Author's Notes: And here's the promised WoD story! Specifically, Mage: the Ascension, because it is practically my favorite WoD ruleset.
"Look at them… They're beautiful, aren't they, Gorou?" The new mother, a beautiful young woman with soft brown hair and kind hazel eyes, whispered as she held two little bundles in her arms.
Both newborns were fast asleep, but even so, the two were surprisingly different. One kept giggling in his sleep, waving his arms and legs in every direction, albeit weakly. One of the especially passionate kicks even managed to hit his brother, though, surprisingly, it didn't even elicit a groan.
The second twin was a mirror copy of the first one, or at least he would've been if he were laughing and wallowing around like his brother. Instead, the little Hyoudou remained completely still, as if paralyzed.
Such unusual behavior would've been a definite cause for worry if not for the two big wide-open eyes the color of molten chocolate staring at the world around them in abject wonder.
The doctors only scratched their necks and shrugged at the sight, time after time checking up on the readings that proudly stated that both babies were sound asleep. Fortunately, the stranger brother didn't actually look around, so it was waved off as some minor discrepancy.
"They really are…" The proud father, a sturdy man with an unruly mop of dark hair and a shaky smile, wiped a lonely tear as he stared at his children, "After all these years, on the third try, but we actually did it… We're parents now, Koemi! Parents!"
As the father broke down, alternating between roaring laughter and hysterical sobbing, the doctor looked at the tired nurse and pointed at Gorou with his eyes. The elderly woman sighed and gently escorted the crying father out of the room.
"Yes, parents," Koemi didn't notice that her husband was no longer in the same room, too exhausted after the ordeal to do anything but keep herself from falling unconscious, "And it is all thanks to your prayers, day and night… Just like your father, aren't you? So young, and already wearing your heart on your sleeve… Issei. My little Issei."
As if hearing his name, the newborn stopped his passionate flailing and opened his eyes. Two light brown orbs shined like beacons, sparkling under the surgical light. The baby smiled at his mother, before erupting in cheerful laughter, just as his father did mere seconds ago.
"'Honesty,' huh?" The doctor wrote down the name, then looked back at Koemi, "What about the other twin?"
The twin in question remained undisturbed even after the other two male members of the Hyoudou household let their feelings be heard as loudly as possible. Suddenly, the baby twitched, seemingly awakening from his sleep. Dull eyes cleared out, though not by much, and slowly circled around the room, taking in every single detail within the line of sight.
"Masatomo. Hyoudou Masatomo."
"As in 'To be one with wisdom'?" At the weak nod, the doctor let his eyes drift to the motionless baby, and found him staring right back, "Yeah, I can see that. Alright, Mrs. Hyoudou, we're all done. You've been through quite a lot, so please get some rest. Your husband and children will be waiting for you."
After confirming the young mother was asleep, the doctor let out a sigh and carefully rubbed his eyes. This was far from the most difficult childbirth he has ever overseen, but it was the most unusual. The man has seen a lot during his lifetime, and even more during his career as a doctor, but this…
"You weren't supposed to make it…" He paused and muttered a quick prayer before checking up on the sleeping mother, "But that's why miracles exist, don't they?"
"To-To!" A young voice rang in the Hyoudou Residence, causing the two adults to smile, "Let's go play!"
A young boy with wild brown hair ran up the stairs to his brother's room. The white shirt outlined a rather impressive physique for such a young child, giving the older Hyoudous something to brag about already.
Issei stopped before a plain wooden door and delivered two rapid knocks against the hard surface. Not even waiting for a response, he pushed the door open and entered his twin's 'Den' as he liked to call it.
As usual, Masatomo's room was in chaos. Clothes, toys, books, and weird electronic bits and pieces were all intermixed, covering the entire floor, as well as chairs, wardrobe doors, and the lonely desk.
"To-To!" Issei smiled from ear to ear and rushed to tackle hug his brother, "Play, play!"
