I don't have any parents. My first memories are of wandering by the side of the road in a place I didn't recognise, cold, hungry, and ever so tired. My hair was messy, and my black t-shirt and black shorts were torn and covered in dirt. I didn't know who I was or where I came from, but I knew that I was scared. I was lost all alone in a big, noisy place and I didn't know where to go, yet I was not frightened. Locating a cardboard box at the side of the road, I crawled inside to get shelter from the cold, but it was tiny and cramped. I barely fit inside it.
That box was my home for about three days, I think. Every morning, I would get out of it and trudge down the streets, hungry and filthy, dragging my box behind me, my shoeless feet aching with every step. I saw the disgusted grimaces and disinterested stares that people shot in my direction before averting their gaze for good. Every night, I would search for the warmest spot I could find, ignore the rumbling in my stomach, and curl up in my box once more, just so I wouldn't have to sleep on the hard ground. It was better than nothing.
It was only as I was passing a pair of police officers one day that I was spoken to. I don't remember what they looked like. I just remember that one was a man, and one was a woman. The woman bent down until she was eye level with me, I recall, and probably smiled at me as most people would do when addressing a child.
"Are you OK?" I remember her asking me. "Where are your parents?"
"Par...ents...?" I echoed unsurely, considering the meaning of the word before shooting her a glare as her mere presence filled me with irritation. My glare deepened as I abruptly stated, "Don't know."
She looked at the police officer next to her, I remember, her expression unreadable before looking back at me. "What's your name, then? Where are you from?"
I ground my teeth in irritation. Why was she bothering me? Why couldn't this idiot bother somebody else? "I don't know. Weren't you listening?" I snapped, watching with mild satisfaction as she began to look shocked and somewhat hurt. I didn't stop to think that what I had just said didn't make sense until much later. At that moment, those two small sentences had done their jobs. The male officer took over.
"Now, now," he soothed. "There's no need to get snippy."
Of course there was. There was plenty of reason to be annoyed. They were talking to me. That, in itself, was enough.
"Come with us. I bet you're hungry," the man told me with a gentle smile. "We'll find you somewhere to stay. It's better than that box, am I right?"
I hated to admit it, but he wasn't wrong, and so, avoiding the hand that he held out for me to take, I followed him. First, I was taken to the hospital where they fed me and ensured that there was nothing seriously wrong with me. During my stay there, DNA tests were carried out to see if I matched anyone on record. I did not. I wasn't surprised, nor did I care. Next, the police came and asked me questions about myself that I didn't know the answers to. Posters of me were placed around the country and the news told the nation about my story, all for the purpose of finding my parents. It didn't work. Nobody came forwards to claim me. Again, I wasn't surprised, nor did I care.
People hung on to every piece of information about me, I was told. They were invested in my story. Someone gave me the placeholder name of 'Masaya' until such a time as my real name was discovered, and soon, the whole country was using it. As a name, it sufficed. I became a great mystery. I was the little boy with no past, and like any great mystery, the public wanted to figure it out, or at the very least, they wanted somebody to figure it out for them.
Upon being released from hospital, I was handed straight over to a small orphanage that was filled with loud, petulant children whose names and faces I don't recall, either, all screaming and crying for no reason, or smiling for reasons I couldn't understand, or asking me to play when I clearly wanted nothing to do with these annoying brats.
At the time, I didn't really understand the emotions that I was feeling towards these people, or any of the other people I had passed over the course of those three days. I pondered about it for a long time, my own emotions a mystery, even to myself. I wasn't angry with them. I knew that much. All I knew was that these people were bothering me by merely existing. I didn't care enough about them to memorise their names and faces, and if they were to have died right then and there in some kind of horrific accident, right in front of me, no less, I wouldn't have cared.
I wasn't the sort to be fascinated by such things, but I wouldn't have been disturbed by them, either. Once, when I was young, I bore witness to a car crash. I didn't know who they were, but as I later came to understand, it was not a pretty sight. Even so, I, a young boy, barely glanced at the carnage and, uttering a hum of disinterest, while those around me panicked and rapidly dialled 119, I ignored the scene entirely as the group of children from the orphanage that I was with at the time were herded away from the site of the accident.
"You'll never be adopted if you behave like that, Masaya-chan..." one of the female volunteers who had been with me that day scolded when we got back to the orphanage, frowning down at me.
I opened my mouth to retort, but I quickly realised that she was correct, although not without a hint of irritation. It was noisy here. I certainly didn't want to be with any of these brats. Two annoying 'parents' sounded like a much better prospect than an entire orphanage of annoying children and annoying workers.
However, even if she was right, the question of how to present myself was still a big issue. During my time in the orphanage, many people had come in the hopes of being known as the loving couple who adopted the child who enthralled the nation with his story, but none took me home upon meeting me. I wasn't for them, they said. I was too difficult. In order to get out of this place, I had to stop being difficult...but how?
