On behalf of the wolf girl:
People say that love helps us to open up as individuals. It is a bright feeling that inspires us to do good deeds and mercy. Love is a light in the darkness, a hope that gives meaning to our lives and gives us the strength to overcome difficulties. It is the fuel that nourishes our essence and gives it energy for growth and development. They say that love cannot motivate a person to commit evil deeds, because true feeling always fills us with kindness and compassion.
It looks like something went wrong if I emerged, shedding light on the dark sides of love. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, and I'm the most important one.
I stare at the shackles binding my wrists. Along this long journey, I have not escaped encountering pain, which I have already become so familiar with. This is incomparable to what I have experienced in my history. Sometimes the emotional pain is so intense that the physical pain ceases to be felt.
The only thing I couldn't get used to was the uncomfortable position. The cage was too cramped, limiting my movements. During those thirty-six hours, I couldn't even move, and my body went numb. And a terrible smell from a sweaty body... I cringed. Damn it! It's unbearable. I nervously gnaw my fingernail, trying to distract myself from such thoughts.
"Hey, someone, let me out of there!"
My screams echoed throughout the room. It seemed that no one heard me, and it seemed that I was alone here. Or could be they deliberately did not want to hear me, letting me know that I did not exist? The feeling of heaviness in my chest did not let me go, and when when my carriage left the tunnel, I looked through the crack and saw that the city that surrounded me was not like the cities I had seen - there was no ruins and were not lying everywhere corpses.
And I felt that this was the beginning of my adventure.
---
On behalf of Kyo:
I walked down the corridor, clutching the ruined drawing tightly in my hand. Looking at the smudges and stains Minato had left behind, a wave of self-loathing washed over me. A deep breath barely calmed the frustration; I knew how much time and effort it would take to restore the piece. Dwelling on what had happened weighed down my steps. Deep down, I just yearned for the moment I could leave all this behind and retreat back into silence, where I could truly focus.
Soon, I'd escape the school's oppressive walls and feel the cool grass beneath my bare feet. This drawing—even in its damaged state—represented that hope: a connection to nature, a breath of fresh air, and a way to lock away all the unnecessary noise of the world in a securely locked drawer. I craved those moments of peace where nothing could disrupt my flow of inspiration or distract me from the simple act of creating.
"They say there is nothing more valuable in the world than friendship," I mused. I found myself wondering if that was really true.
"If you don't have any friends, can you even be considered a real person? Friends – as an immutable truth – complete us, shield us from selfishness, and ignite a desire to help and share."
From an early age, I learned to share my toys, my feelings, and even my secrets.
"But what if you fail those who are dear to you? What's the point of friendship if others suffer because of your mistakes?"
Thoughts, tinged with self-doubt, assailed me. I couldn't find any easy answers. These questions tormented me, just as they had when I was a child and dared to ask adults about love - about what kind of feeling it really was. They just laughed, threw up their hands, and called me a naïve simpleton. "You'll figure it out soon enough," they'd say. "Just let fate do its work. Understanding comes through suffering and experience."
Yet, with each passing year, I felt that the more I searched for answers, the fewer I seemed to find. I had learned to stop seeking them from others. It was as if this supposed world of true friendship was nothing more than a twisted Eden, where a forbidden fruit hung tantalizingly out of reach, and dark figures circled it mockingly, offering nothing of substance.
"I don't even know what else to say," I thought, heading toward the exit. I inhaled the fresh air, feeling my mind begin to clear with each breath. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though all my worries were dissolving into the surrounding silence.
But still, one thought lingered: "Where are the answers to all these questions?" I continued walking, searching for my place in this world as my bare feet padded softly on the grass, and the wind gently ruffled my hair. Perhaps nature held more wisdom than all the adults combined.
But nature, too, remained silent, guarding the world's secrets behind an impassive veil.
Since then, I haven't asked other people any questions. And I no longer thought about the answers to my own. Until I met her. This day has changed my life. I will never forget the pain I saw in her blue eyes then. Her pleas for help were ignored by everyone around her. The handcuffs bound her hands so tightly that she couldn't move them, and pressed down on her skin so that her palms were literally covered in blood. And she walked, breathing heavily, as if she had been plowing in the field for several days and nights in a row. There were bruises under her eyes, and she was staggering as if she was going to faint. I had to do something!
But I couldn't... I was afraid of my peers - their harsh, sidelong glances and ridicule.
As a child, they often ridiculed my every step, and if I did something wrong, my existence was ignored. Their voices sounded in my head like a broken record, dipping me in the shadow of the past: "Did he share the candy with that girl again? What a fool! Doesn't he see that he is being used?", "Why did you help old woman get across the road? Do you think that if she is old, can't do it on her own? Her only 60 years old, and this is still youth. Isn't it noticeable? You want recognition, right? So that adults understands what a good boy you are, since you help others? How pathetic you are!". I clutched my head before I heard a voice. It could have created a lot of things around me...