"Yes, Issei, you may enter," In complete dissonance with Issei's behavior, Masatomo's voice came out as a dry monotone, "Watch your step."
"Huh?" Was the only thing Issei managed to say before a stray dinosaur toy found its new home right below his foot. The tackle hug became literal as the hyperactive twin tripped and, without losing his velocity, crashed into his brother.
Two short yelps later, one surprised and one panicked, the two ended up on the floor in a tangled mess.
"Did not… predict that," Masatomo groaned, cringing as he tried to push Issei's off of himself, "Do be so kind as to relieve me of your burden, brother mine."
"Oh, right! Ehe, sorry," In a flash, Issei was back on feet. Not a second later he was already jumping from one leg to another, unable to contain his excitement, "So can we play? Please-please-please with a pretty cherry on top?"
"Not… how the world works, Isse," The fallen brother sighed and rolled over onto his stomach before pushing himself upwards and finally standing up, "There is such a thing called argumentation. I'd say I read about it in a dictionary, but I doubt you know what that means."
"Hey, I know what a dictionary is!" Issei crossed his hands and shot his brother a haughty smirk.
"Well, since you're so desperately begging for me to ask you…" Masatomo stretched the pause for a few seconds, waiting until Issei looked ready to burst from impatience, "Tell me then, what is a dictionary?"
"It's one of your fancy nerd books!" Issei seemed to glow with pride, happy at finally showing his brother that he's not as dumb as he thought.
"My… 'fancy nerd books'?" Masatomo frown slightly, "And I assume you heard that from one of your so-called 'friends'?"
"Mm-hmm," Issei nodded, "Katsuro told me that after I asked. He's really smart. And he also doesn't call me dumb all the time, like you do!"
"Katsuro, was it? I assure you that that walking brick isn't nearly as smart as you think," Masatomo huffed and crouched down to shuffle through the wreckage that was his floor, likely searching for something specific, "And I've never called you 'dumb,' Isse. That would've been rude."
"Yes, you have!" Issei stomped with his foot, not even noticing how a Kamen Rider action figure cracked from the impact, "And you do it all the time, too!"
"I am honestly surprised that you possess enough mental capacity to catch that," Masatomo grumble as he eyed the broken toy with distaste, "And, please, stop breaking my things. I don't want to waste more time repairing them than needed."
"There! You just called me dumb!" Issei pouted and dropped down on the floor, the force causing another toy to crack. This time, a Tyrannosaurus Rex had to go, "And I'm not breaking anything!"
Masatomo glanced at the poor dinosaur and sighed. Every single day. Every single day since he opened his eyes, something like this happened with a frankly frustrating frequency. Obviously, he couldn't quite comprehend what was happening back then, mostly because he himself lacked the brains at the time, but now that he was sufficiently developed, recalling such trivia was of no issue whatsoever.
At first, it was his parents that hovered over his bed at the time, poking at him with various weird things while babbling some nonsense or other. Then, after he and Issei grew up a bit, his brother joined the Hyoudou Circus, causing all sorts of inexplicable mayhem. No, really, why did they move around so much? He could clearly see their bodies burning themselves out in order to sustain so much motion.
The young brunet shook his head as he finished returning all the scattered pieces to their rightful places. Contrary to what the rest of his family thought, his room was in a perfect state of order. What else could it be if he knew the exact location of every single object within his Den at any given point in time?
Of course, there were still times like this, when certain outliers…
Masatomo gave Issei a stink eye, as the latter continued rambling about being smarter than he, Masatomo, thought.
…Invaded his personal space and ruined everything. But, hey, you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family, as they say.
Which is exactly why he chose to not have friends. And anyone who dared to say otherwise would soon find out that they called him some bad word or other, thus subjecting themselves to his brother's righteous fury.
After all, he never said Isse was useless. Mentally impaired, yes. Useless, definitely not.
Masatomo ran his hand through the mop of hair his mother loving called a 'chocolate fountain.' The medium length of the keratin growths on his head was short enough to not present an issue in the shower, while also being long enough to shield his eyes, and therefore brain, from the stupidity of the surrounding people.
