❝ I ONLY EVER WANTED TO BE LOVED. ❞

☞ this entire chapter is a flashback episode set four years ago.

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[Four Years Ago]

The shuffling sound of a stiff, silky kimono was heard as well as heavy panting as a girl ran down the dark alleyway, the neon lights of the shoppes flickering after the midnight hour.

Her feet were bare and bleeding slightly, though she was otherwise unharmed physically, and had a traumatised and fearful expression painted on her face, head turning back every now and then to make sure no one was following.

Long, black hair flowed loosely behind her as she hiked up her pink kimono so that she could run even faster, though her floor-length sleeves still dragged on the wet ground and feet pounded against the street.

Suddenly she rounded a corner and smacked right into a figure who stumbled back and fell on the ground with the girl on top of him with a loud 'uff─' sound.

"What the hell! That hurt!" The figure groaned, rubbing the back of his head, which had been hit in his fall against the asphalt, though he still turned his head down to look at his assailant before his eyes widened at the sight.

A similarily-aged girl looked up at him, around fourteen, who was dressed in an expensive light pink kimono and white obi sash and although she was astoundingly pretty, had a haunted and terrified look in her wide eyes.

Looking up at him, who was now slightly blushing at how pretty she was, though worried as well, the girl started to tear. "Please...help me...─"

━━━━

"Fūjioka-kun?" A cheerfully innocent voice interrupted the thoughts of the withdrawn male student, who had his facemask up and was staring out the window on his lunch break, not caring enough to talk to anyone.

"Hm?" The mentioned boy turned his head to face the same girl he had bumped into that night, except for the fact that she was now dressed in a sailor junior-high uniform and her eyes were teasing but bright.

"Kikyō-san." He nodded his head, wondering what she needed.

"It's Himikō." The girl puffed up her cheeks cutely with a pout before giggling and tucking a strand of her waist-length hair behind her ear. "I was wondering if you were going on the school trip? Everyone signed up except you."

She tilting her head in question, waiting for an answer before the boy sighed annoyedly and mumbled that he didn't have much of a choice.

At that Himikō positively beamed in delight, her cheeks dusted with a faint pink as her eyes crinkled happily before running back to her friends, who were calling.

As she ran...or rather skipped off, Daisuke Fūjioka watched her with a raised eyebrow. She sure did seem different from the petrified girl he had met that night, whom he was surprised to learn was a transfer student introduced a few days later on in their final year of junior high.

Though she was a strangely timed transfer student, she became the most popular girl in the school on her very first day, with her pretty looks, cutely ditzy bubbly personality and sociability.

Other third-year male students passed by the classroom, looking in with matching blushes as they caught the eye of the transfer student who waved cheerfully at them.

━━━━

The girl sat there, on the floor of his dorm room, the edges of her luxurious pink kimono soiled with dirt and mud and she had her arms wrapped around her head as the boy came back into the room quietly, holding two mugs of a steaming drink.

"Here." He knelt down in front of her, making her flinch slightly. "Have some. It's still warm."

This made the girl hesitate for a moment and it looked as though she was having a fight or flight thought before she looked down at her bandaged feet and then at the first aid kit which was sitting on the boy's bed.

Her lips pursed for a moment before she took the mug from him, her head bowing in thanks.

"Is this an orphanage?" She asked in a small voice after taking a sip.

The boy nodded at that, drinking from his own mug. "It's a part of a larger group called the AHPC, or the ability holders protection committee." He set down his mug beside him and crossed his legs, sitting down on the floor in front of her.

"It houses orphaned ability-user children like us."

The boy watched her expression and noticed the subtle eye-twitch at the targetted sentence.

"How did you know?" She asked after a moment of silence and a long sip of her drink.

"Multiple reasons." He shrugged his shoulders. "I noticed your eyes glowing slightly, for one. Most abnormal's eyes glow when they use their powers. Secondly, I could sense the emotions of acceptance and apprehension in you when I mentioned having abilities."

This made the girl's eyes widen in surprise. "You're an empath?"

"Partially." The boy admitted. "I don't just read other people's moods. I can manipulate and induce them as well."

"Most emotion-based ability holders don't have that much power. You're pretty strong, huh." The girl noted, more to herself than to him.

The boy thought about asking after her own powers but deciding against it. He didn't know her background and most of his fellow orphans here had tragic backstories surrounding their abilities, hence making them almost a trigger to mention.

Though one of the AHPC's goals is to make ability holders more comfortable and accepting of her powers, this girl was not one of the facility's orphans.

"I didn't give you my name yet," He suddenly remembered. "I'm Daisuke. Daisuke Fūjioka."

"Himikō Tsu─" Suddenly the girl startled and felt that she had become far too comfortable around this boy. "Kikyō. Himikō Kikyō." She corrected firmly.

━━━━

The transfer student had now been at the school for half a year and had latched on quite firmly to Daisuke to the chagrin of her many male admirers. She had also become good friends with a kouhai and fellow orphan of the AHPC, Izumi Midorikawa.

The three were on the rooftop, which they weren't supposed to be, eating lunch like rebellious to authority middle-schoolers.

"Izumi..." The transfer student frowned worriedly. "You have another black eye, although the last one healed only a few days ago..."

This made the younger girl embarrassedly. "It's not that big a deal, Kikyō-senpai." She waved her concern off. "I'm just not as good at hiding my ability like you and Fūjioka-senpai are."

"Not a big deal? Izumi, you're being beaten─"

"If she says its not a big deal, then it's not a big deal." Daisuke interrupted their line of conversation, finishing his boxed green tea. "It was only up until a few years ago that people used to hunt down ability-users like sport."

"True, true." Izumi nodded in agreeance. "That's why my parents abandoned me, in fear of them being targetted for having an ability-user child."

There was no sense of regret in her voice at her words, though they made Himikō admittedly uncomfortable with the blunt statement.

"I suppose the government's mandatory registration act is to thank for the stopping of that." Izumi thought about it for a moment.

"Don't be stupid, Izumi." Daisuke rolled his eyes. "The only reason they implemented that measure was because of the Tsukichi Group forcing their hand."

At the mention of that name, Himikō covered her mouth, feeling sick all of a sudden, unnoticed by the two debating orphans.

"The Yakuza? What did they have to do with it?"

━━━━

"Kikyō. Himikō Kikyō." The boy repeated. His seemed to be satisfied with that answer and slipped on his face mask once more, which had been dangling from one ear while he drank.

This made the finely dressed girl tilt her head curiously. "Do you have a cold or something?" She asked, her chin motioning at the sick mask.

"Huh? No, I'm perfectly healthy." Daisuke reassured her, placing his empty mug on his desk. The answer only made her raise an eyebrow though.

"Why do you wear a face mask then?"

"I hate getting sick and will prevent it at all costs."

A grim expression crossed the boy's face that darkened his expression. Himikō blinked at that for a moment and noted that he was an image of perfect seriousness before bursting out in giggles.