The moon seemingly gazed down on the figure. Its eyes, naturally red, stared back into the void. It was ironic that the Moon was the opposite of a black hole. How it was the light that existed within the darkness. Yet, the figure could not shake the uneasiness that naturally came with the night times company. What is such an illusory figure doing in the sky? We can peer into the Moon endlessly, but the sun immediately cuts our vision off in an attempt to tell us that, the future during the day is far more complex, that it's easier to see in those darker times. The figure was a boy, maybe 14 years of age at the time named "Ken Akasaki". Kei was rather sickly in appearance. housing white hair and a far more feminine appearance. He had always wished he was a woman, not because he disliked being a man, in fact he found it to be a fascinating experience but because he felt as if his appearance had never particularly matched what he was, biologically speaking. Kei was extremely ill due to having a poor upbringing. Lack of a Nutritious lifestyle suited this, and due to being poor there were times where Kai only ate bread or cheese, and his diet often lacked any protein whatsoever, especially if they couldn't get their hands on any dairy for that day. Couple this in with the fact that Kai had nowhere to sleep most of the time and was usually sleeping outside with all kinds of enigmatic critters and events that usually ended in some kind of bodily harm and he had a great idea as to why his body wasn't suited for anything physical. Kei lied in the grass, continuing his stare down with the giant marble in the sky, the cold wind causing a hard shiver in his body. He attempted to sit up but couldn't, he was exhausted. As someone who was homeless he had nowhere to just "stay", so not only was he living in the jungle practically but he was also always moving. He wondered why this fate was the one that chose him, and not one of monetary and dietary health that other children his age got to live. Yet, he had ran out of emotions to feel, and tears to dwindle over the situation. It was about survival more than anything now. All he could do was plan things day by day, something everybody else had to do because it was impossible for anyone to actually plan more than that in advance. Life was far too serendipitous. Far too unpredictable. Despite not being able to stand up, at least Kei could raise their arm. They opened their palm. There's a saying that in order to climb to heights never imaginable you must reach for the stars. Kei had no intention of doing so, because they thought that was a silly adage. Kei managed to raise their head after fiddling around a bit in the dirt. They sat and looked, their hands keeping their body in balance. Tonight, Kei wouldn't reach for the stars, nor would he shoot for them. Today, he would kiss them just as he would the most beautiful man or woman in the world.

  Morning Time approached as that same sun woke the child up. He twitched and covered his face protecting his crimson eyes. Today, there was a festival in the small village they resided in, which was simply a property of a larger, more politically in-tune kingdom a bit north. Regardless, population was population. Watashitachi was a small village south of a larger kingdom with a population of a little less than 5,000. Despite being small, it did well for itself in the sense that it had a good army and it was lively which is something a larger country couldn't say for itself in this day and age. Perhaps, lifeless was the best adjective to use for those places. At least that's what Kei thought. He was able to see the news every now and then from newspapers or gossip throughout the city. Whether it was the United States of America and the outrage of it's rather fickle people or it was some dictator in the west housing some cruel but oddly entertaining battles within a stadium as if it were some battle sport which, in fairness to them that would be categorized as such but point being, at least to Kei things were fucked. He walked through the city rubbing his eyes, the suns welcoming still keeping them lightheaded. The loud music did not help. Kei had no intention of participating in any of the delicacies, except for the food. It was rare that they could get any free food so Akasaki had hoped and prayed that there would be something they could feast on. Something that would keep them afloat for the next few days. Bonus: Find a nice sweater. Kei wasn't completely broke, he had worked odd jobs around the city like xweeping the front of shops or even stealing items for low level gangsters that existed in the shadows but he had never held down a job. The common idea of stability did not appeal to the boy. They did not want to work a job they hated in an attempt to have an average life. Kei always thought about the bigger picture in every scenario, and always wanted the outcome where he would benefit the most. Beautiful women danced through the streets as liquor spilled all over the floor, and