Blessed is he who worships.
Wise is he who distrusts his own kind.
Fated is he who walks the treacherous path.
And yet, none of them stands above Kurotsuki Touka.
"Well... I am the free fool."
"Zero."
"That's a stupid name."
"You're stupid."
"So, Rei, what are you doing on my window?"
"I don't know. I just found myself here."
"That's a stupid excuse."
"Well, it works most of the time."
Touka stared at the boy hanging around his window.
"So you're just a homeless person looking for shelter?"
"No and yes."
"Uhn? What do you mean by that?"
"First, I ain't homeless. Come on, I have three houses."
Touka stared at him for a moment.
"Seems like you've been hungry for too long. You're already becoming delusional."
"ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?"
"I'm calling you a broke dreamer."
"Tch."
Rei straightened himself up and brushed off his clothes.
"Come on, look at me. Have you ever seen a homeless man this handsome?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Old drunk down the street."
Rei's mouth fell open in shock.
"You're looking down on me."
"It's called status."
Touka leaned against the window.
"And guess what?"
He pointed at himself.
"I'm higher."
Rei started laughing.
"Your status is higher?"
"You can't even be close to me in status."
He paused dramatically.
"So, to help you understand, I'll reintroduce myself."
Rei placed a hand against his chest.
"I am Rei Kisaragi."
"The first and only son of the Kisaragi family."
Touka stared at him.
Confusion.
Then disappointment.
"Who?"
"Eh?"
"...Eh?"
"EHHHHHH?!"
Rei nearly fell from the window.
"Wait. You're saying you don't know who the Kisaragi family is?"
"Obviously. What I am saying."
"The Kisaragi family!"
"Saying it twice won't give me any understanding of who they are."
"The Kisaragi family!"
Rei pointed dramatically toward himself.
"The second richest family in Japan!"
Touka blinked.
"Oh."
"So you finally understand?"
"So you're rich."
"YESSS!"
Rei threw his hands into the air.
"God! Is this ragebait?!"
Touka tilted his head.
"So if you're rich, why are you on the street?"
Rei's expression immediately changed.
"...It's complicated."
"Oh."
Touka turned away.
"Well, even though I'm not with all my riches, at least I still have my pride as a human."
As Rei finished speaking—
Touka threw a piece of bread out the window.
Rei's eyes widened.
"HEY!"
He immediately jumped after it.
Touka closed the window.
A few seconds passed.
Then—
Rei was somehow standing inside the room.
Touka slowly turned around.
"How...?"
Rei held the bread in his hand.
"You know, you really shouldn't waste food."
He took a bite.
Touka stared at him.
"Now will you tell me why you were on my window, rich boy?"
"Urg. You're so bitter."
"So?"
Rei sighed.
"To put everything in a nutshell..."
He looked down at the bread in his hand.
"I was basically the heir to a huge fortune that could never truly be mine."
"I was like a caged money tree."
"So I ran."
"I wanted to be free."
Touka stared at him.
"Wow."
Rei smiled.
"You truly are a fool."
"I can see why you added it to your name."
"Yeah, yeah."
Rei shrugged.
"But at least I am free."
Touka suddenly slapped him.
"HEY! What's wrong with you?!"
Another slap.
"Rubbish."
Touka grabbed Rei by the shirt.
"You left a life of luxury to fulfill your dream of becoming a beggar?"
"HEY! They treated me like a caged animal!"
"At least caged animals are fed."
Touka pointed at the bread.
"You literally just jumped out of a window because of a loaf of bread."
Rei's expression weakened.
"When was the last time you ate a proper meal?"
Rei froze.
His eyes began to water.
"Well..."
He looked away.
"At least a beggar like me is still accepted by society."
Touka's face darkened.
Another slap.
"Come on."
Touka grabbed Rei by the shirt and began dragging him toward the door.
"I'm taking you back."
"If I know anything about rich families, they might reward me."
He smirked.
"Now I'm taking you home, rich boy."
"WAIT!"
Rei struggled against Touka's grip.
"It's useless!"
"Sure, there is a reward if you return me."
"But I'll just escape again."
Touka stopped.
Then smiled.
"Then I'll just capture you again."
"And if you escape again, I'll capture you again."
He continued dragging him.
"I'll turn you into my little cash cow."
"Oh, come on!"
Rei struggled harder.
"How can anyone be so evil?!"
As Rei tried to resist, a transparent screen suddenly appeared in the air.
It seemed to be coming from his arm.
Touka stopped.
The screen displayed a single message.
BOUNTY: ¥1,000,000
Touka stared at it.
"...What is that?"
Rei looked at the screen.
"Oh."
"My parents increased my bounty."
Touka slowly looked at him.
"Your bounty?"
"Yep."
"To anyone who brings me back."
Touka's eyes narrowed.
"One million?"
"Yep."
Touka smiled.
Rei immediately became nervous.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Touka grabbed his shirt again.