Perfectly efficient, just as he liked it.
"…So, since you have no friends, you should go with play with us!" Issei finally finished his undoubtedly rousing speech and looked at Masatomo in expectation.
Naturally, he had enough data to work with to simulate Isse's entire monologue in the span of a few seconds.
"No, Isse, I'm not 'going outside to play with you,'" Masatomo rolled his eyes, the dull look that surprised the doctors on the day he was born had returned by the age of three and has only intensified since, "I have much more important business to attend to."
"Like?" Issei's eyes, on the other hand, were full of his usual innocence.
"Like watching the newest episode of Kamen Rider Wizard, duh," Without looking, Masatomo reached back and effortlessly picked up the remote for the small TV located in the corner of the room. After pressing a few buttons, the screen lit up, "Two meters to your left, right between the Dark Magician and Perfect Cell, is a disk. Please hand it to me."
"You always lock yourself up here, watching your stupid shows…" Despite his whining, Issei did as instructed, picking up and giving the disk to his brother, "Never coming down to play with Irina and I…"
"It's Irina and me, Isse."
"Nuh-uh, you never play with us, stop lying!" Issei huffed and pointed at Masatomo in accusation, "Mama and Papa say it's bad!"
"No, I- What?" Masatomo fiercely rubbed his eyes and groaned in frustration, "You know what? Never mind. I'm just going to watch the episode now, you go do whatever it is you like doing. Something pointless, most likely."
"Fine then!" Iseei turned around and headed for the exit, "But you'll have to say you're sorry when you come down to play with us?"
"Excuse me, what? Where did that come from?" Masatomo stopped switching channels on the TV and turned to stare at Issei, "I'm not going down to play Isse, I'm pretty sure we've established that about a year back. Oh, and by the way?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
"Rude!" Iseei huffed and stormed off. Right at the doorway, however, a rogue velociraptor ambushed his defenseless foot, making him stumble and smash into the still-open wooden door. After the meaty smack echoed across the house, two quiet sighs could be heard from downstairs.
"I warned you," Masatomo smirked and turned back to the TV, "Don't forget to close the door, Isse. You know I don't like the breeze."
Issei shakily got back up and sniffed. Then sniffed again. Still seeing no reaction from his brother, he blew Masatomo a raspberry and ran away.
Five seconds later, the door slowly creaked closed before a pitter-patter of two tiny feet desperately trying to be sneaky could be heard distancing itself from Masatomo's room.
Immediately after the door clicked shut, Masatomo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Interacting with his brother was always a challenge. Despite them both being twins, he was well aware which of them could be considered the older one.
Issei was… childish. He was loud and boisterous, always yelling something or talking with such conviction that his every sentence could've been a speech on its own. His mother said the truth that day, Issei really did wear his heart on his sleeve, just like their father.
When he cried, his bawling could be heard across the street. When he laughed, neighbors' kids ran over to join in on the fun, so infectious was Issei's cheer.
Masatomo glanced at the flashing screen, where the heroes have just confronted the villains for the first time in the episode.
That was Isse, right there. A hero in shining armor, raising his allies' morale with presence alone. Banishing evil through sheer dedication.
That's why he had to stay away from Isse.
Unlike his brother, and pretty much like everyone Masatomo's ever had the 'fortune' to encounter, up to and including his parents, Isse was an idiot. Here, in his mind, there was no need to soften it, no need to wrap it in saccharine words.
Isse was a blind idiot with such a mindboggling lack of foresight that Masatomo sometimes questioned their brotherhood. But then again, their parents, neighbors, and all of Isse's friends were the same, so maybe it was he that was different?
In any case, to Masatomo's honest surprise, he himself wasn't the only one to notice his superiority to the rest of the human race. When he said he chose not to have friends, it wasn't just his decision. Those 'friends' also chose not to have him.
