Meg's mother is a certified demon. And I'm not just saying it because she made me ask myself some pretty uncomfortable questions, but she's just… everywhere all at once.

How? I have no idea, she's on a godsdamn wheelchair! But there she goes, more or less bouncing around with all the energy of a fifteen year old with ADHD. Just watching her makes me dizzy…

Which is a good way, because if I'm dizzy, I'm not thinking about THAT. And if I'm not thinking about THAT, I'll call it a victory for today.

It goes against one of my fundamental opinions about myself: I am not boyfriend material. Or husband material. Or even fuckbuddy material!

The reasons for that are multiple, and all of them pretty damn obvious if you squint hard enough. Lazy, sarcastic to the point of obnoxiousness, cowardly enough to allow his older sister to suffer for a year straight and many more small things. Yes, I'm still hung up on that. And yes, I will still be for a long time coming.

What the hell was passing through my mind when I made that promise? Protect her smile? What the hell am I, an anime protagonist?!

You have a hero complex, my mind helpfully reminds me. Which means that no promise is too big if it means saving her. No price is high enough either. It's just a matter of what it takes to make it happen.

… Great, now I'm thinking about THAT! Not even Viola is enough to distract me, it would seem…

Something pushed my shoulder suddenly. A shove.

Meg just shoved me. I'm starting to get way too aware of her touch…

"Hey, are you okay? You look out of it…"

Heh… great actor my fucking balls…

"I know. I'm sorry, it's just… been a heavy couple of days…"

She seems worried. Those dark eyes looking at me as if she was ready to bolt and help at a second notice. Her crimson hair, making me almost completely tongue tied, exploiting my weakness…

I have to get out of here. ASAP.

I finish the pancake on my plate (Viola and Meg said that they tasted good, but I couldn't really feel it this time around), before getting back on my feet.

"I really have to go, I'm exhausted… sorry to cut this short…"

Viola nods, likely understanding just why I need to go. Don't give me that pitying look, this is all your fault!

"That's okay sweetie, no need to push yourself. Have a safe trip back home, and remember… you will always be welcome here".

I would be flattered under any other circumstances, but right now I can't bring myself to care. Door, where's the door?!

Meg gets up alongside me.

"Do you want me to walk with…"

I panic. I just can't help myself, the thought of having her around for just a second longer almost gives me a heart attack.

"NO! NO NEED FOR THAT!"

She retreats a bit. I think I spooked her. Fuck, I need to pull myself together!

"S-Sorry, I just… need some time alone! I'll see you tomorrow at school!"

"Wha… hey! Wait a moment!"

I didn't wait. I power walked out of the house, only managing to hear Viola stop her daughter from pursuing me. Home. I… I have to go home. Back to my room, lay on the bed and… sort out the mess in my head. Find some semblance of sense in this situation, even if I have to fucking delude myself!

Luckily, when I reached the Kostenko household, the home was empty, finding only a piece of paper that notifies me that my darling big sister is out with friends and to not wait for her for dinner. I constantly forget that Julie is popular in this dimension… or was she even originally? I think she was…

Oh, who the fuck cares right now! Good thing that she's out I say! If she saw me like this, she was definitely going to ask questions.

I just have to go up to my room and breathe. In and out, try to find a logical explanation for what happened. Why am I panicking more about this then The Entity? I don't fucking know! Maybe because, deep down, I always knew that it was going to try and take back what belonged to it, so its arrival was somewhat predictable.

This… this was not. And now I'm left to pick up the pieces.

Let's start from the obvious. Viola is wrong. She's just straight up wrong. Her daughter does not like me. We are just good friends. And I have proof!

She never showed that she viewed me any differently than any other hypothetical friend. And at that moment… I started arguing with myself.

She told you about her mother's illness. Nobody else knows… nobody else is allowed to see her at her most vulnerable.

She has no other friends! She obviously doesn't know the difference between simple affection and love.

She had friends before she transferred here. And even if it was, she wouldn't be the first redhead you know to fall for her first friend.

S-She's been cold with me pretty much all of today! I could have used her to make ice cream for how freezing the air around her was!

Coincidentally, right after Rin called you "puppy". She was jealous of the fact you seemed close to another girl, even if you were arguing with her.

She never got embarrassed around me!

Are you sure about that? You forgot how she reacted to her mother's teasing? Or how red her face was when you hugged her to console her last week?

I… I-I made her cry!

And then you made her smile again. Just like you promised.

Shut up! Stop making sense!

You're arguing with yourself, idiot! Get your head out of your ass and face the facts for once, instead of being delusional!

I want to deny it. I really want to…

But I cannot at this point. My own brain is actively working against me. Or… my heart, I should probably say.

