They call me a god. Maybe they're right. My Alices make me powerful. I cannot die like a normal human, and I can pick out other special people in this world using my eyes that can see through souls. I am like the hand of god. The people I point to are cursed.

And I am cursed along with them.

School was boring. Life was boring. There was nothing to do in this city; nothing for an elementary school kid to do anyway. I slumped over my desk, staring out of the window and wondering if I should ditch school today as well. I knew that the teachers didn't like me, I was too smart for my own good, and it caused problems for them. If I ditched, they didn't report me.

I sighed and tapped the ground impatiently with one foot. "Bored, bored, bored…" I sang under my breath. "Everything is bor-ing, everyone is dull…"

"That's not very nice." A sharp voice hissed right next to me.

I looked up, almost startled out of my chair. Squinting upwards, I saw that there was a boy standing next to my desk. He was someone I had never seen before, with longish brown hair, amber eyes and a scowl on his face.

"Who are you?" I said bluntly.

The boy's scowl deepened and a ripple of laughter spread across the classroom. The other kids were laughing at me again. What did I care?

"I introduced myself earlier." The boy said shortly. "I'm Ryuu Hanamitsu. I just transferred."

I drooped back over my desk again. "Oh." I said simply.

"Rude, aren't you?" Ryuu huffed. "Fine, be that way." There was a shuffling sound which I guessed was him moving away.

It was best that the new kid learned pretty early on not to talk to the class weirdo. I didn't want him to get laughed at as well.

Not that I cared.

I ditched maths class and went up to the roof. It was quieter up there, without the blabbing noise of the teacher whining in my ear. I leaned on the mesh fence that lined the edge of the roof, my forehead pushing against the cool metal.

Why had I waited four whole lessons to ditch today? Usually I was out of the classroom as soon as the first opportunity came up, but today I had let three perfectly good openings pass me by before I finally slipped out.

Wait, I did know why I had done it. I had been watching the new kid. He was interesting, not as lifeless and boring as every other kid that I had met. Watching him through the corner of my eye this morning, he seemed to glow slightly. An amber aura surrounded him, and it intrigued me.

Of course, it was highly possible that I had finally cracked, and was now hallucinating. The other kids had thought I was nuts for years, maybe I was finally living up to their predictable expectations?

I shook my head sharply, trying to tip the stupid thought from my mind. Impossible. I was pretty sure I wasn't crazy, I was far too sensible for that. So what does the amber aura mean? Does it mean that the new kid is special? Have I finally found someone to talk to that isn't boring? Only time would tell. I would watch and wait, and when the time was just right I would…

"Why are you up here?" A rude voice cut into my thoughts.

I turned around, incredulous. "Thinking." I said irritably. "Why are you up here?"

Ryuu rolled his eyes. "I wondered what happened to you. Everyone else in our class just sort of avoids talking about you. Made me curious… why do they hate you?" He leaned back against the wall of the stairwell, an annoyingly passive expression on his face. He was obviously taking the risk of skipping maths class too, but his face was as stress free as a person relaxing at the beach.

"They don't hate me." I replied. "I hate them."

Ryuu smirked. "That's a stupid answer."

"Well, it was a stupid question in the first place, wasn't it?" I retorted.

There was silence as we both fumed.

"You never did tell me your name, like any polite person would." Ryuu pointed out. "I told you mine when you asked."

I frowned. "The others didn't tell you?" I asked.

Ryuu shook his head. "They only told me that you were weird, and it was best not to talk to you."

"They're probably right." I admitted. "I'm a bad influence."

Ryuu just shrugged. "I prefer to make up my own mind about people."

I hesitated. "It's Kazumi Yukihira." I told him.

Ryuu grinned. "Cool." He paused. "I thought you weren't going to tell me for a bit there."

I couldn't help but grin too. "My Grandma keeps telling me I'm too stubborn for my own good." I said. "Maybe it's time to fix that."

Ryuu held his hand out to me, faint amber beads flicking across his skin. "I'd like to be friends." He said.

I stared at the hand. "Are you sure?" I asked suspiciously. "I've never had a proper friend before. I'll probably screw it up."

Ryuu laughed. "You're like me then." He pushed the hand out further.

I took the hand and shook it firmly. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You seemed pretty popular this morning."

Ryuu sighed. "My family moves around a lot." He said. "I've never been in one place long enough to make proper friends."

"Oh…" I trailed off. "That sucks."

Ryuu laughed. "That sums the situation up pretty well actually." He looked at me with his serious amber eyes. "But you seem different, so I guess it's okay to be friends with you this time."

I smiled to myself. Ryuu didn't know the truth. This time it was actually him that was different. I was nothing special. Lady Luck is finally smiling on a boring guy like me; giving me this friend that sparkled with amber light in the midday sun.

"I think I'm going to like having a friend." I whispered to myself.