"Toki killed his father?"

The woman gasped, trying to control her sudden bout of rapid sobs. "Yes! He was still a child then. The healing power is different for each individual. Those who have the strongest power are able to manipulate other people at their will. Toki-kun's powers are stronger than that.

"It happened the first time when his pet cat suddenly died. I saw Toki-kun... his hand has been scratched, and he crying beside the cat. I didn't suspect anything. Then one day, Toki-kun's father and I had an argument. It came to a point where my husband slapped me...

~Flashback~

Mrs Kuwata cried as she felt heavily against the couch behind her. She looked up with tears in her eyes but then to her relief saw the anger on her husband's face slowly being replaced by shame. However, before she could open her mouth to speak Mr. Kuwata suddenly gasped, clutching at his head, making some pained noises at the back of his throat. Before Mrs Kuwata can react to that odd occurence the man fell to the floor, eyes wide open and staring vacantly at nothing.

Forgetting about her own hurt, Mrs Kuwata gasped and ran towards her husband in panic. "Otousan! Outousan!" Quickly, she checked her husband for any signs of damage but the non-beating pulse she felt on his wrist told her that he was dead. Slowly, she sat back on her heels and stared at her dead husband, her body gone numb with shock.

What.... what happened.... he's... dead... how...
Instinctively, she turned around and saw her young son standing by the open door, clad in his blue pajamas and glaring at the body of her dead husband in hatred. The way the three-year old boy's eyes were focused on the body of her dead husband not associated with a child his age, told her what she was afraid to believe in.

Hesitantly, she stood up and walked up to her son with shaky feet and softly she called out to him, "Toki-chan?"

The boy blinked and turned towards his mother with innocent eyes unlike the look that she saw on him a moment ago. The boy smiled happily as his mother stared at him in shock.
Crying in fright and anguish, Mrs. Kuwata dropped down on her knees and held her son tightly to her shivering body. No!

~End Flashback)

"That was when I realised he has the power. Only that his power is so great that it destroys the brain."

Mitsui sat back on his chair, stunned. But even with what Kuwata's mother has told him, he still could not believe that the boy was evil. The second-year was just a child when it happened and the boy probably did it to protect his own mother. That was what Mitsui told himself before Kuwata's mother spoke again.

"Toki-kun's father was said to have died suddenly with an unknown cause. With my own powers, I instantly altered Toki-kun's memory to make sure that has no idea he has anything to do with his father's death. And I continued doing so, to protect him and those around him. Any negative memories has to be eliminated immedietly," the woman said determinedly.

Mitsui looked down, clenching his fist on his lap. With what Kuwata's mother told him of the boy's past with the cat, he now understood the danger of the boy keeping another pet. What the mother said next made him look up at her in surprise.

"But it's getting difficult..."

"What is?" the scarred-face boy asked.

"Toki-kun's powers are getting stronger. It's now up to the point that I am unable to control him without exhausting myself," she said, covering her trembling lips with her palm.

The two became silent. When Kuwata's mother spoke again, this time her voice was hesitant, "Hisashi-kun. I know this is selfish of me but the reason that I told you all this is to ask for your help."

"But I don't have any powers..." began Mitsui helplessly.

"Iie," the woman rejected, "You do! For Toki-kun, you are the most important thing in the world-"

Suddenly, she gave a gasp of shock and when Mitsui turned around to see what has grabbed her attention, he gave a gasp of his own.

"Toki-kun!" Kuwata's mother cried, shifting nervously on her seat.

Mitsui stared at Kuwata who was standing under the threshold of the door and once again he was spellbound by the chilly look in the boy's brown eyes.
Is this... him?

Kuwata stepped inside the room, glaring at his mother with barely contained fury.
"So that was what happened," the boy growled, coming closer, "That was why my mind feels so muddled up and confused. Everytime I slept, I had felt a part of me disappearing. You did it to me. You messed up my memory."

Mitsui and Kuwata's mother began to sweat as the boy stepped further into the room. Even without any telepathic powers, Mitsui could feel the potent anger coming from the sixteen year-old boy now standing in front of them.

"How dare you do this to me," Kuwata gritted, "All this time I-"

"Toki-kun!" his mother said, suddenly standing up to walk towards him, "It's alright! Forget about it-"

"Iie!" Kuwata lashed out, "I have forgotten and lost SO MUCH!!"