"Come on, let's go" - one of the guards commanded.
But... That day I realized how wrong I was...
When the wolf girl refused to go, he roughly hit her on the head with a gun, and when she fell, he began to kick her in the stomach, the rest of the guards made fun of her too and laughed. A what? Does an adult show violence to someone who is younger? Is cruelty inherent not only in children and passes with the age of adulthood? I looked in the direction of some of the adults who were not far from here, in the hope that everything will be explained to me. But they just watched these and hurriedly departed, trying not to help whom they considered a monster. Well, at least someone behaved like an adult, and did not show violence to a teenager ... Wait up... Did I call it a teenager? I looked at her again. Wow, wait, what? What is it? And what was she guilty of?
"Help, please!"
She shouted, but no one wanted to hear her, and I hurried to leave after the adults, just not to see this sight, from which the heart was squeezed. If she was chained, then it was necessary, perhaps it was her fault, but... Something was definitely wrong here! There was a strange feeling in my chest that made me think back to my days in elementary school.
Once I was a fighter for justice - protecting children from bullying and fighting bullies, it seemed that I was doing a good job - helping victims and preventing bullies from wreaking havoc...
But...
"Sensei, Kyo attacked me for no reason and hit me"
"Yeah, He often watches over us after school and mocks us. He even threatened to kill us."
"Look, he even strangled me!"
"This is not true! He made these bruises for himself!"
"Shut up, Kyo. From now on, you will go to the corrective class, and we will take care of your behavior."
Adults have always been non-confrontational people and tried to hush everything up as soon as possible, but children were evil, always trying to hurt someone. That is why I respected adults, because they were more honest than children...Although, with rare exceptions, maybe some of the children were adequate?
Do you think someone of children helped me then?
"I'm sorry, Kyo. What they say is true."
"But we both know that they mocked you!"
"No, what are you talking about? You kept us in fear all the time and forced to do terrible things! Please stay away from us. I hope the corrective class will benefit you."
"Heard, you're not Robin Hood?"
"This boy beat up children he hated, and shifted all the blame on others in his crimes."
And then I realized that although adults do not always do the right thing, they at least try to somehow make up for conflicts, but the world of children is like another universe.
In this children world, it is not worth helping each other - you will be easily put up and will not even say thank you. Everyone thinks about their own benefit, and there is no place for good. Even if someone extends a hand to you, It means that these people have their own views on you.
Children here don't like your good deeds, considering it an insult to their dignity and a recognition of their weakness in front of this world, but when you refuse their request, for some reason, they also begin to hate you, as if you are their number one enemy. At least, that's what I thought until that moment.
This world was strange and incomprehensible to me, but to her it was apparently cruel and painful. And then the world seemed to turn upside down when I saw what was happening then...I saw the other side of the coin...She was beaten, her hair was torn, her hands were stepped on and twisted. What happened to their faces? Did they take pleasure in bullying? They looked like children I knew. And this frightened me, I did not understand what was happening and wanted to leave here as soon as possible, just to quickly forget the nightmare that I saw.
"Hey, please help me!"
Suddenly the wolf girl screamed, and I stopped for a while, but did not give the impression that I heard her and continued walking. Her screams of pain sounded in my head, but nevertheless I could not give all a reason to poison me, I did not want to plunge again into the events of the past, where because of my good deeds everyone I knew turned away from me.
Deuce! Why is my heart aching and beating in my chest, as if from despair, as if asking me to stop and come to my senses - did I make the right decision? How groundless are my fears?
"At least you don't leave, please!"
Her voice full of plea for help, and when I turned around, I saw an ocean of pain in her eyes, which came out along with the tears that washed over her eyes.
"Do you really think that at least someone will help you?" - The head guard said with a sneer, clutching her hair in his hands and tearing it.
I wonder who she is? Who does she remind me of? Suddenly it dawned on me—that girl from my drawings. It was her. I finally met her side by side. And now I need to ask her something. But fear still clouded my eyes and I was afraid to come to the rescue.
But the girl kept stretching her hands to me and asking for help as if I was her only salvation from this difficult situation. Although, it was.
I stood alone with my fear and tried to resist it, but it blocked my way with a smirk and did not let me go further.
"You don't want to be an outcast like before? A bad boy for everyone? She will somehow cope without you!" - it whispered to me threateningly.
"Just surrender to me and nothing will happen."
I stepped back, feeling fear grip me. I didn't know what to do. I was stuck between elections, but the only thing I knew was that any one of them would have consequences.
What will Kyo do, will he follow the lead of fear or help a mysterious stranger?