Characters in this chapter: Mao Inoue, Sho Sakurai, Erika Toda, Satoshi Ohno

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As Mao walked in the garden, she met different people. She approached them. “Excuse me, do you know Prince Yamada?” she asked using her brother’s real name but no one was willing to answer. They were all busy taking pictures, eating, painting, conversing, playing with pets and so on. Mao couldn’t get their attention. She was about to leave when a man answered him.

“Prince Yamada?” said the man as he got down from the tree.

“Oh yes, do you know him?” asked Mao expecting to hear information. She was happy because at last somebody talked to her and this somebody seemed smart in his casual clothing: jacket with hood and white pants.

“I heard he live in north village” the man answered.

“North village, where is it, is there a way I can go there?” Mao questioned.

“You can get train ticket from the reception office. You can find it if you headed that way!” said the man pointing the right direction.

Mao smiled. “Thank you, thank you for the information.” She her heel but remembered to look back. “Wait, can I know your name?”

The man smiled. “I’m Sho, Sakurai Sho. How about you?”

“I’m Mao…” she smiled then took candies from her pocket. “Here, take these”

“Oh, thank you” Sho responded as he accepted the candies.

Mao gave her last smile as she left.

*

Mao saw the office. It was a big structure with people going in and out.

“Excuse me; can I get train ticket to north Village?” She inquired.

“Why do you want to go there?” a girl receptionist questioned.

“I need to find Prince Yamada”

“What’s your relation with him?”

“Well, I’m his… I’m his sister”

“Really?”

“It’s a long story but I really need to talk with him” Mao insisted.

“Okay-Okay” said the receptionist. “I’ll help you. Just tell me your name and your special ability”

“My name is Mao Inoue, My brother is Ryosuke Yamada. He has the ability to detect time of tragedy. About me… well… I don’t have any special ability”

“You’re not an SA?” the receptionist was surprised. “Then how did you get here?”

“The gate keeper allowed me, in exchange of my black hair”

“So…it was Maki’s fault.”

“Yes, that was her name, now would you mind helping me?”

“Well… I’ll definitely help you with payment of course.”

“Payment?” Mao was frightened.

“Lower your voice!” said the receptionist. “My special ability is to give powers, so I can make you SA. With that you can have your train ticket to enter any places here in AKABA”

“That’s great, but I don’t have money to pay you”

“It’s okay; I don’t accept money any way.”

“Then, what should I pay you?”

The receptionist looked down “I like your shoes, give it to me” she grinned.

“My shoes, but…”

“You don’t like?”

Mao remembered that her pair of shoes was a gift from her mom. She couldn’t give this that easy.

“Okay, if you don’t want, you can leave… it is better to go home, girl” the receptionist advised.

“No! I’ll give it to you!” Mao removed her shoes and handed to the receptionist. “It is so precious to me, so please take care of it!”

“Don’t worry; I’ll keep this as my own.”

Mao was a little bit sad. First was her black hair, now her shoes.

The receptionist blinked her eyes. “Now, are you ready to have power?”

Mao gulped.

“Okay…” the receptionist tapped her head. “From this moment I’ll give you power called Empathy, you can make any man fall in love with you”

“Eh?”

“The power will take effect if you kiss him for 1 minute in his lips, but it is limited…it will only last for a day.”

“What kind of power is that, I don’t like it, remove it!”

“Are you sure, if I remove it you won’t become SA then you can’t get train ticket”

“So, I don’t have choice?”

The receptionist nodded.

“Then, okay, I’ll accept it, just give me my train ticket”

“You can get it inside” said the receptionist pointing a room. Mao went there. As she left, the receptionist smiled, and then disappeared like smoke.

*

“Excuse me; can I have train ticket?” said Mao to a male receptionist.

“Can I know your special ability?”

“Ano…I can make any man fall in love with me by means of kissing”

“What?” the receptionist was frightened. He placed her hand on the front of Mao’s face, sensing her power “What a dangerous ability” He proved it was real “H-here, here’s your ticket” he handed the ticket nervously.

“Arigatou!” Mao answered as she left. She looked for the receptionist who took her shoes but she couldn’t see her. “Hey, where’s the female receptionist here?” Mao asked a passer by.

“What do you mean female receptionist? We only have male receptionist here”

“What?” Mao got confused. She couldn’t be wrong; there was a female receptionist there. In fact she took her shoes and gave her power. Well, the power wasn’t nice so she was decided not to use it.

“Mao!” called Sho, the guy who gave him information “Do you already get your ticket?” he asked.

Mao nodded. “I have it!” she showed the ticket.

