Tou was a regular, teenage elf.
His hair was long and kept well, a dark green color incredibly close to black. His eyes were a lighter green, and his skin was tan. A button nose and soft eyes. To all of his peers, he was a sweet boy who never really got angry, or sad, or happy. Just a kind person.
But to those who knew him,
"St-stop!"
"Hold still."
Tou pulled the innocent girl's hair back, using her forehead as an ashtray. The sizzling sound of the cigarette being put out was almost like a calming melody to his ears, obviously after the screams of the girl.
He was satisfied, but there was no expression on his face.
"Tou, you're ruthless as usual!"
"Awesome!"
"He doesn't care whether it's a woman, or a man, or a child."
They lingered behind the back of the school, acting as delinquents would. Harassing fellow students. However, Tou felt especially different today.
Why am I doing this?
It's a question he had never asked himself. He quickly found the reason. For satisfaction. At the cost of another human's happiness.
Isn't that an equivalent trade? I believe so.
So that's that.
Okay, it's resolved.
"I'll have to say. It's astounding that you're still so much scum."
"Huh?"
From the corner, another person entered.
[Cast: Aqua Burst]
Tou's head tilted, evading the high-pressure beam to his head. There, he could see who the attack belonged to.
At this point, his lackeys, or rather, admirers, had already run off. Along with the female classmate he had been harassing.
The attacker was a boy around the same age as him. Dark black hair that was incredibly short, as it was freshly shaved from the time he spent in the juvenile detention center. His eyes were orange, almost glowing. They were the type of eyes that you could spot in a dark room. And his face was covered in scars.
"Marco. They finally let you out, huh?" Tou stepped forward.
"..."
"I don't know why you're criticizing me. After all, what you did was completely reprehensible. Haha."
"Shut up!"
[Cast: Aqua Burst: Rapid]
From his hand, three beams of water shot forward, at an even faster rate. It was comparable to a crossbow. Even faster.
Tou expertly maneuvered, dodging all of these. He moved forward.
"You killed your father! I've never killed anyone before. I'm worse than you, somehow?" Tou mocked. Marco's jaw clenched.
[Cast: Frostbite Chains]
From the ground, chains of ice shot out at Marco. They wrapped around him.
[Cast: Pressurized Cut]
Tightly compressed water beamed out of his hands, slicing through the chains of ice. He charged at Tou.
"You don't have a clear, resolved conscience like me, Marco."
Tou grabbed Marco by the collar.
Quickly, he rotated. With this momentum, Marco was thrown to the ground.
"That's why you'll never win."
Tou stomped on his head once before leaving the premises.
. .
.
"I told you, Ailsa, never trust a demihuman. It's really mostly your fault. I don't know what you were thinking," Tou reprimanded.
"Goodness, Tou. He didn't cheat on me because he was a demihuman. He cheated because he was a bad person!" Ailsa responded.
"Tou... he's bad at understanding things like that, haha," Marcus added.
The three friends sat in the cafe, chatting boisterously.
Marcus was a blonde-haired boy with hair that fell to his chin. He had beady brown eyes and an ambitious look to him. At one glance, you would think that he was a delinquent of the sort, a mild-mannered individual.
Ailsa, on the other hand, had dark blue hair and black eyes. She seemed like a well-mannered girl, hanging out with people who had bad intentions. But this was mostly not the case. At least, right now, Tou did not have any bad intentions.
Marcus kindly suggested, "Well, it doesn't matter. With how pretty you are, won't you be able to get a new boyfriend in seconds?"
"You guys are seriously all idiots!" she groaned.
Marcus and Tou laughed.
After some chatting, Tou walked home.
He was an orphan, so he lived by himself. Tou reached the top of the shelf, pulling the fresh loaf of bread out of its paper bag. He sliced a piece off, rubbing butter onto it. Along with this, he poured himself a wooden cup of water.
"Haah."
He bit down, only after taking a seat at the dining table.
"You seem to be enjoying that."
Tou was startled, rightfully so, from the voice that came from across the dining table. A man sat there, his chair leaning back. He was fairly muscular, with a tall build. Long grey hair that was long and wild, with grey eyes to go with. He wore no shirt, only black pants.
"W-who are you?!"
Tou grabbed a knife. The man disappeared, and Tou's guard instantly rose.
The man appeared behind him. He quickly turned around.
"I'm still figuring that out myself, haha
"Whether I'm Julian, the cowardly hero that can't see himself from an outside perspective… or Cerat, the only dragon to master every element! Consuming that heart must've latched me onto Julian's soul… Ah, I'm getting the syntax all wrong. This is incredibly confusing, so I apologize."
"H-huh…?"
"I'm not real. I'm in your head. Tou is dead."
"What?"
. .
The two sat down and decided to engage in civil conversation. As a result, they learned a few things. That grey-haired man in front of him was named Cerat.
"My memories are so bad… it's like smashing two fruits together and expecting them to create a new fruit. Well, actually, I guess… no…"
"What are you — listen, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. What do you mean by 'Tou is dead?'"
"You aren't Tou anymore. You're Julian. And I'm Julian, with a slight variation.
"Don't you feel different? A strange pull that urges you to escape. You don't like this lifestyle, do you?"
"If you're talking about my methods of obtaining happiness, I love it. And if you're trying to stop me, it's not happening. Oh, and, I'm not Julian. I'm Tou."
Cerat sighed.
"And you're just a part of my head. I have a lot of control over my mind. So just like, that, you could be gone."
Tou snapped.
As he said, Cerat was no longer there.