"And there it is, monsters and humans. The first day of the construction of the first monster city on the Surface has began on this cloudless day. The air around here is tense with expectations as the first brick is laid."

A loud cheer bursts violently from the radio and Aofil gasps as it almost blows their ear off.

"Just listen to that crowd!"

Aofil rubs their face while being careful not to get any fur onto it while waiting for the cheer to die down. This again? Are they being serious right now? It's the same reporter as well.

"The city will of course be open for any human that wishes to move in," the radio continues with an endless excitement. The crowd doesn't seem to be dying down, and as Aofil realizes that it's actually increasing in strength, they reach for the volume dial, "A sea of different shapes, both human and monster alike, stand before me eagerly waiting for the announcement," the reporter almost has to scream into his microphone, "You sir, what are your thoughts on this?"

"YOU SEE!"

The radio shuts off as Aofil throws their closed fist at it. Their knuckles connect with the dial, and the voice trails off as the radio bounces off the wall. It wobbles as it lands back on their nightstand, and falls face down, on the dial again.

"I, THE GREAT!"

Aofil slaps the backside, shutting the radio off a second time. They hover their hand over the radio for a second, just to be sure it did the trick. It stays silent, and Aofil tilts it back up. They sigh, guess they're awake now. Or are they? They carefully lift the radio to check the time. Yup, they are, they have to be. They swing their legs over their bed and push off with their hands.

Aofil yawns and stretches their arms up. The crick of their back, and the subsequent worried exhale bounces around their living room as they near their kitchen. They give their back a careful stretch, but it seems to be fine. While they massage the area they put in two slices of bread in their toaster, and put on some coffee, before heading to the bathroom.

Aofil wonders if they should refill their prescription today or after the presentation tomorrow. Depends how many pills they have left, really. Aofil picks up today's newspaper from their doormat and folds it over their hand so that today's headline stays hidden from them. They don't have to look at it, they already know what it is if the radio is anything to go by.

Aofil can still read the comic on the back of the newspaper as they remount their electric razor. Not much fur today, which is always a good sign. Their eyes and cheeks feels normal as well. Could it be that today's the day it recedes forever? Who knows? Aofil would love to, but for now they'll just take one pill. It has sated worse days, but not as much as they thought it would yesterday. Their neighbor must've been doing some family magic bonding the night yesterday before to warrant the amount of fur Aofil had on their arm yesterday morning. What if it carries over to today though? And if so, how much?

Aofil rolls out another pill into their palm, and weigh their options in their head. Risk it today, or risk it tomorrow? The decision is made for them as the pill falls out of Aofil's startled hand from the loud whistle their coffeepot makes to mark that the coffee is done. The pill misses the hairy newspaper and falls into the drain with a mocking bounce. Aofil quickly shuts off the faucet, but their pill has probably already been rinsed away.

"Well, shit."

Aofil counts the pills left in the jar. Three left. If their suspicions prove correct, then they're gonna need all three tomorrow, more if they're unlucky. While twirling the almost empty pill jar between their fingers, Aofil calls their doctor. It goes to voice mail explaining that the doctor is off today for an important conference. Aofil smacks their forehead and mutter a curse. They can't even get a refill today since their doctor is away.

Aofil's fingers get caught in their wrinkled skin as a thought strikes them. What if the doctor is at? No. Aofil shakes that idea out of their head. No, that's just stupid. If Aofil can fool their doctor it's not one good enough to be invited to that big of an event. They leave a message saying that they need a refill on their prescription, preferably tomorrow. They hang up with a sigh and when they return to their bathroom Aofil puts back their pill bottle into the cabinet and head for the shower.

The last match in the box flickers into a flame as Aofil drags it along the tinder. They put the empty box on top of the crumbled newspaper, and add matches to their shopping list. The headline screaming about the new monster city being built crumbles as the flames reaches it.

Aofil pours a cup of their coffee and fetches their toast. A couple of layers of condiments later they eat it leaning against their countertop. They glimpse outside to check the weather. Ominously cloudy. A flash of lightning illuminates their apartment and a couple of seconds later the strike of thunder shakes their cup. Yup, definitely ominous.