That's why, it was either him playing with Isse, or other kids playing with Isse. And, despite that Masatomo was undoubtedly the superior option, Isse needed his friends to be his peers. Perhaps some better at some things, perhaps some worse at others, but such was the human society. One needed to grow up under the guidance of the wise and surrounded by the like-minded. In terms of intelligence, at least.
Masatomo, on the other hand? He was different. Better. Superior. When Isse said his first word, Masatomo was eyeing his first book. When Isse learned to walk, Masatomo realized the worthlessness of the activity and had already given up on it. When Isse made his first friend in the nearby playground, Masatomo observed it through a system of mirrors he set up around his window to expand the visible space and then started reading a school-grade textbook on human anatomy.
Needless to say, Masatomo was better. And he knew better, too.
So, he, being perfectly capable of entertaining himself, chose to do his brother, who was not capable of so much as staying silent for two minutes, a small favor. Isse stays happy as long as Masatomo remains undisturbed.
"Fun kid. You should learn from him, you know? Go outside, have some fun. No use being the smartest if you can't rub it in other people's faces."
And then there was that.
On the day he born, when Masatomo opened his eyes for the first time, there was one more occupant in the room than everyone else thought. A rather obnoxious, mildly unstable, and extremely suspicious, but still the only being Masatomo could have an intelligent conversation with.
The old, yet boisterous, man looked like a classic example of an action grandpa. His ashen hair pointed in every possible direction, creating an image of a flour explosion. The face possessed many wrinkles and tiny fold, but it was impossible to say which came from old age, and which were the result of the permanent maniacal grin etched onto the man's face.
In contrast to the darker color palette of the room, the old man wore a heavily modified lab coat that matched his hair in color, covered in numerous stitches and patches. Frankly speaking, every single article of cloth on the strange man was ashen in color, his face being the only blotch of relatively normal skin.
The Avatar, as he called himself, was currently leaning against a wall next to Masatomo, a part of his pants phasing through the desk, as if to make fun of anyone who would dare to consider him normal.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Masatomo glanced at his personal tulpa, "Forgot to ask the hallucination about what to do."
"Now, don't be like that, kid," The Avatar leaned forward and fell without moving a muscle. His descent finally ceased when he was hovering right above the boy, rainbow-colored eyes staring from the distance of a couple centimeters, "You know I only want what's best for you."
Completely undisturbed by the closeness of the crazy ghost, Masatomo continued watching the show, pausing it only to slightly turn his head to the Avatar.
"Of course you do, since you're just a figment of my imagination and all that," The boy looked back at the TV, "Now, please, don't interrupt me while I'm busy."
"Sure thing, boss," The ends of the lab coat began to lose color, feet following soon after, "Do have fun while I'm away, deal? Who knows what might happen if I needed to take the matters into my own hands…"
"Ominous. Now be gone, wraith." Masatomo told the evaporating apparition.
"It's Avatar, kid. I'm an Avatar, not a wraith," The old man grinned and shrugged, "But you'll learn the difference soon enough. Something tells me things are about to get… exciting."
"Senility, I'd bet," The Hyoudou faintly smiled at the flashing screen, "Be seeing you soon, Old Man."
He was the only occupant of the room.
"Masatomo!" Suddenly came the voice from downstairs, "We have guests, come greet them!"
His brow and hand twitched at the same time, simultaneously pausing the video (an easy enough function to implement with some minor help from the Internet) and expressing his displeasure at the interruption.
The muted voice that he could hear from below left no room for questions, as he was well aware that the Shidou family decided to pay them a visit. He could also sense the beating of five hearts, three big ones and two smaller, but that was beside the point.
Casually throwing a white jacket several sizes greater than necessary on top of his black t-shirt, Masatomo headed for the door. Despite some less than flattering opinion he held about the ghost, the old man had style.
After making sure the door to his Den was locked, Masatomo walked down the staircase, immediately drawing the attention of the five people already present in the living room.
The older Hyoudous barely changed from the day he and his brother were born, at most acquiring a couple more lines on their faces.
