attend 2 classes…out of 5. It’s a good thing that History teacher wasn’t around, or it would’ve been

20
2 out of 6.”
Just then, as he was walking, he felt a large hand hold his head, causing him to stop. Rae quickly
turned around and bowed at the large figure that held him.
“Thank you for letting me into this school, sir,” he said with his head still lowered. “I…kinda
messed up on my first day, but I promise I’ll make it up to the teachers.”
“No need to bow, Rae,” the man said. As Rae raised his head, he continued. “Anyway, what
happened on your first day here? What kind of mess occurred?”
“I was able to attend only 2 classes because of…certain circumstances.”
“Ah, I see. Have you made any friends?”
“I can’t seem to fit in very well with so many old people, but I think I’ll manage.”
The man nodded. “Oh, that’s right. But it would be worse if you had skipped another year, right?”
Rae laughed. “I guess. That’s why I decided to keep a normal pace here. I guess it’s not too bad.”
“Well, at least you’ll manage. That’s good to hear. Anyway, enjoy your stay here. I have to get
going or I’ll be late for an important appointment.”
“I’m sorry for taking up your time, sir,” Rae said, bowing again.
“Don’t mind it. Just make sure you’re comfortable with high school life. Well then, I’ll see you
when I see you.”
Only when the man had left did Rae raise his head. While Rae had been talking with the principal,
Sarah happened to pass by with her friends who were happily chatting. Upon seeing the two, she decided
to stay and wait for Rae while her friends go ahead. When the principal left, she immediately went to Rae.
“I never thought you were close to the principal,” she said. “To be able to easily talk to him…you
must be pretty special, huh?”
“It’s thanks to him that I can study here right now,” Rae replied. “I had a few problems back in my
previous school, and it was he who took me in here.”
“Really? What happened?”
Rae looked his watch. “Oh, look at the time. I gotta go,” he said and left as if he had not heard
anything, leaving Sarah dumbfounded.
When he had left, Sarah finally snapped out of her surprised state. She puffed her cheeks in a
gesture of annoyance and said, “That idiot, I can’t believe he ran away.”
As Rae continued running out of the building he was in, he shook his head. “Sorry for leaving so
abruptly, Sarah,” he said to no one in particular. “I’m not really late, but if I answered your question, it
would take me such a long time that I really will end up late.”
Before he noticed, he was already outside. He looked around; at the people who were walking
home, those who were waiting for others to go home with, and those who chose to stay for the time being,
maybe for the sake of chatting with friends or some group homework or discussion. Then he looked at the
school gate, noticing that everyone he saw leave turned right. “Heh, I guess I can’t find anyone whom I
can walk with, huh…” he said to himself as he headed to the train station on the left.

21
 ···
When he reached the station, he saw a boy wearing the same uniform as his. When he looked
more closely, he realized that the person looked very familiar. He walked slowly towards him and waved
his hand. “Hi. Uh, you’re a classmate of mine, right?”
The person looked at Rae, and upon recognizing his face, smiled and nodded. “Oh, it’s you.
Yeah, I’m Robin. Robin Whitman. What was your name again…?”
“Kusanagi.”
“Ah, yes. Rae Kusanagi, was it? So you’re taking the train too, eh?”
“Yep, that’s right.”
Then the train arrived. Rae stepped forward, but noticed that Robin didn’t budge, and so he
stepped back. When the train left, he turned to Robin.
“You’re…waiting for someone?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Robin replied. “Childhood friend of mine. She’s also a classmate of ours. In fact, she’s the
class president. Anyway, you should have just gone ahead.”
“I might have done so if I knew that you were waiting for someone,” Rae said. “I just got confused
when you didn’t move.”
“Haha, sorry about that.”
Just then, they heard a voice from behind. “Sorry I’m late, Robin!”
The two boys turned their heads to see a long-haired girl running towards them. When she
reached them, she stopped and panted.
“Hey Kim, we have company,” Robin said. “The new guy, Kusanagi.” He then faced Rae and
pointed at the girl. “This is Kimberly. Kimberly Dickinson.”
Rae nodded. “Hi.”
Kimberly stopped panting and grinned. “Oh, it’s you.”
“Huh…?”
“The guy who practically ditched all his subjects on his first day.”
“Sorry for being part of an unfortunate string of events, class rep.”
Kimberly laughed. “Nah, don’t mind it.” Then she heard the sound of a train approaching. “Here it
comes. Let’s go now.”
···
Inside the train, the three of them stood side by side, with Kimberly in the middle of the two boys.
“Say, will any of you, by any chance, leave on the last station?” Rae asked.
Kimberly shook her head. “Nope. The two of us will be leaving halfway through.”
“Ah, I see. I guess I’ll be walking on my own the way I thought I would.”
A few moments of silence passed, and then Robin’s “Umm” took Rae’s attention. “You wanna say
something?” he asked.
“I was just wondering about what happened to you during the first subject,” Robin said.

22
 Rae laughed. “Oh, the embarrassing grand entrance, eh? You see, I lost my memories. All the
stuff I remembered up until now began from when I was 5.”
“And what does that have to do with your headache?” Kimberly asked.
“Mrs. Goldworth said that I have these opposing forces in my head,” Rae replied. “One tries to
resurface the memories while the other keeps me from doing so, and the suppression is what gave me
the headache.”
“That’s some pretty complicated stuff you’re going through,” Robin said. “Well, anyway, whether
you want to regain your memories or not is entirely up to you. And once you get them back, you’ll have to
tell us all about it.”
“Huh? And why should I?”
“Because it’s interesting. I mean, it’s not everyday that I meet someone whose suppression of
long-lost memories can trigger headaches.”
“Heh, fine. You’ll be the first ones to hear about it.”
Kimberly smiled. “I’m pretty excited. I hope you recover your memories soon.”
“Hey, I think your intentions are wrong.”
“Haha, sorry.” Then they all heard the doors of the train open. “Hey, it looks like we’ll be leaving
now. Let’s go Robin. See you tomorrow, Kusanagi.”
Rae waved his hand. “Yeah. Bye.”
···
A few minutes later, Rae was walking in a neighborhood, with Tenkai floating beside him. As he
walked, he had no idea that he was walking at the same pace as another student, a girl with long brown
hair that had a clip on the left side, fair skin, slender body, and a shy face. Her uniform suggested that she
was in middle school.
The girl was walking particularly slowly, and Rae soon got near her. Not wanting to pass by her,
he slowed his pace down considerably. As the two of them continued walking in the same direction, Rae
started feeling uneasy. This is getting awkward. I should start up a conversation quick.
“You can start with the coincidence that the two of you are taking the same route, you know,”
Tenkai said from behind Rae’s mind. “Seriously, that’s what anyone would say first. Although if you want,
you can start by asking her phone number and see what her reaction would be.”
Rae shook his head. The latter is no good. I’m no heartthrob that sweeps girls off their feet with
just a glance. I can go with the first for a friendly conversation, though. He then called out, “Hey,” walked
beside the girl, and said, “I didn’t know someone else besides me takes this way home.”
Rae quickly noticed that the girl was having a hard time giving a response. I guess I’m not the
only one feeling uneasy here. “Are there any others who go this way besides us? I’m new to the school,
so I don’t really know.”
To Rae’s delight, the girl finally spoke. “There’s a school closer to the area I live in. I actually
thought I was the only student in the area who went to New State High.”

23
 “Ah, that’s right,” Rae said. “Minester High…that’s where I studied since I was in grade school up
until middle school.”
“Then why did you transfer to New State High if you’ve been there for a long time?”
“Oh, that? Uh, long story. Anyway, how about you? You’re in middle school, right? Why study in
New State instead of Minester?”
“My family moved here during my first year of middle school, a few days after the start of classes.
I couldn’t get into Minester, so I ended up in New State High.”
“Hmm, that’s weird.”
The girl looked at him. “What is?”
“You getting into New State but not passing Minester,” Rae replied. “The application for New State
is a lot easier. You should have been accepted to both.”
“Actually, it’s more like…” the girl paused for a moment. “…the principal of Minester didn’t
consider me because I was late. I have Mr. McKenzie to thank for getting into New State.”
Rae smiled. “The principal’s a really nice guy, isn’t he?”
As he continued walking, he didn’t hear an answer. He stopped and looked at his side to find out
that the girl was gone. “Eh? What’s going on?” The thought of him getting ahead quickly came to his mind
soon after, and so he looked behind him.
And there she was, looking at him with innocent eyes as she pointed at a house. “Uh, this is
where I live. Looks like you’re on your own now.”
Rae nodded.
“Where do you live, anyway?”
“Same place where my second life, started, I guess,” Rae replied, turning back and walking with a
smile in his face. “Heh, I can’t believe I was able to come up with a line like that.”
Just then, Tenkai appeared, sat on Rae’s head, and said, “I don’t like it when people intentionally
try to give a cool front when around girls and show their true childish sides when around me.”
“Take a hint and shut up, Tenkai.”
“Yessir,” the angel said before disappearing into thin air. However, in the back of his head, he
made an abrupt follow-up. “By the way, kid, I don’t think you were able to catch that chick’s name, if I’m
not mistaken.”

Author’s Note: Oh yes, Chapter 2. Now the cast is complete-ish. Say goodbye to the introductory
chapters, people, and say hello to the characters. The next 20 or so chapters will revolve around
these guys, after all, so you’ll have to get used to them. I hope you enjoyed reading this. Oh, and
from chapter 3 onwards, the number of pages would usually be less than those of the first two
chapters. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but whatever. Anyway, please look forward to
chapter 3, comments and suggestions for this chapter are welcome.

24
 Chapter 3
(Orphans)

“Seriously, kid, you fail as a man,” Tenkai said as he flew behind Rae who was walking. “The first
thing a guy thinks when he meets a beauty such as the one you saw is ‘I wonder what her name is.’ Are
you really human?”
“Sorry for being boring,” Rae replied. “I’m no skirt-chaser.”
“I never said you were.”
“Well, what did you mean then?”
“Don’t go jumping to conclusions, kid.” Tenkai flew in front of Rae, causing him to stop in his
tracks, and waved his finger. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you never to talk to strangers? The first thing a
person does when befriending someone else is find out his or her name.”
Rae simply walked forward, passing through Tenkai’s floating body. How should I know what my
parents said?
The angel smiled as his human companion passed through him. “Kid,” he continued. “You like
her, don’t you? The middle school girl.” He flew beside Rae and continued, “And to think you already have
Sarah…I never thought you would turn into such a player.”
“Give it a rest, Tenkai. We’re already here.”
The gate in front of them had a sign that said “Minester Orphanage.” Behind it was a large
building surrounded by a large piece of land. The land contained playgrounds and various courts for
sports, among other things. Rae walked through the gate, passed through the road that led to the
building, and finally entered the large structure.
My parents died, so I live in an orphanage. More often than not, a lot of couples wanted to adopt
me during my childhood, but I turned them all down, saying I can’t let anyone adopt me. I know it’s selfish
of me to do so, but something inside of me didn’t want to leave the people who took me in after my
mysterious past; the ones who found me and allowed me another chance to live.
“I’m back,” he said to a group of adults who were sitting on a bench in the lobby.
One of the people in the bench, a woman in her 50’s whose hair was already getting white and
wore a pair of large glasses, turned and looked at Rae with a happy expression on her face. “Oh,
welcome back, Rae. How was your first day of school?”
“Pretty bad, Mrs. Morrison” Rae replied. “I skipped some classes because of unfortunate events. I
can’t believe New State High is so strict with punctuality.”
A man in his 30’s who was reading a newspaper as he sat on the bench heard what Rae had said
and turned to look at him with a grin. “Punctuality has always been your weakness, hasn’t it? Looks like
school’s gonna be tough for you now.”
“I know, I know, Sir David,” Rae said with a nod. “Let’s just hope for the best, which would be no
incomplete grades on my record due to lack of attendance, right?”

25
 Mr. David suddenly burst into laughter. “Haha, you really do know your stuff, kid! That’s why I like
you so much.”
“I’ve been living here for almost a decade already, and I think that’s enough to get a vague
understanding on how everyone thinks,” Rae replied. “Well, of course, I can only get bits and pieces, and
not the entire thought process…” He suddenly paused and thought. “Because, well…stuff like thoughts of
others are hard to figure out completely…and, and…”
Mr. David waved his hand. “Come now, don’t think too much, kid. We get it already.”
“Oh, um…ok.”
“By the way,” Mrs. Miller intervened, “the kids are waiting for you.”
As if on cue, a young boy peeked on the lobby from upstairs. Upon seeing Rae, his face lit up and
he came running down the stairs while shouting, “Guys, big brother is here!”
Rae turned and saw the young boy running toward him. “Here he goes.” The next thing he knew,
the boy was already in front of him. “I’m finally back, Brian.”
“I can see that much,” Brian replied instantly. Rae smiled and was about to say something, but
Brian quickly grabbed his arm with both hands and tried pulling him. “Come on, everyone’s waiting.”
Rae, however, did not budge. He simply laughed as he stood in place while Brian struggled to pull
him. “Can you let me prepare first? I just came from school. See my uniform?”
“Oh, okay.” Brian let go of Rae’s hand without weakening his pull, and he fell from the force.
“Ouch…”
Rae laughed and walked toward the door while Brian tried standing up. “I guess I’ll be going now.
Tell your friends to wait in the room for me, willya?”
Brian was laughing, and Rae had no idea why. Only when he got to the second floor did he have
an idea as to what the reason was. “Oh, right…he announced my arrival to…everyone.”
In front of him stood a group of 17 children, all of them looking at him with happy looks on their
faces. From behind him came Brian. “You tell them yourself,” he said with an innocent smile.
Added hassle, that’s what this kid is, Rae told himself before he faced the kids and said, “I’m
back, guys. Do you mind if I take a quick rest before I attend to you all?”
“Okay,” a 5-year-old girl said, followed by everyone else’s replies of agreement.
Rae smiled, then he suddenly felt two small hands gently push his back. “What is it, Brian?”
“I’m gonna be first, right?”
“No, you won’t,” Rae replied. “The first ones will be Anne, Sarah, Justin, Ryan, and Billy.”
“No fair! Why?”
Such childishness coming from the oldest among them, Rae thought as Brian constantly pulled
his shirt, I can’t believe he’s like this. “Uh, doesn’t being last mean you can prepare or relax more? It
doesn’t matter who goes first, right?”
“If it doesn’t matter, then let me be the first!”
As always, major hassle. “No,” Rae finally said firmly before removing Brian’s hand from his shirt

26
and walking straight to his room. The children simply watched him as he left, not willing to say a word.
Once Rae had entered his room, the other children turned to Brian.
“You’re in trouble now,” a 6-year-old girl said. “Big brother’s angry. He won’t teach you anymore.”
Her statement followed many whispers of agreement from the other children.
Brian covered his ears in irritation. “Shut up! What do you know?! He’s not being reasonable!” he
said before running downstairs, and finally, outside the building. The others soon went into their own
rooms soon after.
Upon getting into his room, Rae threw his bag into a corner and leaped into his bed, where he
rolled over to face the ceiling. He then closed his eyes and sighed. “What a day. High school seems so
similar to middle school, yet it feels somewhat different.”
“You know,” Tenkai said from behind his head, “maybe it’s just you.”
Rae smiled. “Yeah, you have a point. Maybe I just want things to change so much.”
“Now that I look back,” Rae said to no one in particular, knowing that Tenkai would hear him, “I
seem to be pretty happy that, you know…I didn’t get to continue studying at Minester High.”
“You don’t have any regrets?” Tenkai asked. “We both know that you didn’t really have to
transfer.”
Rae shook his head. “It’s a lost cause, Tenkai. I had to transfer, and despite the long trip to and
from school, I think I’m gonna have fun at New State High.”
“Because there’s Sarah at school and Rachel right after that?”
“Shut up; it’s not my fault they’re both cute.” He heaved a sigh. “Anyway, the day’s been pretty
stressful, especially the travelling part; I think I ran a little too much back then. Now that I’m in bed like
this, I kinda feel like…
Tenkai looked at Rae and saw that he was starting to get sleepy. “Hey, kid,” he quickly said. “Get
up. You can’t fall asleep now.”
“Oh, right…” Rae rose from the bed reluctantly and made for the door.
Outside his room, in the corridor of the orphanage’s second floor, he looked at the several rooms
around him, his eyes stopping at each door that he lays eyes on. After looking at four doors, he stopped
and focused on the fifth one. He smiled, nodded, said “Okay, I’ll go with this one first” to himself, and
entered the room.
Inside the room was a group of 4-year-old children sitting on the floor in a circular formation.
When Rae entered the room, the children turned to look at who entered, and upon seeing him, smiled.
Rae waved his hand slightly and smiled back. “Let’s get started, guys. First, the homework that
Ms. Gilmore gave you. As usual, you’ll be discussing it with me so that she can teach you the next topic
on your next meeting with her.”
“Okay,” one of the children said.
Rae sat on the floor, and the children gathered in front of him, each of them with their own
notebooks and pencils. “Let’s begin, then. For our first lesson…”

27
 ···
Rachel sat in the couch on the living room of her house, her head bowed as she looked at her
fiddling fingers. Her eyes widened as she heard footsteps that grew louder by the second. Finally, when
the sound was no longer there, she heard a low voice saying her name, which she reacted to by closing
her eyes in fear.
“Rachel,” came the voice. “Who was the person with you a while ago?” The person speaking to
her was a large, muscular man in his mid-40’s. He had a very gruff voice.
He looked at Rachel and saw her open her mouth, about to say something, and stopped her by
saying, “Don’t tell me he’s just a friend you met recently.”
“But he is, dad!” Rachel replied instantly, her tone defensive, making her father more suspicious.
“Up until now, you’ve always walked home on your own,” her father said matter-of-factly. “I know
for a fact that you’re the only one who walks here. Why would someone suddenly be walking with you?”
“He…” Rachel’s nervousness due to the presence of his father caused her to stammer.
“He’s just what?! Your boyfriend?!”
“No, it’s not that, dad!”
“Then what is it?!”
Just then, the two of them heard a woman’s voice. “Give him a break, honey. You’re too strict.”
From the stairs that led to the second floor of the house came a woman in her late 30’s, a disappointed
look decorating her face. When she got to where Rachel and her father were, she continued, “Rachel,
dear, could you clearly tell us what happened a while ago? Who was that boy?”
Rachel felt calmer at the sight of his mother, yet she was still cautious of her father’s presence.
Nevertheless, she answered, “H-he’s a first year high school student. He was late in enrolling and was
only able to attend classes today. I myself was surprised when I found out that his home was on the way
here.”
Rachel’s mother looked at her husband. “See, honey? He’s just someone who happened to live
somewhere in this area.” She looked back at Rachel. “You were talking with him on the way, right?”
“Yes.”
“What’s his name?”
“Err…”
“What’s his name?” Rachel’s father repeated.
“I…didn’t find out,” Rachel replied along with the realization of the fact. “We talked about school
and some other stuff, but we forgot to introduce ourselves.”
Rachel’s mother smiled. “I see. Well, now that you’ve made a new friend, why don’t you invite him
over one of these days?”
“That’s right,” Rachel’s father said. “Get him here and we’ll see if he can get past me.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that, dad!”
···

28
 “…you multiply the denominator here, then do the same in here …”
While Rae was writing the process of cross-multiplication on the floor in a room with only Brian in
it, the latter sat and looked, a puzzled look in his face.
“…there you go,” Rae said as he removed his hand from the paper. “With this, you get an answer
of 72/48. Now, can you simplify?”
“Hmm…” Brian looked at the fraction with his eyebrows meeting each other. “I’ll just turn it into a
mixed number, right?”
“Well, yeah, but the denominator can be simplified after you do so.”
“Really?”
Rae stood up. “Yep. Since you can’t seem to be able to do it right now, I’ll turn it into your
homework.” He went to the door and gave Brian the idea that he would leave immediately, but he
suddenly stopped as he held the knob. “By the way, it would really help if you knew the multiples of, uh,
maybe up to 10.”
“It’s…not required, right?” Brian said with an innocent smile, hiding his anticipation of having Rae
leave as soon as possible.
Rae, however, having faced the door, could not see Brian’s expression. He simply bowed his
head and said, “I’ll make it required. Right now.”
With Brian completely speechless, Rae left the room and went to his own.
Once he got back to his room, he took the towel that hung on his chair and went to the bathroom.
As he took off his clothes, Tenkai completely disappeared, and Rae turned the shower on.
···
Brian was outside the building, looking at his fellow orphans play. He saw the younger ones
playing in the playground while the older ones played either soccer or tag.
As he watched, he heard someone from behind him. “Looks like they’re all having fun, huh?”
came the voice. “Why don’t you join in?”
“I’m too good for them, Mrs. Morrison,” he replied. “If I played, it would seem as if I’m bullying
them. I need someone older to be a match for me.”
“The only person older than you that’s close to your age is Rae, but he’s 14, and that’s 5 years
ahead.”
“I don’t stand a chance against him,” Brian said. “Even 16-year-olds are no match for him in the
physical aspect. I need someone more…normal.”
“But wasn’t it him who taught you the various sports that you play today?” Mrs. Morrison asked
with a smile. “Just because you’re better doesn’t mean you can’t play with others anymore. As someone
older, isn’t it your responsibility to take care of them? For a big brother, it’s a great joy to be of help to his
younger siblings. I’m sure that’s how Rae feels about all of you.”
Just then, the ones playing soccer saw Brian. “Hey, big brother. Wanna join us?”
As Brian was looking at them with a surprised expression, Mrs. Morrison spoke. “Come on now,

29
child. Your brothers are calling you.”
···
Even after Rae had finished putting his clothes on, Tenkai did not reappear. He looked around his
room to confirm the presence of his companion, and upon seeing that he was nowhere to be found, took
his bag and dived into his bed with it.
Once he was comfortably lying on his chest, he opened his bag and took some notebooks from it.
Then, from the study table nearby, he took a couple of books and placed it a few feet away from the
notebooks.
I don’t really remember when it started, but I have always made it a point to be as advanced as I
can possible be. The notebooks in my bag contain my homework, which I always do right away. The
other two books are about biology and physics, both of which are topics for next year. I always study
things that are one year ahead whenever I have the time, no matter how young I am.
“Alrighty, let’s do this.” Picking up his pen and opening one notebook, he began doing his
homework.

Author’s Note: And that’s a little insider into the life of the main character whom you’ll have to get
used to, because he’s gonna be the protagonist until this whole thing ends. Hope you guys
enjoyed this. Comments, suggestions, hit me if you want.

30
 Chapter 4
(Childhood Friends)

†-o0o-†
As the boy looked at the tragic scenery of the burning village in front of him, he held hands with a
girl who was about his size. The two of them sat hidden from the view of the attackers, yet the possibility
that they would be discovered was still there – including the possibility of getting burned if they could not
escape – and thus they continued to fear for their lives.
“Are we going to be all right?” the girl asked.
“Don’t worry,” the boy said. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you….”
†-o0o-†
Rae woke up all of a sudden, his eyes wide open. After taking a few breaths, he looked around
his room. Tenkai was not around. Then he looked at the clock nearby.
“Oh no, I’m gonna be late if I don’t hurry.”
He looked around again. No sign of Tenkai. As he got out of his bed, he held his head. What was
that dream…? It has fire and a village on it, so does it pass for the 1186 th time? But…it seems different
from the ones with the bloody…“Ugh…” Rae felt a headache as he tried to recall his past dreams. He
shook his head and cleared his mind, and the headache strangely went away. Never mind. My curiosity
won’t do me any good, anyway.
He then heard a knock on his door, followed by a voice. “Rae, are you awake yet? You better be,
if you don’t want the incident yesterday to happen again.”
“I’m up, Sir David,” Rae said. “But thanks for the concern. By the way, why are you here?”
“I happened to have some free time, so I decided to come here,” Sir David replied. “Anyway, you
better get up now.”
“Okay. I’ll be right there in a bit.”
···
“So,” Kimberly told Robin over the phone. “Just go ahead without me, okay?”
“Uh, sure,” Robin replied. I wanna wait for you. Let’s go together even if it means being late.
“Um…don’t be late, okay?”
“I won’t. I’ll run.”
And don’t overexert yourself. “Okay then. See you later.”
After the two of them hung up, Robin slapped his head. Damn, I’m so hopeless.
···
A few minutes later, Rae was in the train station, running in order to get inside the train in front of
him before the doors closed. Fortunately enough for him, he was able to run fast enough to get inside
while the alarm that signals the closing doors sounded. When he got in, he looked around and upon
seeing that there were no more vacant seats available, he went to find a hand rail to hold onto. When he

31
found one, he saw a familiar person standing nearby.
”It’s Robin,” he said to himself. He then went near him and gave him a nudge.
Robin turned around. “Oh, Kusanagi.” He grinned. “Not planning on being late, I see.”
“Yeah,” Rae replied. After saying so, he noticed something strange and looked around.
“Kimberly’s not around? That’s weird. Didn’t you say that the two of you always go together, being
neighbors and all?”
“She’s out due to an emergency of some sort. She might be a bit late today.” Please don’t remind
me of something like this.
Rae looked away from Robin. “Hey, did you have this weird feeling of wanting to be with her,
maybe end up late with her, or something along those lines?”
Robin’s heart started racing. “Uh, no.” Did he just see through me?
Rae bowed his head in disappointment. “Aw, that’s too bad. I thought you two would be the
childhood-friends-who-like-each-other type. Shouldn’t it be a usual thing?”
“Uh…maybe it is usual, but it’s not always the case.” Me liking her is…usual? Of course, I do get
that a lot, but…does that mean that…maybe, it also applies to her and I just don’t know it? No, wait, that
can’t be. But there’s no evidence that it’s not possible. However…
Rae tapped Robin’s shoulder. “Uh, we’re here. Let’s go.”
Robin shook his head. Someone who’s a year younger than me is reminding me to not be
absent-minded. How far have I fallen, I wonder…?
···
Sarah was walking toward the school on her own when she noticed two boys from the opposite
side of the road running.
“I can’t believe we’re this late!” Rae said in-between breaths as he ran. “If only I had my watch
with me, I would’ve hurried a bit more.”
“My case is worse,” Robin replied, who was also running. “I actually didn’t look at my watch until it
was too late.”
Sarah waved her hand. “Hey, guys! What’s wrong?”
The two boys looked at Sarah and stopped when they saw how casually she was walking. Sarah
also stopped, wondering what was going on. Rae and Robin first looked at her, who responded with a tilt
of her head, and then shifted their focus on each other.
Rae pointed at Robin’s watch. “Don’t tell me…that thing’s…”
“I can’t believe it was actually inaccurate…”
“Guys, I don’t understand what’s going on,” Sarah said. “Oh, and Robin, where’s Kim?”
Is everyone really that used to seeing me with Kim? It’s only been two weeks, though. “She’ll
catch up later.”
“Oh, I see. I hope she doesn’t end up late, then.”
Rae tapped Robin’s shoulder. “Hey, isn’t it a relief that we’re not actually late? That means

32
Kimberly just might make it in time.”
“Ah, oh yeah. You’re right.”
“Anyway,” Sarah said, “let’s go. We can wait for Kim in the classroom.”
Rae nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Come on, Robin.”
“Uh, sure.”
As the three of them walked, Robin stared at the ground with a disappointed look. I can’t believe I
got so carried away about being late that I forgot about Kim’s case. Is Kusanagi correct about me liking
her only because we’ve been together for a long time? Am I just so used to being with her that I feel like I
always want to stay by her side, and that desire is the love that I have for her?
···
Kimberly ran past the halls a few minutes later. Her hair was not in the usual braids, and it spread
wildly with each stride she made.
“I still have some time left,” she told herself. “I can make it.”
···
Meanwhile, classes have not yet started, and Rae was beside Robin, whose worry can be seen
all over his face. After a few minutes of silence, Rae nudged him.
“Hey Robin,” he said. “Being late isn’t much of an issue, right? I mean, I didn’t attend 4 subjects at
once, and that was during my first day as a transferee.”
“It’s more of an issue of her sense of duty,” Robin replied. “She’s the class representative, so
she’s taking full responsibility and making sure she sets an example to everyone. In fact, she wanted to
be the one to tour you around the school.”
“It just so happens that the teacher chose Sarah due to the closer age, huh?”
“More or less.”
“Then why are you so carried away?”
“Plain old concern, I guess.”
“That’s quite some concern, though, getting worked up about some sense of responsibility.”
You wouldn’t understand, Kusanagi. People have their own priorities.
Just then, they heard the bell ring. Rae and Robin immediately looked at the door, wondering if
Kimberly would be able to get in before the teacher does.
Rae shook his head. “Forget it. I’m going back to my seat.” He stood up and walked away.
When he was near his seat, he heard footsteps, and turned to see Kimberly standing in the
doorway. Woah, she actually made it. Besides, how come Mrs. () is so late?
Kimberly went straight inside and sighed when she got to her seat beside Robin.
You got me worried, Kim. Robin looked at Kimberly. He couldn’t help but smile in relief. “It’s a
good thing you made it, huh?”
“Yeah.” It was very obvious to Robin that Kimberly was trying to resist panting. “I’m pretty lucky
that Mrs. () is late.”

33
 “But it’s weird, don’t you think? Mrs. () was never late, and she mentioned that she always makes
it a point to come early. I wonder what happened now…?”
“It could be due to an emergency, like in my case.”
Outside the room, Mrs. () stood in place for a moment. Only after taking a deep breath did she go
in, a bright smile decorating her face. When she reached the teacher’s table, she looked at Kimberly
briefly and smiled.
“I’m sorry, everyone,” she said without her eyes averting from Kimberly. “A certain…incident
happened, and I just had to delay my arrival.”
Kimberly’s eyes widened. She waited for me…
Mrs. () opened her notebook. “Now then, let’s not waste any more time. First of all, let’s begin with
a recap of yesterday’s discussion.”
Rae clenched his fists. All right, it’s time to get serious. I’ll have to listen to what happened
yesterday in order to catch up. I can’t afford to fall asleep now.
···
“Hey kid, I thought you said you weren’t gonna fall asleep,” Tenkai said as he nudged Rae’s
falling head. He was sitting on the desk beside Rae’s notebook. “It’s only been 20 minutes. Get yourself
together, for crying out loud.”
“I…I can’t…” Rae’s eyelids alternated between opening and closing. “I can’t help it. It seems as if
sheer determination’s not enough.”
Tenkai sighed. “Geez, there’s no helping you. And to think you’ve been the top student in class
since forever…You know, you should try changing your mindset. Don’t think of this class as boring
enough to deserve your Z’s.”
“But…”
“…it’s impossible?” Tenkai waved a finger. “There’s always a plan B for everything, kid. If you
can’t do that, then think of something interesting and go with it until you can pay attention. Without getting
yourself caught, of course. Just look around and you’ll find something.”
Rae followed Tenkai’s advice and raised his head to survey the surroundings. The first he looked
at was Sarah, who was tirelessly writing as if in a trance. Nothing interesting in a geek. Then he saw his
other classmates hiding the fact that they were yawning. As if they’d be able to hide it. Mrs. () is right in
front of us. She can see everyone. Oh, wait…that means…He gulped in nervousness, yet he still
continued looking for something that could capture his interest nonetheless. Finally, he shifted his sights
to Robin and Kimberly, who were talking to each other while pointing at their notebooks. Ah, so they’re
discussing, huh? I guess that can be a good way to avoid getting sleepy.
“Hey, about Robin and Kimberly,” Tenkai said. “You mentioned the possibility of Robin having a
crush on Kimberly or something on the train a while ago, right?”
“Yeah, and remember, he said he doesn’t have any special feelings for her.”
“You believe him?”

34
 Rae grinned. “No way. Even though a denial can simply be a statement of the truth which is ‘no,’
there’s still the possibility of a lie. Besides, Kimberly’s cute. Even I, as young as I am, admit that I find her
very much attractive.”
“That’s right. Humans are imperfect, after all. With adolescence comes confusion, and it becomes
worse when someone falls in love.”
“So you think he’s in love with her?”
“What do you think, kid? It depends on what you think love is.”
“Heh, I’m too young for that. Pondering the difference between love and infatuation is beyond
me.”
Tenkai shook his head. “That’s not so convincing coming from someone who was blushing
yesterday when he was with a certain someone…”
“Shut it, Tenkai.”
“Oh, and who was it that acted all cool with some other girl and started getting friendly with her,
then saying she looks cute afterwards…?”
“Fine, fine, I get your point. Can you stop now?”
Tenkai grinned. “There you go. You’re awake already.”
“Oh, you’re right. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Rae bowed his head and yawned.
Tenkai shook his head. “You’re hopeless.”
···
In the school locker room a few hours later, Rae was changing his clothes with the other boys.
Near him, to the right, was Robin, and when the two of them were done changing, he motioned him to
come along as he went outside.
“Are there any cheat code students here?” he asked as the two of them stood with the large field
in front of them. “You know, the types that can last longer than any other.”
Robin had been confused with Rae’s first statement, but he quickly understood after the
clarification. He shook his head and laughed as he said, “Not me. I’m no good at physical stuff. If there’s
someone who’s physically fit, it’s Kim. No one has ever beat her in a race or lasted longer than her in
running laps.”
Rae’s eyes widened. “The best in PE is a girl? I never expected something like this. Does she
concentrate on any sport? Is it possibly track and field?”
“No. She practices martial arts.”
Just then, they heard the whistle by the PE teacher and ran straight to the fields. PE was about to
start.
When everyone had lined up, the teacher walked around, looking at every person. When he
passed by Rae, he stopped. “I’ve never seen your face before. What are you doing here?”

35
 “I just enrolled here yesterday,” Rae replied. “The principal granted me permission beforehand.”
He bowed his head. It’s pretty strange that you didn’t know something like this.
The teacher looked more intently at Rae. “You look like you have something else you’d like to tell
me.”
Rae shook his head. “No, sir. There was just something in my mind, but I don’t wanna say it.”
The teacher grinned. “Well then, new kid, here’s an order from a higher-up: tell me what was on
your mind or do 50 pushups.”
Tenkai suddenly appeared on top of Rae’s head. “Geez, kid. Fresh start and you suddenly make
a scene.” He made a thinking gesture as if recollecting past events and laughed. “Well, I guess that’s just
like you.”
To everyone’s surprise, Rae went for the floor and started doing the pushups. The teacher’s eyes
widened as he kept count. No way, a kid like him…50? There’s no way someone so young could be able
to pull it off. Yet Rae just kept his pace in pushing the ground repeatedly as if he was not getting any
weaker. Some of the students tried looking at Rae’s face only to find a calm expression.
Finally, after a few seconds, his speed dropped. “Can’t keep up the pace, kid? I knew it.”
After the teacher’s comment, Rae stopped and stood up. “Okay, so I slowed down. But at least I
reached 50. That means I’ve gotten away with my thought, right?”
The teacher laughed and gave Rae a pat on the back. “That was awesome, kid! You’re pretty
interesting.”
“Thanks much.”
He removed his hand from Rae, held his whistle in his hands, and looked at his students.
“Enough with the chit-chat, kids. Let’s start running some laps!” He looked at Kimberly. “Dickenson, lead
the girls.” Then he looked at Rae. “Your arms seem strong, but do you have what it takes to stay ahead of
all the boys for the entire running session?”
Rae shook his head. “Please just choose someone else.”
He nodded and looked at another student. “Alright, then. Adams, take charge, as usual.” Then he
shifted his sight back to Rae. “Oh, and just so you know, I had no intention of letting you lead.”
“You were…just curious as to what I would say?”
“Haha, spot on. Now, get going!”
Kimberly ran ahead. “Let’s go, everyone.” The other girls followed soon after.
One of the boys – Adams, Rae presumed – walked ahead for a few steps before running. Rae
waited for Robin so that they could run side-by-side.
···
Several minutes later, Robin was holding his bent knees, gasping for air as Rae ran ahead of him,
followed by the other boys. Kimberly saw the scene and kept her sights on Robin for a few seconds
before looking away.
“Hey, kid,” Tenkai said as he flew in front of Rae, flying at the same speed as his human

36
companion. “Leaving Robin again? This is the fifth time.”
“I’ll get back to him on the next lap.”
“That is if he can still go on. It looks like he’s reached his limit.”
When Rae finished another lap, he saw Robin resting on a bench. “I guess he’s given up, eh?”
Then he noticed that the footsteps he had grown accustomed to for the past minutes grew fainter. When
he stopped to look back, he saw his classmates stop and walk out of the track. Only a handful of them
remained running.
He looked far ahead and saw the remaining active girls. Kimberly was still ahead of everyone
else, the same way Kevin Adams was with the boys. She sets an example to everyone, huh…? That’s
pretty cool.
“You sure she’s really the fastest among the girls?” Tenkai asked, who flew right beside Rae.
“Maybe it’s the same case as Kevin, what with you being able to easily overtake him at any time yet you
choose not to.”
“Yes, that could be the case, but you can’t help but see her determination to stay at the top.” Is
this what you like about her, Robin?
···
“In the end, the only ones who were able to get through the entire PE class were you, Kevin, and
Kim,” Sarah said to Rae as they walked to the school gate.
“I never expected Kimberly to be so athletic,” Rae said. “Back in Minester, all girls were the weak,
delicate types.”
Sarah looked away, her arms crossed. “I gave up after 10 minutes and got back after resting for
20.”
“W-well, I’m not saying such types are failures in life or something.”
“I never mentioned anything like that. You thought of it on your own.”
Rae held his head. “Please spare me, Sarah. You’re making me go nuts.”
Sarah laughed. “I’m sorry, I was joking. Anyway, I’ll be leaving now.”
“Me too.”
“See you next week.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
“You too.”
As Sarah walked away, Rae kept his sight on her, following each and every one of her steps. He
took notice of her hair and clothes moving with the gentle breeze, and her habit of swinging her handbag
as she walked. As he stared at her, Rachel stood beside him without him noticing.
He looks like he’s in a trance or something, she thought. What is he looking at? When she turned
to see, she saw nothing. At that moment, Rae noticed her.
“Oh, it’s you,” he said. “Err…”
“Rachel,” she replied quickly. “And you?”

