"It's true." He continued, blowing another puff of viscous smoke from his pipe.
"Why bring that up?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. At that moment, Isaiah's lips wrinkled into a scowl.
The older man's gaze remained fixated on me as if enraptured by my appearance. "You're tired, I can feel it."
I…slept well last night," I said. The more I talked with this man, the more of an eerie sensation I felt.
"No, you're exhausted on the interior. I feel like you have much to communicate, much to clarify, and much to compute, but you're unable to appropriately do so."
"What do you mean?" I hesitated, a layer of goosebumps wriggling up my skin. The man with grayish-brown hair froze, his hold on his pipe tensing as he held it to his mouth again.
"I may not have consumed a potion and became a Meta, but I have what many would label as esoteric perception capacities."
"Huh?" I felt a wave of confusion.
Isaiah paused again, puffing another batch of thick smoke into the air. "I can read people like books, and I can pry into internal desires like skinning back layers of an onion. What I see in you. I see something amiss, something so incomprehensible it lacks reasonable illustration."
I was taken aback, and I felt a strange surge of urgency the more he spoke. It was like his presence was akin to a mysterious creature, a depraved one that ebbs off of human connection.
"Though I do discern a sort of guilt…with actions of the past, with actions that one can atone for without repercussions."
At that moment, Isaiah's figure, along with the rest of the Parterre de Fleurs seemed to gradually dissipate into nothingness. I was brought to the kitchen, my figure lanky and trembling as I gripped the butcher knife in my hands. My father stood like a giant, his muscles bulging to almost inhuman capacities as he let out a guttural, monstrous roar.
My father wasn't my father, that was a demon.
I was then brought to the hotel room, where I saw Shinso sitting on the bed, looking at me. His eyes were widened, almost filled with inexplicable terror as he gazed at me. When I looked down, my form was illusory and composed of shadows. Black illusory wings sprang from my back, and a pair of malevolent horns sat atop my head like a crown.
"What the hell happened to you? ..." He asked in a low, trembling whisper.
I snapped back to reality, inhaling a deep, shaky breath as I surveyed my surroundings. Isaiah was still rooted in his chair, his legs crossed as he inhaled another blow of his pipe.
"Is something wrong?" He asked in a low voice.
"What was that?" I asked, my voice breathless as I began to sweat profusely. The room around me seemed to spin as the ground seemed to become ocean waves, spinning and roaring and jumping up and down.
"I'm confused, what was what?" Isaiah raised an eyebrow, scowling.
My heart was racing as the room seemed to spin even more, sending me back into my chair, my head pounding as I clutched it in terror. My hands dove into my pocket in a desperate attempt to grasp the Blood-Moon Charm, but the feeling of its absence made my heart only beat faster.
"Have a good day, Mr. Nauscous."
"You can't harm me, you'll forever be that weak boy I found in that dumpster."
"You're finally gaining a voice?"
More and more of my fathers ridiculing remarks echoed in my mind. I let out a low groan as I buried my head in my chest, taking shallow and labored breaths.
I saw the bully pressing his feet onto Ayumi's chest. "You'll always be a quirk-less loser; you'll always be a punching bag for people with abilities you don't have—abilities you want so deeply!"
I covered my ears, letting out a low whimper. My heart seemed to be squeezed into a tight knot, my breaths coming in even slower as I whimpered in my chair. "S-stop…please."
I saw the cloaked figure in the tent, pulling out the box with the metal skull. "Humans are epitaphs of their desires, their longings. Maybe achieving some sort of power will satiate your bones."
At that moment, I felt a large hand cup my chin, pulling it up harshly. I saw my father, his form distorted, almost distorted in appearance. "You only drank that damn bottle to not feel like shit."
My surroundings turned hazy as a sharp punch was delivered to my face, sending me unconscious.
I reawoke, my eyes adjusting to the dim lighting of my familiar apartment room. I saw Shinso standing over me, looking down at my form with a concerned expression. Upon seeing that I had awoken, the boy took a few steps back.
"For some reason, you passed out in the lobby; Mr. Ryujin took you back here."
"What happened?" I asked groggily, leaning up in my bed, my gaze fixated on Shinso.
Shinso sighed softly, running a hand through the indigo tufts on his head.
"Where's Isaiah?"
The aura The Umbridge had described wasn't in effect during my previous interaction with him, which confused and puzzled me—at the same time, Isaiah claimed he didn't digest a potion, meaning he had no supernatural abilities.
"I saw him leaving the apartment earlier today. I think he was retrieving the items Carter said he'd get."
I fell silent for a few moments, nodding. I've already passed out numerous times in the period I've been here.
…
"He said…he didn't know what a childhood was." Ayumi slouched in her chair, looking at Mr. Ryujin sitting across from her. The man with blue dragon horns fell silent, stabbing a diced potato with his fork. His gaze remained on his plate for a moment before it fell to Ayumi.
"From what I've learned, quieter, more reclusive kids don't like to talk about their childhood."
"Maybe he's just shy, he did tell me his name though." Ayumi continued.
Her eyes flickered with something inscrutable as she continued to gaze at Mr. Ryujin. "Wilfred."
"Wilfred? That's a peculiar name."
"What's peculiar about it?" Carter, who was standing in the corner, asked with knit eyebrows.
Ayumi looked towards the orange-haired man, her face flushing slightly. "I'm sorry, I kinda forgot we're not from here."