"No-Aah!" Kuwata's mother screamed at the sudden attack of mental assault before falling to her knees, groaning in pain.

"Kuwata! No! Stop!" Mitsui cried out, running towards the fallen woman in worry. Kneeling in front of Kuwata's mother, he then turned around and glared at the boy in front of him.
"She's your mother for God's sake!!" he yelled angrily. To his consternation, Kuwata did not look contrite but continued to look at the woman in hate.

"You... are you... really... Kuwata...?" Mitsui demanded in a whisper.

"Yes," the boy intoned coldly, "This is me."
Turning to look at his mother again Kuwata screamed, "Not some PUPPET manipulated by my mother!!"

"AH!!!" Kuwata's mother cried again, clutching at her head in anguish, "T-Toki-kun...."

Panicked, Mitsui quickly stood up and grabbed one of Kuwata's wrist in a bruising grip. "Stop it Kuwata!! Enough!"

"Don't get in the way, sempai!" Kuwata warned, trying the wrench his hand away.

"Please! I'm begging you!"

Kuwata stopped his struggle and stared at the pleading expression on his sempai's face. Slowly, his anger dispersed, to be replaced by remorse, and he turned his head away with a sigh.
"Alright. As you ask."

With those words, Mitsui released him and ran back to the boy's mother to see to her state.

"Obasan, are you alright?" the third-year asked, cradling the woman's head on his lap. Kuwata's mother lay unconcious as sweat trickled down her pale face.

What has happened to her?! Turning to Kuwata Mitsui demanded, "Why? Why are you so heartless? Whatever has happened, she is still your mother!"

Kuwata frowned before he replied in a low but firm voice, "So that I can become myself."


~~~~

With the alteration of my memory, I am also altered. The real me is lost. Who I was is not who I really am.

Those words still echoed in Mitsui's mind as he stood in front of the bed, looking at Kuwata's mother who laid down in a deep sleep. The doctor's voice came through to him like a dim ship's horn cutting through a thick fog and he mentally shook his head trying to catch what the man was saying.

"...our tests shows that her body is exhausted as if she has spent all her energy but we found no other signs of damange. She should be alright once she wakes up."

"But when is that?" Mitsui asked dully, "Why isn't she waking up now?"

"I am not certain," the doctor replied regretfully, "All we can do now is wait and watch."

"Thank you, doctor," Mitsui said, bowing the elderly gentlemen. Once the doctor was gone, the door to the room opened again and in came Kuwata, smiling. The boy's good-natured expression was as disorienting as the cheerful voice coming from the the boy's lips in that grim setting.
"Are you done?"

"A.. hai... the doctor said she's going to be alright," Mitsui told the boy.

Kuwata beamed. "Great! So we can go home now!"

Mitsui stared at the shorter boy before he forced himself to speak in a weak voice. "Hai..."

As Ayako and Miyagi chatted beside him, Mitsui stayed silent, not feeling the effect of the surroundings around him on that fine day. Noticing the scarred-face player's preoccupation, Miyagi nugded the boy with his elbow.
"Oi. What's up with you?"

"Are you still angry at Kuwata-kun?" Ayako asked.

Mitsui was unable to speak for a while before he replied a little too quickly. "Uh... no..."

"Are you angry at me for taking back your lunch?" the girl spoke again.

"A-Ano..."

"Don't worry," Ayako said, smiling, "I made you another one today."

Mitsui gave her a wry smile. "So that means you're not angry at me anymore?"

Ayako sighed. "Not anymore. But if you give Kuwata-kun a hard time again, I'll take this one back as well."

"SEMPAI!!"

"Ah, Kuwata-kun!" Ayako replied cheerfully, waving her hands to the junior. Miyagi tilted his head in greeting while Mitsui's body went frozen, staring at the boy running up to them, in trepidation. When Kuwata gave an affectionate smile especially for Mitsui, the scarred-face player felt coldness seep through his body rather than the usual warmth from the past.


~~~~

After the fourth period, the normal crowd headed up to the roof for their lunch. Mitsui, Miyagi and Ayako were already there, half way through their lunch when Kuwata burst in through the roof's door with a paper bag in his hand.

"Kuwata-kun!" Ayako called out, "You're late!"

"Gomen nasai," Kuwata said to them, rubbing the back of his head adorably, "I had to go to the canteen first to buy some food."