37
 “Rae Kusanagi. So, shall we get going?”
Rachel looked around. “Didn’t you have companions on the train yesterday?”
Ah, Robin and Kimberly. “Oh, them? They went ahead.”
Rachel smiled. “Thanks for waiting for me. Let’s go.”
Rae scratched his head as he followed Rachel. It’s not really like that. I just got caught up with
talking to Sarah, and I lost track of time. In fact, I thought you were the one who waited.
···
Kimberly was sitting inside the train on her way home, with Robin standing in front of her. The two
of them kept silent; as did everyone seem to be. The silence was not that of an awkward nature; both of
them had things to do without speaking. As Kimberly looked at the scenery outside from the window,
Robin shot glances at her.
Kimberly…my one and only childhood friend. We’ve been together since we were little. You were
the energetic, tomboyish girl, while I was the weak nerdy boy. Whenever we went out to play, I’d end up
getting injured and you’d help me up. Whenever we did schoolwork, you’d fall asleep almost instantly. I
miss those good old days.
“We’re here, Kim. Let’s go.”
Kimberly nodded. “Mm.” She stood up and the two of them got outside the train.
A lot has happened. Back then, it was just you and me. Now a lot of people surround us. The
attention we used to give each other is now divided for our other friends. Kim…to you, am I just one of
your “other friends” who just happened to be your “childhood friend”?

Author’s Note: This is my attempt to begin the Robin-Kim arc, but I won’t go into it for now; the
continuation would be in later chapters. Again, I hope you enjoyed reading, comments and
suggestions are welcome, etc.
Another Side Note: Some of you may have noticed already that Rae is starting to tread down the
path of the Mary Sue. However, this is all consciously planned; his being good in everything is for
the plot, just so you guys are aware ^_^

38
 Chapter 5
(Strength)

Rae and Rachel walked in the empty sidewalk of their neighborhood, neither one of them saying
anything. It was an awkward silence, yet both of them preferred it that way.
“This isn’t like you, kid,” Tenkai butted in. “Just yesterday, you were talking to her nonstop.”
Well, yesterday I had some questions about her, and we were able to talk about stuff connected
to it. Now that the questions have been answered, I don’t know what to say. She’s not a classmate of
mine, and I barely know anything about her.
The silence prevailed, and Tenkai looked at the two of them without a word and shook his head in
disappointment.
Finally, Rachel broke the silence. “We’re almost at my house,” she said.
Rae nodded. “Yeah.” Since his house was farther ahead, he knew that they were close, but
nevertheless he smiled in relief. I can’t believe I’m so worked up over something like this.
“You’re just not used to walking with a girl,” commented Tenkai. “Well, except for, you know…”
Stop it, Tenkai. I don’t want to remember. Besides, that issue was very shallow.
“And so since you feel strange right now, you think this one isn’t?”
Rae bowed his head. I don’t know. And I shouldn’t care.
When he looked back in front, he saw Rachel’s house; they were only a few steps away. A
thought suddenly came to his mind, and he stopped. “Uh, hey…can you…go ahead? I’ll go when you’re
inside your house.”
Rachel, who had gotten a few steps ahead, stopped and turned around. “Why? Is there
something wrong?”
“Uh, err…can’t you just do it?”
Rae didn’t see it coming; Rachel walked to him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him forward. “I
don’t understand. Why do I have to go on ahead when we’re this close?”
Rachel kept holding Rae’s hand until they reached her house, where an unexpected sight
welcomed them. She immediately released Rae’s hand.
“Mom, Dad…uh, it’s not what you think! I-I just dragged him here because…”
Rae slapped his face. Bad move. They’re gonna ask…
“Why did you drag him here?” her father, a muscular man in his late 30’s, asked with a stern face.
He looked at Rae, whose hand was still in his face. “Who are you?”
Rae immediately put his hands on his sides and bowed in respect. “I’m Rae Kusanagi, a
freshman at New State High School.”
Rachel’s father nodded. “Mm-hmm, okay.” He continued looking at Rae and suddenly showed
focus on Rae’s face as if he had noticed something strange. “How old are you?”
“Um, I’m…14. But I really am in high school. I believe my ID and uniform are proof enough.”

39
 Rachel’s mother stepped forward and gasped in surprise. “I-it’s true. I can’t believe there was an
upperclassman of my daughter who is younger than her.”
“Thank you for the compliment. I’m flattered.”
“Hey, kid…” Rachel’s father said in a commanding tone.
It’s Kusanagi. You forgot my name, didn’t you? was what Rae was thinking, but he feared the
intimidating presence of Rachel’s father. “Y-yes, sir?”
“Let’s talk at the living room. Come.”
Rae had no choice but to follow.

“Kid, I don’t like the atmosphere,” Tenkai said as he floated by, playfully going around in circles on
Rachel’s and her parents’ heads. Rae could see it but he knew better than to laugh. He simply bowed his
head and stared at the floor, waiting for someone to make a move.
After a grunt, Rachel’s father spoke. “So you were walking with my daughter on the way home,
huh?”
Just go with the flow, me. “Yes, sir.”
“Look at me when you talk. I feel like you’re talking to the floor.”
Rae raised his head. “Oh, sorry.” Can’t he sense the atmosphere here? Your wife and daughter
are completely silent.
“What were you two doing?”
“We were just walking.”
“Then why was she holding your hand?”
Rachel intervened. “I told you, I was dragging him. He said I should go ahead, and I thought it
seemed strange that he had to be left behind.”
Rachel’s father nodded, and then turned to Rae. “Why did you want Rachel to go ahead? You
had a feeling that we saw you two before and thought that we would be waiting in front of the door?”
Rae nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I didn’t want any misunderstandings, so I thought it would be
better to avoid any complications.”
“I see. But if you wanted to go along with that idea of yours, you would have to go home on your
own starting from today.”
“I…never really thought that far ahead.”
Rachel’s father stood up. “Come with me.”
Rachel quickly held her father’s shirt. “Wait, dad, no!”
“Let go, Rachel. This is an order.”
Rachel removed her grip helplessly. “I really don’t understand why you do this to everyone.”
Rae made a puzzled look. Everyone? So there were others who went through this kind of thing
before?
“Probably,” Tenkai replied. “After all, she had classmates at Minester before.”

40
 Rachel’s father walked toward a room. “Come on, kid. Follow me.”
Rae stood up. It’s no use. I’ll just have to go along.

“Woah, I knew the house was big, but I never thought it would contain a place like this,” Rae said
in awe as he looked around; he was in a large, empty room. The only other sight in his range of vision
was Rachel’s father. “So, what’s gonna happen now?”
Tenkai flew between the two of them. “I believe you have a hunch.”
Too bad it’s hard to believe. There’s no way he’d charge and punch me.
“By the way,” Rachel’s father said, “my name is Robert. And you are…?”
“Rae Kusanagi.”
“What a girly name, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. I had no idea what my parents were thinking whe–”
Rae blocked a straight punch from Robert, and then blocked a chop that followed with his other
hand. With both hands occupied, Robert made to headbutt Rae, but the latter was able to evade by
moving his head to the right, then he removed his hand from Robert’s fist and hit his body with his palm in
almost the same instant. Then the two of them drew back.
Robert held his abdomen. It was just his palm, but he was able to hurt me like this…what would a
punch feel like, I wonder…? No wait, he’s just a kid…
He noticed Rae approaching only when they were already near, and cursed himself for his lack of
presence of mind. He anticipated a straight punch and prepared to block it.
But instead of a fist hitting his palm, he felt a hand grip his wrist.
The other hand!
He prepared to block Rae’s other hand, expecting an attack from it, but felt a sudden pain on his
cheek before he could do anything.
He faked the punch, so I thought he’d attack with his other hand…I never thought he’d go
through with his first idea.
Rae drew back as Robert bent his knees and held his face. When he noticed the damage he had
done, he bowed his head. “I-I’m sorry! I kinda got carried away…”
Robert smiled. “It’s fine. You pass. Go home now. And remember that I went easy on you.”
“Uh…okay.” Good timing. The trouble was getting worse here for me, anyway. “Well then, I’ll be
taking my leave now.”
When Rae had left the large room, Robert sat on the floor. That’s right…I went easy on him. Or
did I…? Yes, I did hold back, but it wasn’t by much. If I got serious, maybe it would turn out into a close
fight…Or…don’t tell me he held back?! Geez, my daughter met such a mysterious – no, weird – kid.

As Rae passed by the living room, he saw Rachel and her mother sitting on a couch, silent. When
they had noticed their presence their eyes widened.

41
 “What happened?” Rachel asked.
“I never thought your dad was a martial artist,” Rae replied. “That punch from him was pretty
unexpected.”
Just then, Robert came. He motioned Rachel to go out and said, “Go to his house with him.
Hopefully, that would make up for the trouble I caused you.”
“Uh, thank you very much,” Rae replied. But wait, in what way would that make up for the
trouble?
“Just go.”

Rae was walking with Rachel a few minutes later, a few moments of silence taking place before
Rachel let her curiosity get the better of her and ask Rae about what happened.
“I just don’t understand,” she said. “You seem fine, and my father was holding his cheek the
whole time since he came out of the room. What happened there?”
“Don’t ask me,” Rae replied. “I had no idea boys who go with you have to fight against your dad.”
“I-I can’t believe it…someone actually defeated my dad in a duel…”
Rae tried looking back into the fight, and remembering how muscular Robert was, he became
curious. “How long has he been practicing martial arts, anyway?”
“4 years. How about you?”
“I started when I–” Rae remembered something, and cleared his throat. “I mean, 5 years.”
Rachel became suspicious. “What were you about to say back there?”
She can’t find out I lost my memories. She mustn’t. “Oh, uh, I started when I was 5.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
The two of them have walked a fairly long deal, and Rachel, looking at the surroundings, started
becoming curious as to where Rae’s house was.
At the same time, Rae, who knew the area well, stopped. Only a few more steps before the
orphanage comes into sight. “You can go home now. I’ll go by myself from here on.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I’ll go with you until you reach your house.”
“No, please, I insist. I have to stop by a few places before going home.”
“Like where?”
Here’s my chance. “I might stop by the orphanage, then go to the convenience store to buy some
snacks.”
“Wait, why the orphanage?”
“I have friends who’re in there now. I was planning to visit them.” There, now she won’t think
about my real home. “Uh, seriously, just go home. Tell your parents that I went to the convenience store
first so you had to leave. You see, I’m starting to get a bad feeling about going to houses with you around,
if you know what I mean.”

42
 “Oh, I-I’m really sorry for being a carrier of bad luck.”
“Wh-wha?” Oh crap, I fail at word choice. “Hey, I was just kidding. What happened a while ago
was just the effect of a series of unfortunate events, and I got away with it, so don’t take it too seriously,
okay?”
Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, are you hiding something from me?”
Rae sighed. I guess it’s time to finish off all complications and tell part of the truth. “Yeah, that’s
right. I can’t tell you where my house is. But please trust me, I’ll show you around when the right time
comes.”
“I guess I can understand that. After all, we just met yesterday. Just make sure you keep that
promise, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I will.” So can you leave now? The kids are waiting for me.
“Fine, if that’s what you want.” She quickly turned and walked away. She was smiling, but Rae
could not see it since she was facing away from him.
“Uh, did I make her mad again?” he asked Tenkai, who flew to look at Rachel’s face when she
left.
“No saying.”
“I hate your invisibility, you know that?”
“I believe I have always been aware of that. Now, get going.”
“Yes, your smallness.”

When Rae got to the orphanage, he saw the kids outside, playing. He counted them and saw that
everyone was there. On one side, he saw Mrs. Morrison supervising them. He walked toward her.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said/ “A series of unexpected events happened.”
Mrs. Morrison turned her head to look at Rae and smiled. “Oh, you’re here, finally. You’re not hurt,
right?”
“Um, no.” Rae bowed his head for a few moments and scratched it.
“Is there something you’d like to ask, Rae?”
“Uh, okay, I’ll say it,” he decided. He raised his head and looked at her. “I, uh, was wondering why
is it that whenever one of the kids come home late, you get all flustered and worried and can’t seem to
stop asking questions about what happened and if they were hurt or something, but when it’s me, you just
confirm whether I got hurt or not, and that’s it?”
“Well, I guess that’s just how much I believe in your strength and sense of responsibility,” Mrs.
Morrison replied. She reached out her hand and patted Rae’s head. “Of course, you’re important to me,
as well as the others. To tell the truth, I really do get very worried when you go out late, but you’re
personality makes me act otherwise. You see, it was you yourself who took something that you didn’t
have to: the responsibility of taking care of your fellow orphans. As such, I can’t let you be at the same
level as them; I want you to rise to the level of the adults who take care of them. Sure, you’re 13, but

43
you’ve been working with us since you were 8. That says a lot about your maturity, and I don’t want it to
falter because of me. Remember, you must always be prepared to stand up on your own so you can
stand up in defense of these poor children.”
Rae held his head. Woah, what a lecture. “Uh, thanks for the…compliment, I guess. Anyway,
what happened to their studies?”
“Oh, that? They asked me for help, but they all did the most part on their own. They used your
favorite line, too.”
“Study hard…play harder…and sleep?”
“Oh, they didn’t care about the sleep part,” Mrs. Morrison said with a chuckle. “They’re still very
young, after all.”
Rae smiled. I guess she’s right. They’re still young; sleeping isn’t much of an issue. Come to think
of it, I was like that once.”
Suddenly, Rae felt pressure on his back. He reflexively placed his arms on his back to assist the
child in clinging onto his waist. Then a couple more kids grabbed his arm and tugged it, to which Rae
responded by raising them both up.
“You’re late!” the girl grabbing his right arm said. “We had to study today’s lesson on our own
because you wouldn’t teach us!”
“Sorry, Annie. In exchange for big brother’s lack of responsibility, how about I play with you all
until dinnertime?”
The child riding on Rae’s back smiled, released his grip on him, and ran toward his fellow
orphans. “Big brother’s gonna play with us!”
Rae smiled. Well, that’s one less kid I have to carry.
He then heard the young boy that he was carrying on his left arm. “Hey, big brother,” he said,
“when I reach your age, will I be as strong as you?”
“No way, you idiot!” protested the girl at his right. “Only big brother is able to carry us like this.
Right?”
Rae shook his head. “Nah. Maybe I just had a thirst for strength before, that’s why I improved my
physical aspect a lot. But now, I’m just glad that I’m able to use this for your enjoyment.” But seriously,
you two are starting to get heavy…
Right after Rae’s thought, the two kids let go of his arms and started running to where the others
are. Rae sighed in relief, stretched his arms, and followed them.
Before getting out of earshot, Mrs. Morrison shouted, “Rae, don’t forget that you have to clean the
place and do laundry, okay?”
Rae stopped. Oh crap, salary. Right. “Uh, yes, ma’am.”
“Come on, big brother,” came the voices of the kids. “Hurry up!”
“Coming!” With Mrs. Morrison motioning him to go, he ran toward the kids with a smile on his
face.

44
 Seriously, what is it with strength, anyway? Is such a physical thing even necessary in this world
where authority is mostly based on brains? Where technology has taken over physical labor? With my
limited capacity, up to what extent can my two hands achieve?

Author’s Note: Ohnoes, Rae just beat someone up. But anyway, I didn’t make him strong to make
him the most awesome kid alive – though it’s part of the reason – but there’s a plot-related thing
to it; even the I-will-make-Rae-super-awesome is for the plot. Just stick with me and you’ll get
what I mean.

45
 Chapter 6
(School Clubs)

In Rae’s and Sarah’s classroom early in the morning, Sarah was sitting on her chair, reading a
book. The other students were separated into groups, talking to each other, with some of the boys doing
so while sitting on the tables.
Sarah was in the middle of intently reading a particular section of the book when a bag was
dropped into the seat beside her, which she failed to notice. A few moments of silence ensued, and the
bag was moved to the floor and the chair was pulled back a bit, then pushed back into place. Sarah
continued reading.
“Hey, kid, you should stop hoping that she’d notice you. Come on, give her a nudge.”
Rae shook his head. “No. Let her be like that.” He placed his arms on the desk and slept using it
as a cushion.
Meanwhile, one of the groups, which included Robin and Kimberly, stared at the two of them.
“Setting aside the fact that he came early,” Robin said, “the two of them really stand out, what
with no one else within a 5-meter radius. Don’t you guys think so, too?”
“I just think it’s better than having Sarah on her own,” Kimberly replied. “Even though Rae’s
sleeping. You know, sometimes simple company is enough. Just the physical presence.”
“Even though both of them don’t really acknowledge each other’s presence?”
“Uh, well that’s….”
Before anyone could continue talking, the teacher entered the classroom. As soon as they saw
her, everyone rushed back to their seats. Sarah stopped reading and Rae woke up due to all the fuss.
“She’s here, huh?” Rae said with a yawn. “About time.”
“That’s unusual, coming from you,” Sarah replied. “By the way, since when did you get here?”
“Uh…during the climax of Chapter 4, I believe.”
“What?! You’ve been here that long?”
“Kusanagi! Spencer!” came the sudden voice of the teacher. “You two were discussing
something?”
“Uh, no ma’am,” stammered Sarah. “I-it’s nothing.”
Rae raised his hand, much to the surprise of everyone. “Actually, I won’t deny it. We were talking
when you got here. She was surprised because I got here early. That’s all, though.”
Hmm, come to think about it, the teacher thought, Sarah never let herself get caught talking to
others when I’m around back in the past. Looks like that boy has quite some influence. “Kusanagi, you’ll
be cleaning the classroom. On your own.”
“Abuse of power much?” Rae asked.
“Just do it.”
Rae nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

46
 The teacher cleared her throat. “Now that that’s over with, I’ll begin the announcement, even
though most of you probably know this already. Starting today, you guys can join clubs. Literature club,
glee club, some sports club, whatever you like. As a form of generosity from me, I’ll let you all off today so
you can take a look around, even if it’s just for 1 hour. See you tomorrow.”
The students stood up, and everyone except Rae left.
“What’s wrong, Kusanagi?” the teacher asked.
“Where’s the broom?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it for now,” she replied. “Just get back once school is over.”
“Damn.”
“You didn’t really think I’d let you off with a few dirt now, did you?”
Rae grinned nervously. “I’ll be going now.” He then walked away.

Rae saw Sarah standing right outside the classroom. She turned her head and saw him, then
walked toward him. “Let’s go.”
“Oh, the tour’s not over yet?”
“What, you wanna go look for the clubs on your own?” Sarah asked. “Well, that’s fine with me.”
Rae shook his head. “All right, I’ll tag along.”
Sarah smiled. “Good. So, what club do you want to join?”
“Uh, karate club, I guess. I can continue from where I left off back when I quit.”
“All right then,” Sarah said as she walked ahead. “After this, you’re going with me to the literature
club.”
Rae followed. “Literature? Ugh, geeky club. I didn’t know you swing that way. Well, actually I did,
but…”
Sarah turned her face and smiled sweetly at Rae, with her eyebrows crossing. “Did you say
something?”
“Oh, haha, uh, nothing, nothing, ma’am.” I’m dead.

The two of them went inside the school gym, just in time to see students come out of an office
with papers in their hands.
“Please join the tennis club!” one of them said as he offered a piece of paper to Rae.
“You, could you join the volleyball club?” another one said as he handed a piece of paper to
Sarah.
Soon, the two of them were completely surrounded with people and papers.
“Uh,” Rae said in a normal voice, which was enough for everyone to stop. “Karate club.”
A young boy behind the circle of people stepped forward and handed a paper to Rae. “Here you
go, sir.”
Rae raised his eyebrow. A geek-looking weakling? I thought the one with the application form for

47
the karate club was that big guy. He looked at a large, muscular student wearing a tank top.
Sarah motioned Rae to go with her as she got out of the circle of students. “Go sign your
application form so I can go to the literature club.” Rae followed her.
“Um, excuse me…” came a voice from behind. Rae turned his head and saw that it was the big
student, with his hand slightly outstretched as he held a piece of paper. “Apparently, the form for the
literature club got mixed in with those of the sports clubs. Here you go.”
Rae’s eyes widened. What?! That big guy?! So small guys for martial arts and big ones for geeky
stuff? What’s with these people?
Sarah went to the student and took the form. “Oh, lucky me. Thank you.” She turned to Rae. “All
right then, let’s go there and fill these out.” She pointed at a bench a few meters away.
As the two of them walked away, the other students left, except for the one from the karate club,
who slowly approached Rae and Sarah.
“Um, excuse me,” he said softly. “Are you a…beginner? Or do you already have experience?”
Rae turned his head, grinned, then proceeded writing. “Black belt, first degree. I quit last year
when I found out it’ll be harder to get higher ranks.”
The student’s eyes widened. “Black belt?! Th-that’s awesome! First year high school, and already
in the dan ranks…and yet, I’m…”
Rae put away his pen and handed the paper over. The student took it. “What, so you really are a
weakling?” he asked. “The stereotypical weak dude with glasses who always spends time reading?”
Tenkai suddenly appeared and hit Rae’s head. “Hey kid, that’s too much.”
The student bowed his head in embarrassment. “I…I just thought I’d try learning karate so I could
become stronger…”
“Why?” Rae asked. “Are you always bullied in your past like in those shows?”
The student nodded.
“What’s your name?”
“Izzy.”
Ugh, geeky name. What were his parents thinking…? “All right, Izzy…” I still can’t get over his
name. “Don’t focus on becoming strong. Just enjoy the process. It’s the same with studies; as long as you
just want your grades to be high, you’ll never learn anything. Now get going.” He motioned Izzy to go on
ahead.
“Um, ok,” Izzy replied. “But…would you mind teaching me sometime in the future?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever. Just remember: No pain no gain. Meaning you should be ready to get
yourself injured if you’re really serious.”
“Um, ok. So, uh, I’ll see you once club activities start. Bye.” Izzy turned his back and walked
away.
Rae sighed. Good grief, what’s with the “um, ok”’s? He could be a little more decisive. He turned
to Sarah. “Taking your time? Hurry up.”

48
 Sarah stood up. “All right, I’m done.” She turned to face Rae. “Should we get going now?”
Rae nodded. “Yeah. Come on.”

Rae and Sarah walked in the quadrangle, toward a building where the literature class was
located. Rae stopped when they had reached the building and Sarah was starting to go up the stairs.
“You go on ahead,” he said. “I wanna take a look around for a while.”
Sarah turned her head. “Suit yourself,” she said before proceeding up the stairs.
Once she was no longer around, Tenkai appeared and sat on Rae’s head. “Where do you plan on
going now, kid?”
“I’ll go look around for Robin and Kimberly,” Rae replied. “Where do you think I should go first?”
“Swimming club?”
“For the women in swimsuits?”
Tenkai nodded.
“As if,” Rae replied. “The people are just registering. No way anyone would be in swimsuits.”
“So you’ll be going next time?”
“If people don’t get suspicious.”
Tenkai patted Rae’s head. “I like your style, kid.”
“It’s your style. It just rubbed off on me, okay?”
Just then, from the second floor of the building, a girl came rushing down. She was in such a
hurry that she had failed to notice Rae’s presence blocking the way and bumped into him.
“Ouch,” the girl said before moving to the side. “I’m sorry.”
Rae looked at the girl. I’ve seen her somewhere before… A thought cane to his mind. “Oh, hey
there. You were with a classmate of mine yesterday, right? You’re from another class?”
The girl stopped and turned to Rae. “Oh, yes, that’s correct. My name is Tina Madison. And you
are?”
“Rae Kusanagi,” Rae replied. “I just got here two days ago. So, uh, where are you going? You
seem to be in quite a hurry.”
“Not really,” Tina said. “I just promised I’d meet up with Michael.”
Michael…oh, the classmate of mine. I gotta remember his name, then. What club did he register
for?”
“Badminton club. What about you?”
“Karate club. Anyway, that’s no longer important. I’m looking for a couple of friends of mine.
Would you mind if I go with you for a while? I might find them if I just walk around.”
“Sure thing.”

En route to the covered courts, Rae spotted Robin and Kimberly walking out from the track and
field oval.

49
 He turned to Tina. “I found them,” he said. “I guess I’ll be leaving now, then. Thanks for the
company.”
Tina nodded. “Sure thing. No problem.”
“Well then, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” And without waiting for any reply, Rae hurriedly ran to
where his two friends were. Tina, on the other hand, continued walking in the same direction.

Robin and Kimberly were walking out of the covered courts when they spotted Rae running
towards them. Robin waved his hand. “Hey, I didn’t expect you’d be coming here.”
The three of them stopped when they got near each other. Rae panted a little, then replied, “Well,
I got curious as to what club the two of you would be joining. So, what is it, anyway? Basketball?
Fencing?”
“We both applied for the track team,” Kimberly replied. “I told Robin to go ahead and choose
fencing, but he insisted on doing something new.”
“Oh, so you, uh…fenced before, eh?”
“Fenced…?” Robin repeated. “Uh, I guess so. I’ve been in competitions and such.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“What about you, Kusanagi?” Kimberly asked. “Have you joined anything yet?”
“I joined the karate club in hopes of reaching the 2 nd dan rank somehow,” Rae replied. “That, and I
miss formal fighting.”
“Formal fighting?”
“I can reword it into ‘Fighting against people other than school bullies,’ if that would seem easier
to comprehend. Come to think of it, I haven’t had any brawls here yet.”
“That’s because you’re new here,” said Robin. “You didn’t expect a group of big guys would go hit
you for being a transferee now, did you?”
Rae stared at Robin curiously. “I did.”
Robin’s eyes widened. What kind of school was he in…?
“Anyway,” Kimberly intervened, walking in the middle of Rae and Robin, “we’re done with
registration, so let’s get going to our second class.” She paused, looked at Rae, and grinned. “We
wouldn’t wanna be late now, would we?”
Rae turned her back on Kimberly and started walking ahead. “Yeah, yeah, sure.”

When classes were over, Rae, Robin, and Kimberly walked out of their classroom. Rae yawned
and Kimberly stretched.
“So,” she said after stretching, “you’ll be going with us this time, Rae?”
“Yep,” Rae replied. “Oh, and while we’re at it, I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
“Hm? Someone from another class?”
Rae shook his head. “No, she’s-” A sudden thought cut him off. He gritted his teeth. “Darn. I

50
nearly forgot.”
Robin’s eyes widened as he seemed to realize something. “Oh yeah, I forgot about it, too. You
better get going, Kusanagi.”
“What? What?” Kimberly was clearly lost in the discussion. “Am I missing anything?”
“He was supposed to clean the classroom for the first period,” explained Robin. “You know, for
confronting our teacher.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Kimberly smiled and tapped Rae’s back. “Hurry up and get your ass
there.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Rae made one step, then abruptly stopped and turned back to them. “Oh wait, if
you see a middle school girl by the gate with long, brown hair and a clip on the left side, could you tell her
that I’ll be cleaning the classroom and that she could go ahead with you?”
“And who would that girl be? A relative of yours?” Robin asked.
“Nope, she’s just some random middle school girl who happened to be living in the same
neighborhood as me.”
Robin nodded. “All right, we’ll tell her if we see her. But are you sure she’d be waiting for you?
Maybe you’re just too full of yourself or something.”
“Aw, shut up. She waited for me yesterday, so just look for her in case she does it again.”
Kimberly gently tapped Rae’s back again. “We get it already, so could you just go?”
“Fine, fine, I’m leaving,” Rae replied as he started walking away. “Go have your quality time alone
for all I care.”
Robin gulped momentarily at Rae’s last statement, but Kimberly simply laughed and said, “As if
we’d be an item, right Robin?”
Rae sighed and shook his head. I feel sorry for Robin, then.

“You…” Rae was looking at Rachel in surprise several minutes later. “You waited for me?!” He
slapped his face and smiled, feeling pathetic. “Damn, I don’t know what to say.”
“We should get going now if you don’t mind,” said Rachel.
Rae nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

In the train, the two of them were sitting beside each other, with Rae looking at the floor and
Rachel staring at the sunset through the window behind them. Rae’s eyes shifted to various places of the
floor in unease. Damn, I seriously have to apologize to her. Why can’t I bring myself to just say it…?
Just then, he felt a hand tap his shoulder. He turned around and saw Rachel.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Rae’s eyes widened in surprise. What’re you sorry for?
“I just…” continued Rachel. “I just felt like waiting for you. It was all right, really, since I was
reading a book while waiting. So please don’t think you gave me a hard time or something.”

51
 Rae bowed his head. I am so pathetic. “I’m sorry, too. This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t let
myself get in a quarrel with my teacher.”
Rachel laughed. “Your friends told me all about it. People like you are pretty rare, you know that?”
The doors of the train opened, and Rae stood up. “We’re here. Let’s go.”
“Escaping the topic, huh?” mumbled Rachel to herself as she followed Rae.

“You’re pretty good at evading topics of discussion,” Rachel said as the two of them walked
together. “It’s as if you had willed the chain of events in such a way that once I said that line, we would
have been at our stop.”
“Have you joined any school clubs?” Rae asked in return.
“Chess club,” Rachel replied, which was quickly followed by, “Hey, don’t change the topic!”
Rae laughed. “What a geek. Why not join the karate club instead?”
“I plan on joining once I get in high school.”
“Ah, so that you would be better by then?”
“Yes,” Rachel replied. “And besides, I’m pretty good at chess.”
“Good as in…competition level?”
“Yep.”
“Heh, that’s pretty cool.”
Rachel smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I know.” She paused for a moment and heaved a sigh. “This is
my last year in middle school. I want to win this time. But even if I don’t, I’ll use high school as a stepping
stone to move forward into new horizons.”
“New horizons…that’s pretty poetic,” Rae said. He bowed his head in contemplation. What she
plans on doing…is what I’m doing right now. By going to a different high school, I thought somehow
things would change. He chuckled secretly. And then I met them: Sarah, Robin, Kim, and Rachel. Oh
crap, Robin’s the only guy I’m close with. Maybe I should go socialize with that other guy…Michael, was
it…?
Suddenly, Tenkai appeared and pushed Rae’s head from behind. “We’re almost at her house, kid.
And stop mumbling to yourself.”
Rae had failed to notice that Rachel was still beside him. “What were you doing a while ago? And
what was with that…head bang…?”
Dammit Tenkai, I thought you knew better than to push my head when others are around?!
“Someone threw a rock at me.”
Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“No.” Rae tried evading Rachel’s glance, and found himself looking at her house. “Oh look, we’re
here. Bye.”
“Hey, you haven’t answered my question yet!”
“I joined the karate club,” he said before running off.

52
 “That’s not what I was asking!”

Author’s note: This chapter is like a filler of sorts. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

53
 Chapter 7
(School Bullies)

Rae woke up the next day in a calmer fashion than when he gets his recurring dream. He rose
from his bed and held his head. “Crap, no nightmare is worse than that wherein you are forced to solve a
math problem.”
Tenkai appeared and sat on Rae’s head. “It shows how much of a nerd you are.”
“Screw you, then. Let’s see you have such a dream…oh wait, do you even sleep?”
Tenkai grinned. “Luckily enough, your so-called ‘nightmare’ seems to have some sort of good
effect on you. Look at the clock; you won’t be late again if you don’t slack off.”
He changed the subject…Rae got out of his bed, took his towel, and went toward the bathroom.
As he held the doorknob, he stopped momentarily and turned his head to face Tenkai. “Hey,” he said.
“Why does my recurring nightmare end up making me late when I’m supposed to wake up from it
quickly…?”
“You may be forcing yourself.”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Tenkai flew towards Rae and pushed his back. “Get in there already!”
“Fine, fine.”

Around two hours later, Rae was walking in the corridor where his classroom was in. Several
meters away from the door, he saw his teacher on the opposite side of the building. The two of them
exchanged fierce glances. Rae grinned, and his teacher’s eyebrows met.
“This is gonna be fun,” Rae told himself.
Tenkai appeared and laughed. “I gotta see thi- Wha?“
Before Tenkai could finish his sentence, Rae sprinted forward. No way is this old hag gonna get
in there before me.
The teacher was a few steps short; by the time she touched the door, Rae had already gotten in.
She stopped and gasped for breath.
“Are you okay, teach?” Rae asked with a sarcastic innocent smile.
The teacher chuckled. “It’s the first time a student has defied me to this extent.”
“I’m so flattered, then.”
“Wanna clean the classroom?”
“Hey, I wasn’t late or anything, so by legal means, I don’t owe you anything.” He then turned his
back and walked toward his seat.
Sarah greeted him with a curious face. “What happened there?”
“Race,” Rae replied. “I wanted to keep my streak of not being late.” He then looked forward with a
straight face. “To that end, I’ll do anything.” Straight ahead, he saw his teacher glaring at him. “Oh, don’t

54
mind me, please. I was just talking to myself.”
The teacher turned her back and took a piece of chalk. “Hmph.”
Sarah, whose head was resting on her arms, turned her head to Rae and smiled. “I think our
teacher is having fun.”
Rae looked at her with suspicion. “Seriously? I think she really hates me now.”
Sarah shook her head. “No, I think she somehow liked the way you spiced things up so early in
the morning.”
“But there’s no denying that she hates me.”
Sarah laughed. “Yeah. Mixed feelings, maybe.”
The two of them stopped talking for a few moments, then Rae’s sight shifted to the blackboard.
“Hey Sarah,” he said. “You don’t wanna take notes?”
“Oh no, I forgot!”
“That’s weird. A nerd like you forgetting something like that…”
“What did you say?”
“Oh, nothing, ma’am.” Geez, just accept the fact that you’re a geek.

A few hours later, Rae was sleeping on his desk and Sarah was desperately trying to wake him
up, shaking him forcefully but careful not to push him too hard.
“Hey, wake up!” she said, seemingly in vain. “Everyone left already. Come on, let’s go.”
Tenkai, who was sitting on Rae’s head, laughed. “It’s all because you have no idea how much he
studies at night,” he said, fully aware that Sarah would not hear him. “In any case, you should seriously
get up, kid. I know being pushed by a cutie like Sarah feels good and all, but don’t you feel sorry for her?
You’re giving her a hard time.”
Rae groaned, and Sarah, upon hearing it, stopped shaking him.
“Great acting, kid,” Tenkai said, patting Rae’s head. “And now that the two of you are alone, you
should take this chance and ask her to eat with you. Just the two of you. Alone.”
“Oh, you’re here…” Rae said groggily. “…Sarah. Is it lunch time already?”
“Yeah. Can’t you see that no one’s around anymore?”
“Oh, sorry about that. You could have just left, you know.”
“I can’t just leave you,” she replied.
Say what? Rae’s eyes widened and his face started feeling hot.
“I’d feel bad if I left my seatmate, after all. Call it a sense of responsibility.”
Oh, it’s just that. Damn, and I even got excited and all. “Gee, thanks.” I am such a good liar.
“Anyway, let’s go eat lunch now.”
“Um, about that…” Sarah smiled innocently at Rae. “I won’t be eating today.”
“Eh? What’s wrong?”
“We have a physics exam later, remember?”

55
 “Um, yeah.” I studied for that last night, that’s why I’m sleepy right now.
“I forgot to study yesterday, so I’ll be reviewing today.”
Rae stood up and took his bag. “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
Sarah looked at Rae, puzzled. “Huh?”
“I’m going with you,” Rae replied. “I’ll review with you.” He paused for a moment and smiled. “Hey,
it rhymes, setting aside the fact that I used the same word.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure about which? Aw, quit whining and let’s go to the tree.”

