“Are you Tamashi?”

“Yes, sir,” mumbled Tamashi as he sat in shock.

A crowd watched as he was being examined in the back of an ambulance.

One emotion collectively showed in each of their faces: anger.

“Hi Tamashi, I’m with the police department. Can you stand up for me?”

Tamashi slowly rose to his feet, hoping for any amount of good news.

Instead, the officer walked around and pulled Tamashi’s arms behind his back.

“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to place you under arrest for attempted murder.”

Tamashi looked up at the sky, blue eyes glistening in the sun.

“Why… me?”

——

Savior: Original Story by OneSevenEight

Episode: Framed Perspective - Part 2

——

As Tamashi was being walked to the police car, he scanned the crowd. He noticed that Star was gone.

As he looked around, he kept locking eyes with different people in the crowd.

Those eyes were full of anger. Hatred. Pure disgust.

‘Why me? How could this be happening?’

He then saw her.

The girl he saved. The girl he was accused of trying to kill.

Tamashi locked eyes with her, and her eyes told a different story.

She believed he was trying to save her.

She was crying as he got shoved into the car.

As the car pulled away from the scene, new realizations began to dawn on Tamashi.

He almost died this morning. He was accused of trying to kill someone else this morning. His life was forever changed this morning.

Tears began to well up, turning those deep blue eyes into balmy oceans.

‘Why…’

——

Tamashi opened his eyes, and he was standing in front of his white-haired clone.

“Who… Who are you? I forgot until now, but you were there at the incident. Did you have something to do with it?”

The clone matched Tamashi’s gaze while giving off a slight smirk.

“Who am I? I’m me.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

“Answer my question, YOU DICK! DID YOU CAUSE ALL OF THIS?!”

Tamashi ferociously lunged towards the clone.

All of the sudden, the clone was gone.

“Some nerve you’ve got. You really think you can take me on?”

Tamashi turned his head to find the clone standing behind him, facing away from him. The clone was leaning his head back, talking directly into Tamashi’s ear.

“Maybe you should calm down. You’re not going to win against me, anyways.”

“Shut up. I’m going to take you down, whether or not you’re using your cheap tricks.”

“Is that so? Why don’t you try and see what happens, Tama-‘yo’?”

Tamashi spun around and swung his fist at the clone’s face.

Tamashi swung into open air, as the clone had once again gone missing.

All of a sudden, Tamashi’s legs were kicked out, and the clone slammed his foot into Tamashi’s back, slamming him into the floor.

Except, there was no floor.

Tamashi stared down into what appeared to be a vast, endless void that looked like a sky during a sunset. His body began to shudder at the fact of falling through the void.

He then noticed that he had stopped falling, like there was an invisible barrier stopping him.

“There’s two reasons to why you’re unable to beat me right now,” said the clone as he sat on Tamashi’s back.

“Number one: you’re weak as hell. You’re just some regular-ass high school boy. There’s nothing that you have right now that will allow you to beat me. Number two: You’re in my domain. This is my world, and I have full control over it. I could remove that floor that you’re squashed against and let you fall. Lucky for you, I do have a bit of compassion.”

“Compassion? You seem like a total dick to me.”

“Ugh, just remember who started the fight. Anyways, just hear me out. No, I didn’t cause you or that girl to almost get run over. Also, I had no part to play in you getting arrested. After all, I don’t exist outside of you.”

“You don’t exist outside of me? What the hell is going on? Who-“

“That’s not important right now. I’m just here to give you a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Are you ready for this?”

“You’re gonna tell me anyways, so spill it.”

Tamashi felt the pressure in his back increase.

“Just shut up and listen. I can give you my power. You have the ability to become the people’s hero, or a god of destruction. All you have to do is beat me in a fight, and you’ll get everything. Understand?”

Tamashi’s eyes grew wide as he began to process what he just heard.

“Wait, what are you-“

“Time’s up. I’ll let you think about all that back in reality. Well, if you remember. Until next time. Tamayo.”

“WAIT, AT LEAST TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!”

Tamashi turned his head to look up at the clone.

He grinned as Tamashi’s vision faded.

“Whether you remember this meeting or not, you’ll be fine. You’ll get the training you need from her. See ya!”

——

Tamashi woke up to find himself laying on a bench. He sat up and looked around.

He was in a dark, dingy jail cell.

Tamashi began to remember the events that led up to him ending up there.

He brought to the police station, booked, and sent to see a judge.

“Tamashi Yosha. Age 16. You’re a junior in high school. You’ve been accused of attempted murder. Does all that info sound correct to you?”

“Yes… Your honor.”

“Well, you’ve been accused of a pretty serious crime. Therefore, we’re going to have to set your bail at 500000. Sorry, that’s the best we can do.”

Hearing that statement caused Tamashi to sink further into despair. He believed that he was never going to see any freedom again. He was going to lose his friends, and was going to go to prison before he could even graduate.

As he sat in the cell, Tamashi dropped his head in between his legs, and began to cry.

A few moments later, a police officer shows up at the cell door.

“Get up. You’ve been bailed out.”

——

It seemed like a miracle. Someone with a lot of money had showed up and bailed Tamashi out. As he left the building and approached the parking lot, he pondered on who it could be.

“I see you’re still alive. No one kicked your ass in jail?”

Tamashi stopped and froze in place, suspended in complete disbelief.

“YOU! What the hell is going on here?”

Star grinned as she greeted Tamashi.

“From this point on, you’re a member of my family. Welcome, Tamashi.”