The leisure clock ticks an imperceptible sound encroaching at a difficult-to-monitor pace akin to the churning breed of uneasy silence.

Still awoke beneath the exquisite material roof, he sighs a breath of change. Any environment seen beyond the aim of sights from the past was once concluded to be substandard in comparison to the competence demonstrated by this mansion.

The minds that thought of things that could be better than this were non-existent, and only the praise of the dazed young man could be found in such an admirably spotless mansion.

And, once again, a change in the environment has given rise to new desires and perspectives in the indefinite Sho. Dreams that were almost possible now had a companion, and as usual, they were still a long way from being realized.

He pressed his face against the walls beside the windows and gazed up at the crystal clear moon in the distant sky. Unable to think clearly, and seemingly unsatisfied with today's events.

What was bothering him?

He drifts away from every minute and talks to himself. However, there are no conclusive answers beyond the scope of what he claims to be true about his convenience. The questions that came and went were futile in comparison to the problems that bothered his mind.

Akane, who was lying down on her opulent bed, was now unconscious to the point where the sound of her rigid breathing was both annoying and amazing. Sho, on the other hand, was inside one of the many guest rooms, which had apparently been abandoned for years.

Perhaps it was a room that could not be described as "abandoned," but rather as "unused." Maids who came and went had groomed these rooms to such a state that it could not be considered the past but the present as if it were still new.

As his thoughts appear and vanish, he recalls a conversation he had before entering Akane's room. It was late in the evening, and he was eating. A maid stood beside him, glaring at him, invading his little privacy, and his enjoyment of the meal had been marred by anxiety.

“What do you think about this house?” She asked. 

"...I guess it's brilliant? But who knows, Akane hasn't given this place much thought. Thinking about it... It could be that adapting to the environment makes great things look so normal and uninteresting."

“Certainly, I can attest to that.”

“I just hope Akane doesn’t completely think the world is where luxury is.” 

She smiles. 

“Well... Isn't that what it's like to experience something for the first time? Not that I mind, but after a few viewings, you might lose interest too. Consider this mansion to be the Earth; don't you find it vexing to live in a world where your actions are predetermined from birth before you even know or have the ability to decide for yourself? For the first time, you were unable to choose your name or your future until you were finally capable of doing so. You are unable to disagree for the first time until you are finally able to speak."

Sho chuckles and remarks.

“Not at all... It's always difficult at first, but that doesn't mean you can't change your ways in the near future. You said it, every first time is broken down by adapting to it. Getting used to something does not obligate you to come bearing hatred and feeling the harsh reality of it. It simply means that you now understand how to enjoy your freedom and happiness.”

“What if everything's the same no matter where you go?”

“I've never doubted myself or thought I couldn't do it. Simply put, I've experienced so many things in the past that I've become so familiar with the future... never getting ahead of yourself and never putting yourself too short." 

“Isn't it too lonely to rely solely on self-assurance and previous experience? You are aware that knowledge is limitless. You are always confronted with something incomprehensible no matter where you go. Anything isn't always meant to be beaten on its own... You require an ally such as Master Akane.”

“As far as I can tell, she isn't cut out for it. This is also my responsibility. I'm not a big fan of enlisting the help of others to solve my problems.”

“But aren't you a friend of Master Akane? Isn't it a friend's responsibility to enlist help or help their friends without expecting anything in return?”

“I do not follow. We are not friends; we are simply classmates, and I am her client. Do you really believe that by conversing with one another and learning about one another that people can become friends? Have we become friends as a result of this conversation? That doesn't seem to be the case.”

At some point, his denial came out a little too flatly to be claimed true, and the maid burrowed his brow with agitation.

“Nobody said it was going to be that easy. Have you ever considered other people to be your friends? I'm pretty sure you lack acknowledgement and prefer the procedure over your convenience. Friendship is not a process, and it is not a toy created by machines. It's something you pick up along the way without even realizing it. Master Akane would be furious if you thought of her in this manner. I've never seen Master Akane so happy at your arrival, and you only show the opposite with such a solemn and plain face.”

The maid didn't show any emotion at all with the way she said those words. Sho's dense mind and inability to see the bits of a human mind enraged her, despite the fact that he was also one of the people and could see what other people thought.

It was as if he wasn't a part of the individual and could only act half as well as a normal human. It could have been apathy that caused such a lifeless act for the struggle of his life, and he couldn't care what other people thought of him.

“Is that so?”

“Master Akane thinks highly of you, she talks about you, and you should reciprocate. You can't be friends if you're the only one who believes differently. Now… Please stop playing with the spoon and fork and proceed to Akane's Room... Keep in mind it is the last door to the west on the third floor.”

“Right. I get it.”

He stands, annoyed by her commanding him, and yawns before leaving the dining room.

After their time together, Sho's memories flashed in his mind with his eyes closed now that the night had deepened. Their conversation had a different effect on Sho's mind now that it was assessed clearly, and it was now bothering him so much that he couldn't sleep.

