After waking up in the infirmary, Koko looked to her left and found that the boy named Sano Riku was gone 

"Sano...?"

She got up from her bed and glanced around, only to find that she was alone in the room. She looked at the bandages wrapped around her and slowly lifted herself off of the bed. With a wince of slight pain, she placed her feet onto the floor and stood up.

She patted the sore areas of her body and lifted the bandages, finding out that her injuries had already stopped bleeding. Despite her wounds, she was able to walk around.

As she walked out of the room, she found that it was far past lunchtime already. Surprised by how much time had passed, she quickened her pace as she walked towards the cafeteria.

As she reached her destination, she was greeted with a near vacancy. There were few people in the cafeteria and even fewer things left on the table. As she hurried towards the tables to claim the remaining scraps of lunch, a hand grabbed her from behind. When she turned around, there stood a group of older kids. One of them, seemingly the leader, spoke up.

"Buzz off, crybaby. This one's ours."

Koko stiffened upon seeing them. They were the last people she wanted to see. After her encounter with them this morning, she didn't want to get into any trouble with them again.

"If you don't want a visit to the nurse again, you should back off."

Fearing that she would incur their wrath once more, she timidly began to walk back towards the cafeteria entrance. However, the figure of the odd boy, Sano Riku, then flashed into her mind. She recalled the conversations she had with him and what she had said back then.

'I will be someone who can make good appear in the world!'

Koko stopped in her tracks.

"...No."

"What did you just say?"

Her mind replayed the scene of her brandishing a stick in front of the older kids from that morning. Just like during that time, she gathered her courage and clenched her fist.

"I said no."

The group of kids stared at her with glares of contempt. One of them then muttered something to her through clenched teeth.

"You asking for another beating?"

Koko flinched upon hearing that, but remained firmly planted to the ground.

"Stop this. Play fair like you should."

She received a few chuckles from the kids in response to that.

Thereupon, Koko felt a sudden pain in her abdomen area. She fell over onto the floor, clutching her stomach. She looked up to find that one of the kids had punched her right in the gut.

She felt an innate urge to burst into tears, but steeled herself and held them back. With slight trembling, she lifted herself off of the ground and stood back up. With a wince, she spoke once more 

"Stop these mean things..."

She received another blow in response, this time to her knee. She fell over once more, but picked herself back up again. One of the kids in the group sneered. 

"Why should we? None of the other kids are being as noisy as you about it."

"...But nobody wants you to keep bullying everyone."

Surrounding people took notice of the commotion and began to detach themselves from the scene. The other children in the cafeteria, especially the younger ones, scrambled to the far side of the room. Taking note of that, the leader looked around the entire cafeteria and shouted so that all could hear him.

"Alright then, let's ask them. Hey everyone! Any of you who's on this girl's side, come stand here with her! We'll be sure to give you the same 'accommodation' as her!"

Upon hearing his declaration, the kids within the cafeteria all averted their gazes, not wanting to become another victim of the group's assault. Seeing their reactions, the leader made a smirk.

"Well, what do you know? Nobody seems to agree with you. You're alone."

He then slammed his foot towards Koko's cheek where there was a bandage. A sharp sting made Koko groan as she felt the wound beneath the bandage reopen. However, even so, she didn't back down and forced back her tears.

Another kid from the group made a frown as he glared at Koko 

"You're quite stubborn aren't you?"

Koko glared right back at him.

"...I won't stop...until you stop."

The leader was about to give another kick to Koko, but then stopped to ponder for a brief second. Coming up with an idea, he decided to change tactics.

"Then we'll just keep doing this until you cry for mommy...oh wait..."

The boy feigned a look of surprise, as if he had forgotten something, and paused for a brief moment.

Meanwhile, Koko froze in place 

He took delight in her pained expression before continuing with a sneer.

"You don't have one...not anymore. Even if you did find her, she wouldn't want you."

Koko took a step back. She felt a sudden chill as she heard those words 

"No...d-don't say that."

The leader took a step forward in return.

"But it's true. Your 'parents' don't care about you. You're unwanted to them, and to us as well, for that matter."