"Nothing."
"...That's definitely not a nothing face."
Touka pointed at the floating screen.
"What is that thing?"
Rei looked at his arm.
"Uhn?"
"This?"
He tapped the device.
"The screen is projected from this."
He showed Touka the device wrapped around his forearm.
"It's called a Vanta Device."
"Vanta?"
Touka examined it.
"What exactly does it do?"
Rei stared at him.
"Wait."
He looked Touka up and down.
"Black-haired guy..."
"My name is Touka."
"Okay, Touka."
Rei looked genuinely confused.
"Have you never been outside the church?"
"No."
There was silence.
Then—
Rei burst out laughing.
"Omg!"
Touka frowned.
"What's so funny?"
"No, it's just..."
Rei wiped his eyes.
"I never thought there were others like me."
He looked at Touka.
"We're the same, Touka."
"We've both been caged."
"We've both been cheated out of our freedom."
Rei stood up.
He looked Touka directly in the eyes.
"Come on, Touka."
"Come and let me show you the world."
"Let me show you what you've been cheated out of."
"This will be our redemption."
Touka stared at him.
"Wow."
He sighed.
"You just reached a new level of stupidity."
"HEYYYY!"
Rei grabbed his chest.
"What was supposed to be my cool speech?!"
"It was stupid."
"How so?"
Touka looked toward the window.
"Sure."
"Let's say I go with you out there."
"How are we going to survive?"
"Food."
"Water."
"Shelter."
"How are we going to get all of that?"
He pointed around the room.
"In here, I already have all of that."
"And for free."
"So why would I leave all this comfort just to go out there and suffer?"
Rei's smile faded.
"What about everything you're missing out on?"
Touka went silent.
His eyes darkened.
Then—
"THE WORLD ALREADY ABANDONED ME!"
Rei froze.
"So why would I go out there and try to seek its comfort?"
Touka's voice trembled.
"When all I'll get is the cold stares of its people?"
"You have no idea how hard it is."
"Growing up and immediately being judged by people who don't even know you."
"People stay away from me like I'm some disease."
"And I did nothing wrong."
"I never asked to be born this way."
Touka clenched his fists.
"Born with black hair..."
"And immediately made an outcast."
"Just because I'm something they've never seen before."
"I tried."
"And tried."
"But all I ever got were cold stares and whispers."
He looked toward the world outside.
"You want me to go into the world?"
Touka's eyes became cold.
"Screw it."
"The world can burn for all I care."
Rei suddenly grabbed Touka by the shirt.
THUD!
He headbutted him.
Touka stumbled back.
"...What the hell?"
"Calm down, now."
Rei rubbed his forehead.
"You seem to be entering your villain era."
Touka stared at him.
Rei smiled.
"Now look."
"I won't say I understand your pain."
"Because I don't."
"But you've been cheated."
"And you've been misjudged for something you couldn't even control."
He paused.
Then smiled.
"Frankly..."
"The world is a bitch."
Touka stared at him.
"And on that statement..."
Rei held out his hand.
"You've just got to fuck it up."
"So come on, Touka."
"Let's go fuck the world up."
Touka sighed.
"...You're a real idiot, you know?"
Rei grinned.
"You too, bitch."
He stretched his hand out.
Touka stared at it.
Then—
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Rei raised his hand.
Ice suddenly formed beneath him.
A long slide extended from the window.
Rei blinked.
"Wait—"
He grabbed the edge.
"YOU COMING?"
Touka looked at the door.
Then at Rei.
He grabbed a piece of cloth and covered his hair and face.
For a moment, he hesitated.
Then he stepped onto the ice.
And disappeared into the night.
"Mother Celestine!"
"Mother Celestine!"
A sister ran through the church halls, desperately calling out.
"Mother Celestine!"
Mother Celestine turned.
"What is it?"
"My apologies."
The sister stopped to catch her breath.
"One of the other sisters found a child on the street."
"We brought him inside."
"Please... come look."
Mother Celestine followed her.
Soon, they reached a gathering of sisters.
Several of them surrounded a small child.
"What is the matter here?"
Mother Celestine stepped forward.
One of the sisters looked up.
"Mother Celestine... look."
She pointed toward the child.
He couldn't have been more than four or five years old.
The sisters looked at him with concern.
Then one of them smiled.
"Mother Celestine, look at his hair."
"It's white."
Another sister smiled.
"He looks like an angel."
The sisters gently petted the child's hair.
Mother Celestine crouched down.
"Tell me, child."
"What is your name?"
The boy slowly looked up.
"Tasuku Kageyama."
Mother Celestine froze.
Her hand slowly moved toward her chest.
Something was wrong.
She could feel it.
But she didn't know why.
World, o cruel world
how evil can you be
To be loved or hated are all merly two sides of a coin
As a judged devil left an angel was welcomed in
O the irony of such a cruel world.