The two newcomers, however, weren't his everyday acquaintances. A very well built adult with hazel hair and pitch black eyes smiled at Masatomo the moment he saw the boy come down. The man possessed a clearly defined athletic complexion, which Masatomo deduced was made for fighting and not sports.
The movements were too fluid, too smooth, while the body lacked any deformities unique to professional sportsmen. Normally all of that would've been a legitimate cause for worry, but the Shidous have been living next to the Hyoudou residence for several years already.
Masatomo glanced at, and then promptly ignored the little girl that was also present in the room. A short bob of light brown hair in addition to the blocky physique common among children made her look like a boy, which his brother had obviously fallen for.
Judging by the angry pout that appeared whenever Issei referred to the young Irina Shidou as a 'he,' the appearance wasn't intentional. But then again, the girl herself refused to tell his brother the truth for some childish reason or other and Masatomo himself didn't want to bother with such trivial matters.
The girl in question, who was chatting Issei up before he came down, threw him a single glance. That was enough to make her stumble mid-word and rush to hide behind the other child.
Rolling his eyes at their antics, Masatomo finally reached the floor and marched up to the older guest.
"Mr. Shidou," He nodded politely. Turning to his parents, Masatomo arched a brow, "Why was I called? Usually, greeting the guests is Isse's job."
"Now, that's no way to greet a friend!" Touji Shidou smiled and crouched down, stopping at eye-level for Masatomo, "Come here, you little genius…"
"What are you- Hey!" The confused look on the boy's face was quickly replaced by indignant spluttering when the older man effortlessly picked him up, "P-put me down, put me down right this instant. I will not have you waltzing in our home and bullying me right at the doorstep!"
Touji just laughed in response but complied after a few minutes of vicious struggle. After regaining his freedom, Masatomo huffed and then proceeded to slap his reddened cheeks in order to regain the clarity of mind.
Apparently, everyone else thought he was being adorable, causing a wave of cheerful laughter to erupt. Even Irina, who was usually as quiet as possible around him, let out a muffled snicker.
"Hmph. If that is all, then I shall depart," Masatomo glared at the gathered adult, receiving only teasing smiles in return, "Have a nice day."
He reached half-way to the staircase when something caught his eye. He didn't think it any significant earlier, but now that he had some to cool down, a sword was an outlier.
In one fluid motion, he turned on the balls of his feet and continued his trod towards the aforementioned sword. The item in question was peacefully leaning against a wall, the elongated bundle of bandages and wrappings proving to be bigger than him by several decimeters.
Well, two decimeters, four centimeters, and eight millimeters, to be exact.
He wasn't a very tall child.
"Oh? Interested, are you?" An obnoxiously saccharine voice came from behind him, "Could it be that our stone cold genius is actually curious about something so mundane?"
"There is nothing mundane about a sword in our times, Sir," Masatomo hissed, "And I am curious about plenty of things. It's just that what you're curious about right now, I have already researched."
And there it was. He couldn't quite place the exact emotion he felt whenever someone brought up his interest in pretty much anything, but it definitely had something to do with anger.
It wasn't that people disliked it when he was curious, not at all. But he was a genius. Him 'coming down to earth to mingle with us mere mortals' was like a miracle for others. So whenever he expressed his interest out loud, he was immediately verbally assaulted, just like right now.
Yes, he, too, could be curious about what was a sword of all things doing in his house. He wasn't omniscient, after all, just vastly superior in terms of intelligence.
"Really now?" Touji sounded pensive. So pensive, in fact, that it couldn't be anything but an act, "Well, as you might know, I am a man of cloth… And I do find myself curious about God's existence. So tell me, Masatomo, do you think God exists?"
"Daaad…" Irina whined, still hiding behind Issei, "He's gonna act all smart again…"
"Our son is a genius, Touji, but still a kid," Gorou Hyoudou shook his head, "Such questions are still too complex for him to answer."
"Dad!" This time it was Issei to exclaim his concern.