Koko began breaking into a cold sweat, she felt queasy in her stomach. Her legs began to tremble.

"They abandoned you...wanna know why?"

The room suddenly began to shrink around Koko. She felt as if she was surrounded, cornered, persecuted like prey surrounded by predators. Her legs could no longer find themselves able to support her body. She stumbled onto the floor, crawling backwards as the predators surrounded her.

"It's because you're worthless."

Worthless.

That word echoed in Koko's head as she heard it. It was the word she heard so many kids say.

She felt her surroundings closing in on her further and further. Another kid in the group shouted.

"You're worthless."

Hearing that word once more, Koko shivered. Noticing her reaction to the word, the leader smirked and began to take further action. He glanced at one of his group members and with a nod, ordered him to block the door to the hallway.

He stared daggers at the nearby kids hiding in the corners of the cafeteria.

"C'mon fellas, say with us. It's just one word. And if you don't..."

He kicked over Kiko, causing her to tumble across the floor.

"You may just end up like her."

The kids shook as they were forced against their will. Fearing the group, one of the younger ones began to comply.

"W...worthless..."

Soon after, others began to follow suit, repeating the same word.

"Worthless..."

"Worthless."

"Worthless."

Eventually, the entire cafeteria turned into a chorus of children, all uttering one word towards a single girl.

Koko couldn't believe her eyes, or her ears. She glanced at the perpetrator behind this incident. The courage she had before was rapidly diminishing, being replaced by fear.

In desperation, she covered her ears with her hands, not wanting to hear the verbal torture any longer. However, even though her ears were covered she could still hear it, the same word being shouted at her by everyone else. The word replayed in her mind.

The leader looked down at where Koko was huddling and grabbed her by the arm, forcing one of her ears open. He then grumbled in a low voice.

"If you know what's good for you, stay down. Otherwise-"

However, before he could finish his sentence, a loud voice interrupted the venue.

"You there, what are you doing!?"

The entire cafeteria went silent and all eyes turned towards the source of the voice. Standing behind the entrance of the cafeteria was an unfamiliar man. He seemed appalled and directed his focus at the group of kids targeting Koko. Next to him was a woman with a shocked expression and Watanabe, who had a disgruntled face, as if he expected this situation.

The man pushed the kid blocking the entrance out of the way and stepped into the cafeteria. The unfamiliar woman and Watanabe followed. Seeing the unfamiliar faces, the leader stepped back with caution.

The man walked towards Koko, kneeled down, and then asked her a question.

"Are you okay, little-"

However, before he could finish, Koko leapt up and quickly sprinted out of the cafeteria.

The woman had a look of concern, but Koko did not stop her legs. She dashed away, leaving them behind.

Koko only heard snippets of a conversation between the unfamiliar adults and Watanabe before they were out of her hearing range.

"Mr. Watanabe, who was that girl?"

"And what were those kids doing to her?'

"Mr. and Mrs. Hara, I'll answer your questions, but I have a request for-"

 

She didn't know where she was. All she had in mind was running. She ran past the hallways of the orphanage, past the vacant corridors, past the fire exit, past the empty streets and the abandoned homes. She had no specific destination in mind. All she was concerned about was escaping.

Worthless.

She wanted to believe that she was anything but that. Her frail heart couldn't handle being labeled with such a term. As such emotions boiled inside her, she felt something foreign within her, a tugging sensation deep within her core. It felt like something was tingling inside her chest, perhaps being cracked open. However, she didn’t pay any mind to it and focused solely on running away.

She sprinted at full speed for minutes without stopping, a feat that would normally be impossible, especially for a child who hasn't eaten well. She turned dozens of corners and crossed numerous streets with no rhyme or reason, ignoring the pain from her wounds. Onlookers took notice of the running child, but either ignored her or exhausted themselves before they could catch up to her. Eventually, she did run out of breath, and that was when she finally became aware of her surroundings. 

As she panted, she looked around her to find an unfamiliar street. She then heard a commotion around a corner and trudged along, hoping to find some help.