On their way down they pretend to not see their neighbor locking her door with her claw, nor do they hold the door for her. Why would they? Aofil's in a hurry, and waiting over ten seconds while holding a door is just awkward for both parties. Besides, it would drag in a lot of rain.

Aofil cups their umbrella handle underneath their armpit while they fumble with their headphones. They nimbly dodge a monster mother with a small child flying hand in hand underneath a magical umbrella. A small trail of steam shows where they've been. The two monsters came from the subway, where Aofil's headed.

The trains arrives just as Aofil reaches the platform. They look at the large clock hanging from the ceiling. Nice, they caught an early train, means they can take another ten minutes going through that information Tylior promised to print out.

The doors open, and both human and monsters torrent out from the cars. Aofil can hear talk about the monster city, but it's drowned out as they increase the volume of their music. Once inside they take a seat next to some humans. After a couple of stations the humans are replaced by some monsters. Two red, one kinda orange. Aofil shifts their eyes to the window. They see the reflections of the monsters for a bit as the subway car passes through a tunnel.

Once outside the reflections become less visible as the outside becomes brighter. Not too much brighter since it's still pouring like a waterfall, but still brighter than the tunnel. A bright neon sign forces them to narrow their eyes from the jarring increase in light. A long purple leg welcomes any and all darlings into the biggest MTT branded store this side of town.

The store disappears just as quickly as it arrived from Aofil's vision as the subway enters another tunnel. The orange monsters in the returning reflection are up in arms about their arms, and fingers. The orange monster pats a small horn on one of its fingers carefully, and immediately retracts their hand from it while breathing through their teeth. Its friends all stare at the horn with awe. One of the monsters meets Aofil's eyes in the reflection, and Aofil lets their eyes wander away.

The subway car slows down at Aofil's stop less graciously as it normally does, and the orange monsters falls over his friends. Aofil leaves the group struggling to not prick themselves on the orange one's horns, and unfold their umbrella once they reach surface level.

"Morning."

Aofil takes the outstretched coffee cup, "Morning."

A couple of stapled papers lands in front of them as they take a seat. Aofil nods to Tylior who nods back, "Nice weather we're having," he sarcastically states with a sigh and a small grunt as he sits down across from Aofil.

Aofil's ear catches the tone of Tylior's voice. They raise a playful eyebrow at him, "You make it sound like it's my fault."

Tylior leans out his leg from underneath the table. Everything up to his knee is soaking wet and dripping, "If it was then could you dry this please?"

"Oh," Aofil offers their condolences, "Car?"

Tylior tries to dry as much water off as possible with a couple of napkins, "Nope," his leg doesn't get any drier, even though the napkins soak up as much as they possibly can. After ten napkins he gives up with an annoyed sigh. He throws the napkins into the trash where they land with a loud squish, "Monster, actually."

"Monster?" Aofil repeats with their focus now bent away from the papers given to them, "Like, did it piss on you or something? If it did then you might need to call the news."

Tylior's unamused expression doesn't stop Aofil, not in the slightest.

"You know," Aofil continues, "Since they don't usually do it."

"Yes!" Tylior interrupts with a grunt, "I know they don't," he starts collecting his things, "But since you have this waterproof theory," he fakes a monotone laugh, "I'll just take my leave."

Aofil reaches for him as he passes, "Tylior," but he turns his head with a smile. Aofil takes the stack of papers and smack him on his back. Tylior laughs it off and Aofil joins him as Tylior exits the teacher's lounge. Aofil rolls out a handful of paper towels and dry the small puddles Tylior left behind with their foot. The towels also land with a squish in the garbage can.

Aofil returns to the papers. More bullet points about some small reforms regarding administrative systems, upcoming standardized test, and at last, the sponsored lecture tomorrow. Aofil's mouth twists into a frown when their suspicions turns out to be correct.

Monster lecture, that's what they're gonna hold. Apparently it's pretty important as well? Why didn't the principal say that?