In the large, plant-infested space behind several buildings, on the gigantic tree that stood
majestically in the middle, Sarah was reading the contents of her notebook while Rae sat beside her,
looking at the sky and drawing things with his finger. It had been more than half an hour since the two of
them were there, and Rae was getting bored.
“Hey,” he said as he nudged Sarah. “If a ball goes here and rolls down like this…” He moved his
finger to simulate the movement of the ball.
Sarah shifted her eyes to Rae’s finger. “And then…?” she asked.
Rae grinned. “And then an elephant blocks the way like this…” He used his other hand to make a
fist and simulate a scenario where the ball hits a stationary elephant. “…then what happens to the dog
behind it?” He bowed down and looked at his stomach. “I’m sorry, I don’t have an extra hand.”
“Geez, you’re so irresponsible!” Sarah said. “If you’re not gonna be serious about studying, then
don’t get me involved!”
Rae fell silent and his eyes crossed. He stood up and took his bag. “Fine.”
Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s fine, really,” Rae replied, his back turned to Sarah and his head bowed. “I already studied last
night, so I don’t really like the idea of reviewing right before the exam; I’d rather relax.” He paused then
sighed. “But you know, I don’t like it when you, who’s cramming on studying, tell me that I’m irresponsible.
After all, I’m not cramming anything.”
Before Sarah could say anything in response, Rae had already left.

A few minutes later, Rae was walking in the quadrangle toward a building. Tenkai appeared and
flew beside him.
“Gee, kid,” he said. “That was pretty harsh.”
Rae sighed. “You don’t have to tell me. I should seriously apologize later.”
“But you know,” the small angel intervened, “it’s not often that I see you regret confronting
someone. I mean, look at yourself; you have fun arguing with teachers. But here you are feeling bad
about having a quarrel with a fellow student.”
“It’s just that…I’d feel bad if I don’t get on good terms with her. She is my seatmate, after all. I

56
won’t have anyone to talk to during class if she gets mad at me.”
“Haha, you have a point there, I guess.”
Rae entered the building and climbed the stairs. When he got to the 2nd floor of the building, he
saw a classmate of his leaning on the wall, looking at the ceiling.
I know this guy. What was his name again….? Oh right, Kevin. “Yo, Kev,” he said as he went to
his classmate. “…what on earth are you doing in a place like this?”
Kevin shifted his eyes on Rae, who was right beside him. “How about you? Why’re you here?”
“Nothing much,” Rae replied. “I figured eating now would take too much time that I’d be late for
our next subject, and I don’t wanna be late for an exam. That’s why I thought I’d just walk around a bit to
kill time.”
“Wouldn’t that make you hungrier instead?”
“It’s better than doing nothing.”
“Hmm…whatever,” was the only thing Kevin could say. “Anyway, I’ll be leaving now. See you
later.”
“Sure. Good luck to us on the test.”
Kevin left, and Rae proceeded to the next floor.
When he reached the third floor, right after the last step on the flight of stairs, he noticed
something going on. As he looked to his right, he noticed three big guys who seem to be bullying a
classmate of his.
Larry Martin, he told himself in an attempt to act the role of a detective stating profile information.
The guy’s a nerd, for one thing. He’s got those round glasses and all, and he’s pretty much not the
sociable-type. He loves his books, and he’s always seen reading in a corner. I hate nerds. But…I hate
bullies more. They think they’re strong just because they’re big? What a bunch of crap.
He approached them casually, as if he was just a passer-by. Upon inspection of the area by
merely using his eyes without moving the head, he noticed that there was no one else around. He really
goes to isolated places, eh? he thought. As he got closer to them, he heard their conversation.
“You bumped us on purpose!” one of them shouted.
Making their own interpretation of what happened… Rae thought as he continued walking. He
was about four yards away from them now. …the reason for bullying some helpless runt…just for the
sake of showing off their stupid strength…those guys are the lowest. Larry probably bumped them by
accident because he was reading a book while walking down this hall.
“I’m telling you,” Larry said. There was a Biology book on the floor near his foot. “I was just merely
not looking. I was too preoccupied with this book that I’m reading that I never noticed that you guys were
passing by!”
Rae grinned. I thought so. What a typical scenario we have here. He was now around two yards
away, and the bullies didn’t even seem to notice him, or maybe simply refused to pay him any heed.
“Who the hell cares?!” another said in a fairly loud voice. “You’re gonna pay for what you just did,

57
accident or not, right here and now!”
Rae passed by them, a smile creeping on his face.
They finally noticed him. “Hey, kid! What’re you doing here?!”
Before they could even have the chance to turn their heads towards Rae who was now a behind
them, he suddenly hit one of them at the back of the neck with a karate chop.
“I never really liked doing that cliché move where you cut cement into two,” he said calmly with a
grin. “But that doesn’t mean my karate chop isn’t lethal.”
The bully who was hit fell on the ground. He struggled to stand up, but he was momentarily
unable to do so. The other two turned to look at Rae. They were about to punch him, but Rae had already
stepped back a few feet away. Larry took this chance to escape.
Rae’s eyes looked fierce as he had them focused on his opponents. “Muscle-heads really are
slow, eh?”
“Don’t you dare underestimate us!” One of them said angrily. “An attack from behind is also unfair,
you know!”
Rae laughed a bit. “I was able to pull it off because you guys were too slow.”
“Why, you~!” the guy couldn’t take it anymore; Rae could easily see the rage in his eyes. He
charged towards Rae, ready to throw a punch at him.
When he was close enough, he punched him, yet he noticed a moment later that he had failed.
Right in front of him was a smiling Rae who deflected his punch without showing any effort.
Rae raised his head and looked at Bully #1 in the eye. “…you’re not good enough for me.” He
kicked Bully #1 square on the stomach, making him fall on the floor. Rae bowed his head and grinned
again. Heh…the other one was able to sneak in behind me, eh?
Bully #2 charged at Rae; he was going to tackle him. When he was close enough, Rae side-
stepped out of the way in no time, went behind him, and kicked him, causing him to fall on the floor, too.
Bully #3, who was now able to move, still with some minor aches at the back of his neck, charged
at Rae, his palms wide open in order to push Rae toward the wall and injuring him in the process. Rae
simply responded by reaching out his hands, too. Soon, their fingers were interlocked with each other,
with Bully #3 using up all his strength and Rae acting defensively while keeping his grin.
“Damn you…” Bully #3 said as he tried to move Rae’s hand, but he was unable to do so no
matter how hard he tried. …is this guy human?!
“Sorry,” Rae said, his grip on each hand tightening. “Playing mercy with me is fatal.” He tightened
his grip on Bully #3’s hands more to the point that he cracked his opponent’s bones a bit. He then twisted
Bully #3’s wrists and kicked him, sending him falling to the ground with his comrades.
The deed done, Rae turned his back on them and looked at his watch. “15 more minutes,” he
said to himself. “I still have some time to spare, I guess.” He waved his hand with his back away. “See ya,
losers.”
Rae was getting away, and the bullies didn’t like it one bit. They stood up and walked slowly

58
towards him; they were too weak to move normally.
When they were a few feet apart, they quickly surrounded Rae. They breathed heavily and stared
at him with fully open, angry eyes.
Rae clenched his fists, ready to take them on. “You sure you guys wanna do this? I won’t be held
responsible, ok?” He laughed mockingly. “Heh, either way, you won’t be able to put the blame on me if I
do end up getting you guys injured.”
The bullies didn’t answer. Instead, they all attacked at once.

Around one minute later, Rae was walking down the stairs, leaving behind the 3 bullies, severely
injured, each with at least one black-eye.
Rae went to his class, not worrying about the bullies whether they were able to go to their class or
not. He entered the classroom and sat on his chair, listening to the teacher whenever he felt like it and
sleeping whenever he felt bored the way he always did.

After hours of boring lectures, dismissal time came. Rae started walking home, but was
interrupted when he was about to reach the gate.
Rae heard a familiar voice. “That’s him, Mrs. Birman! That’s the guy who started a fight with us
and made the halls in Building #2’s second floor a real mess!”
Rae didn’t move, but his eyes showed some anger. What the hell? I left the place without even
touching the wall!...hmm…maybe…that explains it. They messed up the halls and are now planning on
placing the blame on me, eh? Clever, but lame.
Rae turned towards the people with a normal face. Right in front of him were the three bullies,
with the bruises and all just as he had left them during lunchtime, along with Mrs. Birman, a teacher that
he didn’t know. “What’s wrong here?” he asked casually. “…Oh, my, what happened to you three? You
looked like you just got beaten to a pulp!”
“Don’t play dumb with us!” one of them exclaimed. “You did this to us and you know it!”
Rae smiled. “Tsk tsk tsk…if you guys were planning on placing the blame on someone innocent
like me, then you must be pretty dumb, eh? Come on, look at me; there’s absolutely no trace of injury
anywhere in my body.”
Mrs. Birman made a thinking gesture. “I can see what you mean,” She then turned to the bullies.
“You three are really gonna get it this time…even blaming a freshman for what he never did; you guys are
the lowest!”
Rae left without saying a word, his smile hidden from everyone else. “This is what you get for
picking on someone while I’m around,” he told himself as he walked away.
Once he reached the school gate, he found Rachel waiting for him. He went to her and waved his
hand.
“Sorry for making you wait.”

59
 “It’s nothing,” Rachel replied. “I just got here anyway.”
Tenkai chuckled. “Typical starting conversation when meeting up on a date, don’t you think, kid?
Wait for her to reach high school, and the two of you can easily be an item.”
Shut it, Tenkai. “So, uh, let’s get going, then.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Rachel took the lead and started walking, while Rae followed right behind her. After a few steps,
Rae felt his stomach grumbling. Oh crap, I forgot; I didn’t eat lunch. He then went beside Rachel and said,
“Uh, I’ll be stopping by someplace. You can go ahead.”
Rachel stopped. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t eat lunch today, so I’ll be going to a restaurant to eat.”
“You don’t mind eating alone?”
“It’s not like I need to be with someone to eat, you know.”
“Um, well…either way, I’m going with you.”
“…uh, what?”
Rachel walked ahead and bowed her head. “I said I’m going with you!”
“Um…okay.” He suddenly noticed that Rachel was already fairly ahead of him. “Hey, wait up!”

Author’s note: Remember chapter 5, when Rae fought against Rachel’s dad? This chapter was
supposed to build up more on that. Once again, I hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for more.

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 Chapter 8
(Two Kids)

Rae and Rachel entered a restaurant. Rae went first, quickly got a table for two, and then placed
his bag on a chair while Rachel sat on the chair across his.
Then Tenkai appeared and stood in the middle of a table. “Do you, little child, swear to love this
little girl across you for eternity?”
Rae glared at him.
Tenkai laughed. “Sorry, sorry.”
Rae continued glaring.
“Fine, fine. I’m going, I’m going.” And without further delay, he disappeared.
Just as Tenkai left, a tall, long-haired woman dressed as a waitress arrived at the table “May I
take your orders?” she said sweetly.
Rae blushed as he shot a glance at her, then he quickly shifted his sight to the contents of the
menu. She’s hot… “Um, I’ll be taking this, and this,” he replied while pointing at the various orders that he
was referring to.
“And drinks?”
“Bottomless iced tea.”
The waitress faced Rachel. “And what’ll your drinks be?”
Rachel looked puzzled. “Drinks only, no food? I haven’t even ordered yet.”
“Huh? I thought he already took both of your orders,” the waitress replied, pointing at Rae.
Rae laughed. “Those were both mine.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. So ma’am, what will be your order?”
“I’ll have some regular fries,” Rachel said. “That, and a glass of iced tea.”
After writing down the orders on a piece of paper, the waitress looked at the two of them. “Is that
all?”
Rae and Rachel nodded.
“In that case, please wait for your orders to arrive.” Then the waitress looked at Rae and winked.
“Enjoy.”
Rae blushed for a moment before regaining his cool. By that time, the waitress had already left.
He placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his knuckles. “Now what?” he asked Rachel.
“Any ideas on what we can do while we wait?” Because I’m getting nervous here. He looked around the
area. I can see a few people looking at us…
“Hmm, how about I tell you a story?” Rachel. “I have a really interesting one; I think you’ll be able
to relate to it.”
Rae grinned. “And if I don’t?”
Rachel puffed her cheek. “Don’t say that. You will, I swear.”

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 “All right then, let’s hear it.”
Rachel nodded. “Sure. Here goes…”
†-o0o-†
This is a story about a young girl who was paying a visit to her relatives in a certain city. The girl,
along with her family, stayed in her relatives' house for the time being, and they were to stay there for 3
days.
During the first day, the girl spent some quality time with her cousins, her aunt, and her uncle.
She had a lot of fun with them. She spent the entire time playing around and going to different places
around the city with them.
During the second day, the girl suddenly decided to go out on a walk on her own. She was
confident that she would be able to go back to the house after her leisurely walk. After all, she wasn’t that
young to need people to accompany her every time she goes out. And thus, the girl left the house without
letting her cousins, who were playing inside, know. She was sure that she would be able to return safely
without any problem at all, so she thought it was better to not make them worry about her.
First, she walked around the neighborhood, ignoring the passers-by and putting her attention to
the peaceful and soothing surroundings. The place was full of trees, and the air was really fresh...
†-o0o-†
“Here are your orders, sir, ma’am,” came a voice nearby. It was the waitress, and she was holding
a tray containing two plates of food, two glasses of iced tea, both differing in design to distinguish which
one is refillable among the two, and a box of French fries.
“Thank you,” Rachel said politely
The waitress turned to Rae. “Young man,” she said. “Don’t hesitate to call any of us for refills,
okay?”
“Um, sure,” Rae said as he started chewing his first spoonful of food. “Thanks.”
The waitress turned back and started walking away.
“So,” Rae said while chewing his second spoonful, “what happened next?”
Rachel took a piece of the fries and ate it. “Hmm, let’s see…”
†-o0o-†
The girl was walking around casually, appreciating the surroundings. She walked ceaselessly, not
knowing that she was getting farther and farther away from her home. She continued walking without
paying any notice, her mind filled with nothing more than amazement for the outside world. She had never
gotten out of the house on her own, and she was happy that she finally got the chance to do so.
And that was when things took a sudden twist.
†-o0o-†
Rae suddenly raised his hand. “Sorry, but I need to go to the toilet for a sec.”
Rachel was taken aback. “Oh, um, okay,” she finally said. “Be quick, okay? You’re spoiling the
climax here.”

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 Rae laughed and stood up. “Yes, ma’am. I’m so sorry.” He then started walking away. He passed
by a waitress on the way, and he motioned her to refill his cup, to which the latter replied with a “Yes sir.”
Then he continued walking toward the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, while Rae was urinating on a toilet bowl, Tenkai appeared.
“Hey kid,” the angel said. “Are you interrupting her on purpose of something?”
“I think I drank too much from the drinking fountain in the school a while ago, that’s all,” Rae
replied. “And besides, I wanted to think for a while before she gets to the climax of the story. Why did she
say I would relate to it?”
Tenkai snapped his fingers. “I knew it,” he said. “You timed it so that you would leave when she
said that things took a sudden twist.”
Rae nodded as he zipped back his pants. “Yeah. That, and I really did need to take a piss. So,
could it be that she knew me from before?”
“You’ve been hitting bullies for so long, I don’t know which victim you saved is which anymore,”
Tenkai replied.
Rae laughed as he left the bathroom. “Good job. That really helps.”
“As always, I like your sarcasm,” Tenkai said before disappearing.

When Rae reached his seat, he saw that his glass had already been refilled. He sat down, took it,
drank a sip, then put it back down before facing Rachel. Then he said, “All right, sorry for the interruption.
You can continue now.”
“About time,” Rachel said as she continued eating her fries. “Now, where was I…? Oh right, the
twist…”

†-o0o-†
The girl suddenly felt a hand grab her collar violently, and before she knew it, she was
surrounded by a group of 3 older boys.
“Hey, you!” the one who was holding her said. “What's a cute little girl like you doing outside?”
“...” the girl was frozen in fear. She struggled, but to no avail.
“Why won't you talk?!” the now irritated guy asked in a rather loud voice, not that his voice wasn't
loud to begin with. He took the girl with both hands and threw her to the ground as he exclaimed, “Huh?!”
The girl landed on the ground, her body starting to ache. “Ouch...”
“Heh...” another guy sneered. “So you can talk, eh?” He suddenly grabbed the girl's chin with his
right hand and slightly squeezed it. “Well then, little miss, what's your name?”
The girl didn't reply. Instead, she slapped the boy's hand, making the boy lose his grip on her
chin.
“What was that all about?!” the boy angrily exclaimed. He clenched his fist as he got ready to

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punch the girl. “Why, you...!”
Then the four of them heard a voice from nearby. “Hey, that's pretty rude.”
†-o0o-†
Rae raised his eyebrow, but Rachel failed to notice.
†-o0o-†
The girl and the three boys looked around to where the sudden voice came from. They saw a boy
who was about as old as the girl, maybe older, with his left thumb hooked in his left pocket. He was
wearing plain white shirts and shorts. His eyes looked fierce, and he seemed to be looking for a fight.
He pointed at the boys. “Hey, the three of you.”
The boys responded by leaving the girl and walking towards the boy. “What is it?” the biggest
among the three asked. “Make sure you don't waste any of our precious time now, you hear?”
The young boy suddenly grinned as he swiftly punched the big guy's stomach with his right fist.
“Good morning.” As soon as he delivered the punch, he immediately raised his left foot and kicked the
guy's stomach. The guy, who was struggling, attempted to throw a punch, but the young boy quickly saw
through his intentions and quickly dodged before sending another swift, decisive punch to his adversary’s
face, ultimately sending the latter falling to the ground. “And good night.”
The two other boys went to the other guy. “Hey, wake up!” they called out, but it seemed that it
was no use; the big guy had been knocked out of his wits. The two boys looked at the young boy with
eyes indicating fear as they said with shaking voices, “You...you monster!!!” Without hesitating, the two of
them grabbed the unconscious guy and dragged him away, in fear of the younger boy.
The girl just stood there in awe until the boy suddenly faced her with fierce, sharp eyes. At that
moment, she actually feared for her life. “What if this boy really is someone possessed by strange
demonic powers? I'd be so dead...mommy, where are you?” She completely froze in fear as the boy went
closer to her. She closed her eyes and shooed off the boy as if he were a real demon.
“Go away!” she said. “I, uh...I taste bad! Yeah, really bad! You wouldn't want to eat me!”
Then the boy suddenly took the girl's hand gently.
“Huh?” she wondered. When she looked up to the boy, he had a friendly smile in his face.
“What are you talking about?” he asked. “After I save you from those guys, this is the thanks that I
get?”
She continued looking at the boy, and it seemed as if the boy was also looking at her. They stared
for at each other for a while, until the girl broke the silence with a slight giggle as she stood up. “Thanks a
lot for helping me out.”
“You didn't think I was some demon from the underworld, did you?” the boy asked as he removed
his hand from the girl's.
“Why, of course not!” the girl was obviously lying. “Why would I think of something like that?”
“Yeah, sure,” the boy said. “Anyway, do you know how to get back?”
The girl shook her head. “I…seem to have gotten too far away from my home, so I don’t know the

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way anymore.”
“Oh…figures. You don’t look familiar to me. Are you new here?”
She nodded in response.
The boy smiled, probably amused at the girl's silent replies. “Well then, let me accompany you.
What street do you live in? And don't tell me you don't know...”
“...” The girl didn't know any such thing.
The boy, upon realizing that the girl was completely clueless, sighed and slapped his forehead.
“Oh boy...how can I possibly help you if you don't know such an important thing?”
The girl remained silent.
“Ooh, I don't care anymore!” exclaimed the boy all of a sudden as he took the girl's hand. “You're
coming with me and we're gonna go around the neighborhood until we get to your house somehow! Got
it?”
The girl let him drag her around, believing that this young boy whom he had just met would be
able to get her back home.
After a few minutes of aimlessly walking around, the girl suddenly spoke. “Uh...what's your
name?”
“Me?” the boy asked as he turned his head a bit to look at the girl as they continued walking. He
smiled, then looked away again. “My name is...”
†-o0o-†
“...Rae Kusanagi,” Rae said, ending Rachel's story. “And that girl was you, am I right?”
“Bingo!!” Tenkai exclaimed as he raised his fist and used it to gently hit Rae's head.
“Y-yeah...” Rachel replied. “I never got to say it when we first met, so I thought I'd grab the chance
and tell you now...”
“I see...” Rae replied as he looked at the ceiling. He then faced Rachel and asked, “How long has
it been again? Seven years?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember...” Rae said as he smiled a bit. “And I never found out what street you lived in. Back
then, your worried parents saw us walking around, and you immediately went away with them, right?”
“Um…yes.”
“That was pretty rude, you know,” Rae said. “After all the trouble I went through, you just left me
out in the open?”
Rachel puffed her cheek again. “I just wanted to go home so badly back then...and what can you
expect, I was just a kid!”
Rae laughed and placed both of his palms together in front of Rachel. “I was only kidding...forgive
me?”
Rachel faced away. “Hmm, I guess so.”
“So she really did think of you as a demon, eh?” Tenkai said with a grin.

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 Rae smiled as he whispered, “Looks like it. It probably just slipped off her tongue. Anyway, I've
gotten used to it over time though, so it's no big deal anymore.”

When Rae and Rachel had finished eating, the waitress who took their orders arrived with two
pieces of paper. “Could the two of you please fill these up, if you don’t mind? It’s just a survey.” She
handed the papers to the two. “Please put them along with your payment. I’ll come to get them later,
okay? Oh, and here’s the bill.” She handed over the bill to Rae, and then left.
Rae took a pen and looked at the paper. “Hmm, name…” He proceeded to fill up the blanks. “…
Rae…Kusanagi…age, 14…contact number…gee, as if they’d actually call.”
When he had finished filling everything up, he placed the paper on the table along with the bill,
took some money from his wallet, and placed it with the two pieces of paper. Rachel did the same as
soon as she finished her survey, and the waitress instantly arrived.
“Thank you for answering,” she said as she took the papers and the money.
“Um, I didn’t put my contact number in there,” Rachel said.
“Oh, it’s fine.”
Rae took his bag and stood up. “Well then, we’ll be going now. Come on, Rachel; your parents
are probably waiting for you.”
“Oh right, okay,” Rachel replied as she too stood up and took her bag.
The waitress smiled at them. “Please come again!”

When the two of them had left, the waitress looked at the survey forms. “So the girl is Rachel
Miller and the boy is…” She paused for a moment. “…oh, my…!”

While Rae and Rachel were walking home together, Rae suddenly sneezed.

Author’s note: Yet another Rae-Rachel chapter, and this time they seem to have become closer.
Rae continues to be torn between his feelings for Sarah and Rachel, and I hope you all enjoyed
this one.

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 Chapter 9
(Playing Cupid: Act 1)

It was the class before lunchtime, and Rae was staring at Robin and Kimberly. The two were
discussing something while looking at a large book. Ah yes, lovebirds…he told himself. “It’d be great if
they’d just get together officially as a couple…”
Just then, Tenkai appeared and said, “Then why don’t you get them together?”
Hmm…you’re telling me to play cupid?
Tenkai nodded.
Rae grinned. Not a bad idea at all. Maybe I should give it a try. He turned to face Sarah, “Hey
Sa-” he said at first, then he stopped. Oh right, I’m not on good terms with her yet. I wonder if she’s still
mad at me…? At a loss on what to do, Rae got bored with the lesson, and so he took out a notebook,
opened it, and started scribbling on it.

Without Rae realizing it immediately, classes had ended with him not falling asleep. Everyone got
their bags ready and started going outside by that time. Rae followed by taking his things, placing them in
a just-place-them-inside-the-bag fashion, and walking outside.

As Rae walked around the cafeteria, he looked at the tables nearby and soon spotted Robin on
one of them. He was sitting alone in the table, his lunch in front of him, and was shooting glances at
Kimberly, who was eating with a group of girls several tables away. Rae sat beside him, and made him
flinch a little in surprise.
“Yo,” Rae said. “You mind if I have a little talk with you?”
Robin stopped glancing at Kimberly and shifted his attention to Rae, although quite unwillingly.
“Not really, I guess…”
Rae grinned as he took out his lunchbox. “I feel like I interrupted you or something.”
“Oh really now?”
“Really. I swear.”
“I’ll be straight with you,” he said, his face becoming serious all of a sudden. “Do you like
Kimberly?”
Robin suddenly looked around, as if he saw something. “Where are they?” he said softly, but loud
enough for Rae to hear. He then faced him after a while. “No. Why’d you ask that all of a sudden?”
Rae made a mischievous grin. “No need to hide it. I know what you’re doing; making me think
that you’re looking at something when you were actually hiding your reaction to my sudden question. You
can’t fool me, you know.”
“I said I don’t like her or anything!” Robin sort of shouted. He bowed his head as he softly said,
“You’re wrong…it’s not what you think…”

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 “There we go…” Rae slightly slammed the table indicating he was relieved that he got the answer
he wanted. “So, she’s special to you, eh?”
Robin siged. “…fine, let’s continue that conversation we had on the train before,” he finally said.
“I’ve been in love with her for several years…but I’ve been unable to tell her my feelings since I don’t want
to ruin our friendship.”
Rae made a thinking gesture. “I know exactly what you mean, Robin. It’s really hard to take such
a risk. However, isn’t it harder to endure the pain of unrequited love? Especially when you know for a fact
that your pain is due to your fear? Well, you might say yes, but you don’t have to suffer like this.”
Robin was startled. Seeing as he has become speechless all of a sudden, Rae continued talking.
“I understand that it’d be really painful if she started ignoring you if ever you confess your love to
her, as a way of saying she’s rejecting you or that you shouldn’t have confessed or something. It’ll be a
permanent gap between the two of you that can never be filled if that happens. Maybe you’ve even felt
mad or something because you met her early in your life and fell in love with her. However, you might’ve
also felt relieved that you met her before you got attracted to anyone else.”
Robin’s eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment, but he was able to regain his cool soon.
“Wow, you’re pretty good at this.”
Rae simply smiled. “You’re exaggerating. I was just trying to be poetic.”
There was silence for quite a long time, until Rae noticed Sarah going outside alone. This is my
chance to make amends, he thought. Looks like I’ll have to end this conversation right now, sadly. “I’ll be
going for now,” he told Robin as he stood up and started walking.
“Sure,” Robin replied, waving a hand. “See ya later.”

“Hey Sarah,” Rae said as he started walking beside her. “Where’re you going?”
Sarah increased her pace while continuing to look straight ahead. “Somewhere.”
Rae stopped walking. “I’m sorry if I got mad at you. I never really thought we’d fight over
something as trivial as reviewing for studies.”
Sarah stopped walking but refused to turn her back. “Studies aren’t trivial.”
Oops. “I mean…uh, what was it again…? Oh yeah, I mean it shouldn’t be something that should
destroy our friendship, right?”
A few moments of silence ensued before Sarah spoke. “I’m going to the tree. Wanna come
along?”
Rae’s face lit up. “Of course.”

When the two of them reached the plant-infested space, they both sat beside each other by the
tree’s trunk. Rae stared at the sky, with his head leaning on his arms, while Sarah took her notebook and
started writing on it.
“You’re such a nerd, you know that?” Rae said as he took a peek at Sarah’s notebook, seeing

68
that she was doing her notes in Science.
Sarah didn’t say anything, and Rae couldn’t tell if she was intentionally ignoring him or her
concentration was just too great. He stared at the sky again.
“Hey, Sarah,” he said. “You’re not…mad at me anymore, are you?”
“Nope,” she replied. “Thanks for apologizing first, even though I should be the one to do so.”
Rae shook his head. “No, I should apologize for interrupting your apology yesterday. I kinda
snapped, so…I’m sorry.”
Sarah heaved a sigh. “Good thing that’s over with,” she said. “I hope this doesn’t affect our
friendship.”
“I think it will,” Rae replied. “But in a positive way.”
Sarah smiled. “Yeah, I hope so.” She then continued writing on her book.
“Um,” Rae interrupted after Sarah wrote her first word on her notebook. “Sorry if I’ll be disturbing
you one last time, but do you have any childhood friends? You know, from way back when you were
little?”
“Huh?” Sarah’s note taking was suddenly interrupted. “What’s this all of a sudden?”
“I’m just asking,” Rae mumbled, but loud enough for Sarah to hear. “Just answer me, willya?”
Sarah closed her notebook for a bit. “Well, I guess I can answer that,” She paused and took a
deep breath. “I had a friend back when I was little…I forgot his name, though…I think he died way back
then.”
Rae turned his head a bit towards Sarah. “Oh, is that so? Sorry for bringing it up, then.”
Sarah shook her head. “No, it’s fine. We parted ways long ago, and I never heard of him since.
My parents said he got involved in a very unfortunate event, and that he ‘went somewhere far away.’ I
was small back then, but now, I think they meant to tell me that he’s gone. But really, don’t sweat it; I got
over it long ago.”
Rae scratched his head. “Hmm, I see. That’s pretty complicated.” After his last statement, a
thought struck his mind. Wait a minute…she had a guy friend before, who died. According to my dreams,
I was close friends with a girl. Could it be…?
Tenkai appeared at his shoulder. “Could be.”
Rae faced away from Sarah and whispered to Tenkai, “If only you would just tell me what
happened, I wouldn’t be having such a hard time regaining my memories.”
“You wouldn’t be as confused as you are right now, as well,” the angel continued.
Rae nodded. “Right.”
Tenkai flew upwards and patted Rae’s head. “There, there now…everything will work out in the
end.”
Rae ignored Tenkai nudged Sarah’s arm. “What time is it?” he asked.
Sarah looked at her watch. “20 minutes left,” she replied.
“Hmm…20 more minutes, eh?...Well then, I guess I’ll take my leave now.” He took his bag and

69
stood up. “I suddenly have this urge to walk around the school for no apparent reason.”
“Oh, is that so?” was all that Sarah could say. “See you later, then.”
“Yeah. See ya.” Rae waved his hand as he walked away, leaving Sarah, who continued taking
notes.
As Rae was walking toward the quadrangle, Tenkai sat on his shoulder, doing nothing, until he
finally decided to speak out of boredom. “Your silence is really killing me.”
Rae’s face showed no changes in emotion as he continued walking. “Shut up.”
Tenkai smiled a bit. “Oho, so is this how you treat your precious guardian angel?”
“Who said you were even precious anyways?” Rae gritted his teeth. “…Err, I don’t want to have
any quarrels right now ‘cause someone might see me and think that I’m some sort of retard, so let’s just
continue at home, okay?”
Tenkai crossed his arms and smiled. “Good enough for me.” He then disappeared.

Soon, Rae reached the quadrangle. There, he saw Tina and Michael sitting on a bench. He saw
Tina call him, so he obediently went towards them.
As he went closer, he remembered that bench where the two lovebirds were sitting on: it was
where he saw Sarah looking at some doves as rays of light from the sun highlighted her face. He
remembered how stunningly beautiful she was back then…
Rae held his head. “Dammit, not again! Urgh!!” he cried softly in pain, careful not to cause a
ruckus. He continued walking towards the two, who have now stood up, worried about him. Then he fell
on his knees when he was about a foot away from them, and Michael caught him before he could
completely collapse.

…
…Where am I…?
Right before Rae’s eyes, he could see a familiar-looking place.
This is…Cosmo Village. This is the place where I spent most of my childhood. This is where my
parents died, and this is where I lost my memory. What’s with this? Last thing I remember was when I…
damn, what was I doing again? And where was I a few seconds ago?
The scenery shifted to a couple of adjacent houses.
That’s…my house. And that house beside ours is~

Rae opened his eyes. “Why must I always wake up on the brink of discovering something new
about my dream…?” He rose from his bed and looked at his surroundings; he was inside the infirmary.
“Come to think about it, I’m supposed to be going to my next class.” He got out of the bed and checked if
he could stand straight. “Okay, good. It looks like I can walk. Hmm, I better thank Mrs. Goldworth before
leaving.”

70
 Mrs. Goldworth was nowhere near Rae’s area, so he went to the sink where the tools were
supposedly washed. There, she saw the doctor vomiting. He quickly stepped away, but Mrs. Goldworth
had already noticed.
“You’re awake already?” she said in-between coughs. “I-I’m sorry, but I don’t feel too well.”
“Oh, uh, I just went to say thanks,” Rae said. “I think I should be going now, then.”
Mrs. Goldworth made one final clear-up cough before standing straight. “Sarah, a guy, and a girl
took you here. You should thank them.”
A guy and a girl…? Oh, that must be Michael and Tina. “I see. Thank you. I’m off, then.”
Rae left the room, but Tenkai, who had appeared all of a sudden, stared at Mrs. Goldworth’s back
for a few moments before catching up with Rae outside the infirmary.
Assured that she was finally alone, Mrs. Goldworth continued coughing up blood.

As Rae and Tenkai stepped outside of the building they were in into the quadrangle, Rae noticed
that there were many students already in the area.
“Hey, Tenkai,” Rae mumbled. “I collapsed at lunchtime, right?”
“Yup.”
“Then…what’s up with these people outside?”
Tenkai merely chuckled. Rae raised his left arm and looked at his stopwatch. 5pm. It was already
dismissal time.
“Damn,” he said monotonously. He then shook his head and started walking forward, looking
around while he did. Sarah, Tina, and Michael helped him out when he collapsed, and he felt the need to
thank them, so he started looking for them first. He didn’t go around the campus, though; he simply
scanned the area while walking toward the school gate. If they went as soon as the bell rang, he thought,
then they would no longer be here.
When he reached the gate, his friends were no longer around. So was Rachel, he noticed, when
he stepped out of the gate. They may have told her that I was still staying at the infirmary, he thought.
Guess I’ll just go on ahead on my own.

As Rae walked away, Robin and Kimberly had just entered a train and were sitting beside each
other. As Robin remembered Rae’s words to him and how he had admitted that he liked Kimberly, he
started getting tense. He froze stiff when Kimberly suddenly leaned on his shoulder.
“Sorry, Robin,” Kimberly said. “Could you wake me up once we’re near the station? I need to take
a rest right now.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Robin replied.
As Kimberly’s smooth hair brushed against Robin’s cheek, he turned completely red. I can’t
believe I’m blushing now, even though she’s been doing this for years. He wanted to hold her, but thought
better of it and, desperately trying to repress the wild beating of his heart, leaned his head on Kimberly’s.

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 The scenery outside flashed by quickly with the movement of the train, and Robin remembered
the time several years ago, when a young boy had his arm around a girl his age, supporting her as the
two of them walk. The girl had asked the boy, “What’s your name?” and the boy had replied, “Robin
Whitman. And you?” The girl’s reply to this was, “Kimberly. Kimberly Dickinson. Sorry for letting you go
through all the trouble.”
“I’ll do anything for you,” Robin mumbled almost inaudibly.
Kimberly raised her head a little. “What did you say?”
Robin shook his head. “No, nothing,” he replied. “Go to sleep already. I’ll wake you up before we
get off, the way I always do.”

Author’s note: It’s the continuation of the Robin-Kim arc, people, which I started out in chapter 4.
There’s still act 2, and a final concluding chapter after that, so look forward to it.

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 Chapter 10
(Playing Cupid: Act 2)

Robin is in love with his childhood friend…so now I have to find out if the childhood friend also
has any feelings for him…
“Mr. Kusanagi, stand up,” came the sudden voice of the teacher.
Rae stood up. “Yes ma’am?”
The teacher pointed at the blackboard where a math problem was written. “Please answer that
problem.”
Rae went in front, took a piece of chalk, and went to the blackboard. He smiled as he whispered
at Tenkai. “Hey buddy, what was the formula for the surface area of a cone again?”
Tenkai appeared, sitting on Rae’s left shoulder with his arms crossed. “Beats me. Why? That’s
not even a geometry problem you’re dealing with.”
Rae laughed a bit as he started writing. “I know that. I just kinda forgot that stupid formula. I can’t
seem to memorize formulas unless I get it through derivation.”
“Well, I don’t really care about that,” Tenkai replied. “Are you done answering?”
Rae stopped writing and smiled. “Done.” He put the piece of chalk back on its container and went
to his seat.
The teacher examined the blackboard and its contents. Seeing as Rae’s answer was correct, she
let Rae get away with not paying attention for now. “Very good. You seem to have been paying attention,
Mr. Kusanagi.”
Rae smiled as he replied with a sarcastic voice. “Why of course, ma’am. I never neglect my
studies.”
“Although you hardly study in school…” Tenkai interrupted.
“Shut up,” Rae replied, hardly moving his mouth as he retained his smile. “I don’t need to hear
that from you. And besides, I said I never neglect my studies, which is true.”
“Hmm, I guess you have a point,” Tenkai said with a nod. “You do study, just not at school.”
“As long as you understand,” Rae replied with a soft sigh as he got ready to sleep on his desk.
“Hey, don’t just sleep right after being called!”

