Kaharu Kahari looked over at Tsukino opposite of him as he displayed a slightly fatigued face. He took the line of stars and walked across the shrine's entrance to place it above, as he walked he slowly said

"It… doesn't really concern you."

Tsukino got surprised as she said

"A-ah… Okay."

Kaharu carried that fatigued face with a disgruntled background as he continued doing his job reluctantly. The duty he'd put on himself was starting to show its burdens as he didn't want to do the job at his full ability, but as his principles dictated, he had no choice. That was what his idol had instructed him, after all.

Tsukino wasn't content either with the situation. Not because of the theme of the day they were going to have, as she thought it was very important to consider the future and plan for it properly. She instead felt a sense of injustice as that barricade had been placed in front of Kaharu Kahari once again, that unapproachable feeling that clouded his body. She'd told him so much about herself and the reason she was at the shrine, both during the Saturday and Sunday behind them. Wasn't it unfair that she told so much, yet she only knew the background as to why Kaharu was at the shrine? That's what she asked herself as she realized it should've been the opposite, her whole objective was to find out more about Kaharu, the layers of cogs. To that end, she'd failed completely.

That thought prompted her to actually think back to what she'd revealed.

Her mind drifted back to the Saturday that had passed

…

~ Saturday, the nineteenth of October, Two days earlier ~

Tsukino Scott, sitting by the plants that Kaharu had worked on recently, was caught up in her own thoughts as she usually was. Kaharu had suddenly left, after staring into the air behind them for a couple of moments. The series of events had left Tsukino with the happiness of getting another opportunity of conversation with Kaharu, but doubts started to pop up as she thought through what had just happened.

- Why did he even leave? Didn't he stare into the air for a couple of seconds before leaving?

Am I…

That uninteresting!?

I mean, granted, it's not me that I am interested in. But if I lack the ability to make him interested in me, I can't get any information about him since he won't want to interact with me…!

He got so bored by the 16 words I said that he left! But he asked me about my story! Is this how rude he is!? Should I add this to the investigation of Kaharu!?

But still, that he stared into the air and then went off…

How mysterious! That's really interesting, even though I usually don't like stuff like that.

Is this one of those 'unrequited love' things Kaori and Asano were talking about?

I really do need to watch more dramas, they seem more and more useful… -

Tsukino had fully submitted to her own thoughts as she continued to work on the plants with half of her usual effort, lost in thoughts about all kinds of things. Like a child wondering about the world, everything that was brought into her head developed into several other things to think about.

Her immersion was quickly disrupted as she heard a voice in the background, quietly saying

"Bastard thinks he's so much better than me…

I'll definitely show him who's better"

As she turned around slightly and caught sight of Kaharu Kahari, her thoughts instantly turned to

- What scary stuff is he saying!? -

Kaharu noticed Tsukino's existence as he lit up slightly, squatted down by the plants, and said

"Well, I'm back. Wanna continue?"

"U-Uh, sure"

Tsukino smiled as she continued with the story she was going to tell before, saying

"Well, the reason I started working at this shrine was that I partly wanted to see the more spiritual and mythological side of Japan while I'm here now. But I also wanted to try and experience this as a new thing to challenge my perspective, as I don't really believe in mystical and belief-type stuff. I basically started working here to see myself take on the unknown."

Kaharu was silent as he worked with the plants, he hadn't really considered leaning either way when it came to mysticism vs rationalism, so he wasn't sure how to position himself when it came to Tsukino's opinions. But it didn't matter to him that much either.

He put on a light smile as he was in a good mood after getting the opportunity to prove his strength against an all-powerful user. He then proceeded onto asking more questions about Tsukino, such as her hometown, how long she'd been in Japan, and her hobbies. That light conversation implemented itself in Tsukino's head as she also let loose a smile, because of how different it was to speak to Kaharu in a light-hearted normal manner, as opposed to his usual rough encounters at school and such. Tsukino realized at that moment, as she answered more and more questions from Kaharu, that there was a gap in between them in terms of knowledge. She had witnessed his actions from the background so many times that she knew a lot more about him than Kaharu did about her. Although that didn't matter to Tsukino per se in the end as she only had one goal, it felt strange on her side as she was able to know Kaharu's answer to certain questions he asked.

It was like a celebrity meeting with a fan, one had a lot more knowledge about the other than vice versa.

