POST_METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter IV - Suffering in the past

It was nighttime. Saki was already fast asleep. Aleister and Emma were on the sofa in his ward. He was gazing at the floor while his right eye was constantly glowing in a dark blue color. He was trying to hold his Dark Prowess back, but the pain in his heart and stomach and Emma sobbing while sitting beside him only made it more difficult. They were both severely shocked by her tragedy. Aleister was also pondering on her tragedy.

--- ALEISTER'S PONDERING STARTS ---

- Are you ready, Saki? - he asked her one and half an hour ago. He was sitting in front of her.

- Yes... - she replied. Her voice was still shaking a bit.

- Remember, we're on your side. We won't blame you - Emma was next to her.

- <sigh> ... So... I was never like this before... About 3 years ago, I had a lonely but much better life...

- How did all of this happen? - Emma asked.

- If it's hard for you, you don't have to tell us right away... - Aleister said.

- But... I think you should know how I became an outcast... A social wretch... Please let me start from the beginning...

Aleister nodded and pulled out a notebook from his bag.

- I'll use this notebook to record your story. I'll use this to adapt to your liking and establish your needs in the future if you consent.

- I do...

- Thank you. And you're neither an outcast nor a social wretch. You are someone who's destined to live a better life.

- So, I graduated from a local middle school. I was in the 9th grade. I just became 15 years old.

- 15, you say? "A minor?"

- Yes... I believed I could rely on myself at this age as everybody else did... Well, I was wrong... I passed all of my exams with flying colors, but I couldn't make any friends at all... I didn't dare to socialize with my classmates because I was afraid they would reject me, hurt me, or look down on me.

- So, according to what you stated, you were shy and locked up. You were afraid of that unknown and the negative consequences of socializing.

- You could say so... I turned out to be correct at some point...

- I see... "The most primordial emotion of mankind is fear..." - Aleister quoted from an author who once lived in her world.

- "And the most primordial kind of fear is the fear of the unknown..." - Saki continued.

- So you're familiar with H. P. Lovecraft. What a surprise!

- I like his style...

- Me too. He said some clever yet grim things about the fragility of the human mind..., even though almost everyone falls victim to this grappling emotion.

- No one was supposed to harm you there, right? - Emma asked.

- I don't know... I never spoke to any of my classmates there that way... And I don't think I can ever talk with them anymore... Especially with Sakura and her friends, Hayase and Asuka...

- Are these gals your ex-classmates from the middle school you attended? - Aleister asked.

- Yeah... Sakura was the one who often asked me if I wanted to go with them... I always shook her off... Deep down, I was afraid of her too... I didn't accept her friend request on my social account either...

- Noted.

- I got used to being alone, looking down on others who had at least one mutual friend or any relationship since I thought it was unnecessary for me... I thought I was superior to them... Wait, did you say "noted?"