In a mysterious bright environment covered in silver light, two children run around chasing each other and giggling. No one else is around; only them. Neither of them seems to care as they continue to run and play. One of the children is revealed to be a little girl, no older than ten, smiling as tears run down her cheeks.

The name "Aki" is yelled out, snapping a young woman of 17 out of her daydreaming.

Two teenage girls sat at a mildly crowed table on the edge of a crowded mall's food court.

"Please stop spacing out! We can't just keep sitting here…I mean…" The one that was trying to get her friend's attention was quite cute; she had tanned skin, brown eyes, and long curly brown hair, happily sipping her beverage with a straw. "Your poor hot chocolate is turning into a fudge popsicle!"

Sitting across from her was a girl with paler skin and long blonde hair. The blonde was wearing sunglasses even though they were indoors. Around her neck was a golden chain supporting a golden heart locket. The girl was frowning, completely forsaking the hot chocolate in front of her—it had gone cold a while ago. The girl, Akimoto Tsubaki spoke in a monotone and wore an unemotional expression. "I already told you how I felt about this plan of yours…"

"What's there to worry about? You look great!" Sachio Michiyo, the brown-haired young woman, sat and attempted to hype up her friend. "No one can turn down such a cute girl!"

"Tch." Without any warning, Sachio was filled with an inexplainable rage. "I spent my time and money getting you to look like that and setting you up here so that you could finally have some friends!" In her anger, she knocked over her drink and pointed at Akimoto accusingly. "Please just let me have this! Please!"

Akimoto responds by saying nothing, but simply staring at Sachio. Initio, Sachio is unwavering in her anger, but after peering into Akimoto's emotionless gaze, Sachio snaps out of her anger abruptly and is overcome with dread.

"Uh…" Color draining from her face, Sachio looked horrified and gasped. "I'M SO SORRY! Please, please, PLEASE don't be mad! I didn't mean it. Please don't be mad!"

"I'm not mad," Akimoto told her, plainly.

Putting on an uneasy but sweet smile, Sachio said, "I'm your friend. You know that, right? You know that?" Tears could be seen forming in her eyes.

There was a slight pause. Akimoto then said, "Sure."

"I really just want you to be happy. More friends means more happiness! You believe me, right?"

Akimoto didn't respond.

"Let me just clean this mess and we can keep hanging out, okay? We'll sit here as long as you like."

Again, Akimoto didn't respond. She just watched her companion desperately wipe up the spill with nearby napkins, attempting to hold back her obvious sorrow. The girl tried to feign cheeriness, but her true despair caused tears to run down her cheeks.

She's trying too hard to appease me, Akimoto thought to herself. Actually…she's trying too hard in general.

Sachio continued to cry but didn't acknowledge it.

I hate this…

"I'm leaving," Akimoto eventually said.

"Huh?" Surprised by the sudden statement, Sachio's emotions were soon filled with concern. "N-No! W-Why? I said I was sorry! Please…we…you need to stay."

"…I can't. Thank you for your efforts, but this won't work."

Akimoto stood up and prepared to leave.

With a regretful voice, Sachio pleaded, "…p-please…"

"Sachi?"

Akimoto and Sachio looked over to see a familiar face rushing up to them. It was a tall, platinum blonde hair girl with striking green eyes watching Sachio with concern.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

Sachio blinked in surprise. "Koemi! Wha—…um…" She cleared her throat and tried once again to sound peppier than what she was actually feeling. "What'cha doing here?"

"Don't change the subject! You've been crying. What's wrong?"

"Oh! That…well…I…uh…ah…it's…allergies!"

Hearing this peculiar statement aroused suspicion. She crossed her arms. "I've known you for over a decade. Since when have you ever had allergies?"

Sachio continued to stutter. "I-I mean…y-yeah…but…ya know…" She gave her a smile. "Mom always said that those pesky genetics would catch up with me at some point!"

"Uh..huh…"

"Yup…you just sneeze so hard that you accidentally knock your drink over!"

"Right…"

"So…why're you here?" Sachio desperately wanted to change the topic.

Her friend went along with it. "Well, just because you ditched me to hang out with your cousin doesn't mean I can't shop by myself, does it?"

Taking offense to that, Sachio spoke up, "Wha? I didn't ditch—"

"It's a joke. I know family means a lot to you, so don't worry about it!" Koemi smiled genuinely.

Sachio breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks…"

Finally looking over at Akimoto, Koemi asked, "So…this is your cousin, right?"

Akimoto kept quiet.

"Y-Yup! That's her! Ha…ha…ha…" Sweat started to form on the side of her face.

"Hmm…" Doing a quick scan of Akimoto, Koemi then said, "Well, sorry for the interruption. I'm Koemi Fujiwara: Sachi's best friend. Nice to meet you…?" She paused to hear Akimoto's greeting.