When lunchtime came, Rae was the first one who got out of the classroom in order to get
Kimberly to come with him so he could execute his plan.
He took the chance when Kimberly passed by. “Hey Kim,” he said with a smile as he waved his
hand. “Are you free right now?” I sound like someone asking a girl to go on a date with me or
something…
Kimberly stopped walking and faced Rae. “Yeah, I guess. Why, is there anything you need?”
Rae motioned Kimberly to follow him as they both walked towards the quadrangle. “Don’t be so

73
formal with me. We’re friends, right?”
“Uh, yeah…” Kimberly replied, feeling slightly awkward.
Rae leaned his head on his arms as they continued walking. “Anyways, can we have a little talk
on a bench for a while? Of course, I’ll make this quick so that we can still eat at the cafeteria.”
“Yeah, sure,” Kimberly replied with a smile.
Upon reaching the quadrangle, the two of them sat beside each other on one of the many
benches around. Kimberly took her lunchbox, opened it, and started eating a bit while Rae simply looked
around.
A little while later, Kimberly remembered that Rae seemed to have something to tell her, so she
stopped eating and looked at him. “I thought you were gonna say something.”
Rae stopped looking around and leaned on the bench a bit, with arms on his head. “Well, yeah. I
was just curious about some things. Do you mind if I interrogate you for a bit?”
With a little hesitation in her mind, she nodded and said, “Interrogate?”
“Please?”
Kimberly felt entertained with Rae’s innocent look. He is one year younger than everyone else,
after all. “Sure thing.”
Thus, Rae’s casual interrogation began. “I heard Robin has been your friend since you were little.
In other words, he’s a childhood friend of yours.”
“Yeah, so what about it?” Kimberly asked.
Rae looked at the sky as he casually asked, “During that pretty long time, did you ever have
any…feelings or so for him? You know what I mean.”
Kimberly became nervous all of a sudden. “Why are you asking this…all of a sudden?”
Rae suddenly looked faced away and bowed his head, as if embarrassed. “It’s because…I like
you, Kim.”
“Pah,” Tenkai said as he appeared, sitting on Rae’s shoulder. “Where did that come from?”
Kimberly backed off a little as she blushed. “W-wait, uh…I don’t think…I don’t think it’s gonna
work out and all and…”
Rae backed off and suddenly burst into laughter. “Pfft-wahahaha!!!” It took him a while to get a
hold of himself, but even so he was still laughing. “Sorry, Kim. I was kidding, really.”
Kimberly placed her hand on her chest as she panted a bit. “You gave me a real shock there,
Kusanagi.”
“Oh, really?” Rae finally stopped laughing. “Anyways, I’m just curious. So, do you have any
feelings for him or not?”
“You’re sure you’re just curious? That’s all?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then, no,” Kimberly said. Rae was not sure, but he felt as if she was hiding something from him.
“How about before?” Rae asked. “You know, like, years ago? Have you ever had a crush on him

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or something?”
Kimberly placed her lunchbox on her bag. She then bowed down a bit after doing so. “Well, I’ll
have to admit that he did interest me; especially when I first met him years ago.”
“How did you meet him, anyway?” Rae asked. “Were your parents friends with each other or
something?”
Kimberly shook her head. “You see, I met him in a certain incident.”
“What was going on at that time?”
“…he was being bullied.”
Rae’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” he asked. “He looked like some unreachable intellectual to me.
Why would he bullied?”
“Because he’s weak,” Kimberly replied. “Ever since he was little, he did nothing but study. All for
his ambition.”
“His ambition?” Rae wondered. “And what would that be?”
“To be a doctor,” Kimberly said. “To make a long story short, when we first met, I found out that he
was being bullied and he showed me his good side, as well as his ambition of being a doctor.”
“How?” Rae asked. “Please be specific.”
“Well,” Kimberly thought first, trying to remember, then continued, “I saw him being bullied once,
and so I told those guys off. Then I kind of fell, and then he gave me first aid and helped me go home. On
the way, I found out that he was from the same class as I was, and after that, we found out that our
houses were really near each other. The rest is history.”
“I see,” Rae said with a nod. “So, about your feelings for him…You don’t have anything, really?”
“Uh…yeah,” Kimberly replied rather weakly.
Something feels weird. “Oh, really now?” Rae asked, getting more and more interested and
suspicious. “Why? Don’t tell me you realized how small the fishbowl was when you suddenly saw the
ocean.”
“What do you mean?” Kimberly asked, quite confused.
“What I’m trying to say is…” Rae replied. “…did you realize how big the world was? That there
were more boys who were ‘better’ than Robin in a sense? You know...those kinds of stuff?”
Kimberly suddenly looked at her watch. “Oh my, look at the time,” She then took her bag and
stood up. “Sorry, I really wanted to talk to you a bit longer, but I have something to do right now. Really
sorry.”
“Don’t mind it,” Rae replied as he spread his arms on the vacant space in the bench. “Go do your
whatever-it-is business that you have. See you later in class. I’ll be staying here for a while…”
Kimberly left, and Rae was relaxing on the bench with nothing to do. “Looks like I can’t get
anything from her…where did I go wrong, wonder…?

Soon after, he went to the cafeteria, bought his lunch, and ate on his own in a vacant table. He

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was strangely silent for quite a long time. It was Robin who put a stop to that very silence as he passed by
Rae.
“Hey,” he said with a smile as he sat down near him. “Why’re you so glum?”
Rae stopped eating and sighed. “You’re on your own, Robin; Kimberly just won’t spit it out.”
“Heh,” Robin laughed. “That’s it? That’s why you’re so gloomy today? Hah, don’t sweat it; it’s
nothing serious.”
Rae sighed again as he placed his chin on his arms which were resting on the table. “…are you
sure it’s nothing serious?”
Robin suddenly stopped smiling and his face became serious. “Yeah…it’s okay. The thing is I love
her, and there’s no changing that fact.”
“…how far would you go for her sake?” Rae suddenly asked.
Robin thought for a while, and finally answered, “I’d do anything for her. I’d do anything in my
power for her. If I can put a smile to her face, any sacrifice I make would surely be worth it.”
Rae smiled as he continued eating. With his mouth slightly full, he replied, “Good for you. Now let
me finish my food so I can get back to the classroom soon.”
“Sure,” Robin said as he stood up and got ready to go. “Bye.”
When Robin was out of sight and Rae was alone in his table once again, Tenkai appeared; this
time he was floating above Rae’s shoulder.
“You really cared about Robin, eh?” he asked with a smile as he crossed his arms. “You were so
gloomy when you couldn’t help him, after all.”
Rae had finished eating when Tenkai appeared, and he set the plate aside as he laughed a bit.
“What’re you talking about? That was an act, stupid.”
Tenkai was speechless.
“At any rate,” Rae continued, “Kimberly’s reaction felt fishy. It was as if…I dunno, I don’t really
think she was lying. Any ideas, Tenkai?”
“I’d say she’s confused,” the little angel replied. “That’s youth for you.”
“Uh-huh…”

Rae went back to the classroom as lunchtime ended. The remainder of the day consisted of the
usual boring-to-the-point-where-Rae-occasionally-falls-asleep lessons.
“Class dismissed,” came the teacher’s voice after what seemed like forever for almost all the
students.
Rae, who was awake when the announcement was made, grinned. He went out of the classroom
first and rushed towards the gate.

He stopped once he was outside the campus. There were hardly any people around; except for
some parents waiting for their children to come so they could go home together, and of course the usual

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passers-by. He decided to stop by the gate.
Suddenly, his eyes were covered by a pair of hands. “Guess who?” said the voice.
“Too much of a giveaway, Sarah,” Rae said. “Couldn’t you have at least lowered your pitch or
something?”
Sarah removed her hands from Rae and smiled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. So anyway, have I
convinced you?”
“Hmm? About what?”
“That I’m no longer mad.”
“You’re still on about that?” Rae asked. He looked away and blushed. “I, uh…really don’t like
entertaining the idea of us hating each other.”
Sarah nodded. “I agree. I won’t go bursting out my anger again. I’ll be more reasonable next
time.”
Rae turned to Sarah and nervously scratched his head. “Um, thanks, I guess.”
When the fight was officially over, the two of them went into another awkward silence. Rae got
nervous. Another gay baby… he told himself.
Sarah was the one who broke the silence. “I gotta go home now. How about you?”
“I’ll go to the gate with you,” Rae replied. “I’m kinda waiting for someone; if she’s there, I’ll leave
as well.”
Sarah tilted her head. “You had a girl?”
Rae shook his head. “She’s a friend, okay?”
Suddenly, the two of them heard a scream; it was Kimberly’s. The scream ended abruptly, Rae
noticed, as if…as if her mouth was covered in the middle of the scream, he thought. What the hell
happened? “Sarah, I’m going to check things out. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“I’m going with you,” Sarah replied.
Rae thought for a second, and then finally nodded. “Sure thing. Maybe it’s just a prank or
something, after all. Come on, let’s go.”
When they got outside, a different sight awaited them. As the two of them stood alongside other
students who were crowded together, they looked at Kimberly being held by a man. There were two men
in the isolated area, the other one looking around to ensure that no one would get in their way.
Suddenly, Kimberly tried struggling from the man’s hold. Rae clenched his fist as the man hit her
in the stomach, causing her to fall to the floor. Then he pulled her up using her hair. It hurt her so much
she had to force herself to try standing up herself.
“What the hell is going on here…?” Rae muttered.

Author’s note: You have just reached the climax of the Robin-Kim arc, where Kim gets captured
and Robin has to save her life. On to chapter 11, then.

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 Chapter 11
(Selfless Act for a Special Friend)

“What the hell is going on here…?” But Rae already knew what was happening: Kimberly was
being taken away by two strangers.
Just then, before he even wondered if anyone heard him think out loud, he saw Robin emerge
from another part of the crowd and charge toward the men.
Rae thought Robin had a little fighting sense, because as he charged with his fist ready to throw a
punch, he evaded a straight by the man who wasn’t holding anything. Unfortunately for him, he was
kicked quite easily the moment he lost his balance when he avoided the punch. As he flinched in pain, the
man punched him in the face.
Robin moved away and quickly stood up, holding his cheek that had been hit. He was ready to try
attacking again when he saw that the man holding Kimberly was getting away. He seemed to be running
toward a car around ten meters from where they were, and Robin could instantly tell that if he didn’t stop
the man, they would get away with Kimberly.
And he didn’t want that. Not without a fight.

Within the crowd of students, Rae put his hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But
don’t follow me this time.”
Sarah looked at Rae. “Don’t tell me…”
Rae nodded. “Robin doesn’t stand a chance. He’ll just get beaten up. Or worse…”
“It’s too dangerous! We’re just students, and they’re grown men! And who knows if they have
weapons with them? Maybe guns or knives…”
“Go call the police,” he said as he removed his hand from her shoulder and clenched his fist.
“Hurry. I’ll buy some time along with Robin. Once those guys get caught, there won’t be any problems.”
Before Sarah could say anything, Rae got out of the crowd, toward the area where Robin
constantly tried stopping the men from getting away with Kimberly.
Then he quickly ran to the side, toward the parked car.

“I won’t let you take her!” Robin shouted as he struggled to free himself from the grip of the man
who was preventing him from going any further as the one holding Kimberly continued to walk away.
“Shut up, you brat!” the man blocking him shouted back. Seeing as Robin would not cease
screaming and resisting, he clenched his fist and punched Robin in the stomach, sending him down on
his knees.
The man turned his back to see how his comrade was faring. Kimberly had been placed in the car
and the comrade was standing near where the driver’s side was; he could only see half of his body from
that angle. But his companion was not moving; he was just standing there instead of entering the car.

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 “What’s with him…?” the man muttered.
As soon as he had started wondering what was going on, he felt a huge weight behind him; Robin
had tackled him. He extended his arms and broke his fall. Robin took this chance and hit his elbow on the
man’s nape, causing the latter to lose his strength and fall to the ground. Then Robin jumped, using his
knee to hit the man’s back.

The man was about to enter the driver’s seat when he saw a boy sitting on the floor beside the
car. He was wearing a uniform like the others, which meant he was also a student of New State High.
What alarmed the man was the fact that the boy was holding the keys to his car.
“I know it’ll be hard to escape in case of an emergency if your door’s locked,” the boy said. “But
you seriously need to be extra careful if you’re gonna leave your keys behind.”
The man’s eyes widened. Shit, the guns! he thought. “You just took the keys, kid?”
The boy nodded. “I saw a classmate of mine unconscious in the front seat, but I’d be caught
easily if I tried rescuing her, so I just left her there. After all, without the keys, you wouldn’t be able to
escape anyway, right?”
“I didn’t see you go here,” the man commented. “What the hell did you do? Teleport?”
The boy shook his head. “I just tend to be a fast runner.”
“That’s pretty impressive. I gotta hand it over to you. What’s your name, kid?”
“You can call me Kusanagi,” Rae replied. “And you can hand over the girl over there if you’re that
impressed.” The moment he finished his sentence, he slipped the keys below the car and it settled in the
middle, where it would be impossible to reach unless someone crawled in. “With me around, you can’t get
the keys. How about it? Wanna fight for it?”

As soon as Rae had left the crowd a while back, Sarah quickly went inside the campus. She saw
one of the guards, a fairly stout middle-aged man, walking toward his station by the gate, presumably
from patrol duty. She quickly ran toward him and waved her hand.
“Hey!” she called out. “There’s some real trouble going on outside. Please call the police now! It’s
an emergency! My friend, she’s…” It took her a while to get the words out. “She’ll be kidnapped at this
rate! Please help her!”
The guard patted Sarah’s head and gave a gentle smile. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I just called the
police. I ran the moment I saw the commotion, and I’m just taking my time going back now because I got
tired.” He heaved a sigh as he gently caressed Sarah’s head. “I’m so sorry I can’t do anything now. I’m
getting old, and there are two of those guys.”
“How long will it take before the police gets here?” Sarah asked. “Two of my classmates are trying
to buy some time. Will the police make it?”
The guard was taken aback. “Are you serious? Students are fighting kidnappers?” He removed
his hand from Sarah’s head and rushed toward the gate.

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 Sarah quickly followed him.

Rae continued to sit down as the man in front of him froze.

This is bad, the man told himself. The guns are inside the car and the keys are below. If I try
getting either one, I’ll be putting my guard down. Damn, what do I do…?
While he was thinking, he noticed Rae quickly stand up, but it was too late to react; he suddenly
got punched in the stomach, and before he could make a counterattack, Rae had already reached the
other side of the car, where he could see Robin fighting the other man.
It doesn’t look like he’s in any real danger, he thought. I’d better get Kim out of here in the
meantime. But how…?
He then heard the door behind him open, and from there Kimberly came out. However, she
tripped as soon as she got out; she was in a state of panic, Rae could see.
Rae bent down and held her. “Kim! You okay?”
“Kusanagi…” she called out weakly as she tried standing up. “What’s…going on…?”
“Don’t mind it,” Rae replied. “Just get out of here now.”
He turned around while Kimberly slowly got up, and saw that the door to the driver’s side was
also open; the man was trying to get the guns inside the car, and his dumbfounded expression made Rae
smile. Heh, he fell for it.
“Why you little…!” came the man’s voice. “You hid the guns, too!” Then a thought came to him.
That’s right; he wouldn’t free up this side if he knew that the guns were in the car…shit, I’ve been had.
And now even the hostagee…! He hurried to get out of the car, adrenaline rushing throughout his body.
Right before the man got out, Kimberly had gotten up and she quickly ran toward the crowd of
worried people. Rae heaved a sigh of relief. Now the two of us just have to make sure they don’t get their
guns until the police arrive and we’ll be safe.
Then as if responding to Rae’s optimistic way of thinking, Robin got thrown backwards as the
man he was hitting forcefully pushed him away. Robin fell and was struggling to get up when the man
kicked him in the stomach and he lay down on the ground, cringing in pain.
And the man continued kicking him.
Rae’s eyes widened in surprise. Damn, he’s past his limits now! He stepped forward, ready to
break into a sprint to save his friend.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his collar. He got pulled backward and the hand holding his collar was
removed, but both of the man’s hands grabbed Rae’s arms soon after and placed them behind him. With
both of Rae’s hands behind, the man held it together with one hand.
I can break free, Rae thought. Judging from his grip, he’s underestimating my strength just
because I went easy on him with my first punch. If I can take him out quickly, I can save Robin. Now, how
can I surprise him…?
His thinking was cut short with what he saw next: a knife. His eyes widened and his entire body

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froze. He had a knife with him?! Damn, I thought the guns were his only weapons! Now what?!
He then noticed movements in front of him, and when he took a look, he saw that Robin was also
being held by the other man. He had a knife pointed at him as well.
They were both trapped. The man holding Rae went toward his comrade and stopped when they
were a few feet apart.
“You’ve got guts, you two,” the man holding Rae said. “Especially you, Kusanagi. To think you
actually got the better of me, with both the keys and the guns. And it was also you who let that girl get
away. But it’s too bad you let your guard down. Now you’re in big trouble, and we can get away with you
and your little brat of a friend as hostages.”
Rae ignored the man and looked at Robin. “What the hell were you thinking, you idiot?!” he called
out, cautiously this time because he didn’t want the knife slicing his neck. “Now look at us; we’re toast!”
“Well, sorry!” Robin shot back. Rae noticed that Robin was getting teary-eyed. “But…but if it’s to
protect Kim, then I…” His voice became softer. “I think it’s fine this way.”
Rae’s eyes widened. “You…cared for her that much? So much that you’d willingly get yourself in
this screwed up state? And even get me in trouble?”
“I didn’t want to get you involved,” Robin interjected. “You’re the one who went in on your own!”
Rae laughed a little, careful not to move too much. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “I got myself
involved on my own discretion. So, I guess it’s over for us, huh?”
“Looks like it.”
At that moment, Robin noticed that the man holding him moved his hand a little bit away from his
neck; probably a twitch of the man’s muscles because he was tired from keeping his arm still.
It’s now or never! Robin was quick to act; he moved his head away and bent his neck forward, the
knife piercing and slicing through the left side of his neck. Then he bit the man’s wrist.
The man’s grip loosened and he let go of the knife.
At the same time, Rae noticed that the man holding him started shaking, and his knife slipped out
of his hand. Rae took the chance and forced his hands out of the man’s grip. Given the man’s strange
shaking, Rae was able to pull it off easily. The moment he broke free, he elbowed the man’s stomach
behind him, turned around, and punched him in the face repeatedly.
And there were no counterattacks.
As the man fell, he turned back to see what was going on in Robin’s area. Robin had kicked the
knife out of reach and was running away toward the crowd, the man who had held him running toward the
opposite side, away from everyone.
He also noticed movements behind him, and he leapt forward to make sure he didn’t get caught
or attacked from behind again. However, he soon discovered that the man did not intend to fight anymore;
he was also running away.
Rae gritted his teeth. Damn, they’re getting away! And without much thought, he chased after
them.

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 The students watched as Rae and the two men took a left turn and finally disappeared from sight.

The two men ran amidst the people walking in the sidewalks, with Rae not far behind. Soon, they
heard the sound of police car sirens. The police were coming, and they were planning on intercepting the
path that the two men were taking.
The three of them stopped, then the men turned back and faced Rae.
“I know,” Rae said. “You two need to get past me.” The running already alerted the people
around, and the area they were in was already isolated.
Without much thought, the two men charged toward Rae. They were not about to let a child get in
the way.
However, when they made their first step, Rae called out, “Everyone! They’re kidnappers! But
they’re unarmed! Don’t let them get away!”
The two men, alarmed, increased their speed.
Rae faced the man whom he fought with. He’s the one who got most of my punches, so I guess
I’ll just go with him again and let the bystanders handle that other guy. He spread his legs apart a little
and bent his knees, ready to intercept the man.
The man was planning a tackle, he saw. Both of them were injured, he knew, and so in a battle of
strength, he was bound to win against them in a fistfight. I can do this, but not with both of them running
at full speed. The people around were still hesitant, so knew he had to set an example by taking on one of
the men before they do help out.
As the men got closer, the one Rae was blocking had his fist ready. “Outta my way, kid! I can’t
afford to get caught now!” By the time he said his last line, he was already near Rae, and he threw his
punch toward Rae’s face.
One second later, the man felt a stinging pain that quickly spread toward his entire body. Rae had
dodged the punch, ducked, and punched him on the stomach. The fact that the man was running and that
he had just unleashed a punch full force added to the opposing power of Rae’s attack. He froze, and his
strength slowly began to fade away.
“Too much adrenaline,” Rae said. “I can tell that you can’t think straight anymore out of panic. I
mean, that was too easy for me; I know you could have done better. Anyway, I’m sorry, but you just tried
to kidnap one of my friends. That’s why I can’t let you get away, no matter how helpless you are right
now.”
Then he gave one final uppercut, sending the man to the ground, unconscious.
He looked back and saw that the other man was being held by several men; passersby who
decided to help out. Soon after, other men went to the unconscious man in front of Rae and held his
wrists tight. Rae heaved a sigh of relief as the police arrived.

A few minutes later, Rae stood along with other people as the two men were taken to the police

82
cars. The one Rae knocked out had to be carried, while the other one walked with handcuffs and a couple
of police officers beside him.
“Wait,” Rae said. “Can I ask something?”
The man stopped, along with the two officers. He turned his head and looked at Rae with a
depressed and helpless face. “What is it?”
“Why did the two of you freeze a while ago? I thought for sure your friend there would slice my
neck the moment my friend bit you.”
“Oh, that. Well, you see, we had weapons, but we never intended to use them.”
“Really?”
“We have no experience in crimes like this,” the man said. “This is our first time, and when your
friend willingly let himself get hurt – when we saw the blood in his neck – we froze, because we never
intended to use our knives. Even the guns; they didn’t even have bullets in the first place.”
Rae fell silent.
“By the way, I wanna commend you two,” the man said with a smile as helpless as his overall
facial expression. “You and your friend were very brave, and you both won over us. Congratulations.”
Rae bowed his head, not wanting to look at the face of the man he had just gone up against ; the
man who had a knife pointed at Robin’s neck just a while ago.
“Oh, and one more thing,” the man went on. “Tell your friend I’m – no, we’re – grateful to you two
for stopping us. If you hadn’t, we would have ended up as real criminals. And if we did, I had always
feared that one day, we might even resort to murdering people. With this, I think we were able to get back
to our senses before we truly became heartless people.”
Rae nodded. “I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you.” Then, seeing as Rae had no intention of saying anything else, he entered the car.
The two police cars where the men were in went away soon after.

A few more minutes later, the students had already gone home, or at least away from the area
where the battle between the two kidnappers and two students took place. The knives had already been
secured, and several police officers were checking the car. They found the car keys as well as two guns
below, just as Rae had told them. The interior of the car was empty.
An officer interrogated Rae about the incident, and he told everything that had happened,
including the fact that neither of the kidnappers intended to really use the knives on him and Robin and
that they went into a state of shock when Robin got wounded. In the end, he asked that the punishment of
the men be light because aside from injuries from punches and kicks, as well as Robin’s cut, not much
damage was done to Robin and Kimberly.
“That’s true,” the officer said. “However, they had attempted to take you and your friend as
hostages when the girl got away. They even had weapons with them, and whether they intended to use
them or not, they still violated the law.”

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 “I see…” Rae said, bowing his head. “I’ve told you everything, so I trust that you guys will take
care of it well.”
“Leave it to us adults,” the officer replied as he patted Rae’s shoulder. “You’ve done a good job
already. Well done. You may leave now.”
“Okay,” Rae said with a nod. “But before I leave, could you deliver a message to them?”
“Sure thing. What do you want me to tell them?”
“That I’m thankful for having run across such kind kidnappers and that I hope they’ll be able to
start anew eventually.”
The police officer nodded. “No problem.”
“Thank you,” Rae said. With a short bow of his head, he said “I’ll be going now,” and walked
away. Nearby, he saw two other people who have yet to be interrogated: Robin and Kimberly, both sitting
at the back of a police car, leaning on each other, asleep. Kimberly, it turned out, was beaten pretty badly
due to her struggling to free herself from the two kidnappers prior to his and Robin’s arrival, and the state
of shock probably contributed to her stress.
When Rae was out of sight, the police officer scratched his head. I still can’t believe he was
uninjured during the whole incident…not even the slightest bruise…

Robin and Kimberly were sent to a hospital soon after, with the expenses provided by Kimberly’s
parents. The two kidnappers, who were found out to be brothers, knew that Kimberly was from a rich
family, and so they had set her as a target. They didn’t have anything personal against the Dickinsons; it’s
just that they were poor. The guns came from their former police father, who had resorted to drugs in the
past and was currently in jail for murdering someone. The father had hidden the guns without bullets, and
they decided to use them as threats. The car, on the other hand, was rented using borrowed money. With
so many problems financially and within the family, Rae wondered if there really was any possibility for
them to have a good life.
After being told all this over the phone, Rae thanked the officer who informed him and hung up.
He heaved a sigh as Tenkai sat on the telephone, deep in thought.
“I had no choice,” Rae said. “If they were to kidnap Kim, they’d place a ransom on her, and then
they might try to commit more crimes since they were successful on their first try, just like that guy said.
But now that they’ve been stopped, their problems just increased. Is there no way to save them…?”
“Life’s unfair, huh?” Tenkai said.
“You said it.”

Author’s note: And with this, the Robin-Kim arc has finally ended, and the first volume has more
or less reached half of the whole thing. I hope you enjoyed the story so far, and thanks for staying
with me these past 81 pages.

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 Chapter 12
(Retrieving the Young Prodigy)

Rae entered the school campus the next day with a yawn.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he told himself. “Getting up early and all…”
Tenkai, who had been flying beside Rae the whole time, went ahead by a few feet. “Come on,
kid,” he said. “We both know you’re worried sick about Robin. And I’m also curious if he’s full of bandages
right now.”
Rae nodded. “I wonder what he’d look like in bandages. Should I laugh at him?”
Tenkai laughed in response and flew ahead. Rae shouted “Wait up!” as he followed.

When the two of them got inside the classroom, they found out that Robin was not around, as
well as Kimberly. They looked at the corner where Rae’s seat was and saw Sarah reading a book. Rae
went to his seat and placed his bag on the table. Tenkai, on the other hand, decided to simply disappear.
Sarah heaved a sigh and closed her book. “Rae,” she said without looking at him. “What exactly
happened yesterday?”
“Well, while you were inside the campus, I got myself involved in the fight,” Rae replied. “But I
think you knew that already. Anyway, we were able to stall them long enough for the police to arrive.”
Tenkai appeared suddenly to intervene. “Too bad you weren’t able to take care of him yourself,
huh, kiddo?” he said.
Rae shook his head. Screw that idea; he had a knife.
Sarah looked at Rae with a puzzled expression. “Why’d you shake your head? What’s the
matter?”
Rae shook his head again. “No, no. Don’t mind me. Anyway, it seems they’re not here, huh? You
know, Robin and Kim.”
He looked at her and saw that she had her head bowed. Wondering what was up, he said, “I was
expecting a reply there, you know.”
“…you?” Sarah muttered. She said some other words before, but Rae couldn’t make them out.
Rae looked puzzled. “What?”
“What about you?” Sarah repeated. “You know, when I heard that you got yourself involved in that
incident, I was really worried. They said at one point, both of the kidnappers had you and Robin trapped,
with knives pointed at you. Are you sure you’re alright?”
Rae scratched his head. “Gee, I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I, uh, kinda didn’t see the knife
in the first place. Anyway, some things happened, and Robin and I were able to avoid getting sliced, and
just as I said, the police arrived, so it’s all good. I was completely saved. See, I don’t have a scratch
anywhere, so don’t worry about me anymore.”
“Sorry. I just couldn’t believe you would just march in so early in the morning as if nothing had

85
happened. Sure, I’m worried about Robin and Kim, but it’s really good to know that you’re safe.”
“Thanks for worrying,” Rae said. “It means a lot to me.”
Suddenly, Sarah raised her head and looked at Rae with an innocent expression in her face. “You
know, it’s all fine now that I know you’re safe and all, but…” She paused, hesitating for a while, before
continuing, “…everyone knows what happened, so you might get into a little trouble with the teachers or
the principal.”
Upon realizing the truth in what Sarah said, Rae sighed and rested his head on his arms. “Damn,
more trouble, huh? I hate legal processes; such a major pain.
Just then, the teacher entered the room. Rae was expecting to be called, but she simply walked
toward the desk, sorted her things for the day, and waited for the bell to ring.
Rae became puzzled. She’s not gonna mention my act of bravery? He heaved a sigh. Oh, thank
goodness.
“Kusanagi,” came the teacher’s calm voice.
Oh crap. “Um, yes ma’am?”
“Would you mind going to the principal’s office?” she asked. “No, actually, it’s an order. You have
to go there.”
Rae nodded. “Oh, sure, as long as it won’t take long.”
The teacher shook her head. “I don’t know about the details, but it may take some time.”
“Is this, by any chance, about yesterday’s incident?” he asked.
“I don’t think it is,” the teacher replied. “But don’t think we don’t know, young man.”
“Whatever you say, ma’am,” Rae said as he took his back and left. Well then, so that means I’m
gonna get canned tomorrow. Well, at least I get one day to prepare…

Rae knocked on the door of the principal’s office a few minutes later. “Mr. McKenzie, did you call
for me?”
“Come in,” came the principal’s voice.
Rae entered the room and saw another man aside from the principal.
“Hey, Kusanagi, it really is you!” the man called out. “Long time no see, kid. So, how have you
been?”
“I’ve already quit tennis, you know.”
“Aw come on, don’t be like that,” the man said with a disappointed look on his face. “Quitting last
year was a real waste of talent, you know?”
Rae nodded. “I know.”
Mr. McKenzie suddenly cleared his throat, getting the attention of Rae and the man. “I think the
two of you have a lot to catch up on,” he said. “I’ll go outside for a bit so that I won’t disturb you, okay?”
“Oh, there’s no need for that, sir,” the man protested. “You don’t have to go that far.”
Mr. McKenzie laughed. “Oh, please. Just let me leave. Sometimes, staying cooped up in this

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office can get pretty depressing, you know?” He stood up. “Well, I’ll be taking my leave now, boys. Call
me once your conversation’s done.”
The man nodded. “Thank you very much.”
“Oh, and Kusanagi,” Mr. McKenzie added, “after this conversation, feel free to go home.”
Rae looked at the principal, surprised. “What?”
“I meant what I just said. You can go home after this. I already have an idea as to what you two
will be talking about, so I’ll give you the whole day to think about it.”
“Uh-huh…thank you, sir…even though I don’t quite get it.”
Mr. McKenzie laughed. “You’ll find out soon.”
Rae and the man waited for Mr. McKenzie to exit, and when he did, they faced each other.
“I can’t believe you were actually just here,” the man said.
“I have the same sentiments as well,” Rae replied. “How did you know where I was in the first
place, Sir Walker?”
Sir Walker smiled and made a hand sign signifying a telephone. “Your contact number. You gave
it away 3 days ago.”
Rae thought for a while. “Hmm, I don’t quite remember…” Then a thought struck his mind. “No
way! That time at the restaurant?”
Sir Walker nodded. “Incidentally, that cute woman is my cousin. You see, I tend to talk about you
to my relatives, and that’s why she knows your name. She contacted me, and I simply used your contact
number. I didn’t know you were living in an orphanage. That came as a surprise.”
“Obviously you were surprised,” Rae replied. “I never intended on giving away my address to
anyone in the first place. I’d have to tell my life story if anyone got curious.”
“I won’t go into it, then,” Sir Walker said. “But could you come back to the tennis court one more
time? You have talent, and you can put that talent to good use.”
Rae shook his head. “I told you before; my studies come first before anything. I’m gonna get a
good job with my brains; not turn into a tennis pro.”
“You’d make money if you go.”
“I have no interest in money.”
“Enough money to get you into college, maybe.”
Rae stopped in silent contemplation.
“You have your everyday needs,” Sir Walker went on. “Food, clothing…but see, you’re the oldest
person that the orphanage has had so far, and so as your get bigger, you would eventually need more
clothes. You don’t get that much allowance either, do you? If you can use your tennis skills to gain money
for your studies, it’s not such a bad idea, is it?”
“It’s not like I’ll get money that quickly though, right?” Rae said. “Just because you saw talent in
me last year doesn’t mean I can easily go into the realm of competitive tennis now. What is it that you
want me to do?”

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 “You catch on quick,” Sir Walker commented. “There’s a competition in this area, the New State
Open.”
“Um, of course I know,” Rae said. “Stop being sarcastic here.”
Walker nodded. “Well duh, that was the last competition which you took part in. So anyway, you
have your records from your previous competitions. Just win this one, and the higher-ups will be
convinced of your skills and send you overseas for training. But of course you already knew that your
previous records were enough. That’s why you left in the first place; to avoid the offer, right?”
Rae nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“So how about it?” Sir Walker asked. “Will you be joining the New State Open, Mister Defending
Champion?”
“Sure, I’ll do it,” Rae replied. “Under one condition.”
“Hmm? Say it, then.”
“I don’t really think this is a condition, since I get an ‘offer’ in the first place,” Rae said. “But in the
event that I get that offer and I suddenly change my mind, you can’t convince me any longer.”
Sir Walker thought for a while, then finally nodded his head. “All right, it’s a deal. I’m expecting
you to do great during the open. Defend your title, okay?”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “You do know that I might have gotten rusty after one year, right?”
“I was planning on training you personally. For free.”
“Wha?” Rae was taken aback. “What’ll you get from me, then?”
“Just show me some good plays, and I’ll be happy. Besides, it’ll be an honor to train last year’s
champion.”
Rae smiled. “Heh, you asked for it. And please stop it with the defending champion thing.”
“Yeah, sure.” Walker then faced away. “Oh, and one more thing…”
“What is it?”
“That offer back then was for you to go to the country of Sirius, remember?”
“Yeah, that’s right. What about it?”
“Same country again. Specifically, you’ll be going to Cosmo City, so I guess there’s your
incentive.”
Rae’s eyes widened. “Why the hell do you know about my connection with city?”
“Who was that woman? Mrs. Morrison? She told me about your amnesia. But don’t get mad at
her, okay? She was just concerned, and since I said I wanted to help you, she told me about it. Anyway,
after I learned about that tidbit, I found out yesterday that your so-called Cosmo City is where you would
be headed if you get the offer and accept it.”
“…damn you.”
“You’re welcome.”

A few minutes later, Rae and Sir Walker exited the office. They said their goodbyes, and went

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their own separate ways; Walker went to Mr. McKenzie while Rae exited the campus and started walking
home. Along the way, Tenkai appeared.
“Kiddo,” he said. “You plan on winning in the competition, going to Sirius, and finding out about
your memories, right?”
Rae nodded. “I don’t get a chance like this often. If I had known about it before, I would have
gone.”
“Despite the fact that you’ll be more focused on tennis than your studies?”
“I’ll force a balance,” Rae replied. “If that’s what I have to do to get my memories back, I’ll do it.”
“Hey, hey, don’t be too full of yourself. You won’t know how hard it’ll be until you experience the
real thing.”
“Yeah, but I’ve come this far, Tenkai; I skipped a year, and I’m still pretty confident about being at
the top of the class. You gotta give me some credit for that.”
Tenkai sighed. “I know, I know. But don’t think you’re the ultimate human being just yet because
of that. There are still gonna be obstacles that’ll make you shiver, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You’ll be living on your own if you end up getting in, and that’s already a big thing in itself.”
“Let’s talk about living alone in another country once I actually get the offer, okay?”
“I guess you have a point there, kid,” Tenkai said. “So, what’re you gonna do once you get
home?”
“I’ll tell Mrs. Morrison and the others about the New State Open, and I’ll try working out a little
more than usual to prepare for Sir Walker’s training.”
“We can expect something torture-like coming from him.”
Rae nodded. “Yeah. I gotta condition myself just in case.”

Author’s Note: Finally, the second half of this volume. After all the introductions and the story
arcs of Rae’s friends, it’s time to focus on the main character himself. Will he go overseas and
leave all of his newfound friends? Will he even be able to win the upcoming tournament after
being inactive for such a long time? Stay tuned, people.

