Aldous sat on the bed, silent and brooding. The ice formation around him continued to grow but they did not dare to touch his literally burning hot body. Even the bed sheets are turning black as the fabric smoked at his touch.

"We were wrong about you."

Eve's words still hung about and Aldous tried to swat it away like as it is some annoying fly. "Shut up!" He roared as he covered his ears to block out the growing mass of voices.

"We were wrong about you."

"You aren't good enough."

"We had better hopes for you."

"I thought you could help. I guess not."

"Aldous?" Aldous turned to whoever is calling his name. "Can I come in?" It's Setsuna.

Aldous nearly shouted to go away but he hesitated. Finally, he sighed and called her in. As the blue hair girl entered, the ice began to close in on her and now icicle spikes surrounded her, all ready to pierce her at Aldous' command. The girl was obviously nervous but she was also determined.

"What do you want? Found something that you need me to help you with?"

"No...What's wrong? I'm sorry from keeping it from you but..."

"But what? But you are afraid that I might overreact and see you as an enemy. Well it looks your worries were true. So all the more to keep secrets from me."

"Aldous...Please tell me what's wrong. I understand you might think that we were too paranoid to actually keep you from the truth but we never once thought of using you. You are..."

"One of you guys. Ha. That's what I thought an hour ago." Aldous gazed at his palm as a fireball formed in his hand. The flames, just like his mind, were unstable and Aldous quickly quelled them.

"And when Eve turned into Kaysin, you let her go. Surely, you still see us as friends."

"Only Kaysin...Kaysin was the only one who never used me."

"What?" Setsuna wanted to get closer but the ice spikes deterred her to.

"Back at school, in the city, my delinquent lone wolf act always attracted people to me. But everytime, every single time, they were just looking for someone to help them out with problems or beat up someone they hate. They never really wanted to be friends. When I refuse to do what they want, they would lose interest and throw me aside, ignore me. Only Kaysin, or should I say Eve, talked to me when she came in. She would talk about life, normal chat. Though it was just chat, it made a difference. For the first time, someone did not see me as a tool nor did she had any overwhelming expectations of me. That was why I became her friend. But now...now she's just a fake persona created to get to me. Even when I know that, I still can't bear to destroy the one person that ever appreciated me. Damn it." The ice began to retreat and Setsuna promptly took a step close but the ice jumped back to life and stood on guard again.

"Aldous, please. We never intended to use you. We only wanted to protect you."

But Aldous seemed to have not heard her. In a trance-like state, Aldous continued to speak. "Have you heard about family businesses?"

"Huh?"

"I used to have a family, you know. Used to. My father was a leading scientist, one of the best about the Needlesses. And every day he would bring me when I was young to his work place. And you know every time what he said. "Someday, son. You would take over my research on the Needless. You make great discoveries and take my place as one of leaders of science." He had such high hopes for me, the old man. He always taught me science, talk to me about the Needless, discuss his work with me. I was coping well then. But when I became 13, 3 years ago, my dad came back from work. His eyes, when they looked at me were no longer that of warmth and fatherly love but the eyes you would use when looking at a stranger. And he ceased to bring me to his lab and stopped talking to me altogether. When I approached, he would stay silent and when I did well in the school exams, he would just say I won't amount to anything."

"No way..."

"At first, I thought I had done something wrong. That I had somehow offended him. But over time, that reason seemed impossible and instead I felt that I never lived up to what he had expected. But now, now..." Aldous smoothed his hand over the ice like as if it was a pet. "Now I know that the latter was true. I never lived up to his expectations of myself being a pure human. He knew that I was a Needless somehow. The day he came back, when he looked at me, I would become something alien, nothing close to his child. And in his mind, he would think that he had lost a son and gained a monster."

Aldous' hand then clenched, crushing the ice. "The man never even loved me. He only saw me as a candidate to take his place. And when I fell short of what he expected by being a Needless, he would cast me aside."

Setsuna's eyes widened as she noticed teardrops falling onto the ground as streaks of them swam across Aldous' face.

"I hate Needless. I hate humans. I hate being used. I hate being ignored. I hate Simeon. I hate the Resistance. I hate the city. I hate the Black Spot. And..."

"I hate myself."

Setsuna, gasped as Aldous' hand began to burst into flames and the ice had now caught her feet. "Aldous! What are you doing?"

"Taking out the thing that I hate the most. And making sure you won't stop me."

Setsuna tried to struggle out as Aldous slowly but steadily moved his flaming fist nearer and nearer to his face. "Don't do it!" Setsuna screamed as she punched the ice in vain.

"I'm coming, Dad..."