"Mute!" Sachio blurted out.

"Her name is 'Mute?'"

"Don't be ridiculous! I m-meant that she is mute. She can't talk…because that's how mutes work. So…she can't r-respond to you…"

The two of them watched each other carefully. Koemi was calm and collected while Sachio had the air of a nervous wreck.

Eventually, Koemi sighed in annoyance.

"Why is she wearing my glasses, Sachio?"

Sachio laughed nervously. "What makes you think they're yours? Y-You aren't the only one who wears that brand, ya know."

"True. However…" She pointed to the side of the frames. "These ones have the exact same chip in them from the last time I let you borrow them." There was a small broken piece that was easy to spot if you were purposely looking for it.

"I…uh…"

"Just stop," Koemi ordered. "I recognize her stupid locket."

Angered and annoyed by Sachio's lies, Koemi grabbed the top of Akimoto's hair and pulls, revealing the blond hair to be a wig that was hiding her short, messy, smoky brown hair and the sunglasses that were hiding blood-red irises and dark circles around her eyes.

Some spectators began to form from all the ruckus.

Even with everything unfolding, Akimoto seemed unfazed and remained silent.

"We had an agreement Sachi! What the heck happened?! I can't believe you'd go behind my back for—for her of all people!"

Seeing everything fall apart, Sachio finally dropped the façade and started to cry again.

Akimoto, still visibly unaffected by the current events finally intervened. "I didn't mean to cause any drama, Koemi. I was about to leave anyway. You two are free to hang out without me."

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere," Koemi ordered.

Akimoto ignored her and began walking away.

Koemi grabbed hold of Akimoto's arm. "I said stay."

Still unfazed, Akimoto said, "It's a bad idea to do this here. Just think about how many people are in the area. Something back could happen, and you know it."

"Is that a threat?" Koemi asked.

"No, it's a warning," Akimoto responded. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. Especially not you two."

"Newsflash Aki: Sachi isn't crying because I'm mad at her. It's you. It's always been you." Koemi aggressively pushes Akimoto's arm away. She whispers, "I'm done, Aki. We're not having it anymore! We're done with you…" Then she yells, "We're done babysitting you!"

An even bigger crowd begins to form. Some people start taking out their phones to record the exchange. Others just watch. A few teens around the girls' age seemed to recognize the trio, Akimoto specifically, and quickly exited the area with panicked expressions.

Sachio notices the crowd and tells Koemi, "Aki's right Koemi, we're making a scene…We should—"

"Good!" Koemi declared. "No, that's perfect! That way, we have witnesses and won't back down from what needs to be said." She looked at Sachio. "Stop being so scared. It's now or never Sachi."

Even with those words, Sachio had a hard time saying what she really felt.

"It's okay Sachi…" Akimoto reassured her. "Just say what you want to say; don't hold back."

Still crying, and avoiding eye contact with Akimoto, Sachio said, "I…I…I hate being friends with you Aki. I hate being around you. You've done nothing but make our lives miserable. W-We might be your best friends, but you aren't ours. We just…we just can't stand you! I'm sorry Aki…no matter how much I try…

…I just can't find a single thing to like about you."

Suddenly, Koemi fell down to her knees as if the gravity around her increased tremendously. She struggled to not fall flat on the floor as some force pushed her down. Her arms struggled. Sachio's chair broke from under her and she was shoved to the ground at the same time as Kyoko.

Akimoto gasped and her eyes momentarily widen with shock as she reached out for them with concern. She then immediately retracted her hand as her poker face returned.

Still struggling to pick herself up, Koemi spoke up, "S-Stay strong…Sachi…don't…give in…to her…" She glared at the ground, unable to pick her head up to look at Akimoto.

The crowd had confused and concerned utterances. They had no idea what was going on. They weren't feeling the force that Koemi and Sachio were.

Sachi, tears still streaming down her cheeks, uttered, "Please…"

Akimoto gathered her things. She spoke in an almost monotone while bowing to them. "Thank you, Sachi, for treating me. And I appreciate both of you for being honest. I'll be going now." She finally managed to walk away.

Whatever force was pushing the two girls down suddenly let up. They both sighed with relief as they sat up in sitting positions. The crowd muttered to themselves while splitting apart to let Akimoto pass by. She gave them no attention. However, as Akimoto walks past the crowd, some of the people spontaneously began to cry without control. Others screamed. Others began to be filled with so much anger that their faces were turning red as they had balled up fists, ready to fight someone. Akimoto gave them no mind.

Once she was out of the area, everyone's mood returned to normal and they all stood around confused and disoriented.

When Akimoto was a good enough distance away to where no one could see her face, her expression turned into that of sorrow.

That night, Akimoto packed up some belongings and prepared to leave the Michiyo's guest house for good. She wrote them a farewell note and stuck it to the door to her quarters.