Was Tsukino a stalker fan who pursued the most amount of knowledge about her person of interest possible? But she only wanted to figure out the puzzle behind Kaharu's demeanor, how such a strange individual with sides of both, what was to Tsukino, good and evil could function together as it did. Or perhaps it didn't.

Either way, the mystery was what she wanted to solve. Tsukino decided to excuse her stalker-complex because of her goal, people were supposed to pursue their own self-interest after all.

As that day faded with the sun going down and the conversation dying down, they went on two different paths.

…

~ Monday, the twenty-first of October, 16:41 ~

The frown on Melliacci stemmed from the fact that Kaharu was secretive about his whereabouts during the day, which felt reminiscent of certain times he'd had with Kaharu. But it was also strange from the fact that he'd been open about his feelings on being an outsider with Melliacci before. Were they closer than Kaharu and Tsukino were? As that thought crossed Melliacci's mind, he smiled as he pushed his glasses up and emerged from his spot, saying

"Kaharu, I think we're gonna need a redo on that response"

Both, especially Tsukino, reacted with surprise as they noticed the Vice president of Akumu High school come up from the bushes that laid beside them. Kaharu frowned as he said

"You were hiding in the bushes?"

Melliacci scratched his head as he started speaking

"It may seem dishonorable, but I was only trying to fulfill the mission I have been granted."

Kaharu Kahari changed his look to one of suspicion as he awaited Melliacci's next line, as Tsukino stood still in confusion. Her eyes shifted between the two people multiple times as she was wary of what would happen, even though it seemed interesting, it could've developed into something worse. Kaharu relaxed his formation as he turned around and said

"I have nothing to say. Let me put it like this, I could tell you what I've done, but you wouldn't understand it. Pretty much no one here could've"

Melliacci grit his teeth in frustration as the notion of him not understanding was brought up once again, it really ground against his heart. Like Kaharu was so special that he couldn't be understood by anyone else. Usually, he would've just made a mental note of it as he didn't worry about it too much. But as it came with arms against his mission, that notion became a bigger annoyance than he'd expected. Melliacci could feel a strange feeling inside of him, that warranted him stepping towards Kaharu even though he knew clearly that Kaharu was stronger. Kaharu stared in silence as Melliacci took a couple of steps forward, drawing his head up towards Kaharu's silently suspicious face.

Tsukino got the premonition that something big was about to happen, the air had gotten stingy and stale, like it shocked her skin slightly every time they touched.

Melliacci grit his teeth harder as he suddenly burst, saying

"For someone who doesn't know a lot, you sure act like you know everything! Kaharu, I'm just trying to help you! You're making it a lot harder to keep you under control!"

Melliacci realized his phrasing too late as he stepped back slightly, Kaharu still staring in silence. For some reason that staring felt a lot more frightening than when he actually spoke, Melliacci had no idea what was about to happen.

Tsukino also stood still for a moment as she looked onto the two engaged in a subtle conflict, but it was strange. Kaharu just stood in silence as he stared forth silently, when Tsukino had expected him to burst forward in rage and exclaimed something loudly. Kaharu fixed his hair quickly as he turned around and placed the line of stars on the table in front of him

*Pan*

The pounced on the table as Kaharu placed them quickly but roughly, he looked away with a shadow over his face as he said

"I'm tired of this stuff..."

He then lowered his shoulders as he started walking away from the place with long strides that made himself noticeable to the people left at the scene. They were both left in silence, Melliacci's head spinning as he saw the bright purple back of Kaharu's school uniform fade from his vision. Should he have run after Kaharu to apologize? Melliacci had no real choice as his feet seemed to be stuck to the ground at the moment.

What would he have said anyways? Mellaicci didn't know, even if the phrasing had been harsh, what he said was the truth after all. But that truth had halted him for a moment, a doubt had planted itself in the soil beneath him that had grown into something that kept him stuck in that spot.

He quickly let go of his lip, any more and there would've probably been a mark left on it.