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 Chapter 13
(The Burden of Strength)

The next day, Rae arrived at the classroom early again. Everyone stared at him as he quietly
went toward his seat beside Sarah. As he had been accustomed to seeing, she was reading a book.
Standing behind his chair, he took a peek at what she was reading.
It was a romance novel, and in the part that Rae was reading, the guy had just confessed to the
girl, and the girl was frozen stiff, unable to say anything.
Confessing your love, huh… he thought. Can such a romantic thing happen to me in this lifetime
of mine…?
Just then, Sarah closed the book and turned her head to Rae. “You were reading…?”
“Sorry, but that part in the right side of that book seemed interesting, so I couldn’t get my eyes off
it.”
“Oh that,” Sarah said. “I was reading that part too just now. What did you think about that scene?”
“Well, I think Jack was really brave,” Rae replied. “Not just anyone can express their feelings like
that, after all. I guess that’s the case with everyone; confessing your feelings has a certain risk to it, after
all…in most cases.”
Sarah nodded. “Yeah, that was very admirable.”
With the topic of the scene over, Rae took his seat. “So, why’d you stop reading?” he asked
Sarah. “Did you actually mind that I was looking?”
“A bit,” Sarah replied. “I want to know what happens to the two of them as I read on my own.
Besides, you don’t even know the circumstances behind the confession, so if you want to know, I advise
you read it on your own.” She smiled momentarily. “I could lend it to you once I’m done, if you want.”
Rae shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m not much into romance novels.” I’m gonna be busy with the
New State Open, too. “Oh, by the way, do you have any news concerning Robin and Kim?”
Sarah looked at Rae, disappointed. “This is why having a cellphone is necessary,” she said.
“Anyway, it seems the two of them will be able to get out of the hospital tomorrow.”
“Good thing tomorrow’s a Saturday,” Rae commented. “They’ll be able to rest more.”
“But you know,” Sarah interjected. “I think Kim would have wanted the incident to happen today,
so that she wouldn’t be absent.”
Rae laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine. Her sense of responsibility is just that great, isn’t it?”
Sarah nodded. “Exactly. And speaking of a sense of responsibility, you’ve been coming to school
pretty early lately. Did you eat something weird?”
Rae raised his shoulders. “Maybe. Come to think of it, it does feel strange…” Yeah…I haven’t
had that dream of mine for almost a week. Ever since I had that vision when I passed out in the quad…
Sarah looked at Rae. “Hey, what’s wrong? The teacher’s here, so stop being in a daze already.”
Rae snapped back to reality and, sure enough, saw the teacher in front. He heaved a sigh and

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leaned on his chair.
“For those of you who don’t know,” the teacher finally said after a few moments of silence, “Robin
Whitman and Kimberly Dickinson are still being taken care of in the general hospital due to the incident
that happened 2 days ago.” She shifted her eyes to Rae. “Fortunately,” she said in a tone which Rae
thought was sarcastic, “Kusanagi here got away without any injuries despite the fact that he willingly got
himself involved in the whole thing. I didn’t mention this yesterday because our valiant guest here was
called by the principal, but now that he has graced us with his presence again, I can say what I had
wanted to say yesterday.”
Rae’s eyebrows met. He started squeezing the pencil he was holding.
“It’s such a wonderful thing to have someone who has had experience in acts of violence protect
fellow students, don’t you think? After all, Kusanagi once-”
“Bathroom!” Rae exclaimed. “I hope you’ll excuse me.” He stood up.
“Unfortunately, I won’t let this pass,” the teacher said sternly. “Sit down, boy.”
Rae gritted his teeth and sat down.
“Now, where was I…? Oh, that’s right. As your homeroom teacher, I suggest you students don’t
follow the example of this violent young man. If you see trouble, contact the police immediately and let
them handle it.”
Rae’s grip on the pencil grew stronger, and he started shaking. Sarah looked at him with a
worried expression. “Rae…”
“The principal was kind enough to let this incident pass, but what if all of them had gotten into
serious trouble? I heard that both Kusanagi and Whitman were taken by the two men, with knives pointed
at them at one point. Had Kusanagi not interfered in the first place, then perhaps-”
Rae snapped. “Then perhaps they would have gotten away with Kimberly, leaving Robin
completely helpless!” he exclaimed. “Don’t you get it?! If no one went to the scene to buy some time for
the police, Kimberly’s parents might have had to pay some sort of ransom, and they may very well have
gotten Robin involved, as well!”
“You say that because things went well!” the teacher shot back. “Just because you’ve always
been in league with delinquents doesn’t mean you can tarnish the name of the school, making it the home
of a violent student who goes straight into danger!”
Rae stood up, his eyes burning. “That was better than just standing there doing nothing!” he said
angrily. He bowed his head. “…fine, I was reckless. And sure, I’m confident about my fighting skills. But
it’s because of that that I was able to bring myself to try protecting my friends! Why can’t you see that?!
I’m sure Principal McKenzie saw it, and that’s why he let me off. I mean, dammit, no harm was done, so
why are you bashing on me as if you wanted me to be killed by those men?!”
“As rebellious as always, huh, Kusanagi?” the teacher said. “Well then, get out of here!”
Rae took his bag. “Gladly!” In the midst of the silence of the classroom, he left.

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 “Can’t seem to control your emotions, huh, kid?” Mr. McKenzie said as Rae sat in a chair inside
the principal’s office. “You know you have to get in good terms with the teachers, no matter how much you
hate them.”
Rae bowed his head. “Sorry, sir. It’s just that, well…I really hate how she turns me into the bad
guy.”
“Well, in a way, you did display an act of violence that actually threatened your life.”
“Yeah, but the end justifies the means; all three of us turned out okay.”
“I understand that,” Mr. McKenzie said. “I understand; that’s why you weren’t punished this time.
But you know, some teachers – no, some people – tend to take consideration of your records, especially
the latest one…”
“The one that made me end up enrolling here…” Rae said.
Mr. McKenzie nodded. “That’s right. The moment you set foot in this school, you already had an
identity that you carried over from the past that you had wanted to escape from. Of course, I never
mentioned any of these, and that’s why only your homeroom teacher, who has your records aside from
me, knows of it first-hand. I don’t know if she told this to her colleagues, though…”
“Apparently, not everyone knows,” Rae replied. “I once had a fight with a group of bullies here,
and since I got away unscathed, a certain teacher didn’t believe those guys when they said I was the one
that caused the incident.”
“Oh, the latest act of violence so far, was it?” Mr. McKenzie recalled. “So it was you, eh? What
happened?”
“Classmate of mine was about to get beaten up. I happened to be in the area, so I thought I’d try
protecting him.”
“So you hurt three students to save one?” Mr. McKenzie inquired.
“I try not to look at things by numbers,” Rae replied. “I think of it as helping out the helpless.”
Mr. McKenzie nodded. “I see your point. But please get this straight: use force only when there’s
no other choice. And that doesn’t mean you can use it once you run out of your current options. Force a
non-violent solution before concluding that there’s no other way. You could have humbly apologized for
your classmate back then.”
“And what if they start asking for our money or something?”
“Use your head, Kusanagi,” Mr. McKenzie replied. “If you can beat them up, you can get evidence
against them so that we higher-ups can deal with them. If it’s you, you’ll definitely be able to think of
something.
Rae fell silent.
“See?” Mr. McKenzie said. “Don’t get too full of yourself. Or else that tragedy will happen again.
You wouldn’t want that, right? After all, you just came here fairly recently.”
“…what am I gonna do about that teacher, then…?” Rae asked.
“I’ll talk to her, so don’t worry.” Mr. McKenzie heaved a sigh. He stood up, went toward a

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bookshelf, took a book, sat down again, and placed it on the table. “In the meantime, would you like to
read this? It’s a book on short stories. You might find this a little interesting.”
Rae reached out and took the book. “It’s a compilation of love stories,” he commented. “Why this,
of all things? I’ll bet there are more interesting books in that large, crowded bookshelf of yours.”
Mr. McKenzie laughed heartily. “Exactly my point, Kusanagi. I’m ordering you to try reading some
romance stories for a change. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve been pursuing excellence in academics and
sports all your life, right?”
Rae nodded. “More or less,” he replied.
“Romantic love has never been part of your life? Not even during middle school?”
Rae thought for a while. Jamie… “Nope, not even once,” he said while shaking his head.
“Then try reading it,” Mr. McKenzie urged. “You still have 40 minutes or so; you’ll be able to read
at least one of them. I’ll be reading my own book for now before I resume working.”
“All right, all right,” Rae said. “I’ll read it right now.”
Rae began reading somewhere in the middle of the book. As he flipped the pages to see the
beginning of the short story that he was looking at, he asked Mr. McKenzie, “You’re not working right now
because I’m still here, right?”
“You could say that,” Mr. McKenzie replied, his eyes fixated on his book. “Anyway, don’t think of it
as an inconvenience. After all, I’m bound to take a break, anyway. Don’t mind me and start reading. Then
tell me what you think about what you read.”
Rae found the start of the short story; it was entitled “Right Love at the Wrong Time.” Rae raised
an eyebrow as he began reading.
There was this guy named Charlie who likes this girl named Catherine. At the beginning of the
story, they were middle schoolers. Charlie confessed his feelings to Catherine during graduation day, and
it turned out that Catherine also liked him. They went to high school together and got really close, until
Charlie became extremely busy with schoolwork during his 3 rd year, what with him aiming to be at the top
of his class. Catherine thought he didn’t like him anymore, and they broke up due to that
misunderstanding. In the end, Charlie promised Catherine that he would court her again someday. They
went to different high schools in the end. Right love…at the wrong time.
Roughly 20 minutes had passed since Rae started reading the story, and neither he nor Mr.
McKenzie had budged an inch since then. As he heaved a sigh after reading the last sentence, Mr.
McKenzie stopped reading.
“You done reading, kid?” he asked. “What story did you read? Caged Love? Love in the Tunnel?”
“Right Love at the Wrong Time,” Rae replied.
“Ah, that one,” Mr. McKenzie said, placing his book on his table. “The one where an academic
geek fell in love and ultimately broke up because he wanted to focus on his studies, right?”
Rae nodded.
“Pretty nice story, eh?” Mr. McKenzie went on. “I’d say it’s one of the best stories because

93
relationships similar to that tend to happen a lot to youngsters. And that guy, what was his name?”
“Charlie.”
“Yeah, him. He’s really like you, don’t you think?”
At that time, Tenkai appeared. “Spot on, don’t you think?”
Jamie…Rae said at the back of his head. He looked at the book once again.
“Well, in the geeky sense, you’re just like Charlie, right?” Mr, McKenzie asked.
“I’d have to say yes,” Rae replied. “I won’t deny the fact that I’ve always aspired to be at the top of
everything.”
“At any rate, it seems the story you read actually discourages you to explore love, don’t you
think?” Mr. McKenzie said. “After all, it ended because Charlie wanted to focus on his studies. The moral
here would seem something like ‘Studies first before relationships,’ wouldn’t it?”
“But it also says that the love is still there,” Rae commented.
“Hmm, you have a point,” Mr. McKenzie replied. “He had the right love, but at the wrong time,
after all. But at least he knew that Catherine was the one and he just had to prepare himself.”
Rae was deep in thought. “I’ve always been an idealist when it comes to love,” he finally said,
making Mr. McKenzie look at him in wonder. “Um, I just think that…unless it’s the right time, you can’t…
call it the right love at all.”
“Hmm? Why is that?” Mr. McKenzie asked.
“I’m not too sure since I thought about it just now,” Rae replied. “But my line of thought goes
something like ‘people change.’ You get what I mean, sir? I’ve always seen real love as accepting
everything about another person, so…maybe it’s also about timing? Um, wait, let me get my thoughts
straight…what I’m saying is, since people change, that means this act of accepting a person would also
depend on when he falls in love with her. In Charlie’s case, it’s possible that by the time he courts
Catherine again, they would both be different individuals, and I think that the love that would spring at that
time, assuming there will be, will be an altogether different kind of love from the one before. Not just an
evolved form, but a different kind all in all.” He paused for a while. “Damn, I said a whole lot there. Did I
actually make any sense?”
Mr. McKenzie laughed. “Yeah, you made sense; to me, at least. Don’t worry, kid; I get your point.
Yeah, that might be the case, but it’s just that not all people see the way you do.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. For example, you’re Kusanagi. One year from now, you’re still Kusanagi; of course you’ve
changed, but most people wouldn’t see you as an entirely different person because you’re still, well,
Kusanagi.”
Rae shook his head. “Actually, I see people in the same way, as well,” he said. “It’s just that, I
think if we’re talking about love, we ought to change and widen our horizons. Not that I’m capable of doing
that right now, though. And besides, I just mentioned that I’m an idealist. I can’t really be realistic with
something I don’t have any experience on.”

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 Mr. McKenzie smiled. “Talking to you feels strangely nice,” he said. “I like your ideas, and the way
you don’t just go with what I say makes me learn more.”
“I’ve always had a habit of talking back to teachers, so maybe that’s why I’m like this.”
“Can’t seem to conform to what they want?”
“Sometimes.”
“You’re young, yet you’re like that. It’s interesting. Whenever I tried imagining someone who
skipped grades, I’d imagine a young, silent intellect who gets intimidated by his older classmates. But
you, Kusanagi, are different. You don’t show your age at all.”
Rae fell silent, and while he was at a loss on what to say, he heard a knock on the door.
It was Sarah. “Excuse me sir, but I was asked to accompany Rae.”
Mr. McKenzie raised an eyebrow. “I don’t get it. What did your teacher say?”
“Um, she said ‘Spencer, go look for him.’ So I started looking for Rae around the campus.”
Rae’s eyes widened. She was looking for me this whole time? “Sorry for the trouble, Sarah,” he
said. “It’s just that I wanted to talk to Mr. McKenzie so that I could calm down a bit.”
Sarah shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Actually, she sent me out 20 minutes after you left,
so I haven’t been searching that long.”
“That being said,” Mr. McKenzie intervened, “you might want to enter, miss. Staying in the
doorway like that must be quite an inconvenience, don’t you think?” He smiled at Sarah.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Sarah said, alarmed. “Um, I’ll be leaving now. Sorry for disturbing.”
Mr. McKenzie shook his head. “Don’t go out on your own.” He turned to Rae and motioned him
out. “Kusanagi, go with her. You still have a few more minutes left to chat. And besides, I don’t want
others to see me talking with a student in such a casual manner. They’ll think I lack the iron fist of
authority.” He gave out a laugh.
Rae nodded and stood up. “In that case, I’ll be leaving now. Let’s go, Sarah.”
Mr. McKenzie nodded. “Yeah, go on ahead. Thanks for the nice chitchat, by the way. And
remember what I told you about getting into fights, okay?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.” And with that, he and Sarah left the office.

Inside the cafeteria a few minutes later, Rae was sitting beside Sarah, the two of them eating
cookies, with two glasses of water in front of them.
“So,” Sarah said while still chewing the cookie in her mouth, “Why’d you go to the principal’s
office? I for one wouldn’t do that; a teacher would have to send me in. Are you good friends with him or
something?”
Rae swallowed the cookie he was chewing and took a sip of water before replying. “Sort of,” he
replied. “He was just really friendly when I enrolled here on my own. He took a look at my records and
stuff and said I could be accepted to this school.”
Sarah finished the cookie she was eating. “Why did you transfer, anyway?”

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 Rae froze. I had wanted to start anew…please don’t bring it up now.
“Is there anything wrong?” Sarah asked. “It’s just weird, you know; you transferred here one week
after classes began. Usually, people would transfer after at least one month or so, and that’s usually
because the transferee had just moved to a different house.”
Rae shook his head and gave a pathetic laugh. “Heh, you’re right,” he said. “It really is weird. I
myself am weird.”
“Hey, I didn’t say that you were weird!”
Rae shook his head again. “I know, I know. But it’s my own conclusion; that’s what I think about
myself.” He paused for a moment and sighed. “Hey, Sarah…how much longer do we have till the next
class starts?”
“25 more minutes.”
“I see.” Rae took another cookie and ate it. “I wanna blurt some things out. Hope you won’t mind.
I don’t think you would, though, since I’ll be explaining why I transferred.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up. “Really? You’ll tell me? Go on, then! I’m all ears.”
Rae chewed a little more, and then swallowed his cookie. He took his glass and drank a big gulp
of water.
Sarah’s eyes widened when Rae told her why he transferred so early.
“I was expelled.”

Author’s note: It wasn’t supposed to go this way, to be honest. I had a different plot in my head
before I made this, but next thing I knew, Rae was already at the principal’s office. I actually forgot
the original plot, but I think this is better, whatever that was. Rae’s past is finally revealed. More on
this next up on chapter 14.

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 Chapter 14
(Re-Awaken the Forgotten Prodigy)

Sarah’s eyes widened. “What? Seriously? Why?”

“Act of violence,” Rae replied, bowing his head. “And a really major one at that. Three delinquents
injured badly enough to be hospitalized for days. Our teacher was right; I’m nothing more than a violent
kid. I know that much already.”
“…there’s a reason behind it, right?”
Rae nodded. “But still, I did something terrible. That’s why I don’t want to remember it again. I
wanted to bury it in the past and start anew at this school. That’s what I told Principal McKenzie when I
tried enrolling here.”
“Tell me,” Sarah said with a serious face. “What happened?”
Rae sighed. “Fine, since I did say I’ll tell it to you. It’s a little complicated, though; for me, at least.”
†-o0o-†
I’ve been good friends with this particular classmate of mine. Her name is Jamie. We got along
because she sucked in PhysEd, and when we first met, she had wanted to learn tennis. I taught her, and
then we got closer after that. The two of us excelled in academics, and I had her teach my fellow
classmates along with me during our free time; for the sake of reviewing, I told her.
She has a boyfriend, a delinquent named Kenny. Despite the great difference in their status in the
school, they seemed to get along quite well. During free time in-between classes, she was with me and
my other classmates; during dismissal, she was with him. You see, Kenny tends to skip class and get into
fights, so Jamie said it was okay to be with us then. That was during our first year in middle school.
During our third year, she started opening up to me, telling me how she couldn’t stand Kenny
sometimes. It turned out that Kenny came from a rich family, so he didn’t feel that he had to work that
hard with his studies. Jamie told me she couldn’t get Kenny to be more disciplined with her studies. I told
her she should get on some ground of understanding with him, and suggested that she tell him not to get
near her unless he did well in his studies.
Apparently, it worked. She gathered her courage and told him that she would see him as her
boyfriend only if he worked harder in his studies so that he could have a future better than the one laid out
by his family’s fortune. The guy ended up asking me for help – tutoring – but only after class, without
letting Jamie know. So, during lunch, I was with Jamie, and after class, I was with Kenny.
Fortunately enough, his grades improved, and Jamie kept her end of the bargain; they started
going out again. I, on the other hand, was focusing on what ended up as my final tennis competition for a
long time.
Time passed by quickly, and all of us went to Minester High. We all ended up as classmates
there, as well.
I went to school early on the first day and started exploring the place, buildings and all. And that

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was the start of my downfall.
Behind a building, I saw Kenny, Jamie, and two other delinquents with sticks. Jamie was on her
knees, crying, and Kenny was shouting at her, his eyes really terrifying if you had been there. He was a
big guy, and no one really likes seeing big guys get mad.
It turned out that a few minutes ago, Jamie told Kenny that she wanted to break up with him.
When he asked her why, she said she had fallen in love with someone else. And then Kenny burst his
bubble when Jamie mustered her courage to say it was me.
They saw me as I tried to make sense of the entire scenario. Jamie stared at me with teary eyes,
and Kenny squeezed her face, saying, “You’re saying this bastard’s better than me?! What a load of
crap!” He motioned the two to go to me. “Show him who’s boss here.”
The two delinquents with sticks charged after me. I was confused, and told them “Hey, hey, can’t
we talk this over?”
And then one of the sticks hit me on my side. Another one hit me when I fell from the first strike.
I don’t want to go into the details of what happened after that, so let me skip some complicated
parts. I recall lunging from that position to punch one of them. And then I was holding one of the sticks.
Then I hit someone with it. Repeatedly. After a while, I threw the sticks away and kicked them, since they
had already fallen.
A teacher found me standing, amidst all the fallen students.
I admitted to everyone that it was me who injured the guys. Jamie wanted to defend me, but I told
her to shut her trap. I apologized to them, gave a fairly large amount of my savings – mostly my prize
money from my winnings in sports competitions – for their hospitalization, and was expelled. I kept my
story so simple that they thought I was also the one who injured Jamie.
†-o0o-†
Sarah stared at her glass of water with a terrified look. “That…that’s just horrible…”
“I told you I’m weird,” Rae said. “I went too berserk there, since I didn’t want anyone to fight back;
I had to injure them all to the point that they would no longer be able to stand up.”
“But expelling you was too harsh,” Sarah commented. “You weren’t the one who started it,
anyway. And seriously, did you fight back just because they hit you? I don’t think that’s not the case.”
“What makes you so sure?”
Sarah shook her head. “Nothing, really. I just think you’re too nice to be like that. To be honest,
though, I’m mostly just hoping.”
Rae bowed his head. “Actually, one of them whispered something to me,” he said. “When the first
guy hit me, as I was falling to the floor, he said, ‘You’re good at sports, but in real fights, you’re a
weakling. Go ahead and die, traitor.’ And then the second guy hit me, and afterwards, I did my
counterattack.”
“And you didn’t tell them that?” Sarah asked, alarmed. “That would make your actions make more
sense to them, and you might not have been expelled. You even gave your money for their

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hospitalization. The time they spent there could be enough of a suspension period that they deserve.”
Rae shook his head. “My reputation in the school got scarred big time by that incident. And
besides, the delinquents have rich parents, so they wouldn’t get suspended. That’s why I kept quiet about
the Kenny-hit-Jamie incident, and I told Jamie to keep quiet about it, too.”
“That’s terrible…”
“Life has always been unfair,” Rae said. “In fact, I consider myself a cheat code as well.
Academics or sports, I always find myself on top. I’m sure people have envied me, thinking the same
thing: that life is unfair.” That’s right, life is unfair. I’ve lost my memories, I’m living and working part-time in
an orphanage, and I need to keep my grades high to maintain my scholarship or else I won’t be able to
study.
“By the way,” Sarah said, getting in the way of Rae’s mental complaining. “That Jamie person,
what happened to her? She said she liked you, right? It must have been hard on her.”
Rae thought for a while, and then shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “What it means to like a
person and all…I don’t have any idea how it feels. She was a good friend, and that was all that mattered
to me.”
“You mean to say it’s not like you liked her and simply held it in because she already had a
boyfriend?”
“I never liked her in the ‘I love you’ way,” Rae affirmed. “I don’t know; she’s cute and all, but I
never looked at her as anything more than a friend. She was crying when I got expelled, and I felt really
sorry for her, mainly because she fell in love with a clueless, violent runt like me.” Why am I telling her all
this…?
“You still keep in touch with her?”
“I decided that I wouldn’t have anything to do with her until I resolve my feelings,” Rae replied,
staring at his glass with a serious expression. He sighed. “I told her that. No one knows my contact
number since I tend to keep it a secret except to the higher-ups in school, but I know hers, and I promised
her that I would talk to her once I was mature enough. It may be that I really did love her but simply didn’t
realize it. I’m still not sure.”
Sarah smiled as she took her last cookie and stared at it. “Thanks for telling me all this,” she said.
“Thanks for trusting me with such complicated stuff. You feel any better now?” She threw the cookie into
her mouth and started chewing.
Rae bowed his head and smiled. “Yeah, I feel better now.” I’m really grateful, Sarah. You have no
idea.
After finishing her last cookie, Sarah looked at her watch. “It’s almost time,” she told Rae, who
had already finished his cookies before her. “Let’s go to the next class.”
Rae nodded and stood up, putting his cookie wrapper in his pocket. “Sure thing.” He then looked
at Sarah’s cookie wrapper. “Oh, and you don’t plan on leaving your trash like that, do you?”

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 The series of classes resumed, and Rae had not said a word even during the small amount of
free time they had every time a class ended, before the teacher for the next class arrived. Sarah could not
go into her note-taking trance anymore; she was too disturbed by Rae’s story to do so.
In the middle of history class, Sarah was taking notes, half of her attention still on the silent Rae.
From her experience, by this time, Rae would have had a sort of fight with the teacher because he was
sleeping, but he had been wide awake the whole time, quietly answering questions whenever the teacher
asked him any. Perhaps talking about it to me resurfaced past wounds, she thought repeatedly as she
stared at Rae’s blank face.
Finally, she decided to talk to Rae during Science class. “You’ve been really quiet lately,” she told
him, making him shift his attention to her. She continued, “Is it about what you told me a while ago? The
story of your expulsion?”
“You’re thinking I recalled all those memories when I told it to you?” Rae asked. “Is that it?”
Sarah nodded. “Y-yeah…it’s just that you haven’t been quite yourself lately. You’ve been…awfully
quiet.”
Was I? “Really?” he said. “I never really noticed. I’ll have to admit that my mind’s kind of
preoccupied with something, but it’s not the expulsion issue. I can guarantee that.”
“Then what is it?”
“Tennis tournament,” Rae replied. “I’ll be participating in a junior competition around two weeks
from now. I got rusty since it’s been months since I last played, so Principal McKenzie will be excusing me
from a few days of class once the day of the competition gets nearer so that I could train more. Today,
after class, is my first day of training, so I was just wondering if I would do well.
“Oh, I see.” Sarah sighed. “That’s a relief.”
“Kusanagi! Spencer!” came the teacher’s voice. “Not paying attention, huh?”
Rae sighed, letting his head sink into his table. “Yeah, yeah, sure. No need to make such a big
fuss over it. Or do you just hate me that much?”
Sarah smiled. Here we go again…

After classes, Rae walked toward the school gate alone, where he was met by his coach, Emman
Walker.
“Let’s get going, kid,” he said. He motioned him to go to a car and walked ahead. “Let’s not waste
any time. After all, we’re stopping by your house to get your stuff.”
Rae nodded and followed. “Sorry for the trouble,” he said as he entered the car and closed the
door. Walker was already holding the key, which had been inserted the whole time. “I’ll be training at the
same old place?”
Walker turned the key and the engine roared to life. “Yep, same old place,” he replied. “What did
you expect? Some hidden tennis court? Don’t push it, kid; you’ll have to put up with me for now. But if you
can get invited to train overseas, then there’s no doubt you’ll get good technology for your training.” The

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car began moving, and was soon moving at a fixed speed in the road.
“Don’t go trying to convince me. I told you I’ll decide for myself.”
“Geez, kid, I’m just saying.” He stopped at a traffic light. “By the way, if you’re thinking you’d see
your former rivals, well, you won’t. They’re either training at a different place or at a different time. Said
they wanted to see you only at the tournament itself.”
“I see.”
The stoplight turned green and they proceeded.

After more than half an hour of silence, with Rae watching the constantly changing scenery
outside the car the whole time, Walker heaved a sigh. “It’s been months,” he said, breaking the silence.
“You haven’t played at all?”
“Not at all. I had intended to quit for good, and I was serious about it.”
Walker gritted his teeth. “Darn. You know, while you were trying to forget tennis, those guys tried
their best to improve their skills. And they still feel bad since you left as the best among the competitive
players.”
“I’m aware of the sense of rivalry,” Rae said. “I’ll have to admit that my leave was abrupt. That’s
also part of the reason why I agreed to take part in the New State Open; to settle my score with them one
last time.”
“I see…” Walker stopped the car; they had reached the orphanage. “Hurry up and take your stuff.”
Rae got out of the car, ran toward the orphanage, then returned 5 minutes later, all dressed up in
his tennis outfit, carrying his tennis bag. He entered the car and Walker continued to drive.
None of them said a word throughout the rest of the ride.

The tennis court in the area was one among four, each one named by a letter from A to D. Rae
was in court C, and on his side there were a lot of balls as he stood with his knees slightly bent, his hands
holding onto his knees as he gasped for air.
“What the hell, are you trying to kill me?!” he exclaimed. “You expect me to return all those
balls?!” He had been subject to ball feeding, only in this instance Walker returned Rae’s shots as much as
he could while continuously feeding balls nonstop.
One of the two containers of tennis balls beside him had been emptied, and that was why they
stopped. As Rae tried recovering from his exhaustion, Walker looked around; about 1/4 of the balls he
used were on his side, the remaining 3/4 were on Rae’s. “You’re still pretty good,” he commented. “But I
guess the shock is still there, huh?”
Rae was still gasping for air. “The hell, I can see your murderous intent already. Why’d you make
me do this kind of thing right off the bat, anyway? Shouldn’t a normal rally be the obvious thing to do, if
not a normal ball feeding?”
Walker shook his head. “You won’t be good enough if all I let you do are the normal stuff,” he said

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with a firmness that made Rae freeze. “I’ll bet you won’t win in the competition if you don’t do some
special training. And it’s not just Kenny and Jimmy you’ll be facing; you might find yourself losing against
someone you don’t know. After all, there are a lot of good players out there. The age bracket is 14-16,
remember? You’re part of the youngest, so you can’t let your guard down.”
Rae thought for a while. Kenny and Jimmy are both 15 right now, turning 16 soon, while I’m still
pretty far from reaching 15. Aside from that, I’ll be competing against 16-year-olds…but this is…”This is
too harsh.”
“Oh, really? Well, then, you’re free to go.”
Rae clenched his fists. Damn… “How many times are we gonna repeat this?”
“Until you collapse,” Walker replied. “And when I say collapse, I mean the real one. Stand as long
as you can stand.”
Rae nodded and stretched his arms. “All right, I’ll play along.” He then went into standby position.
“I’m ready.”
Walker set aside the empty container, placed the full one beside his free hand, and took a ball
from it. “Dance, kid. Dance till you drop.”

Half an hour later, Rae was sitting on a nearby bench, eyes wide open, unceasingly gasping for
air. “Damn, that was hell,” he told Tenkai, whom he knew was beside him, leaning on his jug of water. “Did
I suck this much before?”
“I can’t be entirely sure,” the angel replied, “but I think you suck a little more right now. Although
that’s probably since you got shocked after nearly a year of not playing. And without any warm-ups at all.
Seriously kid, are you stupid?! You didn’t even try shadow tennis the day before or something! Your first
swing after all this time hit a ball, and that was just now, with that hell training.”
“That’s because I thought I’d have light training first!” Rae protested. He heaved a sigh as he let
his arms rest on his thighs. “You’re not the only one surprised; both of us didn’t expect this coming, and I’ll
bet anyone who’s not masochistic would have been as well.”
Tenkai shook his head. “Mind if I be frank with you, kid?”
“Go ahead.”
“You’re too stuck up.”
Rae was taken aback, his eyes widening as he moved it, his head steady, to where Tenkai sat.
He had opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but thought better of it and stared at the sky. “Go
on,” he urged.
“It doesn’t have to be this type of training,” Tenkai continued. “The fact that you didn’t prepare at
all is enough to tell me that you were confident about your skills despite the fact that you haven’t played
for a long time. If you ask me, you got what you deserved with this.”
Rae thought for a while before responding. “You’re right,” he finally said. “I got into this whole
thing solely under the impression that I was the champion in the 11-14 contest last year.”

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 “And that’s a fact which everyone acknowledges,” Tenkai commented.
“But it’s also not the only fact that I should have taken into consideration,” Rae intervened. He
saw Tenkai nod his head and disappear. I’m back to my senses now. Thanks, Tenkai, Rae said at the
back of his head as he looked at the water jug where the angel had been leaning on. He then took it,
opened its lid, and drank some water.
Just then, a muscular man in his mid-20’s approached him.
Rae looked up and saw the man. “Oh, it’s you,” he said. “Sir Wattson.”
“You were pretty cool back there,” Wattson commented, pointing his thumb at court C. “Walker
told me that you haven’t played at all since you left. And yet it feels as if you haven’t changed at all; you’re
still the genius that I’ve known all this time.”
“It’s true that I got the prodigy title by going up the ranks quickly,” Rae said. He looked at the
courts; there were people playing doubles at court D. “However,” he continued, “I don’t think that’s enough
right now. If I can return to how I was before I left by the time the New State Open starts, then that’s not
enough. I know I’m still lacking right now, and I know I’ll have to cram all this training if I’m thinking of
being on par with the other competitors.” He stood up and took his racket. “Yeah, why the hell am I resting
like this, anyway? Wanna play?”
Wattson smiled. “Well said, kid. Let’s have a casual rally.”
Rae shook his head. “Go serious on me.”
“The hell? That ball feeding Walker gave you was torture, and you’ve experienced it firsthand.
Look at you; you’re still tired.”
Rae turned his back on Wattson and walked toward the court. “Don’t make that an excuse once
you lose to me.”
Wattson grinned. “You’re gonna regret saying that, Kusanagi. You haven’t reached my level just
yet.”

As the ball that ended the match hit the net, Rae fell backwards, sitting on the ground with his
legs outstretched, gasping for breath. “No more…please…”
Wattson rushed toward Rae. “Kid, you okay?! I told you not to push yourself.”
Rae shook his head. “No I’m not okay,” he said, and after a pause, “And no, I don’t regret doing
this at all. It’s my fault for quitting in the first place.”
“All right then,” Wattson said. “Take a rest, and Walker will make you exercise a little more once
you’ve recovered. Oh, and we’re talking jogging, pushups, and weights here; but you knew that already,
didn’t you?”
“One hour,” Rae said. “I’ll do it after one hour.”
“Suit yourself,” Wattson replied as he left the court. Rae stood up and went back to the chair he
had been sitting on.
Wattson passed by Walker, who had been watching the game. He stopped walking and patted

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Walker’s shoulder. “You picked a good one from the start,” he said. “He has talent and tenacity, and that’s
gonna get him far.”
“I know,” Walker replied, looking at Rae who was drinking from his jug. “By the time he plays
against those two, he’ll be way above their levels.”
“The way he rose before,” Wattson recalled. “Kusanagi started learning tennis when those two
were already fighting for the number one spot.”
Walker nodded. “Yeah, just like that time. He’s gonna take the competition by storm.”

Author’s note: I hope you haven’t grown tired of Rae just yet. The New State Open’s coming soon,
so look forward to it.

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 15
(High School Romance)

†-o0o-†
“I’m scared,” the girl said as she cried while embracing the boy amidst the panic and the flames
all over the area. “It…it’s all so horrible…”
The boy, who was tightly embracing the girl, patted her back. “Don’t worry. We’ll get out of here.
We’ll get out, and go back to our happy days.”
“Really?”
The boy nodded. “Really. Trust me.”
†-o0o-†
Rae quickly got up from his bed, and then fell back again. He stared at the ceiling at first, and
then turned his head to the left to see Tenkai stretching on top of his table.
The little angel noticed him and looked. “What, can’t a guy do a little exercise? You’re already
cheat-code level strong; I can get pretty conscious every now and then.”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “You’re weird.”
“Don’t mind me,” Tenkai said. “You woke up too early, you know. Get some more shut eye. I can
see your stress.”

“Are you seriously sure you’re okay?” Sarah asked as Rae slipped into his seat beside her a few
hours later. “You’ve been awfully quiet lately, and…you have stress written all over your face.” Almost
three months have passed since Rae decided to join the New State Open and began training under his
coach Emman Walker.
“Is it really that visible?” Rae asked as he looked at Sarah while placing his arms on his table,
ready to lean on them to take a nap.
Sarah nodded. “Clear as day.”
“Is that so?”
“Aside from that, you’ve been coming to school early since the start of your training only to sleep.”
“Lately, I’ve been so tired that sleeping here and sleeping in my bed no longer makes a
difference.”
“And speaking of sleeping,” Sarah commented, “you’ve been sleeping in class more than usual,
but you’ve been awfully silent with the teachers despite that.”
“Yeah; I haven’t done any grand recitations while quarrelling lately,” Rae commented. “But I’m
keeping my scores as high as possible. I’m just sacrificing the former exciting arguments to juggle studies
and tennis.”
“Judging from how you seem to be pushing yourself, you seem to be very enthusiastic about this
competition.”

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 “I just can’t afford to lose,” Rae replied. “My body’s starting to ache as hell, and I haven’t had that
much sleep lately to boot, but I need to keep up.”
Sarah held Rae’s head and gently pushed it toward his arms. “Go take a nap, then.” As Rae let
himself rest on his arms, Sarah patted his head. “Don’t worry too much, Rae. Just do your best. I’ll wake
you up later, so relax.” Then he ran her hand over Rae’s head repeatedly.
All the while, hidden from plain sight, Rae was blushing and couldn’t sleep.
Tenkai appeared a few seconds later and grinned. “As if you could sleep with that much
stimulation,” he said. “I can imagine your face going all red already.”
Shut up, Rae said at the back of his head.
Tenkai nodded. “Whatever you say, sir.”
Good.
“But anyway, since you can’t sleep right now, how’s about I ask you a question?”
Rae nodded, and Sarah’s hand stopped. “I told you to sleep. Come on, relax.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Rae mumbled.
“So, anyway,” Tenkai continued, “You woke up with a pretty terrified look on your face a while ago.
Did you have the dream again?”
Yeah, Rae replied in his mind.
“But you haven’t had it these past 2 months of training.”
Now that you mention it…and aside from that, this dream is different from the ones before.
“In what way?”
I was with a girl this time, and not my theoretical dad. And it was really brief, unlike the past vivid
ones. Maybe that’s why I woke up early.
“Because you weren’t trapped in a long story while you were sleeping?”
Yeah, Rae replied. Since the main problem with my nightmares is that I don’t wake up until it
finishes, then maybe that would be the cause.
“Uh-huh…”
You know, Rae said; Sarah had let go of his head at this point. I think I’m slowly getting closer to
regaining my memories. After all these years, when I came to this school, my dreams have started to
widen; it started to have more scenes that I can piece together.
“You have a point,” Tenkai said with a nod. “Just don’t force yourself.”
Right after Tenkai’s last sentence, before Rae could reply, Sarah nudged his head. “The teacher’s
here,” she said.
Rae rose his head. “Okay, I’m up, I’m up.”
“Even though you never really fell asleep,” Tenkai interrupted.
Aw, shut your trap.