Earlier that night, she and Sachio caught sight of each other...which made sense since it was Sachio's family that was letting her stay with them. They didn't say anything to each other; Sachio just avoided eye contact as quickly as possible and scurried on into her house. Akimoto could hear Sachio gleefully greeting her parents as if she hadn't a care in the world.

Akimoto felt no ill-will towards Sachio and silently wished her all the best.

Deciding to run away with nothing else but the clothes on her back, she disappeared into the night.

Akimoto eventually found herself in a park and sat down on a bench to reflect on her life and her feelings. She eventually broke down and sobbed uncontrollably, crying how she couldn't take this anymore.

"I'm not strong enough to do this! It hurts EVERY SINGLE DAY and I only have myself…I don't have anyone else…Saoirse. You were the only one I had and I've been by myself for SO. MANY. YEARS. Why do I keep trying? I don't get it! Why didn't you just take me with you?!" She looks at the picture in her locket containing the picture of a pretty girl with long fiery orange locks hugging a much younger Akimoto. She whispers, "If you loved me, why did you leave me by myself? There's no one…I hurt everyone. And…I guess…maybe I hurt you too…"

She looked up at the stars, still tearing up. "Why…? Why…?"

"Well, you certainly won't get an answer if you go where she went."

Akimoto snapped out of her trance and quickly turned to face the mysterious person next to her.

A small, mysterious old woman wearing foreign garments mysteriously appeared on the bench next to Akimoto. The young woman jumped in surprise so drastically that she ended up on the ground.

Where did this old woman come from? Akimoto tried to rationalize that the woman was there for a while and she just didn't notice her. She tried to regain her composure. The outfit the old woman was wearing resembled some kind of royal ancient Chinese fashion of some kind; golden headdress included. There were some ribbons that appeared to be floating above her that were part of her outfit. Akimoto figured there was some kind of wire making them stay up like that. Was this woman a cosplayer or something? Akimoto decided to ignore it and walk away without saying a word.

"Now, Akimoto Tsubaki, aren't you the least bit curious?"

Akimoto's eyes widened from fear and shock. "H…How do you know my name?"

The old woman chuckled. "Oh, I know far more than just that. But I'm more curious about what you know about yourself."

Akimoto tried to inch away from the old woman.

The old woman continued, "You've been running away from your problems all day. Why not face this one? After all, I'm just an old woman—what could I possibly do?"

"I…" Akimoto struggles to say anything.

The woman revealed her ability to levitate, multiple ribbons of golden light cover the surface area of her skin, shining like the light seeping through the blinds on a window. In shock, Akimoto fell back again onto her bottom, and stared up at the sight, completely frozen.

"This…this can't be…th-this can't…" Akimoto almost began to tear up from fear.

"This is neither a dream nor a hallucination. I am very much real. Surely from all the mysterious events following you since your younger days, I'm surprised you find such phenomena unbelievable."

Akimoto gasped and looked down at the ground guiltily.

"People falling to the ground, hurting themselves and others, irrational rage, deep sorrow; need I go on?"

Akimoto clenched her fists and clenches down on her teeth. She gazed up at the woman. "What do you want with me?"

"That's a good girl. What I want is simple: tell me what you want."

"Wh-What?"

"Tell me. What. You want."

"I don't understand—"

"Your heart wants something. Everyone has a desire—what is yours?"

"I…" Akimoto thought about it for a moment. "I don't know…"

The old woman raised her voice. "That's not good enough! You need to make a choice! It's your indecision keeping you from moving forward. Either die or do something with your life. To not make a decision at all is pitiful! All I am doing is asking a simple question. Surely you can handle at least that!" The old woman's golden light shone even brighter as if she were a star. "What do you want Akimoto Tsubaki?!"

In fear, Akimoto shouted, "I want to find someone, anyone, who won't—who can't be affected by whatever's wrong with me. I don't want to be a burden or bring misfortune to them…and I want to be useful and needed!" Akimoto's face was red, and she was breathing deeply after her confession. "I want…answers…"

"Stand up." The woman demanded.

Akimoto complied.

"My name is Taiitsukun."

Akimoto blinked in confusion. "Taii…tsukun?"

"What if I told you that I could make your dream a reality?"

"What?"

"There is so much that I can teach you—so much that I can show you. And if you do as I say you'll find yourself exactly in the place where you've always longed to be."

After thinking about it for a few moments, Akimoto asked, "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't."

"How do I know that you can actually do what you say you can do?"

"You don't."

Akimoto gave her a concerned, confused look. "Then...why would I—?"

"What do you have to lose? Your life? Would death be any different or any more satisfying than what you're going through now?"

Defeated, Akimoto looked down and away, not saying a word.

"So…what's your decision?"