Megan Thomas… likes me. Just like her mother told me. There is no mistake, no misunderstanding, no getting confused or mixed signals.

She has feelings for me. That poor girl developed feelings for me, somehow. And now… I have to deal with them.

And my own.

Another day, another night without a single wink of sleep. I look and feel like shit. This can't be healthy…

It takes me a good half hour to get myself presentable, even if Julie almost cornered me when I went downstairs. Fortunately, the rest of The Legion showed up at just the right time, inadvertently saving me from my interrogation.

The rest of the day passed without too much of a fuss. Except for when Talbot resumed his routine of singling me out. Or at least, he attempted.

One glare and he immediately backtracked. The rings under my eyes must have looked pretty damn scary. You know, for everybody except Rin, who winked and gave me a thumbs up. Insufferable idiot…

The Track Team is gathering up again for today's training. And just as I thought, we're down three members from last time. Zarina doesn't look particularly bothered by it… probably used to seeing less people the more training continues.

"We're waiting for one more member for today. The fourth year's president recommended that they join, and he hasn't been wrong up until now. Take some time to stretch and warm up in the meantime".

Our coach walks towards the front door of the gym, likely to act as a landmark for the new kid. Not that she would need to do that, if they're a student they likely have been here before. Multiple times, in fact.

Footsteps behind me make me tense up. Why do I even recognize her walking pattern now…? Damn it Viola!

"Hey Jas… are you sure you're okay? You really don't look fine…"

Sheesh, I wonder what gave THAT away.

"I haven't gotten much sleep. There are some… issues that I have to solve and they're making me go mad…"

Meg crosses her arms.

"Again? How come something is always wrong when it comes to you…"

She mutters the last part, and I can't help but catch the irony. Pot, meet kettle…

"It comes with having friends. Not that you would know".

She punches me on the shoulder, which starts to burn. And not from the pain…

"Asshole. So… who do you think is joining us? I'm fairly sure that anyone interested already tried last time…"

I shrug. Beats me, honestly.

We chat and stretch for a bit, the repetitive exercises working their magic in making me relax. I'm starting to see why Meg loves training so much…

Finally, after a couple of minutes, the guest of honor makes their appearance. Accompanied by Dwight Fairfield himself, on top of that. And that punk vibe is impossible to miss.

Nea Karlesson in the flesh. We have one or two classes in common, but I never bothered to talk with her. Why would I?

That's nice, I guess. From what I managed to gather from her lore, she should be good at running, so it makes sense that she'd end up here eventually.

Almost automatically at this point, I start pointing out in my head her characteristics. Tough, but not inflexible. Can be kind if she wants, but more than capable of putting her foot down. Plenty of sass and stubbornness, but knows when she's in the wrong. Female… and about to join the Track Team, even if only for today.

I blink once. Then twice. She… SHE'S PERFECT!

A golden opportunity just fell right on my lap, with no tempering needed from me! I can't waste it!

A grin blossoms on my face. Operation "Get Meg a Friend" is officially underway!

First thing first… approach her with Meg and get them to meet.

"There she is. Come on, let's go introduce ourselves!"

"What? W-Wait up! Don't drag me!"

Sorry bud. You've been a loner for way too long!

We reach her, to hear the last interactions between her and our Prez.

"... and please, for the love of God, try not break anything this time. You need the extra credits if you wanna pass this year".

Nea smirks and wraps her arm around his neck.

"Do not worry your little head about it! You know that I want us to be in the same year… I'll behave. I promise".

He nods and smiles.

"Good. I trust you, then. Just huhhh… please let me know if anything goes wrong. At all, because, you know I wouldn't want you to feel bad in any way, shape or form…"

He keeps on rambling for a bit, under Nea's very entertained gaze. She eventually pushes a finger to his lips.

"Jeez, you are just too cute. Don't worry, I'll be fine. You go and continue your duties. Everything will be fine, okay?"

His face becomes an interesting shade of red.

"R-Right. I'll swing by later w-when you're done. So… yeah…"

She laughs and gently shoves him away, making him almost stumble. Nervous leader until the end, huh?

I finish up dragging Meg in front of Nea, ready to initiate phase one. Please don't screw it up, please don't screw it up!

"Hey there! Nea, wasn't it? We're in Mr. Richer's class together, aren't we? I'm Jason Kostenko, and this is Meg Thomas. Welcome to the Track Team!"

I give my redheaded friend an elbow check on her bicep. Play along for once, damn it!

"Y-Yeah, welcome and stuff…"

Can you at least try?! Don't glare at me damn it, I'm doing this shit for you!

Our interlocutor swaps her eyes between us.

"I remember you two! The guy that give Deshayes the what for and the star of the Team, right? Pleasure to meet you! Nea Karlesson, ready to run for her life!"