"What, Isse-?"
"Too complex? Too complex?" Masatomo took a deep breath to calm his nerves before turning around to face his dunderheaded companions, "How long will it take for you to remember that what you consider 'too complex' is nothing but a childish riddle to me?!"
"Gorou…" Mrs. Hyoudou sighed and glanced at her cringing husband, as the smarter twin's tone began to spiral out of control.
"Yeah, sorry about that, I kind of forgot he did that," The man tried to laugh it off but quickly found his demeanor wilting under the combined stares from the rest of the room.
Masatomo's tantrums were extremely rare, especially compared to Issei's, but the young genius really blew up when they actually happened. And simply leaving or placating wasn't an option because of him being terrifically smart for his age.
"…I am smarter now than you are! Also now, by the way, just in case your inferior brain couldn't comprehend the complexity of my phrasing!" The booming voice was now accompanied by waving arms and angry grunts, a classic temper tantrum if one were to mute the sound, "But of course, you came to visit me only to get the answer, right? And since you couldn't figure it out yourself, I'm sure you don't need to be reminded of your mental capacity, or rather lack of it, huh? But fine, I'll help you. Just check the news, you dimwit? Do you see articles about achieving World Peace, or curing cancer, or the problems of World Hunger, Poverty, or overpopulation being solved? No? Well, there you have it then, God isn't real and your entire life is based on a lie!"
The final sentence was punctuated by a frantic scream, causing everything around to fall silent for the next few seconds. Masatomo's labored breathing was only interrupted by a whistling kettle, informing the occupant of the room that the tea was ready.
"I see. Thank you for your answer, Masatomo," Touji smiled, as if the furious speech never happened, "Would you care to join us for some tea?"
"You are welcome, Mr. Shidou," The red-faced boy paused to wipe the sweat from his forehead with one of the sleeves, and looked at the kettle in consideration, "I think I'll take you up on that offer."
The rest of the house awkwardly smiled at each other after it became clear that the tantrum was over. As years passed, the outbursts became more and more subdued, but could still petrify any new listeners.
It happened for the first time when Irina and Masatomo just met, the girl questioning the latter's knowledge on the local flora and calling him a 'meanie liar.' The boy spent the next minute in an unresponsive stupor and then went supernova, ferociously proving to the stupefied girl just how foolish it was to doubt his intelligence until his voice broke down completely and he was left unable to utter a single word for the rest of the day.
Needless to say, it was just one of many reasons why he stayed at home most of the time.
After everyone was settled, Issei sitting next to Irina, while Masatomo decided to sit on the other side of the table, separated by two sets of parents, the mingling began. Naturally, Masatomo remained mostly silent through the ordeal, casually enjoying his tea with an occasional 'I see' thrown in.
At one point he wanted to ask about the sword again, but, recalling how it ended up last time, chose to stay quiet instead. It couldn't be that important.
"Khm, listen, there's something I need to say," Touji suddenly stated in a sour tone, causing Irina's expression to morph from her usual chirpiness into downcast sadness, "Some things came up on the job, and… Well, we need to go back to England. For a while."
"Wh- What? Touji, you can't be serious!" The Hyoudou patriarch stood up, his face scrunched up in confusion, "You've been living here for several years now, why go?"
"As I said, it's work," For a second, something akin to grief flickered in Touji's expression. Masatomo wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one to notice, though, "And I can't really do anything about. So, I just hoped that Irina could play with the boys one last time before departure."
"You-" Gorou began but was silenced by his wife gently putting a hand on his shoulder. The man sighed and slowly lowered himself back into the chair, "Of course they can play. Even if it's the least we can do."
"Thank you," Touji smiled bitterly, "It really means a lot to me."
He looked at the downcast Irina and shaking Issei whose eyes began to show the first signs of a tear waterfall.
The adults prepared themselves for the second tantrum of the day but were surprised to find Irina putting a hand on Issei's shoulder, not unlike what Koemi did earlier.