He calms himself down, but another problem intrudes his mind.

Sho was still out of it, and his desire to return to his apartment grew stronger. Despite his reluctance, he gathers his courage and finds an excuse to do it. Even if Akane or her maids insist on not doing so, it was simply a matter of his decisions, which they must respect. On the other hand, he wasn't planning on telling them so as to not worry them but instead wanted to leave through the window—a rectangle-shaped space—that he could easily squeeze through with his thin body.

I'm not at ease in this type of room… It would be preferable if I left right now... The sooner I start, the better. I won't have enough time to prepare for my part-time job if I don't get up earlier tomorrow.

He stood up, drew the handles of his bag, and flung open the window following with the thick, icy breeze blowing in his face. He ignored the cold and climbed to the other side of the window before closing it and falling. Almost little to no signs of sounds could be heard during his escape.

The decorations of bushes and well-cut grasses were on display but anything farther was obscure as they were basked in darkness, and he ran to the end of the five-meter wall and jumped from it with such ease.

The forest had a suffocating air to it, and the vast darkness made the environment in front of him seem particularly strange as if he were in a horror story. He walks slowly, grunting from the lingering pain of the ferocious wind.

The more he walked, the darker the environment became, and when he came to a halt, the forest seemed to stretch out far beyond the horizon. It was as if the entire forest was a sea current pulling him back and forth.

He begins to doubt his surroundings, eager to jump to any conclusions and ready to approach them with a slew of actions in order to escape the complication. But, moreover, this was an unknown and newly discovered bizarre situation he had gotten himself into, and he had no idea what to expect.

He stood there, adjusting his breath before sprinting through the words. But to no avail, he returns to the same scene from the previous location he fled to.

"Huff—ha. It wasn’t like this before… huh?"

The wind reverberates from an encroaching sound of scratching from afar before the pile of trees that stands in Sho's way. With no idea what to expect, he decided it was best to prepare himself because his intuition warned him of danger.

Sho opens his bag as he leans against a tree. He carefully removes his school supplies and rips the fabric from beneath to reveal a bundle of sharp and dangerous weapons on their sheathe.

Sharp weapons—a knife with a long hilt, many small knives, and a shimmering compass—was pulled and put beside him, and his backpack returned to its previous state, but its weight is now recognizable to what is inside of it such as what a typical backpack weight should be.

The ever-glimpsing compass brought beyond from his parent's heirloom hidden at the numerous rooms that weren't meant to be discovered was before his eyes. Sho used the glow as a warning and guide to the danger, and with the sorcery it provided, he was at ease at such a critical moment.

The compass is glowing like it used to, but what does it really mean? This makes no sense, but I should go in the direction where the compass reacts the most.

Only the incapacitating wind comes at such a wild pace, and with each walk, it intensifies, as does the sparkling compass. In such a case, he is urged to run ahead and see what awaits him at the end of the path.

Sho is completely overtaken by a sudden surprise, and the trees around him are cut in half, and he abruptly stops in mid-air at that moment, using the woods as stepping stones to reach the direction where the compass is reacting more strongly.

With a glance in his direction, his intuition rises and the hairs on his body straighten.

An enemy out of sight and blending in with the darkness gave rise to a sense of threat, causing him to stop and jump away from the threat. A second within and closer to death, he barely defended himself with his knives and was blown away at such a distance from an unnoticed punch.

A throw blew him up like a ball and hit the trees along the way from his back, and blood gushed out of his mouth and brushed against them as he adjusted his breath. He stood up, realizing what a monster his adversary was. It was the first time he faced something that could throw him with a single punch and at a speed that could not be seen with the naked eye.

Sho was mortified at the hands of near-death by what could not be called human and remembered a past that was so uncertain and blocked out of his mind. Whatever he was thinking, he tries to relieve the pain by pressing his palms against his head.

I... I am sorry... I am—why am I apologizing? My head... damn it... why am I so angry? I know I can't kill it but I can't stop myself from wanting to. This sound—It is coming!

He crouches as a sudden sense of danger strikes him, and the tree behind him has been blown away with little to no force, while the wind was blasting so hard that he couldn't force himself to move. Nonetheless, the opportunity was right in front of him, and this was about the ideal situation to see if his doom was unavoidable or if his struggle for life could result in a miracle.

He was confident enough that he only needed a few seconds. A second, or a decimal before a second, to bring that monster down.

He throws the compass above him and switches the blade in his hands before slicing through that thin line of weakness. The monster on the other side groans and moves erratically as he cuts the line, but he wasn't done yet. Before grabbing the compass and stepping back, the monster threw small knives from its neck, forehead, mouth, abdomen, upper leg, and left arm.

According to what Sho saw, it was of a giant with firm furs that could withstand any lethal blows, but you could say that just looking at it was enough to tell which worth is superior. Regardless, while it was faster and stronger, it lacked agility in any given situation. Being unable to change direction while already moving became a significant weakness for a reason to kill it.