I watched as a few of the children I lived with were taken home to new families over the next few months. Surely, they were doing something right. That girl was smart. That girl was athletic. He was kind and caring. That other boy was handsome. These were what I identified as desirable traits in some of the adopted children, and so I—the boy without a personality of my own—observed these traits and constructed a false personality for myself.
It worked.
The next couple who came to adopt a child a few months later were a couple who could not have children of their own. They did not have a specific child in mind, yet when they saw me, their minds were made up. When they first saw me, I was able to show them my intelligence by reading difficult words from a book. They saw how I was able to beat the other children at games like football. They saw my warm smile as I comforted crying children. They saw my immaculate appearance. I heard my awed soon-to-be mother call me, "The perfect child," and with that, the deal was sealed and I entered a much quieter household, taking the name 'Aoyama' as my own.
Even so, the game of charades was not over. If I let that façade slip, they would become dissatisfied and take me back. I could not allow such a thing, and so I assumed the role of 'Aoyama Masaya—The Perfect Child' in my daily life, unfortunately attracting the attention of annoying girls—and one or two boys—wherever I went. The only true thing about me was my passion for the environment and animals.
When I met you, you were just another one of those annoying girls, and then you asked me if I wanted to go to that red data animal exhibit. It was at that moment that I began to feel a foreign sensation. It wasn't a bad one, but it wasn't the sense of irritation that I was used to, and I wanted more of it. I wanted to know everything about this strange feeling.
As we walked through that exhibit, you showed genuine interest. "It's so cute!" "I can't believe humanity would put these little ones in danger!" "Aoyama-kun, will you please teach me more about conservation? I wanna help!"
Despite the lovestruck look in your eyes, there was a strange fire in them, too. This interest you were taking was more than just about me. You wanted to know about my world and everything that I cared about, and you even wanted to help me to preserve the things that I cared about. You were different, and I just couldn't leave you alone. On that same day, part of the thing that I cared about became a part of you, and even without being able to put my finger on it, you became even more intriguing.
Time passed, and yet I still couldn't bring myself to let you leave my side. The way you made my stomach do flips when I saw you... The way that you made my heart race... It was...intoxicating...and I needed to know why. Was this what you felt when you saw me? If so, then what I felt was surely nothing less than love. With you, I felt like a real human being for the very first time.
This was strange, though. There are many people out there who love animals like I do. Why was it that only you elicited this strange response? I considered this many times, but years later, I am no closer to that answer than I was on the day we first met.
Over the next few months, we went through so much, and you protected me—a seemingly-normal, powerless human—so many times. I understood why you didn't tell me about who and what you were. It must have been so difficult to suddenly find yourself...well...nonhuman, I suppose, or not completely human, at the very least. No doubt, you thought I'd come to fear you, or maybe even hate you. The truth was, I knew, but you kept it from me for a reason, and despite my disgust with humanity, I still felt the overwhelming desire to respect your decision.
Even though you were so strong, though, and even though you'd saved me so many times, I still desired to protect you, and it was that desire that subconsciously lead me to assume a new form—that of the Blue Knight—and despite being unaware of what was happening, I fought to protect you. This will sound cheesy, but I like to think that, In that moment, my love for you overcame the evil that lurked within me. Perhaps, in that form, I was the one in charge. Perhaps, if I had remained in that form, I would have been able to control Deep Blue, but alas, it was not to be.
When I became Deep Blue, I remember very little of what happened. I don't remember any sights, but I recall muffled sounds. I vaguely remember releasing the Mew Aqua, like a distant memory, but I don't recall you giving up your life to save mine, or at least, I don't think I do. I woke up next to you, thinking that everything was over, and that it would all go back to normal, only to find you limp and lifeless next to me, and what was quite literally my entire world falling down around my shoulders. I almost completely blanked out the screaming of your friends, their distant, muffled voices sounding like little more than static in the background.
When the base began to fall apart, all I could think about was getting you out of there. Leaving you behind was out of the question. I thank the aliens for what they did. They were truly kind to save us all, and I only wish that I had the time to thank them and tell them that you are all right, but alas, they went back to their own planet and haven't been seen since, which is a shame. Sometimes, I wonder if they already know. I hope they do.
When we had successfully escaped from the collapsing base, it rapidly became just you and I once more. I leaned down for a final loving kiss, and almost as soon as my lips touched yours, I felt a rushing sensation inside my body as the Mew Aqua within me transferred to you, and you began to rise out of my arms, shining with a soothing blue light. Your transformation was undone, and almost as soon as you had risen, the light disappeared and you fell into my arms, your eyes flickering open as my heart, once clouded by grief, gave a lurch of sheer happiness.
