Hunters Of Reality

Chapter 32: Agreement

Until a few weeks ago, I always considered myself to be the most unique being on the planet. This meant as an excuse for everytime a person would call me a loser. I would always go home, and convince myself of this fact. But I never wanted others to know about it.

Up until now, I didn't realise the burden I was bearing. Having powers is neither a blessing, nor a curse, for that is decided by the one who possesses it.

A mere child would call it magic, while a detective, or an archaeologist would call it divine. And, in that same sense, a criminal would consider it to be a bad curse.

After tasting defeat, I understood that you're never born special. You only make yourself one. People spend their whole lives pursuing the idea of uniqueness, yet they end up being the same as others. If life starts off as a plant, then special would be the birds flying above it.

What would the poor sapling do to be closer to the birds? Grow.

Growth induces uniqueness. We always consider most children to have similar behaviours, yet we never do that with adults. The reason being, that every person becomes unique as they grow. They learn to make their own decisions.

They can choose to live in their own way, or strive to be like others. Both choices may or may not be good, but the latter definitely isn't what I'd go for.

I'll admit that the first choice never looked too promising to me, but I can now see that I have been naive all along. While convincing myself that I was better than others, I blinded myself with ignorance. In reality, my power didn't mean anything. It only meant that history was a more interesting subject for me.

So what happened to all that uniqueness? There are people like me all around. I am living among them now. And, not too long ago, I was beaten by a girl of my age. She had a sizeable ego, yet was disciplined.

I guess calling her 'the strongest first-year student' wasn't an exaggeration. She is unique among us because of her efforts. Training everyday, striving to be the best... She grew up to be a fine tree, attracting several birds to it all the time. That is what people dream of achieving. That is what I call special.

Approx. 36h later, Medical Room - 4:56 a.m.

I opened my eyes, to see the ceiling. I was in bed. I couldn't move my head very well, as I had a neck brace on. It wasn't the usual rigid one, but the softer, wrap-around-your-neck type. My vision was slightly blurred, but I could definitely see a bit of the moonlight splashing into the room through the glass window. I checked the time in my PDA, which was kept beside me on a table, and realised that it was way too dark for a morning.

I remembered suffering a hard blow to the abdominal region, and passing out as a result. Of course I had no idea about the amount of time I spent having this little nap.

Just then, the nurse, Hinako-sensei, entered. Surprised, she said, "About time you got up. I'm astonished that you only suffered some minor injuries."

"Minor? I'm in the nursing room with a neck brace on," I said, in a rather muffled voice.

"Your right hand, and some of you ribs were nearly broken. The neck brace is only to relieve you of some pain."

"How long have I been here?"

"Around one and a half days. Your friends visited you more times than I could count. They seemed worried."

"What about Miura Rika? That red-haired--"

"I know who she is. She also did come here. Told me to give you this once you got up."