Miyagi blinked. "Huh? Doesn't your mum pack your lunch for you?"

"Oh, she's not at home," the second-year replied, sitting down beside them before he turned to smile at Mitsui, "But that's alright. I'll be just like Mitsui-sempai. I'm going to be take care of myself."

"But Ayako makes his lunch for him," Miyagi reminded the boy in a dry tone.

"That's right," Ayako said, "I can make lunch for you too until your mother comes home."

"Eh? Hontou ni?" Kuwata asked, abashed but happy, "Thank you Ayako-sempai!"

A few minutes later after they were done eating, the four headed back to their classrooms and as the three third years were about to enter the corridor for the third years, Ayako suddenly remembered something.

"Ah! I forgot to tell Kuwata-kun that practice will start an hour earlier today," the girl exclaimed. But before she could move to walk away, Mitsui stopped her and said hurriedly, "Let me, Ayako."

Before the manageress could object, Mitsui was already jogging towards the second-year's corridor and when he reached there he saw Kuwata rounding the corner to his classroom. Mitsui was about to call out to him when he saw the boy jerking back as if he bumped into someone, before falling on his behind with a wince.

Worried, Mitsui ran towards the junior just as the track coach appeared from the corner with an annoyed look on his face. "Watch where you're going!" the man admonished the fallen boy.

As soon as Mitsui reached Kuwata, the 3-P shooter knelt down beside the boy and asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

Dazed, Kuwata only managed to nod his head in response.

"Let him be, boy!" the coach growled, "He's just a sissy! He needs to stand up on his own! Kuwata! You better be ready for PE later."

Mitsui glared at the coach as the man walked away when suddenly the coach fell to the ground without warning. The third year's blue eyes widened in shock. The way the man was groaning in pain as he frantically held his head sent warning signals to Mitsui about what was happening. Turning to look at the boy beside him confirmed his fears.

Kuwata was still sitting on the floor, staring at the coach with a look that Mitsui recognised as the look of death. Vaguely, he could hear students around them asking the coach if he was alright but he was more concerned with the way those brown eyes was losing its softness to be replaced by a look of ruthlessness.

"Stop it..." Mitsui said hoarsely. Suddenly he was gripping Kuwata by the arms and shaking the boy roughly, ordering Kuwata with a hiss, "Stop it, Kuwata! Do you want to kill him?!"

"Yes," Kuwata replied coldly, not removing his eyes from the kneeling man who was now moaning as students gathered around him to pick him up.
"People like him should die."

Mitsui shook his head vigorously as his voice trembled with anger and fear. "No! Stop it, Kuwata! Listen to me!"

Kuwata blinked and turned towards Mitsui with surprise. He looked at Mitsui, torn between wanting to continue with his assault or follow his senior's command. The third year persisted with a hard look on his scarred-face until Kuwata looked away, defeated.
A few seconds later, behind them, the coach was getting back on his feet unsteadily much to the mixed worry and relief from the students around them.

"Maybe you should go to the nurse, sensei," one student advised.

Seeming to be winded and confused, the coach nodded weakly in agreement before he turned and walked away to the sick bay. As the students walked quickly to their classes after the incident, Mitsui helped Kuwata to his feet until the boy could stand by himself. Once the corridor was empty, the second-year looked up at the third-year and asked, "Why did you stop me, sempai?"

Mitsui stepped back in shock at the sincerely hurt look on the boy's face. Slowly, he took a deep breath and held the junior by the arms again.
"Kuwata. I have a request."

The shorter boy blinked in surprise. "Aa?"

"Promise me..." Mitsui began, "... promise me that you'll never use your powers again."

"Wh-"

"Your powers hurt people," the scarred-face player continued, gripping at Kuwata's arms in agitation, "and it can also kill them. That is bad. Do you understand?"

Kuwata looked down, not saying a word.

"Promise me this, and I'll do anything for you."

With a sigh, Kuwata finally looked up and gave Mitsui a smile. "Alright. Since you ask me this, I will do it for you."

With a nod Mitsui slowly released Kuwata and as he did so he felt a large part of his freedom and peace of mind drift away as well. When before, he was bound to Kuwata by his paternal feelings for the boy, now with that promise he was bound to the boy to keep the deadly powers at bay from the people around them.

"For Toki-kun, you are the most important thing in the world-"





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