She stumbled upon a grass field that contrasted with the cement streets from before. A play structure stood in the center, occupied by various small children similar to her age. A sandpit was nearby with half-finished sand castles left abandoned. A dirt trail led into a thicket of numerous pine trees. She found herself at a park.

Her eyes widened upon the realization that she had no idea how to get back to the orphanage. Her eyes darted around, unable to figure out what to do. She wanted to scamper around the park, trying to find anyone who was familiar to her. However, that foreign sensation from before had faded away, and now the exhaustion from all the running had suddenly attacked her all at once. She slowly fell to the ground, no longer having the stamina to even stand up.

Koko felt herself begin to shiver. She was in a foreign location, unable to move. She felt an urge to scream, but held it back with all of her might. Being in the orphanage taught her that screaming would only make her persecutors torment her further.

Unsure of what to do, Koko paused for a brief moment before hearing a voice call out to her.

“You seem like a nice girl."

An unfamiliar voice grabbed her attention, causing her to turn her head towards the source.

A small girl stood near Koko, seemingly around the same age as her.

Koko flinched and quickly shut her eyes, afraid that this unfamiliar girl would take advantage of her state and torment her like the other kids at the orphanage did. She couldn't muster the strength to get up and flee.

"Do you want help with those bruises?"

The girl asked innocently, catching Koko by surprise. After noticing that the strange girl wasn’t doing anything yet, Koko slowly opened her eyes and took a closer look at her.

She wore a set of frilly clothes, but what caught Koko's attention was her blonde hair and blue eyes. It was the first time she saw someone with such features. The girl’s unique hair was quite curly, taking the form of ringlets that went down the sides of her head. Her clothes clearly took inspiration from traditional Western attire and looked akin to something she saw on one of the dolls at the orphanage. Though she had an air of elegance, the girl didn’t seem to be the least bit pretentious. She exuded a friendly aura, causing Koko to calm down a bit. The girl resembled a fairytale princess in Koko’s eyes.

Frozen in place, Koko stuttered.

"I...I..."

The girl stared at Koko for a few seconds before making her own decision. She crouched down and leaned towards Koko.

"I can help you."

From the corner of her eye, Koko could see a faint white light. It was coming from the girl's palms.

The girl placed her palms over Koko's cheek, where one of her wounds was. The white glow then transferred from the girl's palms to Koko's wound. Within seconds, the wound began to rapidly heal, as if there was no injury on her cheek in the first place.

After the feat was done, the girl began to take deep breaths, as if she had just done a strenuous task.

Though surprised, Koko was still exhausted and could only squeeze out a few words.

"H...how...did you...?"

Koko was speechless, unable to comprehend what happened. Whenever the older kids injured her, the wounds would normally take days to heal. She didn’t understand how this girl made one of them heal in seconds.

“W-what...is that?”

The girl giggled to herself before winking.

"It’s a secret, you know? Not even mom and dad know about it."

Koko was about to ask further, but the blonde-haired girl spoke first.

“But...! I’ll tell you if you promise to be friends with me!”

Koko displayed a look of surprise and showed hesitance. The girl noticed her reaction and spoke again.

“Hmm? Do you not wanna be friends?”

Koko feebly shook her head.

“That’s...not it, but...how do we...be friends? I’ve never had a...friend...”

The girl was thrilled and lifted Koko’s body from the floor, helping her sit up by letting her lean on her shoulder.

“It’s easy! We talk!”

Koko, resting her head atop of the mysterious girl’s shoulder, gave a puzzled look.

“Talk...? Nobody ever wants to...talk to me...”

The girl quickly responded with a smile.

“Well, I do! So let’s talk! Where did you come from?”

“The...orphanage...”

The girl pondered for a brief moment before asking for further details.

“Is that your home? Which direction is it?”

Koko made a fearful expression upon being reminded of her situation. She decided to point towards a random direction, hoping that it would suffice.

The girl, unaware of her bluff, continued speaking.

“Wow! I’ve never been in that part of town! I come from this big neighborhood, and I live in this giant home. It’s really fancy. Come over with me!”