I made a vow that day, as your presence pieced my world my world together once more. I would never leave you. You and I would be together forever, and that, thankfully, remained the case as we continued to date into adulthood. Somehow, when the Saint Rose Crusaders attacked, and I sensed that something was wrong, I even managed to pluck up the courage to tell you to go back to help your friends, because that's what you would have wanted, and that, I understood, was a very important thing. I'm thankful, though, that you'll never know how difficult that decision was for me as that selfish side of me took over once more. It was when we met once more, and you embraced me so lovingly even after our time apart, that I knew once and for all.
I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.
It was about a year later when we went on our final date. It was to a little café that somewhat reminded me of Café Mew Mew, hence why I chose the location. It would certainly make her happy. We entered, and you excitedly babbled about the sweets as I happily listened to your voice, my heart pounding in my chest as my fingers brushed against the small black box in my pocket. We sat in our seats, the coffee, meals, and desserts were ordered, and the date began. As she happily ate her cheesecake, I absentmindedly tapped my plate with my fork.
"So..." I tentatively began, putting the fork down as she looked up at me, a smile spreading across her beautiful face. "What was it that drew you to me?"
She giggled and blushed madly. "Well...I suppose I was like every other girl at that point. I was drawn to the idea of you," she admitted sheepishly, averting her gaze. "Even so...as I got to know you better, all of your flaws just made me love you more and more. Eventually, your appearance and your accomplishments meant nothing, and you were just Masaya-kun, which was even better than what you were to me before, I think..." She trailed off, glancing up me as though to gage my reaction, and I saw her visibly relax as she saw the wide grin that I couldn't seem to keep off my face. Before I could respond—tell her how much she meant to me—she leaned forwards, resting her chin on her slender interlaced fingers. "So? What drew you to me?"
It was my turn to blush and chuckle awkwardly. "Well..." I began unsurely, much like her, "you were just another human being to me, at that point, so I didn't care much about you. I was really only interested in going to that exhibit, at first, and I thought that, if I hung around with you, I'd get to do more things like that. More things that I liked...but as time went on, I realised that, even though you were a human, and even though you weren't really interested in the same things that I was at first, you were slowly coming to understand me and the things that I liked, and even more than that, you were coming to understand why they were so important, and you were becoming interested in them, yourself, just as I was." I chuckled. "I saw a bit of myself in you, I suppose, and I liked that. As time went on, I came to realise that you were a good human being, or maybe even more than a human being. You were the greatest human I'd ever met, in fact, and...you started to become beautiful, not just on the outside, but on the inside..." I paused, trying to meet her gaze as she smiled at me, her eyes twinkling with curiosity. "I don't really care what you look like on the outside, to be honest," I continued sheepishly. "Just...promise me that you'll always remain the same beautiful girl on the inside. The one that always helps people, even at her own expense, and who's now giving up the rest of her life to save the planet with me."
Her blush returned, more fierce than ever, this time, and she wasted, no time in nodding fervently. "I'd be happy to, and you're the only person I can imagine saving the planet with. You love the planet more than anybody I've ever known, and you're the person I love the most," she shyly admitted, twiddling her fingers nervously as she struggled to maintain eye contact. I chuckled at the adorable display.
"S-speaking of giving up the rest of your life for something, now is as good a time as any, I suppose," I stammered, which was rather uncharacteristic of me. She noticed straight away, and looked at me with a concerned gaze. Even so, she said nothing as I stood up and walked around the bright pink table, brushing past the white tablecloth. She watched on, still looking confused, as the whispers around the café started up. Evidently, they had caught on to my intentions before she did.
As she cocked her head in confusion, I reached into the pocket of my black hoodie, produced the box, and knelt down on one knee. Her confusion morphed into an expression of shock and, dare I say it, excitement and joy as I opened up the box to reveal a silver ring with one tiny diamond on it—the most I could afford. I hoped that she wouldn't mind. Her face went even redder and her eyes filled with tears as I began my little speech.
"We've been together for a long time, now, and to be honest, I can't imagine spending my life with another person. It's not just that I've never loved a person as much as you. It's that I never have before, and never will again, and only you know why..." I paused to still my rapidly beating heart, although it was in vain. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you spend the rest of yours with me? Will you marry me?"
If she gave a response, I didn't hear it as she flung herself off the chair and into my arms, ignoring the ring entirely. The hug told me everything that I needed to hear, and the loud applause that erupted throughout the café seemed to fade away into nothingness, leaving only you and me in the little world that we would be sharing together from then on.
Here, as I look at you in your flowing white dress, looking more radiant than ever, I can safely say that there are some humans on this planet who are worth fighting for. There are things on this planet that are worth protecting. Please allow me to be the one who protects you, now and forever, and in turn, please keep teaching me about your loving ways. Please show me more of the precious things on this planet, but know that none of those things are more precious than you. Please teach me more about being human like you. To me, you are my world, and I will do everything in my power to keep that world turning...Aoyama Ichigo.