Aofil blows their lips. Fantastic.

Well, good thing they saved the pills, they're definitely gonna need them all tomorrow. Aofil rubs their forehead, why didn't they decline the offer? They knew from the beginning that it was gonna be monsters, why did they try and convince themselves otherwise? Dammit.

Maybe it's not too late to back out? Aofil looks at the clock, they still have a bit of time left before their next class starts. They drink the last of their coffee and head u to the principal's office.

After three knocks they're invited in, "Hello, Aofil."

Aofil closes the door behind them, "Hey," and takes a seat, "Listen, I think I'm gonna need to pass on that lecture tomorrow. I just don't think I might be the best one to hold it considering my allergy. I don't have time to refill my prescription, and unless we do it with me in another building then I don't think this will work out."

The principal finishes off some work on their computer before meeting Aofil's eyes, "Aofil, I know you're not allergic to magic, I know the truth."

Aofil's entire body tenses. Their eyes dart around the principal's face, but they find no sign of them lying. Aofil looks down, and puts their hand over their shaking lips, "How do you mean?" they ask with fear blossoming from every syllable.

"When you applied here, Aofil, I did some research, as is standard for all employment regarding children. Some medical records fell into my lap, and what caught my eye was the one from your psychiatrist. The pills you're taking aren't for monster allergy, but for anger issues. I came in contact with your doctor, and they told me you were in stable condition, and that your illness wouldn't affect your work. I took her word for it, and from what I've seen, I made the right choice."

Aofil is still tense, despite it being not as worse as they thought it would be.

"Which is why I didn't bring it up with you. You probably thought that admitting to having anger management issues might've cost you your job, and in a sense you were correct to think that, Aofil. I looked the other way and went along with your explanation because you excel at what you do, and you have proven to be able to keep your anger under control. The few times you've cracked is when others would've as well. Despite you lying to my face, I still trust you, because I know why you did it. You are an excellent teacher, Aofil, and I'm glad to have you as my employee. I preface this because I want you to be open to what I'm about to inform you about. I trust you, so could you please trust me?"

The principal waits for Aofil to nod before taking out a folder from a binder. They search some documents before pulling one out and flipping it to Aofil, "Here."

Aofil stares at the symbol on the top right of the document.

The Delta Rune.

"Read it, Aofil," the principal asks carefully as Aofil's skin drains of color, "I'll ask Julie to fill in for you, because this is important. Please, read it."

Aofil skims the headline, "Why this school?"

"Because our students scored remarkably well on the last government test," the principal digs out another document from the folder, "Or, to be specific, your students did. From what I could gather the scores were sent anonymously to the monsters along with the inspection for the teacher responsible for the class. I'm not saying you were solely responsible, everyone here put in a damn good score, but you tipped us over the edge, so to speak."

"So the lecture tomorrow is a test?" Aofil asks almost accusingly.

"Yes, it is, and that's why I want you on it, Aofil. I asked the others as well and they said that you would be the best, if only I could convince you. So, here we are."

"And you couldn't have told me this yesterday?"

"No, because I got the information this morning, just like you. I thought at first that it would be a human lecture sponsored by the monsters, not a monster lecture altogether. Everyone else told me it should be you, Aofil, and I'm inclined to agree with them."

Underneath the Delta Rune is paragraph after paragraph of congratulatory language about how through this new chapter in human and monster cooperation the future of both species will shine brighter than ever. A cooperation that will see the connection between monsters and humans grow beyond what it was before the Barrier.

A school for both human and monsters, where the curriculum will embrace both magic, and science, and the overlaps they share. This school is to present what it's made of in front of a monster committee, because it has proven for the humans that it is of the highest quality.

The future is shaped by the joint forces between human and monster, and this is an opportunity to spearhead the world into a new era of prosper.

The principal nods sheepishly to Aofil's perplexed reaction after they finish reading the document, "Yeah, I know, the language is very, um," the principal scratches their nose, "grandiose, but I can assure you that they're very serious about this. I guess they wrote it like this to take the edge off a bit, but as you just read," the principals shakes their hand, "it didn't really work."