Koko felt a sense of dread. She didn’t want to be further separated from the orphanage.

“N-no...I need to...stay here.”

The girl was disappointed, but soon replaced her frown with a smile.

“That’s okay! Maybe next time.”

Koko sighed in relief, but was then bombarded with another question by the girl again.

“So...do you want to know what that light was?”

Koko nodded her head, causing the girl to smile even further. She leaned in towards Koko and whispered to her in a soft voice.

“Magic.”

Koko’s eyes widened.

“M-magic?”

The girl lifted up her palm and responded.

“Yes! Let me show you again!”

Another orb of white light formed on top of the girl’s palms before she placed it over another one of Koko’s wounds. Just like before, the injury instantly healed.

Koko was once again amazed by the supernatural phenomenon.

“Wow...”

On the other hand, the girl seemed to breaking into a sweat, panting as if she had done a long-distance sprint.

“Sorry...I can’t fix the rest of your cuts...I can’t use my magic a lot...”

Koko stared at her in wonder.

“Can I...use magic too?”

The girl laughed for a bit before responding.

“If you can, we can be magic buddies.”

The two girls kept talking, getting to know a little bit more about each other.

 

"Dear, where are you!?"

The girl turned around and responded to that voice.

"I'm coming, dad!"

The girl got up, seemingly ready to leave. She turned away and took a step forward. However, she then suddenly turned her head back around and spoke to Koko.

“I almost forgot. What’s your name?”

Koko mustered out a reply, hoping she wouldn’t be making a mistake.

“Ueda...Koko...”

The girl gave another bright smile to Koko.

“My name is Alice Williams!”

Immediately after saying that, Alice came upon a sudden realization.

“Oh wait, the last name goes first in Japan, right? My name is Williams Alice! Now we’re friends, Ueda!”

Alice then dashed off towards her father, disappearing from sight.

“Aah...”

It was only then that Koko realized that she could have asked for Alice and her father to take her back to the orphanage.

---

 

As I make my way to Koko's location, I pass through the streets until they get less empty, eventually becoming quite populated. Noticing the increase in people, I clad myself in darkness and continue moving while staying confined in the darker segments of the streets to remain hidden. I make some turns and corners until reaching a public park.

The park is more brightly lit than the surrounding streets, filled with kids at play and parents watching over them. I dispel the darkness around me and sneak into the park, blending in as one of many children there.

After quite a bit of walking, I finally reach Koko’s location. She’s laying there on the ground, as if her whole body’s paralyzed. She looks exhausted, seemingly in the midst of recovering from some major fatigue.

As I’m standing there, pondering about her condition, Koko finally takes notice of my presence and looks up at me.

“S...Sano?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Koko gives a brief expression of relief before it turns into confusion.

“Why...are you here?”

I take out the letter addressed to Koko and hold it in front of her.

“Special delivery.”

Koko’s right arm quivers for a bit, struggling to even lift itself off of the ground. It’s a mystery how she ended up in that state.

After a few seconds of her failing to take the letter, Koko gives up and speaks instead.

“Open it...please...”

Seeing her ineptitude, I shrug my shoulders and tear open the envelope. Whatever is inside better be important. I lost a perfectly good bottle of cola coming here.

As I lift up the envelope flap, the only thing inside is a single picture. The picture is of a man and a woman next to each other, presumably a couple. The two were standing in front of the orphanage. The picture looks like it was taken recently, perhaps even today. The words “The Hara Family” are at the bottom, likely referring to the family name of these two.

The man had light brown hair, a pair of glasses, and wore a business casual attire. Though slim, he didn’t seem to be physically active. He seemed quite plain, though there is something that I find noteworthy. He had a gentle look, almost an innocent one, as if he still had a certain simplicity about him. Perhaps some would find that attractive.

The woman next to him had black hair that went down to her shoulders. She wore a business casual attire as well, similar to the man. As for her looks, I wouldn’t call her plain, but I wouldn’t say that she’s someone who would stand out either. She had a warm smile in the picture, giving a sense of compassion.

