Kazuo Braun POV
The Victor's Village in One was full of people. When I moved in, I took the house farthest in the middle, as far away from the open grass as I could.
It was hard to know what to do with myself as a Victor. I knew the Victors from the poorer Districts went around giving money to people. Most everyone here was already wealthy, and I was barely a celebrity with so many other Victors already here. Not that I wanted that much attention anyway.
When the sun started to set, it wasn't hard to occupy myself anymore. I went throughout the house drawing all the shutters and closing the windows. I turned on every light in the house and huddled in my bed, which I'd set into a low recess in one wall, out of reach of clawed hands. That was when the memories came back. I hated the noises of the house settling- the noise of fingernails scraping against branches as I tried to hold on. A leaf blew against the window, the sound of rustling papery wings. I tried to always have someone at my house at night, usually Azure. He was as arrogant as all the Victors from One, but he could see I wasn't like the others. He usually didn't give me any grief.
When the sun was out, it wasn't so bad in the Village. Lots of Victors walled themselves up and never left in the outer Districts. I liked being with other people. I felt safer when I wasn't alone. I went out to get groceries, even though I could have had them delivered. I made appearances at the Academy and endorsed products. Sometimes I stayed out late partying with the other Victors in well-lit bars and drank until I wasn't scared anymore or I passed out.
The sun was still high in the sky when went out to spend a day in town. I checked out the door before I went, and I swept the area every few minutes just to make sure. I reached the gate of the village and
A shadow in the sky above me
I screamed and fell to my knees, scrunching as small as I could. I crossed my arms in front of my face and neck as I fell backward onto the grass. I crawled next to the stone fence and shoved into the bushes that grew along it. Their thin branches scratched and pushed back at me as I carved a refuge. I smashed my head on the stones in my frenzy to burrow to safety and turned myself around sideways to look out at what was behind me. I trembled and dragged my fingers through the dirt to dig a deeper, safer nest.
A goose flew nearer and over my hole. I saw its wings were covered in soft feathers, not naked skin. It didn't even notice me as it disappeared. I stopped digging and crouched in the bushes. My heart started to slow, and my breathing stabilized. I collected myself and crawled out of the bushes. I stood and brushed the leaves from my clothes.
It was nothing I wasn't used to. There were good days and there were bad days. When the bad days came, the only thing to do was gather up the pieces and carry on. As time went by, they came farther apart. When it happened this time, I remembered thinking about how pretty the goose's feathers were as it went over my head. Someday I'd be able to appreciate birds again, and the night sky, and so many more things. What happened was behind me. More and more, I was able to leave it there.
Kazuo is Asian, natch. He usually carries a blue rose.