Sho gained confidence in what could be described as a very unfair battle after seeing a glimpse of that monster’s weakness.

From that first bundle of attack, the monster rushed at him with such zeal that it swung at everything in its path in order to crush an opposition it deemed a threat to its life. It has gone berserk as a result of the pain and misery of the wounds, and it will not stop until its opposition has vanished from existence.

"Be prepared, murderer!"

It jumps high enough that the trees couldn't match the length of it, and with Sho becoming entangled in its path, he runs to the trees and walks vertically before the impact that brought down a ferocious impact came, creating massive destruction to the land. He pierces the back of the monster's head with the tip of his blade, pushing forward from the devastating wind.

But that wasn't enough to seal the deal; because of the way the monster was built, the sharp blade couldn't dig deeper into the back of its head. It stood in an instant, and Sho let go of the stuck knife before it was grabbed by the monster's hands.

They clash against each other in a seemingly infinite environment, exchanging blows and hysterically fighting each other with the thirst for killing.

Sho pushed forward in front of what appeared to be a giant, slicing it as much as he could before it hit him. And, despite the massive blow it delivered, he remained steadfast in his tracks.

What skin can't a sharp edge easily sever? This monster is simply on a different level.

With nothing in his arsenal but the knife in his hands, he takes a cautious step back and considers the obstacle in his path. Although it lacked in other areas, there was no way a normal human could prove itself capable of killing a monster, not on its level.

Insignificance, but the way he threw everything at it and fought back was an amazing job in and of itself for the monster. 

It could not feel, but it could express emotions. It could not communicate but could hear the words in its minds, and even though it knew it was a monster, it understood what it meant to be human.

The monster bore no resemblance to a human, but it felt compelled to believe that they were both the same, and it brought happiness without a doubt that something other than it existed.

What exactly am I?

This was just a question it kept asking itself.

Despite the fact that the monster shared some similarities with the struggling human, it couldn't stop itself from wanting to kill him. Whatever it thought, it was still a monster in everyone's eyes, and with a fearful and apprehensive demeanor, it couldn't exist outside of the woods.

The monster bent his upper half in front of Sho and charged at him like a boar, but he used everything around him to dodge and kill it. And in what he called an endless trap, he had adapted to fight against a supernatural being.

Without caring about anything around them, time moves quickly as their battle continues to repeat itself, but Sho could understand his limits, he wasn't like the giant who felt like handling more an hour.

If he doesn't finish this before he runs out of stamina, he'll die, so he desperately tries to kill the monster in any chance he gets, but the solid and firm layer of skin around it was too strong for a knife to even penetrate. He couldn't also attack at the same time because the monster was adapting to his attacks.

They both take a step at the same time and exchange solemn stares. They must put an end to things at any time and at any point. Sho sharpens his knives as the monster clenches its fists.

“Let’s end this!”

He exclaimed and the monster silently agreed.

Silence fell, and before anyone could feel it, they rushed to each other, but just as they thought the end was near, someone stopped them with a beam of light in front of them that resulted in large destruction which caused them to get blown away.

When he sees another strange sorcery, he begins to hide and blend into the woods before being struck by another lethal beam. He sits down and presses his back against a tree before adjusting his breathing and inspecting his wounds.

While assessing his health, he discovered that he had broken his right hand, which was the reason he couldn't move it during the fight. He also has splintered fingers that ache from time to time. There were also small wounds from the trees and sharp solid soils being blown away in his direction.

"Nishimiya Sho, come out wherever you are; I'm not going to hurt you!"

Sho felt uneasy after hearing Akane’s familiar voice and recalled the maid's words about her changing somewhere along the line. It appears that sorcery was also at work, but while he wanted to go out and breathe a sigh of relief, he felt like something was wrong with her and that his body didn't want to go near her.

How did she come to wield such power?

Sho couldn't be in denial because he had already witnessed supernatural events from afar, but he couldn't believe that the person he knew and met was someone with a lot of money and deadly powers.

It was unfair no matter how hard he thought about it, but thinking about it now was out of the question; he needed to leave as soon as possible and out of her sight.

Soon, the sound of an engine screaming inconsistently would be heard, and laser beams followed after that, destroying the places everywhere while Akane was screaming his name in an attempt to locate him.

A sound of someone jumping was heard from afar, and Sho immediately ran alerting Akane, but the monster was in the way, and the two of them got into a fight.

Sho ran until he ran out of breath, but when he looked around, dusk had settled in and he was out of the endless forest and into the bustling city of Hachiro.

They haven't stopped fighting, and evidence of beams being fired can be seen from outside the city. Sho lacked the ability to assist Akane, but he felt compelled to assist her in some way, despite his fear of pursuing her.

…Wait for me.

He dashed back to the forest, hoping to save Akane from the monster.