They both appeared to be anywhere between their early to late thirties. Both of them seemed happy in each other’s company, bonded together by “love”.

Love...what a pointless notion.

I suppose even I was as naive as them at some point, but I’d rather not bring up memories of a past long gone. It’s not like it matters anymore.

It really doesn’t.

I shake my head, freeing myself from these thoughts. I then turn the picture around so that Koko can take a look at it. Upon doing so, I see that the words “Welcome to the Hara family, Koko!” are written on the back, rather crudely if I may add.

“Do you recognize these people?”

Koko focuses what little strength she has on inspecting the image, trying to figure out if the two people are familiar to her. After a few seconds, her eyes suddenly widen.

“I...I do. They were at...the orphanage...looking around...”

“So you’re saying that they were visiting?”

“I think...”

 I see what’s going on.

“Well, I suppose a word of congrats are in order. So...congratulations, Ueda Koko, or should I say Hara Koko?”

“Hara...Koko?”

It seems that she isn’t quick on the uptake.

“Well, that’s probably going to be your name from now on. It seems that you’re soon to be under the care of these two.”

I quietly clap my hands.

"...What?"

“It means you’re probably being adopted.”

“...Adopted...”

Koko mutters to herself, unable to comprehend what she's hearing, before continuing to speak.

“...What does...being adopted mean?”

I pause for a brief moment, pondering what to say.

“Well, it means having a ‘family’, for better or for worse. The people you see in this picture want to be with you for whatever reason that might be. Whether or not you’ll enjoy your time with them is another matter.”

“A f-family...”

She stares at the floor for a brief moment before looking at me.

“I think...I’ll enjoy it.”

I give her a questioning look while responding.

“Why are you so sure of that?”

Koko gave a slight smile with what little energy she had left.

“I can tell...from that picture. They look like nice people.”

I shrug my shoulders.

“Looks can often be deceiving, but I suppose there are also times when they aren’t.”

Koko’s smile lingers for a small moment before another wave of exhaustion hits her.

"Well, I’m not sure what kind of exertion you did to get into that state, but we need to get back to the orphanage.”

“Aah...”

Koko remains limp on the floor, unable to even lift her head off the ground.

With a sigh, I kneel down close to her. I then grab her and bring her towards my back while making sure that her arms are around my upper torso. In other words, I give her a piggyback so that I can drag her back to the orphanage.

"Nngh..."

Koko makes a slight sound, but is unable to do anything.

“Something the matter?”

“No...”

After giving her some time to get used to me carrying her, I begin the march back to the orphanage. I make sure to stay hidden within the darker segments of the streets in order to avoid attention. Along the way, Koko’s exhaustion only seems to get worse. 

As I carry her on my back, Koko rests her head on mine. I occasionally feel stands of her hair on my cheek as a result. Koko’s a little short for someone her age, perhaps due to a lack of nutrition, but that fortunately makes it easier to carry her.

In just a few minutes, Koko can barely keep herself awake. In her half-conscious state, she mumbles something out loud.

“Sano...let’s talk...”

I furrowed my brow.

“Why?”

“Someone taught me...that talking is important...”

I turn my head towards her face.

“Alright, I’ll humor you.”

I hear Koko making a slight giggle to herself before mumbling again.

“How did...you find me?”

I roll my eyes and answer sarcastically.

“‘Magic’.”

Seemingly unaware of my sarcasm, Koko repeats what I said while her eyelids grow heavier.

“Magic...you...you...”

Before she can finish her sentence, Koko’s eyelids close completely. Noticing that she’s about to fall asleep, I turn my gaze away from her and focus on the streets.

However, I hear Koko mumble a few more words with the last of her consciousness.

“Sano...am I...worthless...?”

I glance back at her for a moment, then respond.

“No.”

At the very least, she’s better than the other kids at the orphanage.

“Sano...let’s...be...friends...friends...”

I wait for any further response from her, but receive only silence in return.

The sun is starting to set, casting the streets and buildings in an orange tinge. I continue to head back to the orphanage while carrying the snoozing Koko on my back.