The teacher seemed speechless at Hugh’s words. There was awkwardness in his face as if he was put in a difficult situation. He did not want to be the one who broke the children’s bubbled reality.

How would he explain to a child that a person would be useless if they had no Desire? Could he tell them that people with no Desire are cast away like trash?

“Well, without any Desire, it would be hard to find a job.”

The teacher put the situation lightly, but he knew that it was much worse. He was only being kind, but some kid from the bunch knew the reality of the situation.

“I heard that they are worse than cockroaches. They would be better of dead, so they would be put out of their misery.”

The children seemed shocked at the revelation. Some of them were immediately disgusted with a person with no Desire, and some of them were indifferent.

“Well...”

The teacher could not refute the child. Since he knew that this reality would soon be seen by the children, he decided to just tell them the truth.

“That is the case with people with no Desire. They get cast away from society.”

The idea that a Desire-less person was trash, was immediately planted in every child’s mind. They would now treat people like trash because that was what society did.

Hugh gulped as he heard the news. Was he going to be trashed away like scrap? Was there no bright future ahead of him?

Those thoughts popped up into his head and implanted themselves deep within Hugh’s psyche. Like the other kids, he was led to believe that people with no Desire were useless, so he also thought of himself as useless.

The days passed, and Hugh was constantly reminded of the cruel reality. Some of the kids bragged about how their family already bought a high-quality pill for them to take once they got old enough.

Hugh spent his days with a hunched back, and a diminished presence. He was hiding himself, afraid that the other kids would find out about his inability to buy a Desire pill.

“What do you think you will be when you grow up?”

Hugh asked Aric. They were at the cafeteria eating their school-sanctioned meals. Aric continued to eat as he answered Hugh.

“I don’t know *munch* *munch* maybe one of those superheroes.”

Aric did not seem to care about his future, a complete contrast to Hugh. Aric continued to speak while he ate.

“My father says he will train me soon, so I will probably get stronger. Although, I don’t care about all those things, Desire or no Desire. I just want to play.”

Hugh did not seem to be listening anymore to Aric. He was completely focused on his own self-loathing. Why was he even going to school if his future was bleak?

Self-doubt led Hugh to let go of himself. Time passed, and it was not only height that grew on Hugh, but also his fat. Hugh would eat anything any chance he got.

He was a normal kid, but he turned into an obese slob. Hugh gave up. He just wanted to eat and enjoy the little things in life. Who even cared anymore since he would be thrown out of society soon.

Aric became different too. He would come to school with his uniform all ruffled up, and his behavior would be cranky towards all.

Aric and Hugh were still friends, but things changed from then on. When Hugh became fat, Aric started to become angry at him.

Their dynamic changed. Aric’s light and cheerful demeanor towards Hugh changed into anger and bullying. Hugh did not even remember what he had done wrong, but Aric seemed to be angry at him at all times.

He did not know the exact date that Aric had changed, or even if it just a gradual change, but the friend that he met was now gone.

Hugh could not even recognize him now, and they spent less and less time together. Hugh actively ignored him because Aric would torture and bully him when Aric got the chance.

That cycle continued and Hugh continued to get fatter and fatter. Aric’s constant bullying was a reminder that he would never amount to anything in life.

More years passed, and they were now in high school. The bullying continued, but this time, Aric would laugh at him with scorn. His friends made him a bread shuttle, and they would throw water at his face if he did not deliver their foods in time.

There were even times that Hugh had forgotten that Aric was once a friend. That memory was long gone, and Aric’s hateful face replaced it.

Hugh did not know what happened to Aric to make him so despicable. He had heard that his father was a nasty and corrupt man.

There were rumors that his father was cold-hearted, but it made no excuse for Aric to act like that. Hugh passed it off as Aric being just like his father. Like the saying, like father, like son.

——————————-

Hugh charged towards Aric with his armored fist. With the added power of his armored leg, Hugh was able to reach Aric at top speeds.

“What happened to you, Aric?!”

With Aric severely injured, he could not do much in terms of dodging away from Hugh. He still had his fire from his Desire, but it had less intensity than before.

Aric limped towards Hugh, the seared cut that was in his chest still ached, but he ignored those pains.

Hugh’s punch landed directly on Aric, shattering his ribs. Aric felt the air in his lungs get forced out, and blood started to pour out of his mouth.

Aric’s body was thrown down due to the force of Hugh’s punch. Hugh raised his fist and gathered all of his strength. He wanted to end the fight as soon as possible.

Just as his fist was traveling through the air, Hugh saw Aric’s face, and he remembered those innocent memories they had when they were a child. He hesitated on his punch.