"No worries." He replied with a smile. "I have a cousin named Ruugen."
"Ruugen?" Ayumi smirked upon hearing the name.
"Yeah, he's the type of person who gets into all sorts of trouble." Carter chuckled.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Oboro, Isaiah, Aizawa, Olivia, and Aaron walked in. Aaron sat down beside Mr. Ryujin, silently calling Carter to the table. Isaiah stood in the corner, and Oboro sat beside Aizawa, who looked pale, his hands trembling slightly. Olivia sat beside Aizawa, looking at the man with concern evident in her grayish-blue eyes.
"You come to our meals but refuse to sit. Why are you here to begin with?"
Isaiah remained silent, puffing more smoke from his pipe. "I merely indulge in observation."
"Observation? What are you, a scientist?" Carter let out a low chuckle, plopping down at the table.
The middle-aged man sighed softly. "I picked up the items you left for me in your apartment room. My respect is all the more lenient for your ability not to snoop."
"I don't have a reason to look into your stuff. I'd probably get disgusted and dart off."
Isaiah sighed, sitting in a chair in the corner of the lobby. His gaze was fixated on Ayumi as he spoke up. "You friend, he's peculiar."
Ayumi froze for a few moments, looking up at Isaiah. "Which one? Shinso?"
"No, the ordinary-looking one." Isaiah brought the pipe to his mouth and smoked again. "He talks to himself."
"What's wrong with that?..." Ayumi tilted her head slightly.
The middle-aged man fell silent, taking a breath. "It's often a sign of insanity. Have you ever heard the saying: crazy people can dance because the ordinary passerby can't comprehend the music?"
"Uhm…" Ayumi fell silent. "People always talk to themselves; there's nothing weird about it."
"I sense deep turmoil within him. An inability to properly reconcile with his voices. He sounds plagued, haunted with past actions. The man he wants to become is the man he'll only receive a fleeting glimpse of."
"What are you saying?..." The black-haired felt her face pale slightly.
Isaiah's expression seemed to darken as he frowned. "He's a lunatic."
…
Shinso turned from the door for a few moments before speaking softly. "The others are eating downstairs if you're interested."
I didn't reply, too plagued with confusion to give a proper answer. Why wasn't this Aura of Fear triggering? Why wasn't Shinso cowering away and trembling when he saw me? I wanted to ask the illusory voice, but I figured Shinso would perceive my actions as weird if I randomly started talking to myself.
"I'm…not hungry." I replied, my voice low and shaky.
At that moment the indigo-haired boy paused, his brows relaxing. "I'm…sorry if I hurt your feelings yesterday."
His lips parted, and he swallowed his saliva. "I feel like…when I told you that you looked ugly…you wanted to shut me out."
"You told me it was a joke…so I…accepted that."
Shinso sat down beside me on the bed, his eyes glued to the floor. "But you didn't seem to get better afterwards. If you chuckled or something, I would have thought…you didn't think I was rude."
My eyes widened when the corners of Shinso's eyes began to moisten.
"Why the hell are you crying?" I leaned up, a small smile forming on my face. Shinso's body slowly began to tremble.
"I-it's nothing…I…just…"
A few tears ran down his face as he turned to look at me with an expression of vulnerability. He had never been so open to me before, and I couldn't help but feel my heart constrict.
"...I don't know if we're ever gonna get home…if we're ever gonna see our families again…" He sniffled, wiping away the tears from his face.
"I have…very few people here that care about me…" He trailed off, his voice gradually lowering to a whisper.
Shinso looked back down at the floor, his hands trembling as he rubbed the back of his neck. "When you treated me like you did when you first met me…I was stunned."
More tears ran down his face, which he quickly wiped away. "Nobody's ever treated me like that aside from my parents."
I remained silent, gazing at Shinso, my heart feeling heavy in my chest. I ran a hand through my hair and chuckled self deprecatingly. "Loneliness has always been my companion. When I saw you, for some reason…I felt…something else."
The indigo-haired boy looked back at me, his bottom lip trembling. "I don't know why I feel this way, but…" He fell silent again.
I saw Shinso's cheeks flare a deep red as he sighed. "I want to be there for you…until we can figure this all out."
Upon hearing that, I felt my cheeks begin to burn like someone had set them on fire. I felt the urge to turn away, but at the same time—I wanted to keep staring at him.
I felt Shinso's warm hand rest atop mine, and his gaze bored into mine. "Maybe…I can be your loneliness."
At that moment his lips curled into a small smile, and he leaned in closer as he closed his eyes. My face flushed even more as he got closer. I slowly closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as my grip of his hand tightened.
I felt his hot breath millimeters from my mouth, but before I made contact, the door suddenly burst open.
"You guys gonna eat?" Ayumi asked from the doorway. I opened my eyes, and I don't think I've moved so fast in my life as I bolted away from Shinso.
The indigo-haired boy remained silent as I departed from the room. After watching me bolt down the hallway, she turned towards Shinso with a perplexed expression. "I think Isaiah might be right…" She mumbled to herself, smiling.
"I looked like a complete dork." Shinso huffed, falling back against the sheets. The black-haired girl smiled as she walked over to him and sat down beside him.
"I think someone's got feelings." She teased.
"Shut up." Shinso rolled over, facing the wall away from Ayumi's gaze.
"Let's just get some dinner in our systems."