When lunch time came a few hours later, everyone hurried out of the classroom, as if there was a

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stampede of sorts. When they had all gone out, Rae was sleeping on his desk, snoring while he was at it.
At this convenient time, Tenkai took the liberty of showing up, but he didn't bother to wake Rae up.
Instead, he just sat on the desk, leaning on Rae's head and adjusting his position as he lay on Rae's hair
as if it was a large stack of hay.

Meanwhile, at the Cromwell residence, Michael was in his bed. He let out a sudden sneeze
before dozing off.

Rae woke up all of a sudden, causing Tenkai to fall off. However, the little angel managed to
interrupt his fall by spreading his wings just in time. He flew behind Rae and gently tapped his head as he
said, “Took you long enough, kid. Let's get going now.”
Rae stood up, looking around the classroom only to find out that he was the only person left. He
glanced up at the clock and saw that 5 minutes have passed since lunch had started. With that, he quickly
took his bag and went outside.
“Hey Tenkai...” he muttered loud enough for Tenkai to hear as he walked down the stairs towards
the quadrangle. “...what do you think would be the best serve in a tennis match? You know, the kind of
spin, amount, the strength that I'm supposed to hit it with...those basic stuff.”
“...don't give me that,” Tenkai shook his head. “I am no tennis geek like you. But then again, I'd
suggest a power serve with a good amount of topspin. But focus on the power.”
“Okay,” Rae smiled as he bowed his head. He was almost at the quadrangle by now. “Thanks for
the advice and all that.”

“Don't mention it,” Tenkai replied with a grin. He suddenly made a thinking gesture, as if he was
remembering something. Rae knew that Tenkai already knew what he was trying to remember, so he
thought it was a really stupid thing for a seemingly-omniscient angel to be thinking. The two of them
looked at each other, and Rae raised an eyebrow while Tenkai grinned.
“What's in your mind now?” Rae asked, pausing for a bit. “You make me feel as if I'm forgetting
something.”
“Maybe because you are,” Tenkai replied with a grin. “Looks like you forgot that a classmate of
yours has gone missing, eh?”

Rae stopped and thought for a bit, just in time to see Tina as she walked toward the quadrangle.
He then remembered that he was supposed to ask Tina about what happened to Michael.
He quickly approached her. “Hey.”
“Hi, Rae,” Tina simply replied with an innocent smile. “Is there anything wrong?”
“Nope,” Rae said. “Just wondering where a certain someone went.”
“Michael?” Tina asked. Before Rae could say yes, she continued, “He has a fever.”

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 Rae nodded. “I see...so, are you feeling down now that he's not around?”
Tina raised her shoulders briefly and frowned. “Well, yeah...kinda...”
Tenkai grinned as he gave Rae a gentle nudge on his thick hair. “She's lonely...” he said as he
gave Rae a gentle nudge. “Why don't you go comfort her?”
“Give me one way to do that.”
“...I have no idea, buddy.”
Rae sighed and rolled his eyes. “You are so useless.”
Without much more thinking, Rae decided to simply take Tina to the quadrangle. He walked a few
spaces forward, passing her by until they were behind each other, and stopped on his tracks as soon as
he figured he was far enough. Tina turned around at him, and he motioned her to come with him, saying
“Would you mind if you go with me to the quad for lunch? Sarah's out with...the girls...again,” as he
started walking again.
“Sure,” Tina replied, a frown slowly creeping into her face. “After all, I've got no one else to talk
to.”
Rae simply nodded his head as they went to the quadrangle. They stopped by the grassy part by
a corner of the area, where Rae lied down while Tina remained standing, looking at the surroundings.
“What's wrong?” Rae asked. “Come on, sit down.”
Tina simply nodded as she sat down. Rae, on the other hand, started taking his lunch box from
his bag, opening it to reveal a variety of meat and vegetables with rice.
“Looking at it makes me wanna try it as soon as possible,” he said as he stared at the contents of
his lunch box. “Let's see if my cooking got any better.”
Tina took a quick glance at Rae. He can cook? she wondered. “Cooking? It reminds me how I
used to give Michael my experimental baking products.”
Rae took a spoonful of food and looked at Tina. “Experimental, huh...” he said before eat. “Hey,
it's pretty tasty, if I may say so myself. You should start eating your lunch, too.”
Tina smiled a bit as she took out her lunch box. “Sure thing,” she replied. She then looked up at
the sky. “I wonder when I'll ever learn to cook...”
“Oh, you'll get your chance,” Rae replied. He took another spoonful of his food, and after
swallowing it, began talking again. “Anyway...I've been wanting to ask some stuff.”
“Fire away,” Tina responded.
Rae put his spoon down and looked down at the grass, his face becoming serious all of a
sudden. “What's with you and Michael, anyway? He’s awfully quiet about it.
“He hasn't told you anything?”
“Nope. Nothing.”
“Well...” Tina said as she made a thinking gesture. “Do I have to tell you our history or can I just
sum it up?”
“Telling your history would take more than the time that lunch break can offer...Sum it up, please,”

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Rae replied. “I have other questions in store, so it'd be better to not waste much time.”
Tina heaved a sigh. “Oh, alright...” She paused for a bit, started organizing her thoughts, and
soon began talking. “Well, funny thing is, I liked him first, then somehow he liked me. Then he started
courting me and stuff. At first I really didn't want any suitors, but hey, it's all Cupid's fault; I fell for him.
Now, we're in a not-lovers-but-not-friends kind of situation.”
Rae tilted his head a bit. “Not-lovers-but-not-friends? What do you mean by that?”
Tenkai, who had been sitting on Rae's shoulder ever since the conversation began, felt the
sudden urge to interrupt. “You're just stupid.”
Rae's face as he looked at Tenkai showed exactly what he wanted to tell him: “Shut up; I'm not
talking to you.”
“Well,” Tina replied soon after. “We're not in any formal relationship, but almost everyone knows
we're an item. So we're not boyfriend-girlfriend, but we kinda treat each other that way. It's pretty
complicated, really.”
Rae started feeling embarrassed. “I still don't get it...” he said. “Anyway, what do you think of him?
Or more exactly, what're your feelings for him?” He suddenly realized that he was starting to get into
Tina's personal life, and scratched his head, feeling more embarrassed. “I dunno, I just felt like asking and
all.”
Tina bowed her head. “Um...well, I love the guy...”
Rae nodded his head. “Mm-hmm, and...?”
“Well, what else should I say?”
“....I dunno. What do the two of you do when you're together?”
Tina started looking at the sky while thinking. “Well, we talk a lot. We laugh...and he gives me this
special treatment. It's kinda hard to explain, but when I'm with him I have the time of my life. He means a
lot to me.”
Tenkai snapped his fingers in delight as he grinned at Rae. “You should go get a girl for yourself,
kiddo,” he told him. “Who knows, you might stop being so rude with me and instead be entertainingly
mushy.”
Rae's look, again, made his response clear: “Shut up.”
“See? There you go again.”
Rae lay down on the grass, and said in a whisper with an angry tone, “...get out of my head now.”
Tenkai sighed. “You can be boring at times, you know that?” he said as he disappeared.
Rae, now relieved, rose up again to continue the conversation. “...I don't really get it...what is it
with boys and girls together anyway?”
“Beats me,” Tina replied. “It confuses me, too. It's such a strange feeling. You really want to be
with a guy for no special reason.”
Rae ate another spoonful of his food as he began thinking. ...it can't be Sarah. Sure, I feel happy
when I'm with her, but I don't exactly yearn for her presence... He shook his head. Wait a minute, why am

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I even thinking about her, anyway?!
“Why are you asking anyway?” Tina suddenly asked.
Rae took his time and swallowed his food before replying. “...I don't know myself. Let's just say,
uh, I want to know more about humans? But hey, don't start thinking of me as an alien or something,
okay? I'm human.”
Tina laughed a bit. “Well, you'll never really understand love until you experience it yourself.”
Rae had just swallowed another spoonful of his food. “Experience, huh...” he said. “...looks like
the same way I learned tennis. I guess I understand.”
“Have you...” Tina stared at Rae, who looked back at her with eyes round in wonder. “...have you
ever been in love?”
Rae froze. “What's with that question all of a sudden?” He paused for a while to get over his
surprise. “...I have no idea, to be honest,” he finally said.
“Oh...is that so...?”
“I don't even know how it feels anyway.”
Tina removed her sight from Rae and looked at the surroundings instead. “Oh well,” she said. “It
comes at its own time. That's another strange thing: There isn't any definite indicator that you're in love;
you'll just feel it.”
Rae rolled his eyes as he continued eating.
“I know it's confusing,” Tina said with a smile.
“Yeah, sure,” Rae replied while some food was still left in his mouth. He swallowed it before
continuing. “You haven't even eaten anything yet,” he pointed out.
Tina looked at her lunch box and remembered. “Oh right.”
An awkward silence was about to begin, a silence that will start once the two of them start eating.
Rae foresaw this and, not wanting to finish off the conversation just yet, said, “You have any questions
you'd like to ask me?”
Tina, while chewing her food, thought for a while. After swallowing it, she said, “Um...does
Michael ever mention me around you?”
Rae was about to eat another spoonful of his food, but stopped momentarily and looked at Tina in
the eyes with a straight face. “...I already said he was awfully quiet about it.”
“Oh yeah...sorry.”
“ Are you out of it or something?” Rae's tone changed from serious to casual.
“Sorry...”
“Quit apologizing.” After yet another spoonful of his food, Rae had finished eating his lunch. He
placed his lunch box back in his bag and stood up. “It'd be great if the two of you retain your closeness
until the very end.”
Tina looked up at Rae. “Why is that?”
“Well, don't you think it's painful to find out that your first love was a wrong decision?”

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 Tina refused to reply.
Before Rae could say anything else, the two of them heard the school pager turn on. A second
later, they heard the principal’s voice.
“Calling Rae Kusanagi. Please come to the office now.”
Rae gritted his teeth. “Damn, I can’t believe that guy would actually go this far.”
“What’s wrong?” Tina asked.
“Oh, that? Well you see, I was excused from school today,” Rae replied. “The principal said I’d
better focus on training more, but I felt like coming here.”
“And why did you come, anyway? You look stressed, so why force yourself?”
Rae remembered Sarah running her hand over his head and froze. “I-it’s none of your business.
Anyway, I gotta go now.” And hurriedly, he left.

Inside the principal’s office, Mr. McKenzie was sitting on his table, while across him sat Rae and
Emman Walker.
“Please don’t lecture me about trying to be serious with my training,” Rae told Walker with his
head bowed. “And just so you know, I don’t regret going to school at all.”
Walker raised an eyebrow. “You don’t regret going to school? But isn’t school boring?”
“It is.”
“Then what good did you see in going today?”
Rae remembered Sarah once again, and was at a loss for words. “It…it’s none of your business.
Anyway, you’re here to drag me back to the courts, right? Then let’s not waste any more time.”
“You’re right,” Walker said as he stood up. He faced Mr. McKenzie and bowed his head. “Thank
you for bringing Kusanagi here. We’ll be taking our leave now.”
Mr. McKenzie smiled. “Oh sure, no problem.”
Rae stood up as well, and started walking out of the room.
“Wait a minute, Kusanagi,” Mr. McKenzie suddenly said.
Rae turned his back. “Yes, sir?” he asked. He then noticed that the old man was smiling brightly.
“I used to be my school’s representative in the 100-meter sprint back when I was a student,” the
principal said. “That’s why seeing youngsters being good at sports makes me want to support them.”
“Uh-huh…”
“Don’t come back here until the competition ends. Focus on your training and win the whole darn
thing. Make me proud, boy.”
Rae nodded his head. “Sure thing. I’ll be keeping the prize money, though.”
“You make me sound like a greedy leader who uses people as pawns.” Mr. McKenzie gave a
hearty laugh. “Don’t donate your prize, okay? Just enjoy the games. Oh, and make sure you win, of
course.”
Rae smiled. “Yeah, whatever. I’ll be leaving now.”

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 Mr. McKenzie waved his hand as Rae and Walker left. “Bye, kid.”

Two hours later, Rae was playing a rally with Walker. As he ran around the court, Tenkai floated
just as swiftly, gracefully flapping his wings to stay by Rae’s side, avoiding the balls whenever one would
go in his direction.
“Hey kid,” the angel said in the middle of the rally. “Why’d you ask Tina about love all of a sudden
back there? It’s…not like you.”
“Shut up,” Rae said as he hit a one-handed backhand drive. “We’ll talk later.”
Tenkai sighed. “Fine.” He then looked forward and saw a ball charging straight at him. “Waaaah!”
As Rae hit the ball, Tenkai was floating at the contact point, freaking out. When the swing was
done, the small angel flew away and shivered in fear.

After the match, Rae and Tenkai were sitting on a bench. Rae was drinking water from his jug
while Tenkai was still shaking.
“Get over it, Tenkai,” Rae said after drinking. “It just passed through you, so why are you making
such a big fuss over it?”
“What the hell?” Tenkai responded angrily. “You have no idea how it felt back there! It was like
getting crushed!”
“Only you didn’t.”
“Well yeah, but it was still terrifying.”
Rae laughed. “Sure, whatever you say, sir.” He paused, heaved a sigh, and looked at the sky. He
noticed that the clouds were covering the sun. “I wonder how it feels to have someone you love, someone
you'd commit your life to...”
“Affected by what Tina said?”
“I’m not sure if that’s exactly it,” Rae replied. “It’s just that Tina's feelings seem so pure and - what
was that that word again? - genuine. I can't help but wonder how it feels like...”
“But before you go into that, you gotta win the upcoming competition.”
Rae nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Author’s note: This is the point where Rae starts to confront his feelings by getting the opinion of
someone who has experienced love. Stay tuned as this young man continues his journey in life.
Oh, and one step closer to the tournament.

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 Chapter 16
(Jamie Austen)

With Tenkai the finger-sized angel floating beside him, Rae entered the tennis courts where the
New State Open would be held the following day. There was a group of men talking by the entrance, and
when they took notice of Rae’s presence, they stopped and pointed at him with surprised looks on their
faces.
“Woah, no way,” one of them said. “It looks like Kusanagi.”
“Of course I’d look like myself,” Rae replied. “Did you think I had a twin brother or something, Sir
Randy?”
“So it really is you, huh?” the man named Randy said. “You’ve gone missing for so long that I
thought our defending champion wouldn’t show himself this year. It would have been a shame if you didn’t
come.”
“He’s right, kid,” another man said. “Without you, we’ll have to count on those two rivals, or
maybe search for some random black horse again.”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “No exceptional players this year, Sir Gary?”
“A young genius like you? No,” the man named Gary replied. “Anyway, why are you here? You
came to look at the venue? I mean, you don’t have anything with you, after all, so I don’t think you would
play a match here.”
Rae nodded. “I got forced by Sir Walker to come. Today was supposed to be a day off from
training, but he insisted that I check the place out and watch some matches.”
Gary laughed. “That’s so typical of Emman. He always wants you to do something tennis-related,
huh?”
“Yeah,” Rae replied. “Seriously, he should give me a break from all this.”
“But you’re the defending champion,” Randy said. “You can’t slack off.”
Rae sighed and walked ahead. “Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I’ll see you guys later.”

A few minutes after his talk with the two men, Rae was watching a mixed doubles match between
middle-aged players, with Tenkai sitting on an empty soda can near him.
“That guy,” Rae said, pointing at one of the men at the baseline. “He’s pretty aggressive. Makes
me remember last year.”
Tenkai nodded. “Yeah, the good old days. And speaking of which, I still don’t understand why you
wanted to adapt a defensive style for tomorrow’s competition.”
“Because coaches tend to go defensive on their students,” Rae replied. “Sometimes, not getting
the ball past the enemy can be frustrating. If I can pull it off nicely, then my enemy would lose all his will to
fight.”
“And that’s when you’ll attack.”

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 Rae nodded. “That’s what counter-punchers do,” he said. “Keep the ball in play, wait for a
chance, then attack. I’ve always admired those patient types.”
Just then, the two of them heard a familiar voice; it was a female’s. “Rae? What are you doing
here?” the voice said.
Rae turned to where the voice came from and saw a girl around his age. He raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, Jamie, it’s you.”
Jamie slapped her face. “Geez, we meet again after so long, and this is how you react? Even
after I-” She stopped and started blushing. Even after I confessed to you that day…
Tenkai nudged Rae. “It’s natural for her to act like that, kid. You know, expecting an awkward
atmosphere and all,” he said. “She likes you, and you know that.”
Rae sighed and looked at the players in front of him. “I really shouldn’t be concerning myself with
stuff like this…” he told Tenkai.
“Um, dude,” the little angel replied. “You’re blushing. Just so you know.”
Upon hearing this, Rae instantly hid his face. Then using his hand, he motioned Jamie to sit
beside him. “You can sit here for now if you don’t have anything to do. Come on, let’s watch this doubles
match.”
Jamie nodded softly. “Um, sure,” she said as she walked forward and sat beside Rae. Seeing that
Rae was still looking at his feet, she started tensing up, wondering what to do next.
“Um,” she finally managed to say, “I heard you were the champion for the 13-15 division of the
New State Open last year.”
Rae raised his head and looked at the players once again. A female player had just performed a
volley that decided the game. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said. “That’s why good old Walker kept bugging me
to join this year.”
“Oh yeah, didn’t you quit last year?”
Rae looked at Jamie curiously. “How’d you find that out?”
Jamie was taken aback. “Ah! Um, I…” She paused for a moment, then sighed. “I watched every
single tennis tournament that was around New State. You didn’t appear in any of them. And I heard a lot
of players talking about your absence.”
“Really? What did they say?”
“Most of them were glad that they had a better chance of winning. But there were two players in
particular who kept saying things like, ‘Damn, Kusanagi’s not here again? I can’t believe he really quit.’”
“Ah, those two were probably Alfred and Allen. I guess they hate me now.” He gave out a chuckle,
then heaved a sigh. “Gee, I miss those two. And not just them; there were those other guys whom I had a
lot of fun playing with. Hmm, let’s see…there’s Richard, Matthew…and some other dudes that I had
completely forgotten about. But anyway, damn, I miss those days. There was never a bleak moment
when I was on the court, fighting it out with such great players.”
“Well, at least you’ll be back on the court starting tomorrow,” Jamie said. “So, how are you doing

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in your new school? Are you getting along with the students there?”
“I’ve made some really good friends,” Rae said. “I even befriended someone who studies at
Minester Middle.”
“Minester Middle?” Jamie repeated. “Really? How did you meet the person?”
“The two of us go the same way home. It seems we both live in the same neighborhood, but her
house is closer to the station than mine.”
Her? “Come to think of it, I’ve never been to your house before.”
“Of course,” Rae replied. “No one has. Well, maybe except Sir Walker, but at that time, he forced
his way in.”
“So that middle school friend of yours hasn’t seen your house yet?”
Rae nodded. “She was about to, but I escaped.”
“Why do you keep such a thing secret anyway?” Jamie asked. “It’s just the place you live in.
What’s there to hide?”
Rae shook his head. “I just don’t want anyone else to find out.”
“But you’re fine with having Sir Walker find out?”
“No way,” Rae replied. “I kinda burst when he said he contacted my house because it meant that
he knew my number. Anyone who calls would find out what kind of place I live in, and I really don’t like
having the beans spilled.”
“Uh-huh…” Jamie stayed silent for a few moments before continuing. “Umm…is there any chance
you could take me to your house someday?”
“Nah,” was Rae’s quick reply. “I hope you understand. I never let anyone near the place, even.”
Jamie nodded slowly, but Rae was looking at the players, so he didn’t see it. “Okay, I get it,” she
said. “I won’t force you anymore.”
“Mm-hmm,” Rae said. “Now let’s continue watching the match.”
“All right.”
A few minutes of silence ensued between the two of them; all that could be heard in their area
were the grunts of the players and the sound that the ball makes whenever it hit a racket or if it bounced.
After the current set was done and the players were changing courts, Rae decided to speak.
“By the way,” he began. “How have you been doing lately? And those guys, as well. I’ll bet they
really hate my guts now, especially Kenny.”
Jamie nodded. “Yeah, they hate you,” she replied. “But they’ve quieted down after that…incident.”
She then realized that she was starting to talk about Rae’s expulsion, and fell silent. “I…I’m sorry if I
brought the incident up.”
Rae shook his head. “I don’t mind. It’s in the past, after all. And I was the one who brought
Kenny’s name up just now.”
“But you know,” she said suddenly, “you could have stayed.”
“They kicked me out.”

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 “But if you had explained, they wouldn’t have.”
“Wha-” A thought came to his mind. “You told them? The whole story?”
Jamie nodded slowly, afraid because she knew that Rae didn’t want the truth to be known to the
higher-ups in the school. “I couldn’t just sit idly by while they falsely accused you. They even used your
money for the hospitalization of those…” She paused for a while and started shaking a little. “…those
monsters…”
Rae turned his head to Jamie. “I don’t think you should talk that way in front of me,” he said. “I’m
more of a monster than all of them combined, so you’re implying that the person beside you right now is
like some demon king.”
“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Rae replied. “My homeroom teacher right now knows that I was expelled, and so
she’s been bashing me a lot. It’s a normal thing now.”
“But still, you never meant to hurt anyone. It was because I broke up with Kenny and made him
mad that you got caught up in all that mess back then.”
Rae bowed his head and sighed. “…you regret doing it?”
“I don’t,” Jamie replied. “It’s just that-”
“There you have it,” Rae interjected. “Fact number 1: You broke up with Kenny and made him
pissed off with me. Fact number 2: I lost my cool and injured them badly. We can’t change the past
anymore, and I won’t make any justifications for my actions. Fact is fact, and that’s why I didn’t want to let
the higher-ups have any sympathy with me because that would just cloud their judgment based on facts.”
“…you’re really strong, you know that?”
“Duh. I mean, I can beat up delinquents and all.”
“Not that,” Jamie said. “You’re a year younger than me, yet I’ve always thought you were more
mature than anyone in our batch. That’s why…” She bowed her head and started blushing.
“That’s why…huh?” Rae asked.
Tenkai flew behind Rae’s head and hit him hard. “Idiot! She was about to say, ‘That’s why I fell in
love with you’! That’s why she couldn’t say it!”
Rae suddenly blushed as well and began feeling awkward.
“Umm…” Jamie finally said. “…do you want to play tennis with me? I’m just a beginner, though,
so maybe we could just have a simple rally.”
“No, thanks,” Rae replied. “As you can see, I don’t have any rackets with me.”
“You can borrow.”
“Uh, I don’t have any money to rent anything.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for you.”
“Wha…? I can’t possibly…I don’t want to cause any inconvenience on your part and-”
Jamie shook her head. “Geez, why are you being so polite? Fine, if you don’t want to be
indebted, then you can pay me tomorrow since I’ll be here to watch the New State Open.”

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 “Oh, is that so? All right then, I’ll just pay you back tomorrow. But…”
“More concerns?” Jamie asked.
“Just one more,” Rae replied. “I don’t have a towel with me, so I can’t really sweat here. But I
don’t think you would want such a short game, so maybe we could-”
“We can’t do this some other time,” Jamie butted in. “It’s fine. Even if it’s just 15 minutes or less,
that would be enough for me…”
“Uh-huh…” Rae nodded slowly. “Okay, let’s go, then.”
Jamie nodded as well, in response. “Right.”

A few minutes later, Rae and Jamie were standing on the opposing sides of court 4. Jamie was
on standby position, while Rae, who was holding a ball on one hand, repeatedly swung his racket. “This
one really doesn’t feel right,” he told himself. “Or maybe it’s just me…?”
“It’s probably just you,” came in Tenkai’s voice as he appeared. “Anyway, Jamie’s waiting. You
better hit that thing quickly.”
Rae nodded, and proceeded to hit the ball.
The rally that followed soon after was a slow, casual one; Rae tried not to put too much topspin
and power to make the ball easier for Jamie to return, while he begun to think that Jamie was still not
capable of hitting with much power.
At times, Jamie would hit toward the corners, in which case Rae would simply walk toward the
ball as it passes by, afraid of sweating. He would then pick it up and begin a new rally.

This short game ended after 10 minutes, when the heat from the sun started getting hotter. After
telling Jamie that he couldn’t play any longer, the two of them went to return Rae’s rented racket. When
Rae had returned it and Jamie had paid for the rent of both the game and the racket, Rae looked at his
wristwatch.
“Looks like I better leave soon,” he said. “Sir Walker’s not around anyway, so I think I’ll ditch this
whole watch-games-here-while-you-rest chore and maybe take a look at some pro games in TV at home.
At least there I can lie on my bed while I watch.”
Rae saw Jamie’s reaction to his statement; she looked surprised. “Wait, wait!” she said quickly.
“You can’t leave just yet.”
“Why not?”
“Uh, um…” she took a few seconds to decide what to say, and Rae waited patiently. Then she
grabbed his sleeve.
Rae’s eyes widened. “Wh-what’s the matter?”
“Come with me for a sec,” Jamie said. She tugged his sleeve once, then she proceeded to pull it,
dragging him as she walked.
I wonder what’s up…? Rae thought as he followed her.

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 Rae soon realized that Jamie was dragging him toward a secluded corner in the tennis courts, but
by the time he had confirmed his hunch, they were already there; Jamie had removed her grip from his
sleeve and Rae began to feel an awkward atmosphere.
“Um,” he said. “I don’t get it. Why’d you take me here?”
Jamie, who had her back turned on Rae, faced him quickly and attempted to slap him. “You
dense idiot!” she shouted as her hand swiftly got near Rae’s face.
Without much thought – as if by instinct – Rae backed away, just in time to avoid the slap. Jamie
stood still after, her head bowed. Rae was about to speak, but when he noticed subtle signs of her
sobbing, he found himself at a loss for words.
“I…I’m sorry,” Jamie finally said. “I bet you’re confused right now. I don’t blame you, though. It’s
just that…”
“What’s the matter, anyway?” Rae asked, careful not to make her angry. “Don’t worry; you can tell
me.”
“The truth is,” Jamie began, “this was all planned.”
“Planned? You mean our meeting today?”
Jamie nodded. “Your coach, Emman Walker, was really happy that you would be able to join the
New State Open, and so he told his colleagues, who in turn told their respective players.”
“That’s only natural,” Tenkai said with a nod as he sat on Rae’s head. “Having the supposedly-
absent defending champion back would be news to anyone involved in the competition.”
“Eventually,” Jamie continued, “the news reached my ears, and I had asked Mr. Walker to get you
to come here today.”
“But why?” Rae asked.
Jamie then bowed her head. “I…I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That I might never see you again.”
Rae was taken aback. Oh right, if I win this one, I’ll be invited to train overseas. “The promise…”
he said. “Is that what you’re referring to?”
Jamie nodded.
“Remember that day when I left?” Rae asked. “I told you I would talk to you once I had a clear
answer in my head. I was planning on making a decision by the end of the tournament.”
Jamie ran her right arm over her eyes. Rae wasn’t sure if she was wiping her tears, however; he
couldn’t even see if she had tears in the first place. Then she heaved a sigh and let out a soft chuckle.
“I’m such an idiot,” she muttered. “Sorry for doubting you.”
Rae scratched his head. “Well, I’m not really good with love and all those stuff, after all,” he said.
“In fact, I’ve only really thought about it just recently.”
“Oh, I see.” Is it because of my confession, I wonder…?

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 “Anyway, I promise I’ll come up with something by the time the tournament ends.”
Jamie nodded and gave a bright smile. “Sure thing. I’ll be waiting.”
Rae turned his back, then he scratched his head once again. “You know…” he began to say.
“Hmm?”
“Please don’t blame yourself just because I can’t reply just yet. I’m just indecisive and immature.
In all honesty, you’re really cute. I don’t plan on taking back what I said last year about that.”
Before he could sense any reaction from the girl behind him, Rae walked away.

Outside the courts, there were hardly any people around as Rae walked home, with Tenkai
floating beside him.
“Hey kid,” the little angel said to break the silence. “I don’t think you should have done that.”
“Done what?”
“Tell Jamie that she was cute.”
“What? I was just being honest. You can’t deny that fact.”
Tenkai shook his head. “I know that. But the thing is this: the fact that you admitted it would make
her think she still has a chance to win your heart....or something along those lines. You get my drift here?”
“Yeah, but…I was just worried that her self-esteem may have lowered or something. And besides,
that was what I honestly think of her. Wouldn’t it be worse to lie to her?”
“But looking at the context,” Tenkai interjected, “a while ago seemed like an inappropriate time for
you to say that. I mean, think about it; you’re supposed to respond to her confession after the competition,
which would mean two days from now. Giving her a heads-up by affirming that you find her attractive
would just end up hurting her once you reject her.”
“And what makes you so sure I would reject her, anyway?”
Tenkai slapped his face. “Dude, you will. We both know it.”
Rae fell silent. Come to think of it, why did I say that to her? At this point, I already have an idea
how I feel, so why…?
Tenkai heaved a sigh, then hit Rae’s head. “You really are just a kid, after all; can’t expect one to
be mature enough to act accordingly sometimes.”
Rae nodded as he stopped walking; the stoplight in front of him had lighted the color green, and
various vehicles sped by in front of him.
“Wait, what? You’re not gonna send me away?” Tenkai asked, his eyes widened in surprise.
Rae heaved a sigh, but refused to say anything.
“Well, whatever. See ya later.” And with a wave of the little angel’s hand, which Rae, who was in
front of him, couldn’t see, Tenkai disappeared.
The stoplight turned into red, and Rae resumed walking.

Author’s note: Ever wondered who Jamie was? Of course I can’t just let her stay in the shadows,

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because she’s an important part of Rae’s life. Anyway, the New State Open is next...not :P

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 Chapter 17
(Attack of the Zombies)

Rae woke up, saw the lights in his room that he had forgotten to turn off, and somehow felt like
going to school as soon as possible. He didn't even have his usual nightmares.
“Is it just me or do I feel so good today?”
Tenkai appeared from nowhere to answer Rae's question: “It's just you.”
“Aw, shut it.”

He was surprised when he got into the school gates: there were no students. He went inside and
walked toward the school's security guard.
“Excuse me,” he asked. “Shouldn't there be other students already by this time?”
“They're inside,” the guard replied. “Heard something interesting's going on, but I ain't interested
in it.”
Rae took a moment to think about what it could be. Maybe they invented a water gun that could
contain a large amount of strong acids or something...nah, can't be...it's too stupid. Completely ignoring
the guard, he ran off to one of the buildings.

His eyes widened when he saw everyone in his class gathered in one of the science laboratories.
He suddenly felt weird.
“Hey,” he called out. “What's going on?”
In the middle of the large crowd was a senior student wearing a lab gown. The other students
moved away so that Rae could see him.
“Behold!” the senior student said as he held something that Rae could not bring himself to
believe. “My latest invention: A water gun that can contain even the strongest acids!”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “And what does it do?”
“Uh...kill zombies?”
“Where are the zombies, then?”
“Good question,” the senior student said. “Your question is so good that I don't even have an
answer to it.”
Rae heaved a sigh. “Whatever. I'm outta here. See you later, everyone. I'm off to get some fresh
air outside or something.” I’m just hallucinating, I’m just hallucinating…

Meanwhile, outside the school grounds, passersby who were off to their workplaces and schools
were doing their usual walking routines, not aware of the numerous suspicious figures hiding in the
shadows. To them, it was just another normal day.

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 As a young girl walked in the sidewalks, a pair of these suspicious figures conversed at a nearby
dark alley.
“Hey,” one of them said. “Can I eat her?”
“No, you can't,” the other replied. “We'll get our meals later once we reach that place.”
“What was the place called again? New State High?”
“Thats right.”
“I can't wait to eat the people there! They must taste extra good for our leader to take an interest
in them!”
“Probably.”
They were conversing in a language that no human could comprehend, and with a voice so
terrifying that no human who heard them dared to look at the dark alleys.

Outside, Rae leaned on the wall of the math building, feeling the cool breeze in the midst of the
darkness. He saw the leaves of the trees around the campus sway with the wind, and he thought that
nothing would possibly go wrong, but something inside him told him there was.
“Hey, Tenkai,” he said. “Is it just me or did I come here too early? It's way too dark. Also, why
would a large group of people be in one of the laboratories of the science building at such an early hour?”
“No idea,” Tenkai replied. “Maybe it's just the wind.”
“The wind? You're not making any sense.”
“I know.”

In the middle of the city, the peace that was and has always been in the atmosphere was
suddenly disturbed as the citizens heard the hoarse but loud roar that no one could recognize. After the
roar came numerous zombies from all the dark alleys, whose mere presence was enough to cause a
major panic.
The people ran away, but keen observers in the area, who were safe in places far from where the
zombies were, noticed that the zombies did not attack. The ones who bumped into people simply ignored
them. It was as if the people panicked for no reason.
Soon, all the zombies, formed in a line like an army marching into war, walked in the middle of the
road toward one particular direction.
As more time passed, Rae became more disturbed. He had a bad feeling; the bell had not yet
rung, and sun was nowhere near rising. Rather, it seemed as if the sky was getting even darker. Aside
from that, he felt as if the wind was getting abnormally cold.
He shrugged as he felt more uncomfortable. “Where's Sarah?”
“Not wondering about the others?” Tenkai smirked.
“Yeah, the others, too.”
“You make it seem as if Sarah's so special.”

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 Rae looked away. “Shut up,” he muttered. He soon felt like seeing for himself what was going on
in the classroom; maybe classes have started a long time ago, and the sky was just darker than usual.
But the idea of the sky being so dark during class was, he knew, just not right.
Nevertheless, he went. He left the building and ran straight there.

Soon, he reached the door to the classroom. He placed his ear on the door, only to confirm his
worst fear; the teacher was in the middle of discussing the day's lesson to the others, which meant that he
had set a new tardiness record. The thought entertained him for a while, but after that he started
panicking. I am so dead.
While his head was still on the door, he heard something unfamiliar: violent, heavy stomps. Lots
of them. And one of them, it seemed, started becoming louder and louder.
Then he heard an unfamiliar voice saying something in a language that he didn’t understand.
Slowly, he looked at where the voice came from.
That's when he saw the zombie staring at him with bloody eyes.
“What's going on?” he asked. “You're supposed to be in a cemetery or something. Why are you
here in a school?”
Again, the zombie said something, but Rae still could not understand.
“He's saying you look delicious,” Tenkai said. “That, and he says he's hungry.”
Rae sighed. “Damn. That means he's gonna attack, and I'm gonna have to dodge.”
Using his arms and feet, he pushed himself away from where he was, just in time to dodge the
zombie's attempt to lunge at him. He landed a few feet away from the zombie, his knees bent, after which
he quickly stood up straight.
Not wasting any time after the miss, the zombie started charging at him.
“You're not eating me so easily,” Rae muttered. “Maybe once I'm dead, but not now.”
With seemingly no effort at all, he sidestepped right when the zombie had executed a powerful
punch. Having missed his target, the zombie was pulled forward by the strength of his attack, which gave
Rae the chance to hit him with a forceful kick at the back, sending him falling to the ground with a loud
thud.
“Well, that was easy,” he said with a sigh. “He's just one of the many, I'll bet.” he paused for a bit
and looked at Tenkai, who was sitting at the doorknob of the classroom. “At any rate, what's going on?”
“Looks like a bunch of weird zombies came from somewhere, and now they want to eat you
humans.”
“I know that much,” Rae replied. “But why? How can a group of dead people go walking around
looking for humans to eat? It's not logical.”
Tenkai raised an eyebrow. “So you're saying that the presence of an angel like me is logical?” He
sighed. “Listen, kid. This is the new age. Anything can happen. What you should do right now is avoid the
worst case scenario at all costs. How many other zombies do you think are here?”

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 He knew, Rae thought. He knew everything from the start. “So I gotta warn the others?”
Before Tenkai could answer, Rae heard the windows inside the classroom shatter. Then he heard
screams, one in particular: Sarah's. Without thinking, he quickly charged toward the door, took hold of the
doorknob – his hand passing through Tenkai's body – and opened it, showing a real frenzy; there were 4
zombies, and they seem to have made their way inside via the window.
The first thing he did was look for around for Sarah. His eyes circled the entire place, his mind in
a panic; he had to find her quickly, before it was too late.
And there she was, cornered by one of the zombies.
Knowing that he did not have even a single second to spare, Rae charged at the zombie who was
attacking Sarah. He got near him from the side, where he attacked with a tackle, sending the zombie
falling to the ground.
One down, three to go.
Seeing their comrade being defeated, the three other zombies charged at Rae in an unusually
ordered line, running at nearly the same speed.
“Since you're already dead...” Rae said as he clenched his fists. “...I won't hold back.”
The first zombie came, and Rae attacked him with a powerful punch, sending his enemy back by
a few feet before falling into the floor.
The second zombie came, and Rae also punched him witless, sending him, too, to the floor.
The third zombie came, and Rae also finished him off with a punch in the face.
With all four zombies taken care of, the area was completely safe. But Rae knew that it was just a
matter of time before more of those guys would show up. He had been feeling uneasy ever since he woke
up. Now he knew: something was seriously wrong.
After peeking from the corridors outside, Tenkai went inside the classroom.
“Hey kid!” he called out. “They’re not knocked off yet! Oh, and did I mention that more have been
attacking other classrooms?”
Rae took a chair and repeatedly hit it on the pile of struggling zombies, who continuously cringed
in pain. “You were saying?”
“Sadist,” Tenkai muttered. “Anyway, there’s more of them outside. You better get out there if you
wanna minimize the casualties.”
Rae nodded, set the chair aside, and put a table on the zombies. “All right. I’ll be going.”
“Um, Rae,” came Sarah’s voice. “Who’re you talking to?”
Oh crap, she heard me! “Um, uh…you better evacuate this place quickly!” Rae faced his other
classmates. “You guys, too. Hurry!” And before anyone could give any responses, he hurriedly left the
room to face the other zombies.