Hopefully not from the cops, this time around. Wouldn't that be an improvement…

"Right. I'm gonna go back to warming up. Don't take too long".

Wait, where are you going? Megan, get your butt back over here, this instant! I groan, covering my eyes with my hands.

… it's going to be a difficult task, isn't it?

"Focused, isn't she?"

"Yeah. To the point of obsessiveness in fact… I'm really getting more and more worried every day…"

She tilts her head to one side.

"Worried, huh? I can see that… she's a friend of yours?"

I nod.

"Yup. She was never the most sociable person in the world, but she's been getting worse lately…"

"And you thought to introduce her to people that might get along with her, in hope that she opens up a bit, right?"

I wince. Yikes, am I that easy to read…?

Nea casts another look at my friend, before smirking.

"You know what? Fine, I'll play ball. I wanted to get to know her anyway, even without your input… but, since you tried to manipulate me, I want you to do something for me as well".

That's…!

Fair. I did try to set them up, in a way of speaking. Not nefariously, sure, but I suppose I owe her.

"Very well. What do you want me to do?"

She nods, looking pleased.

"Nothing difficult, I just want you to have everyone vacate the gym after the lesson, coach included. The woman adores you, she'll listen to you. Promise me to do that and I'll put in extra effort to become her bestie or whatever regular girls like to say".

Vacate the gym? Now, that's an unusual request. Why would she need…

I see her look outside, where I can barely see our Prez talking to a student. Not even look… outright staring even.

Ooooohhhh… I get it… it's my turn to smirk.

"You want some alone time with your boo? That's adorable…"

She smacks me upside the head.

"Another remark like that and the deal is off. I'm not even kidding here… don't".

"Y-Yes ma'am!"

I thought that I had a scary glare? Boy, what a naive summer child I was barely ten minutes ago…

"So. Do we have an agreement or not?"

She extends her hand towards me. Ah, right. Almost forgot.

I nod and shake the appendage she offered me.

"Pleasure doing business with you".

Nea looks over my shoulder for a moment, before cringing.

"Dude, don't look… but your buddy there is giving us the stink eye…"

I don't need to look. I can feel the heat right in the back of my head, with a nice side of pain and anxiety.

"I'll have my work cut out for me huh? Well, better get started right away. Any advice?"

"I became her friend after I proved that I could keep up with her during a run, so… that would be a good place to start. Just… avoid the topic of family if you manage to start a conversation. It's a sore spot".

"Roger that. Welp, I'm off, wish me luck! And don't forget our agreement, or I will make you regret it".

She jogs off towards Meg, probably hoping to get some words in during warm up. They're definitely going to butt head for a little bit before things get better, aren't they?

I start loosening up my shoulder, feeling the full force of my sleepless night hit me all together. The things you do for the people I care about… even if it's their mothers fault for causing me an existential crisis. One that I'm likely not going to solve easily…

I look over, seeing Nea trying to get Meg to have a chat, who for her part was trying really hard to ignore her, but was failing miserably. Is that how it started between us…? Me bugging her repeatedly until she evenyùtuslly gave in out of exasperation?

Heh… sounds like something I would do. Viola made it sound romantic, but I bet that's how it went. I wonder what pushed me into trying so hard to befriend her…

I huff to myself. Do I even need to ask? I saw someone that looked alone and lost and I picked her up, like a damn stray. I did the same thing to Feng, from what she told me that time I went over to her house. My hero complex makes it impossible for me to ignore people that need help… and Meg Thomas is the textbook definition of "someone that needs help".

Ah well, I've done what I could for now. Best to get on with the training…

And remember to make Zarina leave the gym for a bit. Because if I don't, I have a feeling I'll end up regretting all of my life choices. I'm just surrounded by scary and overly violent girls, aren't I?

Maybe I'm the one in need of a hero, for a change…

"Jason! If you don't get your butt over here in five seconds, I'm making you run three additional laps!"

What a shitty fucking day…

Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.

Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of AIOS, the show where everyone needs a hero, including the hero himself. Poor bastard.

I think that, at this point, we can make a drinking game out of this. One shot for each time that Jason freaks out, has a panic attack or goes through an existential crisis. We're gonna die of alcohol poisoning by the time we get to chapter 10 or something along those lines, I'm willing to bet.

Review Responses:

WhyareUsernamesTakenAlready: Relax dude, the actual bad stuff will come much later. But don't get TOO relaxed. Shit can hit the fan anytime… just not at the scale that we're all waiting for. Chucky is fun to play for a couple of games, but he gets stale pretty damn quickly, like most killers. And don't talk to me about Trickster, he feels like absolute crap to play thanks to the throw rate nerf he got from PTB to live. I'm beyond disappointed, goddamnit… the six hit with one knife is a visual bug, that's all.

That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!