A young man was comfortably sitting with his legs spread under a short Japanese table, however his face was devoid of any sign of comfort. He was in his small apartment which had not much other than a bathroom, a small kitchen and a medium sized living room which doubled as a bedroom. The living room was barely lit by the old chandelier, everywhere the sun could shine through was covered by a thick dark curtain at almost all times. The man wasn't one for going outside.

In fact, Satou was a hikokimori or a neet, whichever society decided it was best to describe people with the same problem as him. Only on Saturday nights he went out to have a smoke in the park and gaze at the stars thoughtlessly as his eyes weren't focused on anything in particular but being dull. As a result, his apartment was covered in leftovers of fast-food and other garbage he didn't take out.

"What is wrong with me?" He asked to his four walls. Being alone and in misery had made develop a habit of speaking to no one in particular. In some instances he even had strange hallucinations of speaking objects and weird conspiracy theories.

"None of this makes sense! Why are they laughing? Why are those bastards mocking me?" Satou's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his skull and his jaw was shaking. He was seeing the day he arrived at Tokyo all over again in his mind.

Flashback

Satou smiled as he casually walked across a somewhat crowed street of a residential area in Tokyo. He had arrived the day before and had already set up his things in the rented apartment he would be staying in for some years. He was finally getting into college! It wouldn't take him long to become a salary man, just like many others in Japan.

The light of the sun darkened in a lazy but terrifying pace as the people around Satou turned their heads to him. Their faces weren't human anymore. Distorted noses, different sized eyes, wry mouths and odd features in general expressed such negative emotions that anger, depression and even hatred paled in comparison, all that the young man could see was a sea of people that could almost eat his very being to the core with just evil intentions alone.

"Who does this country bumpkin think he is?" a voice muttered

"People like you make me sick."

"You suck."

"You're despicable."

"I hate you!"

Satou allowed his knees hit the asphalt ground hard enough to cause him painful bruises and covered his head with his hand as if to shield himself from reality, his eyes were wide open, his mouth agape, trembling. The passing people were nothing but shapeless shadows to him but their voices echoed in an unbearable cacophony of madness inside his head.

Flash-in

A yell left his throat. He was back at his apartment, his shell from the world outside.

To the present time, he still wasn't able to tell if what happened to him was real or just his imagination. His mind and soul would still be hurt almost beyond repair nonetheless, that's for sure. If he had friends around things would go down a different path, they would help him realize how absurd it was to be hated by everyone for no apparent reason or at least keep him some company and reassure him they would be there to stick up for him.

However, at the time it all happened, only his mother spoke to him by phone once or twice a month about his allowance and he hadn't seen his only two friends since he left high school.

"Why can't I be like everyone else? What is different with me?" Satou whispered.

"You discovered the conspiracy. You saw the truth most people don't even dream about and now you live in misery. You understood the sad reality this world hides." a voice said. Satou quickly turned around looking for the source of such words. His eyes rested on a purple monkey with a teasing smile.

"Who are you ?" he asked, his voice was cracking and it was barely audible. The monkey simply laughed.

"You may call me whatever you wish, I don't mind. However you are in severe danger."

"I-I'm in danger ?"

"Yes, you are," the monkey replied with a cold tone. "There is a company responsible for making you a neet. No, that's not entirely correct. The government itself is pulling the straws."

"What ? I need to do something." Satou's eyes sharpened for a moment. "I can't let those bastards have their way with me!"

"Indeed you cannot. That's why I'm here to help you."

"Help me ?" Satou could barely reply due to the surprise. "What should I do then ?"

"Kill yourself." The monkey said.

There was silence in the room. Who was this monkey and how could he even suggest such a thing ?

"I won't do it." Satou replied with conviction

"Are you afraid ?"

"I won't do it."

"You're a coward, Satou."

"I AM a coward." The monkey chuckled at his response, his small eyes and his tone were filled with homicidal intent.

"Fine then. It seems that I'll be the one to end your misery!"

The monkey then jumped at Satou, ready to hit him. The young man picked up a knife from the table and pointed it to the monkey. His eyes were closed in fear but he was holding his only defense at the moment with his two hands.

Slash!

The monkey disappeared in a storm of rainbow colored sparkles.

"You'll die soon unless you find a guardian angel." The monkey's voice whispered.

Satou opened his eyes to see what happened. After looking at every direction, searching for the monkey without finding him, he allowed his back to lay flat on the floor. He faced the chandelier on the ceiling and rested his hand on his forehead.

"I need a guardian angel…" He muttered sadly. "I'm screwed then." He said louder, allowing a tear to roll from his eye. That evening, he would cry himself to sleep.

However what the man did not know at the time was that in a month he would be seeing his friends again. Not only that, but he would meet Misaki Nakahara, a girl that feel in love with him and with whom he would be facing the obstacles of life. Never lose hope, you're not alone…

24/06/2014 Author's note: Thank you for reading :D

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