Gakushuu observes the children at the park again. They shout, play, and run around as children do. They are oblivious to the working of the world, and maintain their fresh innocence. "Mister-san, hey mister-san!" one yells to him. "Can you play with us?"

Suddenly, they are all surrounding him, pulling on his blazer, asking him to play. "OK, I'm coming," Gakushuu says, not caring anymore. He doesn't care about image, health, looks, anything, anymore. The world is coming to an end, but his world ended long ago. He just didn't realise it until recently.

He pushes the playground roundabout, the children whooping, watching as it spins around and around. The invite him to jump on, and he does, pushing the thing with his foot every so often to keep them going at fast enough pace to excite the children, but not fast enough to make them dizzy. He pushes children on swings, on net swings, helps them climb the play-fort, slide down the slide and on the monkey bars. He plays hide-and-seek, Duck-duck-goose and many more games.

He teaches them too. Small rhymes and songs that their young minds will remember, and they belt them out to the rest of the park. Their mothers and fathers laugh and smile, watching him play with the children. They know him of course - because of his father. They expected him to be like his father, but here he is, playing with children.

"Mister-san, why do you look sad?" asks one boy.

"Sad?" he repeats.

"You look away mister-san, and you look sad. You're not really happy." Gakushuu is amazed by his perception. Vaguely, he remembers that children do see more than adults - can know more than adults. "Why?" But then there's that childlike curiosity.

"Something happened to me," he says slowly. "A long time ago. I betrayed someone I loved." He's not sure why he's confiding in this child. "I've never forgiven myself for it. I still want them... But I'm a coward. I'm afraid of his rejection."

"Well, you shouldn't think like that," the boy says firmly. "When you love someone, you should risk it all for them. Otherwise you'll be left wondering why you didn't and what could've happened." He leans forward and whispers. "Even if you like boys. It's OK. I like boys too."

Gakushuu stares at him. "Are you some kind of guardian angel?" he whispers. "Have you come to guide me?"

"I know you'll make the right decision," he says. "I have to go, my mummy's calling me." He runs off, and Gakushuu, too shocked, doesn't see where he goes. He stands up, looking around for the boy or his parents.


He goes back to the park the next day. The same children run up to him, asking him to play, the same parents laugh, the same thoughts are thought.

He doesn't see the boy that day, and wonders if the line between reality and fantasy is beginning to blur.