Tsukino was an awkward remnant of the situation, as she looked around that place. It seemed murky, and darker than it was before. Night was approaching, that was probably the reason, Tsukino told herself. But as she managed to slowly escape the scene, a thought lingered in her head as the scene replayed in her head multiple times

- If only I hadn't---- -

…

~ Monday, the twenty-first of October, 17:11 ~

Every step seemed heavier than they were before, like his shoes had gotten heavier than they were supposed to be all of the sudden. Or like something was dragging him down towards the ground, but what it was was hard to pinpoint. He understood that it was in reality only in his head, and that there was nothing physical to pull him towards the ground. Reality seemed to be warped for Melliacci as he walked down the brightly-shining road, filled with populated restaurants and shops with sales for a lead-up to the apparently popular holiday Halloween. Melliacci was always drowned-out with work and studying that he didn't have that large of an understanding about what the zeitgeist was and what the people around him usually did for fun and such.

But he'd thrown those responsibilities out that evening as he approached his destination. A bright neon sign of a baseball and a ball flickering gave Melliacci a calmer state of mind, he entered the building with those chains from before lightening up as it seemed as if he entered his El Dorado, a city of gold.

He very suddenly saw the sight of a startled employee as he heard

"Eh, uh? Is that you, Melliacci?

It's been forever!"

Melliacci approached the bar with his usual platonic smile, which had grown into more of a reflex than a reflection of his feelings at that point. He said

"I'm sorry I haven't been here in a while, I've been busy with school and such."

The employee, displaying a more genuine smile, chuckled as he slapped the back of Melliacci and said

"It's fine, It's fine! You're here now, aren't you? You want the usual?"

"Yes, thank you"

Melliacci was delighted as he was finally able to switch out his shoes to much lighter ones, and put on a protective helmet to block the damage out. He grabbed a hold of his bat and moved to his batting cage with light and cheery footwork.

He grabbed his bat in a manner that would semi-impress a coach from a college and waited for the balls to start firing at him.

It shot at him.

*TAN*

As he started to play the game, his mind wasn't even focused on the game itself. It started to drift to other things as his body started to move on its own.

*TAN*

- I wonder when PuriKara's next song comes out -

*TAN*

- Maybe I could become the best player in the world if I trained hard? I would be curious to see how strong I am now against the current best player. What if you could measure talent? -

*TAN*

- I should try that new fried chicken I heard about on the radio, that they have at Law*on. It's apparently ginger-seaweed flavored, how strange, I wonder how it tastes. I suppose that curiosity is what drives people like me to get it. -

His batting continued for a while as he completely zoned out and just lived in the moment, hitting balls and feeling the excitement well up within him.

*TAAAANNN*

Melliacci managed to hit that last ball perfectly in the middle of his bat, so it bounced of in a complete arc that probably would've been a home-run in an actual game. As the bat continued to swing, and Melliacci's body stood twisted as it followed the momentum, he looked at the ball fly in the ball with a half-open mouth. If he was able to hit that ball so well, in the correct manner, and had hit everything so far, could he "miss"?

He looked towards the cannon that shot the balls as his face grew a bit more serious.

If his cause was truly righteous, then could he really be wrong? If he followed the correct leader that made the right decisions, then there was no way for him to be wrong.

He could hear the machine prepare another ball as he took on a stance, grabbing the bat in a way that would leave a coach from a college unimpressed.

His stare at the machine led to himself asking once again

- Could I miss?-

The machine shot out the ball at the same very fast pace it had before, which for some reason surprised Melliacci. Relying on his reflexes, like before, he swung the bat forth with his full force with his eyes half-closed

*SWOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

Opening them slowly, his eyes followed the ball's supposed arc and looked behind him to find it spin against the net behind him at a fast pace before falling down to the ground with an empty *Kan*.

It seemed as though Melliacci had gotten an answer, as he looked quietly at the ball, and then to his bat.

"Melliacci, so you were here!"

Melliacci immediately turned his attention to the entrance of the building as he thought he heard Kaharu's voice. But all he found was an empty hallway with a closed door, Kaharu hadn't come to talk with him, or interact at all. He must've really made him angry.

Melliacci realized the time and started to move away from the batting cage, leaving the tools by the counter from where he once had taken them.

It was time to face reality and his responsibilities again, and move away from the fun he had had at that batting cage, ignoring everything that could've bothered him.

His very infrequent time for stress relief was over. But there was a little dissatisfaction left in him.

Melliacci thought to himself as he opened the door to the outside

- That was relieving, kind of, I suppose I'll have to get back and study now.

But still…

It would've been nice to make that *TAN* noise on that last ball… -

…