"It's okay Isse," The girl pushed back the tears of her own, "I'm sure we'll meet again. So let's just play like we always do, alright?"
"Y-Yeah," Issei sniffed and wiped the unshed tears with the back of his hand before smiling, "Yeah! We're gonna make this the greatest party ever! The best one!"
Weak smiles bloomed all around the table at the energized exclamation, and even some meaningful glances were exchanged.
Issei grabbed Irina's hand that was still resting on his shoulder, and sprang up, easily dragging the girl after him. He then rushed to his room, pulling her behind himself, but stopped when he heard a dry voice calling him from the table.
"Isse… There's going to be a full moon tonight. And Mars will be closer than usual, too," Masatomo huffed and averted his eyes when the attention of the entire room gathered on him, "Such events are pretty rare, especially the latter. If you really want to make it special, I suggest you go to the park. Now, if you'll excuse me."
He hastily left the table and sped towards the staircase. He didn't manage to take even two steps past Issei, courtesy of an iron grip that clamped around his arm.
"Brilliant!" Masatomo was suddenly pulled backward with frankly inappropriate force, eyes wide from surprise, "Come on, To-To, you're coming with us!"
"What?! No, that's not how it works, Isse!" All his attempts to break free were met complete failure, "This is your day, go and spend it with whomever you want. And I will go do my 'nerdy stuff' back in my room!"
"Nuh-uh!" Masatomo could hear the face-splitting grin, "I want to spend time with both you and Irina! Come on!"
His last resort, a begging stare thrown at the only other adults in the room was artfully countered with a flash of a camera. Several flashes, in fact.
"Curses…"
The next few hours were spent in a daze. Playing with Issei and Irina was… a new experience for him. They just had fun together, or tried to at least, an action as mentally taxing as being dead. As in, there was just no chance for him to consider just how smart he was compared to everyone else.
It was all dumb simple fun.
Sure, the sandbox left him in a mess, with sand stuck everywhere, but Masatomo hasn't even found an opportunity to share the exact composition of said sand with the others! Truly a miracle.
They kept themselves busy with nonsense until the night came around. While Issei and Irina seemed oblivious to the perils of not being around parents at night, Masatomo was well aware that they were somewhere nearby. And when one of the adults had a sword, there was nothing to worry about.
Except for a gun.
…Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Midnight found Masatomo sitting under a tree and staring at the full moon, spying on Issei from the corner of his eye. His brother was currently messing around with other kids who happened to be in the park this time of day (this time with adult supervision) and raptly listening to some old man.
Curiously, Irina and all of the other girls were situated in a different part of the park, actively whispering among each other. So much for the last meeting.
"So, how was it?" An annoyingly chipper voice boomed right into his ear, "Some adventure's always fun, eh? Well, except for that one part when you had to say 'I'm sorry.' Not sure you enjoyed that."
"Do not remind me, old man," Masatomo's expression soured. Yes, Irina and Issei somehow managed to get him to do that. Personally, he pegged it on his unwillingness to deal with whining children, "Anything else you want to remind me of?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," The twin rainbows blinked, "Do you remember your third birthday?"
"Of course I-" He froze. No. He didn't remember his third birthday. Masatomo possessed perfect memory of every single second since the moment he opened his eyes for the first time, but now that he thought about it…
"I… I don't remember. Why don't I remember? I know everything. I remember everything. Perfect mind, absolute intelligence, superior being… Then why…"
He slowly turned his head until he was looking straight at the Avatar. Two kaleidoscopic orbs staring right back seemed much more ominous than usual. Masatomo blinked.
"What are you, old man…?" He felt like this was the first time he asked that question, truly asked, "And what am I?"
"Good boy," The apparition grinned as the cold light of the full moon danced upon the stitches of his coat, "Asking the right questions, too. Let me tell you a story then, a story about a little boy who knew a little too much… How he so desperately wanted to be normal that he purged his own mind of everything he deemed unnatural… And about what happened when he first opened his eyes…
…In more ways than one."