Around 20 minutes later, Rae had already disposed of more than 30 zombies, with many others
taken care of by the other male students, as well as the teachers. At some point, he had gotten his hands

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on a baseball bat, which became his main weapon. After throwing a table at the last standing zombie in a
classroom, he heard a familiar scream outside.
“Hey, that’s Kim’s voice!” he said. “Didn’t I tell her to leave?!”
“I don’t think it’s of any use, kid,” Tenkai interrupted. “It seems the school is surrounded by these
guys. Escaping would be useless.”
“Damn!” After kicking a chair toward a zombie who was struggling to stand up, sending it back flat
to the ground, Rae rushed outside the classroom.
Once he had exited the door, he saw what he had expected: Kimberly being approached by some
zombies. He also saw that Robin was standing beside her, his trembling visible.
Tenkai, who was floating beside Rae, shook his head. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I think Robin would have
attacked those zombies if only they weren’t zombies. Too bad he only hits humans, like that time when
Kim was about to be kidnapped.”
Rae quickly charged toward the zombies and hit one of them on the head using the baseball bat
that he had. “That’s true,” he said in a soft voice to ensure that no one but Tenkai could hear him. “After
all, there’s always the possibility of getting eaten alive or turning into one of them if you’re not careful
enough.”
“Kusanagi, look out!” Robin suddenly exclaimed.
Rae thrust the bat backwards, hitting the stomach of a zombie who was attempting to attack him
from behind. “Don’t underestimate me,” he told Robin. “I’m used to these kinds of fights. But thanks
anyway.”
When Rae had cleared the zombies, Robin and Kimberly heaved sighs of relief.
“I thought I told you guys to get out,” Rae said. “Why’re you still here?”
“The exits are blocked,” Kimberly replied. “There are tons of them. I don’t think we’ll be safe at
this rate…”
Rae gritted his teeth. “Damn, I need to find a way to fend them off more quickly. Using this bat
isn’t enough.”
“Then why not use that water gun?” Robin suggested. “You know, the one that one of the
students was showing off a while ago.”
“Oh, right! I just hope he’s still in the lab. Anyway, you guys just go to where other students are.
At least if a zombie or two arrive, you’d be able to fend them off more easily.” He turned his back and
dashed off.

When Rae reached the lab, he saw a pile of around ten zombies that had certain parts of their
bodies melted. Further on, he saw a group of students clumped together by a wall, with the senior student
who had shown off his water gun a while ago in front of everyone. He checked the surroundings to make
sure that there were no zombies nearby, then approached the students, particularly the one that held the
water gun.

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 “Hey,” he told the senior. “Gimme that thing. I can use it to eliminate these guys faster. There are
more of them outside; pretty much an army has marched their way to this school.”
“No way!” the student protested. “How will I be able to defend myself if I let this baby go?”
“Listen up, pal!” Rae shot back. “Other students and faculty members are having trouble out
there. I don’t even know if people have died; there’s always the possibility. So you either give it to me, or
you go out there and help the others!”
“No!” the student said, shivering. “I don’t want to die! This is my only means of protection!”
Rae slapped his face. That is so unmanly, dude. And who the hell are you, anyway…?
Just then, two zombies entered the room, growling fiercely.
“Gimme that!” Rae said as he quickly snatched the water gun from the senior student. He then
charged toward the two zombies and ran past them, after which he turned his back and fired two squirts
at each of their heads, making their eyes melt and sending them struggling in pain.
He saw more zombies entering the room and shot them with one decisive squirt each. Gotta
conserve these stuff, he told himself. Who knows how many more are there. But damn, that guy used up
a lot for just ten of them. I hope this baby will last until all them zombies are taken care of.
Once he had eliminated the zombies in the area, he ran out of the room to find more of them, with
the water gun in his right hand and the bat in his left, just in case he ran out of ammo.

Rae opened his eyes and saw that the sun had not risen yet. It’s probably around 3am or
something right now, he thought as he heaved a sigh. And to think the New State Open’s only a few
hours later…I can’t believe I was fighting zombies before such an event…
He then closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

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 Chapter 18
(New State Open – Part 1)

Rae rode on Emman Walker’s car to the tennis courts the next day. When they got to their
destination, he saw that a lot of people had gathered.
“Nostalgia’s kicking in,” Rae said as the car stopped. “It was just like this last year.”
“That’s how long you’ve been gone,” Walker said in response. “This used to be a usual thing for
you before, right?”
Rae opened the door of the car and went out. “Yeah,” he said as a follow-up. He then turned back
into the car to get his bag before closing the door. “Anyway, I’ll be going on ahead; I still have some
catching up to do with the other guys, after all.”
Walker nodded. “Sure thing. Just don’t be late for your first match. Remember, you’re not seeded
here because everyone thought you had already quit.”
“Two things,” Rae replied as he raised his index and middle finger. “One, I know I’m not seeded.”
He put his middle finger down. “Two, I really did quit. You just forced me to come back.” He then put his
index finger down. “Just let me be for a while, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Walker said. And with a wave of his hand, he drove his car toward a parking space
that was a significant distance away.
I wonder what those guys will do to me once they see me…Rae thought to himself as he
proceeded to enter the courts.

The first players he saw were Alfred and Allen, who greeted him with a wave. “Hey Kusanagi!”
Allen called out. “None of us thought you’d ever go back to playing. Seriously, why did you leave in the
first place?”
Rae responded with a wave as he got closer. “Oh, hey there.” They don’t seem angry anymore.
Maybe it’s because I’ve returned, so now they’ve decided to set aside the memories of my leave last
year…?
Just when Rae was right in front of the two, Alfred suddenly threw a punch at him, which Rae was
lucky to avoid. He then stepped back.
“What the hell is up with that, Alfred?!” he asked. “If you have anything against me, take it to the
tennis court and we’ll settle it there!”
Alfred heaved a sigh. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “Well then, you better not lose until our
match.”
Rae nodded. “Right back at you.”
“Tsk tsk tsk,” Allen said with a wave of his finger. “Are you sure you should be talking to us like
equals right now?”

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 “I don’t get what you mean,” Rae said. “You guys have always lost to me, so don’t get cocky now.
Even though I’ve only played for 2 months-”
“That’s exactly what he means,” Alfred butted in. “And it’s not just us; everyone else thinks the
same way. The fact that you haven’t been training at all up until 2 months ago makes all the difference.
Listen up, Kusanagi; one year means a lot. You among all people should know that. Am I correct?”
“Hmm, well, I did start beating the crap out of you guys after 2 years of training, so I guess I get
your point,” Rae thought aloud.
“Hey, hey, you didn’t have to remind us that,” Allen said. “Anyway, at least you know what we
mean. Just don’t be surprised if you get beaten before you even reach the semifinals, okay?”
“Sure,” Rae replied, much to the surprise of the two. “Anything can happen in a match, after all.
I’m just here to do my best.”

From the side of the audience, Allen and Alfred were watching Rae’s match intently.
“What the hell happened to him?” Allen asked. “That’s not like him, staying defensive at the
baseline. Has he lost the confidence to use the volleys that he had always been proud of?”
“Beats me,” Alfred replied. “But from the looks of it, his playing style has a really negative effect
on his opponent.”
Then the two of them heard an outside voice: “You guys are right about that.”
“Oh, Matthew, it’s you,” Alfred said. “You’re also here to watch Kusanagi’s match, huh?” Matthew
was another tennis player who was the same age as Allen and Alfred.
Matthew nodded. “And by the looks of it, Kusanagi started an endurance test which his opponent
is not taking very well.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome,” Alfred agreed. “It just shows that he’s still pretty good even after not
playing for so long. Makes me wonder if he actually played in secret, but either way, it’s still impressive.”
“It’s just that such a style is not like him,” Matthew added. “Am I right? The two of you should
know; you’ve been with him ever since he started playing tennis.”
“He used to be a serve-and-volleyer,” Allen said. “Or if not, he often goes for winners in the
baseline. He has always been an aggressive attacker. It was as if…”
“As if he never had the patience to have a long, drawn-out rally,” Matthew continued. “I tried
attacking that part of him last year in the semifinals, if you guys remember.”
“I think I do,” Allen said. “But he kept pressuring you with powerful shots so much that you
couldn’t maintain a long rally, right?”
Matthew nodded. “But what if a player who could return his shots suddenly appeared?” he asked.
“Then that’d be pretty frustrating for any attacker,” Alfred replied.
At that moment, Emman Walker joined in on the conversation. “That’s right, Alfred,” he said as he
gave Alfred a pat on the head. “You guys really know your stuff. I’m impressed.”
“You’re Kusanagi’s coach, aren’t you?” Matthew asked. “Mr. Emman Walker.”

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 “Yep,” Walker replied. “I’m the one that dragged him back here. I couldn’t just leave someone with
so much talent as his, after all.”
They heard the audience say “oooh” in amazement, and when they turned to look at what they
saw, they easily deduced that Rae had attacked with a volley, earning him a point.

Rae’s match ended with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. The seeded players then began their matches after
the first round. Allen won 6-0, 6-0; Alfred won 6-1, 6-0; Rae won his second match 6-3, 6-1. Meanwhile,
Matthew defeated Richard 6-4, 5-7, 7-6. After the matches, the four of them met up.
“I can’t believe you’ve improved so much, Matthew,” Rae said. “To think you defeated the former
finalist. Allen and Alfred, too, you guys didn’t even give your opponents a chance.”
“That’s what we wanted to show you,” Allen responded. “We’ve improved a lot, which is why you
don’t stand a chance against us. I’m sorry, Kusanagi, but you won’t be able to defend your title as
champion.”
“Hey, don’t be too full of yourself,” Rae protested. “Alfred’s my next opponent, right? We’ll just see
what happens in the court when it happens. But don’t underestimate me.”
Alfred bowed his head and sighed. “Right back at you, Kusanagi.”
Rae then turned his back and raised his hand as a waving gesture while he walked away. “See
ya later, then.”

Around an hour later, Rae was in court D facing off against Alfred. Rae was the first to serve, and
started out with a kick serve, followed by normal shots, occasionally putting slice on the ball. However, he
refused to attempt any powerful shots and stayed defensive.
Alfred, on the other hand, kept attacking, and after a while, the game count became 3-1 in favour
of him. “I can’t believe he expects to win like this,” he told himself. “That Kusanagi is way too full of
himself just because I haven’t been able to beat him since he got past being a beginner.”
Rae had the ball this time. He dribbled it for a while, concentrating.
He tossed the ball, bent his knees, and hit a powerful flat serve toward the corner.
Alfred, taken aback, failed to return it.
Rae’s next serve was a kick serve once again, and Alfred returned it, expecting another drawn-
out rally where he could get a point by attacking aggressively.
Much to his surprise, Rae had hit a volley in response to his return, which bounced on the far left
side, far from Alfred’s reach.
He…Alfred told himself. He’s back to the way he was before! That power, the precision of his
volley…it’s way too nostalgic. He made a grin as he looked at Rae, who was dribbling the ball. That’s just
the way I like it, Kusanagi. Don’t hold back.

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 What followed came as a surprise both to Alfred and to those who knew Rae from the past; He
began attacking with powerful shots, and when a chance to hit a winner came, he slowed the ball down
for Alfred to hit, dragging the rallies longer, until he eventually ended it with a winner or a volley.
Rae proceeded to take the set with a score of 6-3.
While the two of them sat on their respective benches before the second set, Alfred turned to look
at Rae; he was sitting down, staring blankly at the empty court.
“I know he was good before”, he told Gary, who was standing near him. “But the way he is now…
it’s different.”
Gary nodded. “Anyone who knows him would notice,” he said. “Back then, he was good; powerful
shots, good tactical ability. But now he has exceeded that. Alfred, he’s just toying with you, dictating the
pace of the game all on his own in order to show you the difference in your skill.”
“But how did he become so strong?” Alfred asked. “I thought he never played since right after last
year’s New State Open.”
“That’s true,” Gary replied. “Emman even said that it took him around a week to get Kusanagi’s
muscle memory back. But that doesn’t mean he neglected his physical training.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard he worked out a lot to compensate for quitting tennis,” Gary said. “And that’s not the only
reason why he’s like that. Kusanagi also asked Walker to train him like a slave in order to patch up his
weaknesses.”
“One of which is his impatience to keep a long rally.”
Gary nodded. “Kusanagi had worked himself to the bone so that he could exceed what he
formerly was. He’s much better than before.”
“How do I beat him, then?”
“Once he loses his momentum, you’ll have a chance,” Gary replied. “Anyway, go out there and
wish for the best.”
Alfred nodded and the two players walked toward their respective sides of the court.
On Rae’s side, before he could leave the bench, Emman Walker gave one last statement.
“Alfred sees you as a rival,” he said. “That’s why you have to give it your all.”
Rae stopped walking. “Even if he’ll just lose miserably?”
“He would probably prefer that than having you go easy on him.”
“All right.” And he resumed walking toward the court.
Gary sighed once the two were in their respective places, ready to begin the second set. I’m
sorry, Alfred. I couldn’t bring myself to say that you don’t stand a chance against him right now.
Alfred dribbled the ball as Rae stood, waiting. I can’t let him have his way any longer…He tossed
the ball, bent his knees, and hit a flat serve. I can still put up a fight, you know!

After Rae won the set at 6-3, Alfred ran away.

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 What’s up with him? Rae wondered. He put up a pretty good fight there, so how come he turned
into such a crybaby with 6-3…?
“Please recall that he said you had no chance against him,” Tenkai said.
Rae sighed. “Oh, right. Well, let’s leave him like that for now.” He then went back to the locker
room, where he saw Allen, Richard, and Matthew.
“That first set was pretty long,” Allen said. “By the time I had finished my match, you and Alfred
had just started the second set.”
“But that second set was hella fast,” Richard commented. “You totally had control of the whole
match.”
Rae scratched his head. “You think so? Well, I guess I was pretty confident back then. So, that
means that only 3 of us are left right now?”
Allen bowed his head. “Actually…it’s only 2.”
“Huh?”
“I…lost.”
Rae’s eyes widened. “Really? To who?”
“Some guy named Joshua,” Allen replied. “He completely got me. The match ended at 6-3, 6-3. I
didn’t stand a chance against him.”
“Who the hell is that guy?” Rae asked.
Just then, they heard Emman Walker’s voice: “He’s this year’s dark horse, the same as you back
then, Rae. And he’s really strong; I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being this year’s champion.”
Allen turned his head toward Walker. “What?” Rae on the other hand, stayed silent, trying to
absorb the fact.
“His name is Joshua Williams,” Walker said as he approached the three young players. “As I said,
he’s a real dark horse. I heard he came from another country, but he never really stood out even there.”
“Maybe this is the first major competition that he has gone to,” Allen said. “Who knows, maybe he
trained really hard so that by the time he starts competing, he’ll be unstoppable.” He turned his head
toward Rae. “Just like a certain someone did.”
“What’re you talking about?” Rae protested. “I was just a fast learner, that’s all. But what if that
dude’s the same…? Sir Walker, did you confirm if he had started playing only recently?”
Walker shook his head. “I’m no spy of yours, Kusanagi. If you wanna know, ask him yourself. If
I’m not mistaken, as long as both of you don’t lose, you’ll be facing him in the finals.”
“I don’t think there are any other notable players around,” Rae said. “After he beats Matthew and I
beat whoever opponent I’m up against, I’ll be facing him in the finals, I guess.”
“Hey!” Matthew butted in, irritated. “Don’t talk as if I’ll let him win that easily!”
Rae waved his hand and laughed. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyway, this’ll continue tomorrow,
right?”
“Yeah,” Matthew replied. “I’m definitely gonna be in the finals. I didn’t beat the former finalist for

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nothing, after all.”
“But you know,” Allen butted in, “it didn’t really have to be Richard back then.”
“I agree,” Rae said with a nod and an innocent, blank expression on his face. “If the other players
didn’t have to go against me so early on, one of them could have beaten Richard and proceeded against
me to the finals. It’s all the fault of the arrangements.”
“And Allen himself was beaten by that Joshua kid,” Walker added with a serious face. When he
noticed that the players were starting to get depressed, especially Matthew, he tried making the
atmosphere lighter by smiling and giving Matthew a slap on the back. “Hey come on, don’t be so
pessimistic, kid! Nobody knows what’ll happen there in the court, so just do your best, okay?”

Around a few minutes after Rae left the locker room with Walker to discuss the games he had, he
found Jamie. Jamie saw him as well, and the two of them waved at each other.
“Should I go on ahead?” Walker asked. “I think she’d love the company.”
Rae thought for a while, confused. Why does he think that Jamie would…? Then he shook his
head. “Oh, I almost forgot that you already know who she is,” he said. “Anyway, yeah, you can go on
ahead.”
Rae stopped when they reached Jamie, and Walker continued until he was already out of sight.
“You were amazing back there,” Jamie said. “You were clearly better than any of your opponents
so far. Who would’ve thought that you haven’t played at all for such a long time?”
“You have no idea how hard I trained for this,” Rae responded. “And even if I stopped tennis, I
didn’t stop exercising my body”
“Ooooh, that’s pretty impressive.”
A short silence followed, and after a few seconds, Rae decided to say something. “By the way,
Jamie…”
“Yes?”
“I said I’d contact you once I was ready with a response,” Rae said. “Well, to be honest, I had
thought it would be a long time before I came up with one.”
“But you said you’d tell me how you feel after the competition,” Jamie interjected. “You know…
tomorrow…” She bowed her head in embarrassment. I’ll get my long-awaited answer tomorrow…
“I know,” Rae replied. “But originally, it wasn’t supposed to be like that; I still think it’s really early
compared to what I had originally thought.”
“How come it’s too early?” Jamie asked.
Rae thought for a while, then said, “I wanna ask you something, but before that, here’s a trivia: If
the sponsors of this event end up liking my performance, I’ll be invited to train overseas, and I’ll probably
go.” In order to find out about my past…
“What?!”
“So,” Rae continued, “moving on to the question: We haven’t seen each other for so long; big feat

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right there. But will your feelings still stay the same if I’m in another country?”
Jamie was at a loss for words. “I…um…”
Rae turned his back. “I’m sorry, but I really have to do this. That’s why I returned to playing tennis;
I need that chance to go overseas.” He bowed his head. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With Jamie still speechless, Rae left.

A few minutes later, while Rae was in Emman Walker’s car en route to the orphanage, the two of
them were silently minding their own businesses, and at one point, Tenkai decided to appear.
“Why did you ask her such a thing, kiddo?” he asked Rae. “Please don’t get too full of yourself,
even though she likes you.”
It’s not like I’m testing her feelings for me, Rae replied at the back of his head. I…just don’t know
what she saw in me. How come after a year, she still likes me…? I don’t get it.
“Yeah, she’s weird. But anyway, you’ll be giving your response tomorrow, right? So, what’ll you
tell her?”
Rae thought for a while, then said, I may be unsure of my feelings, but right now, when I think
about leaving this country, I can’t get Sarah off my head.
“And if you confess to Sarah and it turns out that she likes you as well, you’d be in cloud nine,
and as a result, you’d stop being rude to me.”
Rae blushed for a while, then hid his face by putting it by the door as he sank on his seat. Please
just shut up. I have to focus on tomorrow’s matches, so don’t bother me.

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 Chapter 19
(New State Open – Part 2)

The next day, Rae was in the court for the semi-final match.
“I recall beating this guy last year,” he told Tenkai. “I think I can win this.”

After the match, which Rae won 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. The two players went to the net to exchange
hands.
“You were pretty impressive,” Rae told his opponent. “I believe I played you last year? You’ve
improved.”
“The same goes for you,” his opponent replied. “By the way, did you throw that first game on
purpose? You totally fried me right after that.”
Rae laughed as he walked away, saying, “You’ll never know.”

Back in the locker room, Rae met up with his friends, and they were celebrating his victory.
“Good going there, Kusanagi!” Allen said. “But then again, you’re always awesome.”
“Gee, thanks,” Rae replied while he scratched his head in embarrassment. “So, what happened
to your match, Matthew?”
Matthew, Rae had just noticed, was sulking in front of them, but when Rae asked what happened,
he grabbed Rae’s collar and said, “You have to beat that ass Joshua, got it?! You have to! Beat him to a
pulp until he squirms in utter despair, Kusanagi!”
“Hey, hey, what happened? You got beaten up that badly?”
Matthew removed his grip on Rae’s collar and bowed his head. “Love sets. Both.”
“Ouch, that’s gotta hurt.”
“Hey,” Allen put in. “I got beaten up almost as badly. Cheer up; you’re not the only one who felt
helpless against him.” He then turned to Rae. “We used to see you as a rival, Kusanagi; as an equal,
even though we always lost to you. But now you’re on a different level than us; your skill has far exceeded
ours to some unreachable place. Hopefully you can stand up against Joshua with those skills. All I can tell
you is this: he’s scary. Really scary.”
Rae nodded. “I can’t ignore a first-hand comment. I’ll do my best.”
Alfred slapped Rae’s back. “That’s the spirit! We’ll be leaving now so that you can get some rest
and some time to think about the finals. Let’s go, guys.”
The others nodded, and soon, they exited the locker room.
When the door to the room had been closed, Tenkai appeared. “You’re pretty lucky to have such
friends,” he said.
“I think they just want me to avenge them, though,” Rae replied with a chuckle.
“Haha, you may be right.”

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 Two hours later, Rae was sitting on a bench in the locker room. While he was in deep though,
Allen, Alfred, and Richard entered.
“Joshua’s hella strong, dude,” Allen said. “I felt more pressure when I played against him than
with you last year.”
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t beat him,” Rae replied. “I can’t afford to lose. I have to win.”
Allen patted Rae’s shoulder. “Well, just be careful.”
Rae nodded. “I will.”
“Well, we’ll leave you alone for now,” Allen said. They all gave their “Good luck” statements to
Rae and left.

Around a minute later, when Rae was doing warm-ups, Jamie entered the locker room. She
waved at him when they saw each other.
“I saw that Joshua guy play yesterday, you know,” she said. “He’s really amazing. Plus, he’s
super bulky. You might not stand a chance in an offensive fight.”
“I’m pretty strong myself,” Rae replied. “I can put up a fight. Thanks for the heads-up, though.”
Tenkai appeared and slapped Rae’s back. “You have quite a handful of fans, huh? You better not
disappoint them.”
Rae heaved a sigh. I know. It’s kinda pressuring, but at least I know I have people who’re rooting
for me.
Jamie bowed her head. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“No, not really,” Rae replied as he shifted to hip warm-ups. “You have something else to say?”
“I just want to… wish you good luck.”
Rae lifted his right leg and held his knee. “Thanks. I’ll do my best.”
“Um…” Jamie continued, “You said yesterday that you would leave the country if you got an offer
to, and you would get the offer if the higher-ups like your performance and see potential in you. Even if
you do eventually go to another country, I…I want to support you.”
Rae’s eyes widened, but he had been looking down, so Jamie couldn’t see it. He put his right foot
down and did the warm-up with his left. “Uh-huh…thanks a lot. I hope you understand that even though I
really want to stay here, my desire to go there is greater.”
“I’ll try to understand. I’m sure you have a reason.”
“Thanks.” He put his left foot down and raised his hand for a high five.
Jamie responded and hit his hand. “Now go out there and show everyone what you’ve got.”
“Yeah, of course,” Rae said as he turned his back on Jamie and walked away.
Jamie looked at the hand that she used in the high five. “I wish he had offered a handshake
instead of such a quick high five,” she muttered.

Rae and Joshua faced each other a few minutes later, the net serving as a divider between the

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two finalists.
“Seeing you up close like this…” Rae said, “…you really are pretty gigantic for a 15-year-old.”
“And you’re pretty impressive,” Joshua replied. “Since you’re 14 right now, that means you won
last year at the age of 13. When will you turn 15, anyway?”
“It’s still several months away. How about you? When will you turn 16?”
“Next week,” Joshua replied with a laugh.
Rae grinned. “Damn you, then. You’re pretty lucky. But then again, the age bracket is 13-15, so I
can’t really protest. May the best player win, then.”
Joshua nodded. “Yeah. I wanna see how good the former champion is with my own eyes.”
“No problem. I’ll show you what I’m capable of until you get sick of me.”

Before the real finals match began, Rae and Joshua played rallies from the baseline. Rae wanted
to get a grasp on his opponent’s skill, as well as conserve as much energy as possible, so he played with
weak shots. Much to his surprise, however, Joshua did the same.
“You can’t do any probes, kid,” Tenkai said as he held onto Rae’s collar and constantly moved
around with a serious face. “You’ll just have to see his skills in the match itself.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Rae replied as he hit a forehand.
A little while later, the official match began, with Joshua having the first serve. While Rae was in
standby, he stared at the ball as Joshua dribbled it. He continued to follow it with his eyes once it was
tossed, and made a split step approximately when it hit the racket.
He returned the serve with a weak flat shot. His serve is scary.
A rally ensued, and Rae stayed on the defensive. Soon, he found himself running around, the
pacing led by his opponent.

“2-0…” he mumbled as the second game ended. “I can’t let it go like this. I have to find a balance
between defending and attacking…but how…?”

When the first set ended, Rae and Joshua sat on their benches, with their respective coaches
beside them.
“Damn!” Rae cried out while he had a wet towel on his face. “7-6…damn, damn…”
“But that was a great set,” Walker commented. “You managed to catch up to 6-6, and the only
thing that got you was the tiebreaker. If only you didn’t get that net ball…”
“I know, I know,” Rae said. He removed the towel and shook his head. “I’ll try again, and I won’t
fail this time. Gimme some water.”
Walker handed Rae a jug. “But be careful. He defeated Alfred and Matthew like it was nothing.
Judging from how he won against them and against other players, I can tell that your abilities are really
close, but I just have a bad feeling.”

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 “You think I’ll lose?”
“By a small margin, I honestly think he’s better.”
“…screw that.” He took his racket and stood up. “I can’t lose. I have to get to Sirius and find the
place where I lost my memories. I won’t let him get in the way.”
Walker smiled. “Heh. That’s why I’m so proud of you. Go out there and do your best, kid.”
“I would even if you said otherwise.”

Joshua had just barely returned a corner ball by Rae and was at the far right side of the court.
Rae saw the open left side and prepared for a cross-court shot.
Please get in, please get in…
The shot was stopped short by the cord, causing the ball to land on Rae’s side. Joshua jumped in
joy and Rae fell on his knees.
“7-6…” Rae muttered. “And that last tiebreaker…11-9…damn…”
“But that was pretty cool, kid,” Tenkai said. “That was way better than being a champion without
Joshua in the way. It was a close fight, and you know that. And precisely because it was a close fight that
it was such a great match. Be proud of yourself.”
Rae gritted his teeth, still refusing to stand up. His hands were shaking.

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 Chapter 20
(After the New State Open)

When the closing ceremony of the New State Open was over, with everyone clapping loudly
when Joshua and Rae were mentioned, the latter quickly left to pack up and go home, but was stopped
by Matthew, Richard, Alfred, and Allen on the way.
“Good job back there,” Allen said. “Don’t mind the loss, Kusanagi; the two of you were practically
equals in the eyes of everyone who watched the match itself.”
“Although I did lose 2-0 in the end,” Rae said. “Too bad I couldn’t avenge any of you. That, and I
lost my title, which really sucks. But yeah, I’ll have to agree that that was the best match I’ve ever had,
and I also think I did a pretty good job.”
“Tell me about it,” Matthew said as he scratched his head. “You pushed him to a tiebreak, while
the rest of us never even got 3 games against him. If he wasn’t here, you would’ve retained your title like
it was nothing.”
“The two of you are practically out of this world,” Alfred commented. “Hurry up and go overseas to
where you belong and beat the crap out of all the other players in the world already,” he added with a
smile.
“Aw, come on, you’re making me blush,” Rae said, and they all laughed. When the laughter
subsided a few seconds later, he continued, “So, you guys think I’ll get the offer this year even though I
wasn’t the champion?”
“I think you will,” Richard said. “You got the offer last year after trashing me in a one-sided game.
This time, you showed a really intense game; one that was out of our league. Both of you will probably be
invited, or maybe just you.”
“Wait, why just me? Wouldn’t the possibilities be Joshua alone or both of us?”
“This is his first tournament,” Richard replied. “He hasn’t gained enough tournament experience,
even though he completely defeated those who had.”
“I guess that’s the bad thing if you spent your whole life training, huh?”
Richard nodded. “I guess.”
With nothing more to say, Rae sighed. “Anyway, it’s been fun, guys. If I do get the offer, I’ll be
taking it, which means this may be our last meeting for quite a while.”
“Geez,” Allen said. “You don’t have to go all sentimental on us. Who was the bastard who left
without a word last year, anyway?”
Rae laughed. “Sorry about that; I just didn’t want anyone to make me change my mind.”
“So why did you quit, anyway?” Alfred asked.
“I was trying to keep up with studies after skipping a grade, so I decided to give up on tennis.
Anyway, I went back because Sir Walker gave me a reason to go overseas.”
“And the reason is not to play against people all over the world?”

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 Rae shook his head. “It’s a long story, but you see, I’m looking for something in the country of
Sirius. I swear, the story’s really long, so I don’t like telling it here.”
“I see,” Alfred said. “Sure thing. So, you need to leave now?”
“Yeah. I guess this is it.” He made high fives with everyone, one by one, then waved his hands as
he began to walk away. “Bye.”
“Bye,” they also said.

Rae resumed walking, but was cut off by people whom he didn’t expect would be in the area; it
was Sarah, Robin, and Kimberly.
“What’re you guys doing here?” he asked, surprised.
“We saw the whole thing,” Kimberly said. “Dude, you were awesome! You toyed with that guy
from the semifinals, and you made out hearts skip a beat in the finals!”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t win.”
“Oh, that’s nothing. Right, Sarah?”
Sarah nodded. “Yeah. That last fight was so close, it seemed as if you could have won.”
“When the skills of the players are as close as yours and your opponent’s,” Robin added, “victory
and defeat don’t really mean anything.”
Rae scratched his head. “Gee, thanks for making me feel better. And I’m really glad you all came
to watch.”
“It was Sarah’s idea,” Kimberly said.
“Really?”
“Well,” Sarah began, “I just saw how stressed you were the past month, so I thought it wouldn’t
hurt to support you, even if it’s just watching you play.”
Rae felt like he was about to blush. “Thanks. It means a lot to me.”
“So will you be going back to school on Monday?”
I might not. “Yeah…I guess.” Oh snap, the wrong answer came out.
“Anyway,” Kimberly put in, “you’re probably tired, so we’ll let you go so you can rest, okay?”
Rae nodded. “Thanks.”
After waving their hands at each other, Rae left.

Rae, who was initially going to walk toward the exit, took a detour as he looked for Jamie. When
he saw her sitting with what remained of the audience, silently staring somewhere far, he approached her.
“Hey, Jamie!” he called out.
Jamie heard him and looked. “Oh, hi. Congratulations on a good game back there.” Did he…did
he come to give me his answer? She stood up and went to him.
“Thanks. I feel a lot better after everyone kept congratulating me these past few minutes.”
“But you really were good! Everyone was probably being honest when they congratulated you.”

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 Rae smiled. “I know; but I just feel relieved either way.” He paused for a while. “So anyway, I
came here for the deal.”
“Oh, you mean…”
Rae nodded. “Yeah. I wanna be honest with you.”
“So…”
Rae looked back and pointed at Sarah, who was several yards away from them. “See that group
of two girls and one boy who are walking away? You see that cute girl over there? The one at the left, with
the shorter hair?”
“Yeah, I see her. What about her?” Please don’t tell me…
“I might be a total newbie at love,” he said, “but from the way I feel right now, I really like her a lot.
Parting with her will be the most painful thing about leaving this country.”
“Is she your girlfriend? Or does she like you as well?”
“I wish,” Rae said with a chuckle. “By the way, I decided on this just recently; you know, to fall in
love with her and all that mushy stuff. But still, I wanted you to know.”
Jamie bowed her head slowly. “I see…so you’re leaving without telling her how you feel or without
knowing if she likes you as well?”
Rae scratched his head. “I don’t know.”
“What a confused boy you are.”
“Well, sorry for being one year younger, madam.”
Jamie laughed. “Nah, I’m just kidding. Well, anyway, good luck with her. You better leave as well;
you must be tired from your match.”
Rae nodded. “Uh, yeah…of course. I guess this is goodbye, then.”
Jamie waved her hand and stepped back. “Yeah. Bye, Rae.”
Did she just call me by my first name? “Bye, Jamie.”
When Rae walked away, Jamie turned her back and stopped. She stared at the sky for a while,
wiped her eyes briefly, and heaved a sigh. Thank goodness it’s over. Thank you for setting me free, Rae.

When he exited the tennis courts, he saw Walker in his car nearby.
“Took you long enough, kid,” he said. “Come on, get in.”
Rae nodded as he entered.
When he was inside, Walker stepped on the gas and the car started moving. “So,” he said. “I’ll bet
lots of people congratulated you.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t win.”
“Hey, hey, don’t tell me that’s also what you told those who congratulated you.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“So you did?” Walker slapped his face briefly, then put his hand back on the steering wheel. “Kid,
you were amazing, no joke. Screw the 2-0 final set count; you were practically equal in skill to him. It’s just

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that there’s no such thing as a tie in tennis. Anyway, give it a rest, okay?”
“So, about the offer…will I get it?”
Walker grinned. “Get ready to pack up, kid, because one of them higher-ups talked to me saying
how they really want you to compete overseas.”
Rae sighed. “That’s good. Now I can find more clues about my memories.”
“But don’t forget that regaining your memories shouldn’t be your first priority. You will soon be in
Sirius in order to compete, and you’ll have to keep your grades high. Make sure you take care of those
before even trying to do some searching.”
“Sure thing, sir.”
“As long as you understand. Oh, and one more thing.”
“Hm?”
“Congrats, kid. You were awesome.”
“Thanks.”

Rae got off the car when they reached Minester Orphanage.
“I’ll contact you once the offer is finalized,” Walker said. “You know, once I get the formal offer, the
date of departure and all.”
“Thanks,” Rae said. “I’ll be waiting.”
Walker nodded. “Alrighty then, see ya, kid.” He stepped on the gas and left.
Rae followed the car with his eyes until it was out of his sight. When it was, he looked around him
and saw a familiar person across the street.
Oh crap, it’s Rachel. I can’t let her know that I live here.
Rachel saw him soon after and waved at him. “Hey, what’re you doing here? You wanna visit
some kids in the orphanage?”
Rae waved back and walked toward her while he panicked deep inside. “Yeah, I have some
friends here,” he said when he reached her.
“What’s with the outfit?”
“Oh, this? I came from a tennis competition. But anyway, why are you here?”
“I was asked to buy some groceries.” She paused for a while, as if deciding on what to say next,
then she said, “You wanna come along? Maybe there’s something you wanna buy.”
Rae shook his head. “No thanks; I wanna rest after I visit my friends. It’s been a tough
tournament, you know?”
Rachel nodded. “Oh, okay. I’ll be going now, then.”
“Yeah.” Rae waved his hand and started walking away. “Bye.”
“See ya.” Rachel’s words came as a stinging pain to Rae as the two of them parted ways.
When Rae was near the entrance of the orphanage, Tenkai appeared. “Why didn’t you tell Rachel
about your leave?” he asked.

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 Rae shook his head. “I…couldn’t. I don’t want anyone to know so that no one could make me
change my mind about this.”
“So you’re really gonna leave?”
“Yeah. Whether you like it or not, I will recover my memories.”
Tenkai sighed. “Whatever you say, kid.”