"What is it you want, exactly?"

The principal straightens their back, "I don't want you to be left behind, Aofil. I know that your history with the monsters is a bit tense, but the ones that killed your family isn't the entire monster species. You don't have to tell me who they were, but you do have to recognize that the monsters are here for good, and that they want good. I was very skeptical as well of them, especially after the trial."

The principal leans their chin on their knuckles, "I remember being furious about how they got off so lightly after having murdered six kids. Six kids! There was also this mumbo jumbo excuse of a curse that I was just baffled about, but then again, I wasn't really comfortable with knowing that magic existed at that time. I guess you thought the same, Aofil?"

Aofil folds their arms over each other, and their eyes wander downward, "Yeah," they agree without emoting.

"I don't know how they did it. Their king must have a tongue made out of gold," the principal scoffs, "I guess both his tongue and pockets to be completely honest with you. Anyway, I was very much fuming over how easily they just walked out seemingly without any form of punishment. I'm sure that things were settled behind the doors, but I didn't see anything."

"The riot?"

The principal hangs their head in shame, "I admit I was rooting for them a bit in the beginning, and whatever that king and queen said seemed to only fuel the fire. But then it got to a point, where I think that I realized that we used to live together before. We used to have peace in between us, and the threat that caused the war isn't really that relevant now. I mean, we have guns now, and the monsters have showed that they're actively working on protocol to make sure that one of those supposed god forms can never happen, and they've shown progress for that."

"So just all your suspicions about them just," Aofil flutters with their fingers, "vanished?"

"Not vanished, more like, understood and accepted. Yes, they are forcing some smiles because they know they're much weaker than us. Yes, there is still tension between us. Like what happened with your," the principal catches their tongue in the last second, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Aofil assures with a calming hand.

The principal nods, "Thanks. Like I said, there is still a lot of bumps that have to be smoothed out, but I want it to happen, and I believe it can happen. They're just as human as us, despite their appearances. Faults and all, and for me, not giving them hope is to not give humanity hope. That's why I'm begging you to do the lecture, Aofil. Because I think that it might help you reach that point as well. You have your reasons for your feelings towards them, Aofil. I understand that, but this world will leave you behind if you don't at least give them an honest chance. And that's why I'm asking you to do this lecture, for you sake."

Aofil picks up the document with the Delta Rune on it again. It's stamped on the right side of the paper, whereas the stamp of the government is on the left side of it. Agreeing. They skim through the text again before pinching their forehead and sighing, "I'm gonna need today to prepare then," Aofil gives back the document to the principal, "Because I won't have time tomorrow because of the test."

The principal nods, "Go home and prepare if you feel like it, Aofil."

Aofil stands up and heads for the door as the principal collects the papers back into their folder, "Oh, and one more thing," they halt Aofil at the door, "Thank you."

Aofil nods without meeting the principal's eyes, and close the door behind them.

The watery trail of Tylior shows that he's holding a class at the moment, so Aofil isn't gonna bother him. They go into the teacher's lounge and pick up their umbrella.

It's just as rainy as it was when they arrived. A crack of thunder manages to pierce Aofil's headphones, but Aofil pays it no mind.

Once home they shake off their umbrella and clothing before unlocking their door. They hang up their backpack and jacket and head into the bathroom. They catch a glimpse of themselves in the mirror. A faint red glow stares back at them. Aofil opens their cabinet, but halts their hand. They close it again, and head into their shower.

They try to breathe calmly, but they feel their fist clench harder and harder with each passing second. The hot water splashing on their back doesn't even out the tingling from their cheeks. Aofil strikes the wall next to them with their hand, almost cracking both the tile and their bones. A wave of pain is sent out from their arm, but the pain doesn't help.

They throw open the cabinet and pour out another pill. Before they have time to swallow it a mouthful of sick swells up inside them. Aofil almost breaks their toilet lid, but they manage just in time to open it. Determination stains the bowl of their toilet, and Aofil flushes with an angry mutter. They rinse their mouth and swallow the pill.

Only two left.

Dammit.