“Good, if you want we can travel together”

Mao smiled “Sure!” Having companion will be better.

“Can I ask something?” Sho inquired on their way to the train station.

“Sure” Mao entertained.

“Why your hair is white, and what happened to your shoes?”

Mao turned down her eyes “It’s a long story”

*

As the train started its journey, Mao heard consecutive questions from Sho.

 “What can you say about this place?”

“It’s normal but beautiful” Mao answered.

“How about the people?”

“Well, some are weird and not approachable”

“Are they good than the people outside?”

Mao failed to answer.

“For me, this place is better for all SA” Sho stated

Mao pinched her eyebrows “Have you experienced living outside?”

“Yes” Sho nodded. “Like all the passengers here. We planned to live outside but in the end, here we are, returning. You have same experience, don’t you?”

“Well… actually I just came here to get my brother”

“You’re going to get your brother? Do you really want to live with ordinary people?”

Sho’s last words lingered on Mao’s mind. She tried but couldn’t answer those questions.

“We’re here in north village”

Mao stood up as she heard the announcement. She bowed to Sho before leaving.

She was still thinking “Is it okay to get Ryosuke back?” she questioned but her doubt immediately vanished as she realized all she wanted to do was to be with her brother.

“Excuse me; can I know how to go in Prince Yamada’s place?” Mao asked a fisherman. She wasn’t sure if he was really a fisherman but since he was sitting on a boat while fishing, she thought him as that.

The fisherman looked at her “Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Mao, I’m looking for Prince Yamada’s place?”

The fisherman pointed the other side of river. “It is located there”

“Across the river?” Mao snapped. “Then, can you lend me a ride?” The fisherman had a boat so Mao asked his help.

“I’m afraid I can’t, I don’t usually talk to strangers”

“But I already gave my name.”

“Ah yeah…”

“Can you help me now?”

“Okay but not for free”

 Mao expected to hear that. Most of the people she met helped her with payment “I don’t have money, but I have candies.” She took it from her pocket “Most of the teenagers in our place love this, want some?”

“No, thanks, I hate candies. Eating too many sweets is the same as smoking or excessive drinking. This is because the majority of sweets are made exclusively from refined sugar which has absolutely zero nutritional value. You may as well be eating cardboard.”

“Is that so…” said Mao keeping the candies. “Then what should I pay you?”

“Just cook these fish for me” said the fisherman showing the fish.

Cooking was one of Mao’s special skills so that would be easy, but she didn’t know where to cook. “Excuse me, can you make fire?” asked Mao since she couldn’t cook without it.

The fisherman got down from the boat and touched a big stone. It produced light and then changed into stove.

“Eh?” Mao got frightened.

“I can provide anything; just tell me what you need” said the fisherman with a blink in his eyes.

“O-Okay…” Mao replied as she started the cooking.

*

“Here!” Mao handed the plate of food. “It is lemon garlic tilapia, hope you’ll like it”

The fisherman started to taste it. “Oohhh…this is good” he bit out.

Mao smiled as she heard the good feedback. She really loved it when people praised her cooking skills, she also like watching them eating. For a moment, she remembered her brother since she used to prepare food for him.

“I’m done, thanks for the food” said the fisherman. “Let’s go now; I’ll bring you in Yamada’s place”

*

The two rode on the boat. The fisherman was the one who was paddling. As Mao observed him she could realize how dangerous it was-to talk to strangers, but in able to find her brother she needed to take any risk.

“We’re here!” said the fisherman. They finally reached the other side of the river. The fisherman pointed a direction “From here you can find their mansion, just continue walking.”

“Thank you, I’m going now” Mao answered.

“Wait!” the fisherman called.

Mao looked back without any idea why he called him.

The fisherman got closer and touched her white hair. A light sprout and then Mao’s hair turned to normal. “As I thought, you’re much prettier with black hair” he uttered.

Mao froze, speechless since she never thought regaining her black hair. “Thank you!” She hugged the fisherman, but separated immediately. “You don’t know how happy I am. Thank you for giving back my hair”

The fisherman smiled. “I thought you’ll get mad if I do that, but since I made the opposite, just think it as my bonus because you cooked a very delicious food”

“I’ll definitely cook more when we meet again” Mao promised.

“I’ll be waiting for that-so take care”

“Yes of coarse, by the way, can I know your name?”

“My name? I’m Ohno, Ohno Satoshi.”

As the fisherman told his name, Mao bid her goodbye. She waved her hands before running in the direction of Yamada’s place. “Finally I can get Ryosuke back” she thought.

***

“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
-The Red Queen