green smog

prologue

 TW: smoking and mention of suicide 

  Heros and villains, such an abstract concept. What determines if someone is a bad, is it their actions? their morals? or perhaps something out of their control? The answer is something Zihao has always pondered. He may not have known the complete answer but he did know a part of the answer, perspective. In the eyes of society, the heroes were the ones that were always good. They stopped people who broke laws and kept the community peaceful. I mean the person committed a crime, right? So of course, they were bad. But does that work in every situation?

  Say a young boy is sick and in need of medicine, the father cannot afford it, so he resorts to theft. To the boy his father might be a hero, he did something risky in order to save him. But to society's eyes he is a thief that deserves to face a punishment. Perspective, such a simple word yet it has the power to change an entire story.

  What if a woman wanted to kill herself, yet a "hero" stopped her? The hero would be praised for saving the woman's life. But the woman now has to face another day, and if she was left severely injured after her attempt, she may not be able to adapt to living again. She never asked to be saved, she never wanted to live this way, but because someone decided to stop her due to their own savior complex, she now has to live with it. 

  The whole idea of good and bad was askew. The whole concept of morals is what drove Zihao to live his life the way he does. He doesn't hate heroes, but one thing is for sure they weren't always what they make themselves out to be. And he would never put his life in the hands of someone that believes that heroes are always right.

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  Soft pitter patters of rain droplets hitting the concrete could be heard. Each honk from a car created their own conversation. Streetlamps lit the dark streets of Japan. Everyone seemed to be in a rush to get home, well everyone except for one. Perched on top of a building sat a boy, who calmly watched over the bright lights below him. Bringing the cigarette in his hand close to his mouth he inhaled, allowing his lungs to fill with smoke.

  A sudden ringing from his phone pulls him back to reality as his fishes in his pockets to find the source of the ring. A faint smile paints his face as he reads the message.

"Meet me at UA on Monday, anytime will work fine with me. I assume you know where to go."

  He chuckles slightly at the message as he tucks his phone away again. He throws the rest of his cigarette onto the cold metal roof, making sure to stomp on it. Standing up he stretches and looks up at the sky. "Guess I'm going back sooner than I thought." And with that he disappears into the night like smoke.

Tw: this book will contain elements of smoking and cursing. Any other triggers will be mentioned before the chapter. If I happen to miss one, please tell me.

-be prepared to be spoiled, I only read the manga so there maybe major spoilers-