When Rae entered the orphanage, he was greeted by Mrs. Morrison and Sir David.
“How was the competition, Rae?” Mrs. Morrison asked. “Did you do well?”
“I lost at the finals,” Rae said. “It was really close, though; even though the final set count was 2-
0, they both ended in tiebreakers.”
“I’ve never heard of such a good player in this area,” Sir David commented. “Have you played him
before? Because last time I checked, you haven’t lost a match in a very long while.
“He was a dark horse who trashed everyone he played against.”
“Then managing a tiebreaker is pretty awesome of you.” Sir David went to Rae and slapped his
back. “I’m proud of you, kid.”
“Gee, thanks,” Rae said while he scratched his head. “I’ve been getting a lot of that lately that I
think I’m gonna blush.”
“Well, you deserve it, anyway. So, how’s the offer? Did you get it?”
Rae nodded. “Yeah. I’ll soon be going to Sirius…to live on my own and to regain my memories.”
“I still think that’s really worrisome,” Mrs. Morrison said. “Are you sure about this?”
“Sorry, Mrs. Morrison, but I’ve been in the dark with my past memories for too long,” Rae replied.
“I can’t stay in the orphanage forever, as well. And since I no longer have a family to support me, I’ll have
to learn how to live on my own at some point in my life.”
“And for you, that point in your life is now?” Sir David asked.
“The sooner the better. I already I have a boost with tennis, so I’ll just start from there.”
Mrs. Morrison sighed. “I see. Well, since you’ve just returned from your competition, why don’t
you hurry up and take a bath, then rest? I’m sure you’re pretty tired.”
Rae stretched his arms. “Yeah, now that you mention it, my muscles are starting to ache big time.
I think I’ll go for a nap to celebrate a job well done.”
“That’s right, Rae. You’ve done well, so take it easy now.”
“Thanks, ma’am.” Rae waved his hand at her and Sir David, and started walking toward the
stairs. “I’ll be leaving now.”
“See you at dinnertime, then,” Mrs. Morrison said. When Rae was out of sight, she turned to Sir
David and asked, “Did I do the right thing in telling his coach about Cosmo City…?”
“I believe Rae is very grateful to know about it,” Sir David replied. “It’s all good.”

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 Chapter 21
(Goodbye, New State High)

A few days after the New State Open, Rae and Emman Walker were in the principal’s office
talking to Mr. McKenzie.
“Of course, I think it’s really great that this school actually had a student as talented as you,” the
principal said. “But seriously, transferring again? Don’t you get tired changing environments?”
“The premises are different, and you know that,” Rae protested. “The first one, I couldn’t help it.
This one is my own decision.”
“Your own decision, so you say…” Mr. McKenzie contemplated. “…but are you sure about this,
Kusanagi? This is another country we’re talking about. Of course, all I can say right now is that it’ll be
hard, but you’ll only know the extent of the hardships for sure once you experience it yourself. Are you
certain that you’re ready for this?”
Rae bowed his head. “I…I want to get my memories back.”
“Memories? What? I don’t get it.”
“He has amnesia, sir,” Walker said. “He doesn’t have any memory from when he was 5 years old
and younger.”
“And what does this have to do with anything?”
“The place where I lost his memories is in Sirius,” Rae replied. “That’s why I have to go there.
Being an orphan, I don’t have that much money; I even have to work in the orphanage to get some money
for school stuff and whatnot.”
“So basically you’re telling me that this is your only chance?”
Rae nodded. “I had already refused last year, so if I refuse again, I doubt I’ll get any more offers.”
Mr. McKenzie thought for a while. “I see. Then in that case, you’re no longer a student here
starting today.”
Rae’s eyes widened. “Wait, you mean…?”
“You don’t have to go to class anymore,” Mr. McKenzie said. “Right now, you can just focus on
preparing for your trip.”
“Thank you so much, sir.”
“No sweat, kid. Now get going.”
After saying goodbye, Rae and Emman Walker exited the office. As Walker proceeded toward the
school gate, Rae stopped.
“What’s wrong, kid?” Walker asked as he turned to Rae. “Let’s go.”
Rae shook his head. “You can go on ahead. I’ll be staying here.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
“I wanna talk to my friends,” Rae replied. “One last time.”
“I see.” Walker gave a wave and continued walking toward the gate. “See ya, then.”

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 “Yeah.”
Once Walker was out of sight, Tenkai appeared.
“So, what’re you gonna do now?” he asked Rae.
“Since the others still have classes,” Rae replied, “I’ll go stay someplace where I can chat with
someone.”
“And that would be…?”

“You know,” Sheila Goldworth said in the infirmary a few minutes later to Rae, who was sitting on
a bed, while she was organizing her tools, “I used to live in Sirius. I think you’ll like it there. They have
snow during winter, unlike here.”
“You lived there before? So why did you go here?’
“Because I need the technology here,” Mrs. Goldworth replied. “You see, I have a little something;
a medical issue to be exact.”
“Is it bad?”
Mrs. Goldworth waved her hand. “You don’t have to concern yourself with it. Anyway, why are you
moving there? And to think you just transferred here a few months ago…”
“I heard that the city where I lost my memories was in Sirius,” Rae replied. “If I go there, I may be
able to find clues about my past.”
Mrs. Goldworth felt a brief pain in her head, but she decided to ignore it. “So you’ve decided to
face the past that your mind refuses to remember, huh?”
Rae nodded.
“So, how are your dreams lately? You still have that recurring one?”
“The scene changed pretty recently,” Rae replied. “In these ones, I was promising to protect a
certain girl. But the flames and all were still there. If I count those, I’ve had the dream 1211 times by now.”
Mrs. Goldworth felt another, more painful sting in her head, but again, she ignored it. “I see…so
you still count them, huh?”
“Sorry. It became a habit of mine.”
Mrs. Goldworth laughed. “You’re really unique, you know that?”
“I have a vague idea of what you mean.”
“I never would have imagined that you were an orphan as well; I was surprised when you
mentioned that you live in an orphanage.”
“But if I had parents, then they would just tell me what had happened.”
“Oh, right.” Mrs. Goldworth laughed again. “I’m so sorry, I failed to notice that. So, why are you
still here? Don’t you have to start packing for your big departure?”
“Yeah, but I need to say goodbye to some friends first.”
“Wouldn’t your teacher mention your transfer tomorrow?”
Rae nodded. “That’s true, but I want to say goodbye myself.”

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 “So that’s why you’re waiting for lunch time?”
“Yeah.” Rae looked at his wristwatch. “Only 30 minutes left. I guess I’ll leave now.”
“Where will you be going?”
“To a certain place that I’ll really miss once I leave,” Rae said as he stood up. “I’ll have a little
nostalgia-fest before I face any of them.”
Mrs. Goldworth smiled. “I see. At least it’s good to know that you were able to make new friends
here. And you were also able to save one of them before, right?”
“Oh, that? I was glad to have been of help.” He then began walking away. “Anyway, bye, doc.”
“Bye,” Mrs. Goldworth said. “I’ll send your regards to those three students whom you beat up 3
months ago as well.” She gave a chuckle after the last statement.
Rae laughed nervously. “Thanks,” he said as he left the infirmary.
Once Rae had closed the door, Mrs. Goldworth hurried toward the sink and started vomiting
blood.

When Rae got to the plant-infested place, he immediately ran toward the tree, sat down while
leaning on it, and looked around. Tenkai appeared soon after, sitting on Rae’s head.
“I still can’t believe you’re doing this, kid,” Tenkai said. “You never said goodbye to anyone back
when you left Minester High. Well, maybe Jamie, but she forced her way to see you, so I don’t think that
counts.”
“I was always a sort of outcast back there, and you know it,” Rae replied.
The little angel smiled and nodded. “Heh. Yeah, of course I know. You were always the
unreachable top student who only gets talked to for tutoring purposes.”
“Maybe I should have charged them for my services back then…?”
“Too late for that now.”
“I know, I know.” Rae looked at his watch. 15 minutes left. He looked around and heaved a sigh.
“I’m really gonna miss this place. The people here never really cared for my grades; Sarah, Robin, Kim,
that Tina girl…they all became my friends and saw me as a friend instead of just a student.”
“Even though some of your other classmates hated you for quarrelling with the teacher and
always winning,” Tenkai added.
“Hey, that was 3 months or so ago. I stopped doing it when I started training for the New State
Open.”
“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, to add to your reminiscing, that doctor woman mentioned that time when
you saved Kim. That was pretty memorable.”
Rae felt a shiver down his spine. “I keep remembering the knife, so please don’t remind me of
that.”
“But that was pretty heroic of you,” Tenkai commented. “Would you have done the same thing
back in junior high with those classmates of yours?”

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 “I could…but I wouldn’t go as far as what I did with Kim. And besides, Robin was there to help
me. Especially during the…” He shrugged. “…that knife part.”
“Mm-hmm. Oh, by the way, why are you waiting here? I thought you said you’d say goodbye to
everyone.”
“I will,” Rae said. “What’s your point?”
“Only Sarah comes here.”
“I’ll say goodbye to her first.”
“I see…”
“Anyway, I’m gonna take a nap first.”
“Sure,” Tenkai said as he disappeared.

Rae had his head leaning on his arms, his face hidden, when Sarah arrived at the tree.
“Oh, Rae!” she called out with a wave of her hand. “Where have you been? I thought you were
absent.”
Rae raised his head, stood up, and waited for Sarah to come closer. When she was near, he
replied, “I really did skip school. But I felt like going here.”
“Really? Why?”
Rae blushed at first, then he stepped forward and hugged Sarah. “I’m terribly sorry for this,” he
said. “I myself am really embarrassed to do this-”
Tenkai butted in, “No, you’re not.”
Shut up. “But I want you to know that you’ve been a big part of my life. You were the one who
introduced me to this school, and you were the one who listened to my regrettable past with a caring
heart. When I felt that I couldn’t fit in, whenever I couldn’t find myself in the company of a group, all I had
to do was go to this place, and you would always be here, ready to welcome me.”
Sarah, who was stiff and wide-eyed at first, softened up and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“Did it really mean that much to you?”
“Yeah,” Rae replied. He removed his arms on Sarah and walked away. When he was behind her,
he continued, “That’s why I’m gonna miss you. Really.”
Sarah turned her head, facing Rae’s back. “What? I don’t get it.”
But by that time, Rae was already out of sight; he had run away.

“I thought you said you’d say goodbye to Robin and the others right after Sarah?” Tenkai asked
as Rae exited the school gate.
“As if I’d let her see me again,” Rae said, his face still red. “Dude, that was really embarrassing.”
“But you liked it, didn’t you?”
Rae felt as if smoke was coming out of his head. “A-anyway, let’s get outta here.”

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 Chapter 22
(Rae’s Departure)

It was 6 o’clock in the morning and Rae had just finished preparing his things. Before he left his
room, he looked back at a letter that he left at his desk.

“Yo guys,
I’m pretty bad at this goodbye stuff, so I’ll just let this letter do the talking for me. I
hope you all don’t mind. I’ve gone on a quest to search for my memories. Just think of it
as the protagonist of an RPG going on a journey or something. The protagonist leaves
the village where he grew up and starts to face the trials ahead, but I want you all to
know that this main character will always bring with the precious memories he shared
with his fellow orphans. I hope you all grow up to be fine citizens. I’m expecting you guys
to be more grown-up-like once I finish off the last boss and come back here, all right?
Bye, everyone.
-Rae Kusanagi
PS: Okay, so that didn’t make much sense, but I think it’s better that way.”

“You can’t even tell them directly,” Tenkai said.

“Shut your trap, Tenkai. I’m just hoping they could smile even at a farewell letter.”
“Heh, suit yourself, kid. But you know, you could at least stay a little longer for breakfast.”
Rae shook his head. “These rice balls are enough. Now let’s get going.”
Tenkai heaved a sigh. “Whatever you say, kid.”

Two hours later, in the airport, Rae and Tenkai decided to kill some time at a coffee stand after all
the preparations have been made. Rae bought a cup of hot chocolate and sat down on a lone table, with
Tenkai floating nearby.
“I’m bored,” Rae said. “We still have around 40 minutes left before the flight; not good. This is the
bad thing about being alone. Say Tenkai, why don’t you dance in front of me? I’ll bet that’ll be
entertaining.”
“Well, if only you left on a weekend and told that handful of friends of yours that you were leaving,
then you could have had them to come with you up until your departure.”
Rae shook his head. “You know I wouldn’t change the schedule no matter what. And I don’t want
them to know at all costs.”
Suddenly, the two of them heard a familiar voice. “Well, that’s too bad, because we already know
about your departure.”
Rae turned to where the voice came from. “Robin! Kim! And why’d you tag along, Sarah? Wait,

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what’s going on? You guys have class right now.”
Kimberly nodded with a bright smile as the three of them approached Rae. “That’s right, and we
skipped it just to go after you.”
Rae held his head. “Okay, wait a minute. How’d you guys find out? I never told anyone about my
departure aside from the principal, who probably told it to the teachers.”
“Okay, let me clear this up,” Robin said. “This is what happened…”
…
“Ma’am,” Robin said after attendance-checking. “Why did you skip Kusanagi? He’s just absent.
Normally, you’d say the names whether the student is around or not, right?”
“I was just about to tell you all about him,” the teacher said. “He won’t be returning here anymore.
He’s going overseas.”
“Where is he now?” Kimberly asked.
“I heard his flight is today,” the teacher replied. “Maybe he’s on his way to the airport, or maybe
he’s already there, waiting for his plane. Or who knows, maybe he already left. Anyway, you won’t be
seeing him anymore.”
Robin clenched his fist. That’s not fair, Kusanagi. Just up and going away on your own…He stood
up. “Sorry ma’am, but you didn’t see me today. Please mark me as absent; I’m out with a cold.”
“What are you talking about, Whitman? Wait, you don’t mean…”
Robin nodded as he took his bag. “That’s right. He risked his life to save me and Kimberly once.
I’m not letting such a nice guy go off on his own.”
Kimberly smiled and stood up as well. “He has a strange illness; he collapsed in front of me at
one time. If he’s alone out there, who knows what could happen. I’m going too, ma’am.”
The teacher smiled. Well, well, that troublesome kid has made quite some good friends, eh?
Now, there’s only one person left…
Sarah took a deep breath and stood up.
Good, good, Spencer. You’re supposed to be that kid’s best friend, after all.
“I have a good idea of how Rae does things,” Sarah said. “Being an orphan, he’s used to doing
things and making decisions on his own. I’m pretty sure he’s alone at the airport right now, suppressing
the regret for not telling us because he doesn’t want to get his friends involved.”
“And your point is?”
Sarah remembered Rae’s words before they parted. …you would always be here, ready to
welcome me. “He had always been afraid to be left alone when he entered this school. I can’t turn my
back on him now. That’s why I’m going after him.”
The teacher smiled. “Cutting classes, huh? Sheesh, kids these days…”
…
“And that’s what happened,” Robin said as he ended his narration. “Basically, we’re all out sick,
and we’ll be seeing you off. How much longer do you have to wait till your flight?”

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 “Hmm, maybe around 20 more minutes,” Rae replied. “What, you guys are gonna do me a favor
and dance in front of me to keep me entertained while I wait?”
“We’re not gonna go that far for you,” Sarah said. “Say, how about you repay my services in the
past?”
“The past? What service?”
“Show us around the airport, the way I showed you around the school on your first day.”
Did I really just confess to her? It seems as if I didn’t hug her back then. “Um, sure. I’ll even treat
you guys to some chocolate or something while at it.”
Tenkai grinned as he appeared. “Dude,” he told Rae. “I don’t think that exactly counted as a
confession. You didn’t say the magical three-word sentence, after all. And friends can hug each other no
problem, right?”
You have a point there…
“You serious?” Kimberly said with sparkling eyes. “What’s the price limit, Kusanagi?”
“Hm? Oh, the stuff I’ll buy for you? No particular price limit, but I’m gonna buy just one item each.”
“Oh, then that means I have to find the most expensive item there is, right Sarah?”
Sarah, who was looking at somewhere far away, looked back at Kimberly in surprise, and replied,
“Eh? Ah, yeah.”
Kimberly stared at where Sarah was looking at. “Hmm, could it be that something is in your mind
already?” she asked with a grin. “What is it, Sarah? Come on, spill it out.”
“Is she right, Sarah?” Rae asked. “This is the last time I’ll be around, so don’t hesitate.”
Slowly, Sarah pointed at a souvenir shop.
Tenkai’s eyes widened. “Dude, don’t tell me…”
Rae nodded. Maybe. Looks like it. I mean, from this distance, that’s the first thing you’d notice,
right?
“Oh, your wallet is so dead, kid.”
Doesn’t matter. A promise is a promise. “That big bear stuffed toy?” he asked Sarah. “Sure, I
don’t mind. Come on, let’s go buy it now.”
“Woah, wait a minute, Kusanagi,” Robin said. “Isn’t that a little too much?”
“Don’t buy it, Rae,” Sarah followed up. “I was just looking at it. I’ll ask for something cheaper, so
please don’t.”
Rae scratched his head. “Gee, I don’t understand you people,” he said. “What part of ‘no price
limit’ don’t you get? We’re buying that bear, got it? Remember, you’re talking to the most feared guy in the
school, so you better go with what I say, all right?”
Everyone nodded silently.
“Good, good.”

After 10 minutes, Rae had finished buying his parting gifts; Sarah got a big bear stuffed toy,

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Kimberly got a big bar of chocolate, and Robin got a book. While they continued to walk around, Robin
pulled Rae’s sleeve, and the two of them slowed down, leaving the girls in front.
“What’s wrong?” Rae asked.
“Dude, are you in love with Sarah or something?” Robin whispered.
“What’re you talking about? Why’d you think that?”
“I’d understand completely if an outcast like you got touched by her kindness, that’s all,” Robin
said. “She’s cute, and really nice, especially to you. So, do you like her?”
“I can’t believe our positions have reversed from that Kimberly issue…”
“Don’t mind the small details, just give me an answer. The girls are gonna get suspicious if we
stay like this any longer.”
“I think I like her,” Rae finally said. “I’m just not sure how long this feeling of mine will last, taking
into consideration the fact that I won’t get to see her anymore.”
“Then why are you leaving if the girl you like is just right here? Why are you leaving, anyway?”
“I might get my memories back in Sirius,” Rae replied. “They’re sending me to the city where I
used to live, and I might get clues there. Since I don’t have any parents or guardians, I can’t just go out on
vacation and expect to get back here.”
“You’re going on your absolute own?!”
Rae nodded. “Tennis recommendation is my excuse for this flight. I’ll be studying under a
scholarship with allowance, live off of part-time jobs, and make a name for myself in the field of tennis. Of
course, while I search for my past.”
“Dude, how old are you?”
“I’m still 14.”
“You sure you’re not gonna die out there?”
“I’ll try my best to survive.”
“Gee, and you’re even leaving Sarah…are you stupid or something?”
Rae laughed. “Maybe I am.”
“I wonder what I can give before you go…”
“Don’t mind me, Robin. Really. Just be happy with Kimberly and you’ll have repaid that time when
I went out of my way to save the two of you.”
“No, I insist, I gotta think of something…”

“Hey Kim, Robin’s gonna get jealous if you keep clinging onto me like that…” Rae said as
Kimberly wrapped her arms around Rae’s arm and leaned on his shoulder. “Right, Robin?”
“Come on Kusanagi, gimme a smile now,” Robin said as he pointed his camera at them. “And I’m
not jealous at all. Just enjoy these last few moments, okay? Now start smiling.”
Rae faked a grin as the picture was taken.
“Now, it’s Sarah’s turn,” Robin said as Kimberly stood up. He turned his eyes to Rae and quickly

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raised his eyebrows.
So that’s what he was after, eh? Rae told himself. Not too bad, Robin.
Sarah sat beside Rae and the two of them smiled at the camera, but Robin shook his head.
“No, no,” he said. “You’re besties, right? Try acting like close friends a little more.”
Sarah leaned on Rae’s shoulder, making Rae freeze.
“Now Kusanagi, arm around her. And smile, got it?”
Tenkai, who was sitting on Rae’s head, nodded. “You better do as Robin says,” he said. “You
might regret it if you don’t. Remember, you won’t be seeing Sarah anymore.”
Rae put his arm around Sarah and the two of them smiled at the camera.
“Okay, good,” Robin said. “Now it’s my turn, buddy. Kim, hold the camera for me, willya?”

Sarah, Robin, and Kimberly looked through a large window in the airport a few minutes later as
many airplanes flew away.
“Rae is in one of those…” Sarah said. “He’s really gone, huh…”
“Yeah,” Robin said. “That was one strange guy. He’s a year younger than your usual high school
student, but he’s at the top of the class.”
“And he’s at the top of the class despite being feared by all the delinquents,” Kimberly added. “To
think such an amazing guy was an amnesiac orphan…”
And you’ll have to survive by yourself, Robin said at the back of his head. I don’t know what to
say anymore. To think someone like you is a human just like me…you’re just too amazing, Kusanagi.

Inside a flying airplane, Tenkai, who was sitting on a sleeping Rae’s head, couldn’t help but smile
as he looked at the picture that his companion was holding.
“That’s just sweet,” the little angel said before shifting to a serious face. “I just hope you’re aware
that you chose the path that leads away from her. You’ll have to let go of her at some point, kid, because if
you don’t…you might not survive.”

Author’s Note: And with this, KC Volume 1 is finished; plot-wise, at least, because I have one more
chapter before I start with Volume 2. Did anyone notice that my page count starting from the finals
became 4-5 per chapter? This will probably go over to Volume 2, so the chances of 12-page
chapters like chapter 1 will probably be pretty slim.

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 Chapter 23
(Rescuing a Damsel in Distress)

It has been 8 years since my childhood friend, Sarah Spencer, was kidnapped by the Dark Lord
who lurks in the Forbidden Land of Eternal Night. I was powerless back then, but now I have done all the
necessary training to save her. I have surpassed many hardships to get this far. All I have to do now is
defeat the Dark Lord and everything will be back to normal again.

Rae Kusanagi woke up early one morning without a yawn; instead, he had a determined look on
his face as he said, “This is it!” to himself. Getting out of his bed, he looked around the room. The wall to
his right was filled with various weapons ranging from daggers to gigantic broadswords, and to the left
projectiles ranging from slingshots to bows and arrows. It was as if his room was a small, packed
warehouse of weapons which happened to have a bed in the middle. If that wasn't enough, a huge stack
of explosives were stacked under his bed. Rae Kusanagi was a man of combat at the mere age of 14.
The only non-destructive thing he probably had in his room was a cage beside his bed which contained a
sleeping robin.
Just as he got up, he heard someone knocking on his door.
“Are you awake yet, son?” came the voice of his father.
Just then, the door opened, and in it came his father with a huge smile on his face.
“Well, well, well...” he said. “The young hero is going to start his big adventure, huh? Are you
ready?”
Rae got out of his bed, careful not to step on any explosives that may have found its way out.
“Yeah, I'm good to go.”
“Great. That's my boy.” In the blink of an eye, Rae's father was already behind him. With a smirk
on his face, he pushed Rae with great force. “Get out there and make me proud!”
A normal person would fall with his face first on the floor, but Rae stretched his hands to the floor,
and once he touched it, somersaulted forward, landing on his two feet and walking outside with one last
yawn as if nothing happened.
He went to the kitchen and savored the aroma of his mother's cooking. “Smells good,” he said.
“What's for breakfast today?”
“Boar,” Rae's mother replied. “You need to eat lots for your adventure. And when I say lots, I
really mean lots.”
Rae looked at the table; it had a gigantic roasted boar on it, making his eyes widen. Hey dude,
that’s a whole boar! I'm supposed to eat something as big as that? He looked at his mother in
astonishment and wonder.

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 “You're eating this, right dear?” his mother said, her voice very calm and soothing, but Rae could
already see the hungry beast in her ready to put him to eternal rest if he did not give the right answer.
“...right?”
She's like a cage hiding a ferocious monster that's ready to eat me at any second. Rae gulped
nervously. “O-of course. I'd be more than glad to accept this...feast.”
“That's good to hear. Mom had a hard time hunting this one and cooking it, after all.” Rae's
mother smiled sweetly. “Of course,” she continued, “you should save some of the meat so you can use it
later on while you travel.”
If you're not gonna force me to eat the entirety of this gigantic thing, then say so in the first place!
“Okay, mom. I'm gonna eat now.”

Around an hour later, Rae was holding the cage of his pet robin in his room while his mother
packed the remaining boar meat in the kitchen for future use.
Rae opened the cage and let the robin rest on his finger. “Today's the big day, Robin,” he told the
small bird. “I'm counting you to help me out during the journey, okay?”
Robin the robin nodded.
“Good, good.” Rae gently stroked Robin’s head with his index finger. “Now, go and wake Allen
and Alfred up for me, okay? I’ll catch up by the entrance later.”
And with a gentle push, he sent Robin flying out of the house through the window in his room.
When the bird was out of sight, Rae looked at the weapons lying near his room. “Now I really
have to decide what to get. Let’s see…if the maximum capacity of my inventory is 200, and this
zweihander is 120…nah. This flamberge is way too flashy, as well. Oh all right, I’ll just take this cutlass for
all I care.” He walked forward and got the sword of his choice. Then he turned to the other side, toward
his collection of long range weapons. “Maybe I should get something from here, too. Okay, I’ll be taking
this recurve bow and 20 arrows just in case.”
He was fully equipped by the time he exited the house; he had his weapons, his food, a lot of
pocket money, his pet Robin the robin, and two more pets: Allen the horse and Alfred the dog. He said
goodbye to his parents and proceeded to leave while there was still no one around.

However, he soon met up with someone he knew: Rachel, one of his old friends. When he saw
her, he froze in his tracks, unable to hide all the evidence of a long journey.
“Hey Rae,” Rachel said. “Why do you have all of that stuff?”
“O-oh, this? Uh, I’ll be out on a hunt. Yeah, just on a hunt.”
“Then why do you have more than one weapon? And a bag? And all of your pets?”
Rae could sense that Rachel was getting suspicious. “I just wanna get tons of food so I can sell
them later on for lots of money. I really need it, especially since I have all these animals with me in the
household. Don’t worry about the small things; I’ll be back soon.”

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 Rachel thought for a while, then nodded. “Oh, is that so? Good luck, then.”
Rae nodded in response and rode on Allen the horse. “Yeah, that’s right. Thanks. I’ll be going
now.”
“Yeah, See ya.”
“See ya.” And with a gentle pat on Allen’s back, Rae got him to run, with Alfred and Robin right
behind them.

Around half an hour later, Rae and his animals found themselves lost.
“Oh damn, why so early in the game- I mean journey?” He looked up toward Robin. “Hey, Robin!”
he called out. “Could you fly a little higher to see if you can find a nearby village? Just don’t go too far, got
it?”
Robin nodded and went ahead, with Rae keeping an eye on him.
A short while later, Rae could only see a dot in the sky.

Meanwhile, Robin was looking around for nearby houses but could only see vast lands of green.
While he was frantically searching, he heard a chirp. He turned toward the source of the sound and saw a
female robin.
“Hi,” the other bird said. “I’m Kimberly. What’re you doing this high up?”
Robin was lovestruck. “I was looking for you.”
“Really?”
Robin nodded. And the two of them flew away, leaving Rae and the others stranded.

After five minutes, Rae lost his patience.

“What the hell, Robin?!” he exclaimed, his rage causing Alfred and Allen to hide their faces in
fear. “Don’t tell me you ran off with a girl now?!”

Robin suddenly sneezed as he was sitting on a branch with Kimberly.

Rae crossed his arms. “Now what?” He turned to his animals. “Got any bright ideas, guys?”
“How’s about letting me out?” came the voice of a man from Rae’s bag. “Hey, come on, it’s not
like I’ll bite or anything. Pretty please with unhealthy refined sugar on top?”
Rae took his bag. “Where’d that voice come from…? And what’s refined sugar?” As he looked
inside his bag, he saw an old magic lamp shaking. “It’s that good luck charm that my mom forcefully put
on my inventory- I mean bag…”
“Yeah, I got caged up here by your mom,” the person in the lamp said. “Now rub the lamp and get
me outta here so I can help you.”
Rae did as he was told, and a genie with wings appeared.

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 “Yo,” the genie said. “The name’s Tenkai. I’m the Kusanagi guardian deity.”
“A guardian deity?” Rae asked. “You? Didn’t you say you got sealed by my mom?”
Tenkai scratched his head. “Well, you see, she said I was too noisy around the house, so…”
“Well, you do look like the noisy type…but how come I’ve never seen you before?”
“Oh, but you did,” Tenkai replied. “We used to fight a lot before you learned how to talk.”
“That was you? Mom often told me that I used to talk with an imaginary friend…”
“You see, I turned into your playmate, and your mom didn’t like that. We were always noisy, so
she sealed me.”
“Then why didn’t you ask for my help before? I always saw you in the attic back then. You could
have started shaking at that time.”
Tenkai shook his head. “No way, dude. Your mom would kill me. In fact, I think she gave you the
lamp so that you would have some gold antique to sell.”
Rae laughed. “I can imagine.” Then he shook his head. “Hey, wait a minute, you just sidetracked
me!”
“Oh, right, sorry.”
“So anyway,” Rae said, pointing at the sky. “I’m lost right now. I had my pet robin search for a
village but it seems he’s run off.”
“Ah, so that’s it? I’ll lead you to your next stop.” Tenkai then flew with the lamp and moved
northwest.
Rae, Allen, and Alfred stood up and followed him. “How can you be so sure?” Rae asked. “I don’t
wanna get lost again, just so you know.”
“One of your grandpas, I don’t know from which generation, used to travel a lot,” the small genie
said. “His name was Red Kusanagi, and we travelled far and wide until he decided to settle somewhere.
Then his son, Rem Kusanagi, was the next to travel with me. At some point, Rex Kusanagi settled to the
village where you now live and, starting from his son, Rod Kusanagi, no one grew up to be travellers.”
I wondered why my dad was named Roy and me Rae…but I never would have expected my
ancestors to…Rae shook his head. “All right, lead the way.”

When Rae and company arrived at the village where Tenkai led them to, they found out that it
was under attack.
Rae moved his head to the right to avoid an arrow and leaped toward a house for protection, with
Alfred and Tenkai following. Allen, however, got hit by several arrows before he could escape and he fell.
Rae gritted his teeth. “Tch, I don’t have any revive potions on me…”
“What do we do, kid?” Tenkai asked. “We gotta get past here if you wanna finish your mission.”
“I know.” Rae opened his inventory and equipped his bow and arrows. “Tenkai, do what you can.
Alfred, back me up. We can’t lose here.”

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 The fight that ensued was fierce, but Rae was able to keep his HP up and avoid many of the
enemies’ attacks, taking a lot of them down along with other fighting villagers.
He soon ran out of arrows and took out his cutlass to continue the battle, moving to the right to
avoid an arrow that he had sensed was flying toward him from behind.
Then he saw Alfred fly in front of him.
“Idiot!” he said. “Why’d you cover for me?! I would have been able to dodge that even if you didn’t
jump in! Damn…!”
He said all this, knowing that it was already game over for the dog, who soon disappeared into
thin air.
He moved his head to the right and caught an arrow with his left hand. “Now you’ve really done
it…”

“Here you go,” the innkeeper of the village said an hour later as he handed Rae a bowl of soup.
“Thanks for your help in the attack. You played a really big part, kid.”
“Gee, I’m flattered,” Rae said, taking a spoonful of the soup. “This is good stuff you have here.
Are you sure I don’t have to pay?”
The innkeeper shook his head. “If you hadn’t come here, I might not be standing in front of you
right now. I mean, hey, you defeated 2/3 of the entire bandit group. In fact, would you like anything else?
Maybe a big meal for a hero like you?”
“I have some boar here in my inventory,” Rae said. “Could you heat it up for me? And would you
mind if I asked for some provisions? I still have quite a long journey ahead of me.”
The innkeeper hit his chest with his fist and smiled. “No problem! Just sit back and relax for now,
because you’re today’s celebrity.”
“Thanks a lot.”

The next day, after a good night’s sleep, Rae left the village carrying many gifts from the villagers.
He had mostly asked for money and small snacks because he no longer had any pets to carry his things.
“It’s too bad your pets died in the fierce battle yesterday, huh?” Tenkai said as he floated beside
Rae.
“It’s not my fault Allen was so slow and Alfred was so stupid,” Rae replied. “Anyway, we can’t do
anything about it, so let’s just continue. Now, tell me which direction I should head.”
“Just keep going like that,” Tenkai said. “I’ll tell you when to take a turn or something.”
Rae nodded his head. “All right. No slacking off now, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”

After a long, arduous journey that took a lot of playing time, Rae and Tenkai finally reached the
castle of the Dark Lord.

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 “Finally,” Rae told Tenkai. “We’re here. Now where are the guards so I can take them out and get
inside?”
Suddenly, two cloaked figures appeared from the ground.
“Halt,” one of them said. “You shall not pass.”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “Can I pass over your dead bodies?”
The other cloaked figure laughed. “If you ca-”
His sentence was cut off when Rae punched him. Before his companion could react, Rae took
him out as well with a kick.
“Okay you little genie, let’s go,” he said as he opened the door to the castle. “We don’t have time
to lose.”

“Sarah!” came Rae's voice as he opened the door to where the young woman was held. He had
run straight up to the tower where Sarah was. “I'm here to save you!”
Sarah turned her head in surprise. “Who are you? The last time I saw a person was 8 years ago.”
Rae shook his head. I feel sorry for you. You've been pretty deprived of a life. What were you
doing while you were stuck here, I wonder...? You were probably bored out of your wits. “Don't mind the
small details. Anyway, don't worry anymore. I'm here now and I'll get you out of this place.”
Just then, a mysterious shadowy figure with crimson eyes appeared in-between the two of them.
“Not so fast,” the figure said. “You will not take her away. Many times, people from your village have
attempted to save this girl, and guess what? They all failed! But I have to hand it over to you; you're the
first one to reach this place. But still, do you really think you can defeat me?”
“Shut up! I'll save Sarah without fail! You can't stop me!” As soon as Rae finished speaking, he
sprinted forward, much to the surprise of the mysterious figure. He punched it, and it fell to the ground
almost instantly.
Rae stood, stupefied. “Wait...what?”
He and Sarah froze on the spot as the figure slowly faded away and became part of the wind.
Rae couldn't stop staring at where the mysterious figure had lay, his mouth agape. “You...you
gotta be kidding me...” He turned to Sarah. “I guess this is what we should call a happy ending, but...”
Sarah laughed. “That was pretty easy. Yeah, I know. If only I knew how weak he was.”
“So then, how come no one was able to save you before if the Dark Lord was a wimp like that?”
“The castle is infested with booby traps. In fact, you were able to evade a trap door just now.”
Sarah pointed at where Rae had stood a while ago; indeed, there was a trap door. “All I can think is that
the others fell victim to the traps because they spent too much time in one place, probably being
cautious.”
“Hmm, I see. Come to think of it, I did rush straight without thinking about the surroundings.”
Sarah smiled sweetly. “Then there you have it. Thanks for saving me, Rae.”
Rae blushed. “You still remember me? After all these years?”

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 “Of course,” Sarah replied. “You promised me that you would save me someday. Just like a
protagonist from an RPG.”
Rae scratched his head and laughed. “You shouldn't be giving references like that.”
The two of them laughed for a while, then Sarah took Rae's hand. “Let's go, Mr. Knight in Normal
Clothes.”
Rae was wide-eyed and blushing, unable to keep his cool. “Y-yeah, let’s g-go.”

As the two of them walked outside the castle, still holding hands, Rae turned and looked at
Sarah. “Hey,” he asked. “If that guy was such a weakling, then how did you get abducted in the first
place?”
“Don't worry about the small details.” Sarah gave him a wink.

Back in the airplane, while Rae was sleeping soundly, his grip on Sarah’s photo loosened and he
let go of it, sending it softly to his feet.

Author’s Note: Kusanagi Chronicles was originally about an amnesiac orphan who saves the
world under the protection of a secret organization, so I’ve always had the itch to make a fantasy
even after remaking it into a slice-of-life story. With this, I’m pretty satisfied. Volume 1 is officially
over.

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More Notes:
Finally, the first volume of Kusanagi Chronicles has come to an end. For the sake of
putting extras, you guys might want some fun facts, and so I compiled them in this note. Enjoy.

1. Rae Kusanagi's name has a meaning to it. The name "Rae" is a Hebrew name which
means "doe." A doe is a female deer, and deers have a connection with my real name.
And he’s supposed to be a ray of hope to the suffering youth, giving an example of
someone who faces all his challenges in life head-on.
2. The characters of Kusanagi Chronicles are loosely based on people in real life,
specifically special friends of mine. However, as I reached the later chapters (10
onwards), the characters started building up their own characteristics, thus diverging from
their original real-life bases. But then again, I guess that's natural for characters in a
novel, right?
3. Robin Whitman was meant to be the main character of another story of mine, but I
thought having him as an extra would help in pushing the story as Rae grew. He’ll always
have his own arcs, so I guess it’s fine. And his story was “absorbed” into an arc that’ll be
featured later on.
4. In connection with #3, in an attempt to somehow put a little spotlight to Robin, I made
him have an uncertain love story, just like Rae.
5. Tenkai's image has long been an object of confusion. Instead of a finger-sized angel,
angel in every sense of the word (Adult, muscular man in white), readers have told me
that he seemed more like a playful companion, and one of them saw Tenkai as something
like Keroberos from Cardcaptor Sakura.

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