Author's Note: Tsukihiko...I wonder if you're as kind and courageous as Seto?

"Hey, guys!"

"Tch, will you stay away from us?"

"Stop trying to get along with us, you monster."

"Just try again, and we won't hesitate to skewer you with a stake."

"..."

Tsukihiko still couldn't make any friends, no matter how nice he was.

I wonder if there's someone out there who wouldn't mind how I look... the light-eyed and pale-skinned man thought.

Tsukihiko was a soldier, and he thought of his job as something very honorable. He was defending his fellow citizens from dangers out there. That made him feel like a hero, and he was happy with his job, but other people just don't want to get along with him because of their fear towards his physical appearance.

"It's that guy named Tsukihiko again."

"He's looks so abnormally pale..."

"And his eyes...they don't seem normal, too..."

"He's probably a vampire or something."

"Yeah, we should stay away."

With a sigh, Tsukihiko walked away from the gossiping people and into the forest outside the town. If nature could be considered a friend, then it was the only friend that he currently had. The green leaves, the colorful flowers, the floral scents, the fresh air, the interesting animals...Tsukihiko enjoyed them all. He gazed upon flowers, drawing them and writing about them on a notebook that he always brought. He did the same for the animals, all while observing their habits and writing notes about those habits as well. Then, he would strip down to his underwear and go for a swim in the lake, enjoying the refreshing coolness of the water that wrapped around his body. He would also observe some fish while he was swimming, too.

By the end of the day, he would go home immediately. His superior didn't really care that much if he didn't report back, as Tsukihiko was quite a pariah that most people didn't want to interact with.

As he lay on the bed in his house, where he lived all by himself, Tsukihiko thought about the existence of monsters as he stared at the ceiling.

I wonder if monsters, the ones that I've read in those stories, are real?

Tsukihiko was a more sensible person compared to most of the people in his town. He had only met those monsters by reading about them in stories, but he wasn't stupid enough to believe that a few big differences in appearance meant that someone was automatically a monster. They were just...different.

Speaking of which, aren't we all different?

As Tsukihiko recalled the times when he would observe other people from within his obscurity, he noticed that each and every person that he had observed had differences from each other, be it in physical appearance, attitude, or preferences. They all had quirks. They all had traits that would make them strange. Still, they frowned upon their strangeness, thinking that society would go into chaos and treat them as outcasts if they showed their strangeness to the public.

I guess people these days are forgetting that we're all different from each other...but how can I even convince them about that?

Tsukihiko sighed again, rolling to his side and closing his eyes as slowly went to sleep.

I guess we're all strange, in a way. Heh, since they consider strange people to be monsters, then I guess we're all monsters, then.

Tsukihiko smiled at the thought, but then he frowned with melancholy again after a few moments.

Still, I wonder if there's a "monster" out there who would accept me even if I have such a strange appearance? And I wonder if those monsters in stories even exist? I really want to meet them...since no one among my fellow human "monsters" would accept me...

With sadness towards his situation and hope towards finding a friend, Tsukihiko went to sleep.

Days passed.

Like always, Tsukihiko was still the "monster" that his fellow townspeople avoided.

And then he met her.

Her name was Azami.

She was a medusa, one of those monsters that Tsukihiko read about.

For him, it was something that made him happy.

Finally, someone who's just like me...someone that everyone else treats the same way as me...someone who I can be with...

"I'm a monster. Don't come near me," she said.

That made Tsukihiko smile even more.

"Being alone is a sad thing. I'm a monster as well, so let's spend the rest of our life together."

For Tsukihiko, that was one of the happiest moments of his life.

His life, and her life as well, changed for the better after that.

They were the same in one way, but different in other ways. Still, they got along. Tsukihiko thought it to be something strange, but still, he saw it as a good thing.

I guess we're the best fit for each other, Tsukihiko thought as he smiled.

And then came the day when he had to go. As in, die.

"Heh, human lifespans aren't as long as yours, Azami...and your appearance still looks the same as when I first met you."

"..."

His wife simply looked down, trying to hide her tears as she watched him nearing his death as he lay on his bed. Tsukihiko had already grown old. His skin was wrinkled, his voice was more feeble, his limbs were losing their strength, and his mind was starting to forget more and more. He still remembered how his wife looked like, though. After all, she is someone who I want to never forget.

Their daughter, Shion, lay asleep beside Tsukihiko, as she had wanted to give warmth to her weakening father. The dying man appreciated it very much, but he knew that he wouldn't last any longer.

"I wish that I could live as long as you, Azami..." Tsukihiko, with his eyes on his wife, tried to say with his loudest and happiest voice "...But...I'm sorry. I can't live as long as you."

"..."

Azami was trying to keep silent, although a sniffle came out now and then as she kept on looking down in front of her dying husband.

"Still, I'm happy that I met you. Thank you very much, Azami...Thank you...for accepting me...even if I'm strange..."

Tsukihiko smiled as he closed his eyes.

"I love you...I love you and Shion, Azami...I love the two of you so much."

He remained smiling, even in his last breaths.