whoever was short enough to feel the wrath of one of humanities favorite past times. He searched around, and sometimes asked if there was anyone who would give him leftovers. To no avail, Kei hadn't gotten one win for hours. Kei was particularly charming despite their financial and living situation, it was shocking that they had gotten nothing out of that skill. Despite this he knew it wasn't just them though. Off days did exist and some people just can't beat something no matter how hard they try, even if they follow the rule book. In this case Kei was following "How to Socialize with Human 101", but the same uneasiness that existed yesterday night had reared its ugly head today. Almost as if somebody was watching Kei, someone was analyzing them and watching every move that they did. Despite this Kei had decided they had no choice, because of the nature of these kinds of gatherings food was always falling on the ground. Kei didn't like this, but it was either hearing their stomach and feeling awful or feeling awful and not hearing their stomach and, the last thing a person wants to hear is an annoying noise for hours on end. Kei had found pieces of a crushed up sandwich on the ground, likely stepped on by dozens of people. He reached for it before splitting in half, attempting to keep the dirtiest parts out of their digestive system. Impossible in the first place but something had to be done. Kei ended up mushing the clean parts of the meat and bread together before putting it in their mouth. They slowly chewed, the taste from being on the ground in the sun all day nearly made them vomit. They wished they could cry. Kei stood up after wiping their mouth clean and stretching a bit. The sun beamed on his forehead, as sweat dripped and trickled down his skin on to his clothing. Some hitting the pavement. Kei continued to walk silently, practically limping due to the state of their body. They searched around for any more food on the ground or in the trash cans that housed the current neighborhood they were in. It wasn't much but after awhile of bargaining and looking under steps and floors they were able to get enough in their system to the point of not feeling uncomfortable, until the germs had ended up destroying their body later on anyways. By the time his venture for food was up, the sun slowly fell on the horizon, He sighed and pushed his hair out of his face, walking down the side of the street slowly. As he approached a turn on the block he eyed a young couple of mercenaries. Mercenaries weren't a shocker to see. War was slowly brewing in the east and west and Kei had heard about it, but to see two lovers in the same branch? Was that not dangerous or strange to see? He silently looked on. Two men together as they held hands proudly, strolling the sidewalk. One of them with roses in their hand. Kei was naturally a romantic himself, and never discriminated when it came to romance stories. Gay, Straight, Lesbian, Animal, Robot. Kei read everything they could get their hands on when it came to this concept. Action was okay. Mystery was fun. Romance was where the most value existed for them. They wondered about that concept nearly everyday. When could it be their turn to experience this? A meaningless question in their opinion, because any question that everyone is asking for themselves was meaningless to Kei but they couldn't help it. They were human after all. Kei decided to head back toward the hill they had slept on last night, the one where they had kissed the stars. He couldn't say today was overtly successful but the good news was that the festival lasted multiple days. Kei was no stranger to crime, the same moral compass that existed for the average man did not for him. To Kei, it was either Live Or Die, Survive or Don't. Right or Wrong was something that had made their spine itch because it was irrelevant to them. They didn't feel emotions anymore the same way someone else did. They didn't believe in anything the social human paradigm had to offer unless it was Romantic or had something to do with food water or shelter. Today, Kei didn't have to work as hard as yesterday because of the event, and could still move around a bit. They decided to build themselves a small head quarters. Kei rolled a few logs together so that they wouldn't be sitting on the floor constantly, and even managed to strike a fire after a large while of trial and error. At the bare minimum at least Kei was fed, hydrated, warm and a little comfortable which was better than nothing. Kei had ended up vomiting. Multiple times. Eating food out the garbage or off the floor was not the greatest idea he thought. He slowly walked over to the laker and cupped some water into his mouth before sitting on his logs near the fire. Kei thought if they summoned enough strength they could start hunting for their own food which in fairness was not much cleaner than what they'd been consuming but at least, if they learned to clean it they would be better off and perhaps one day their strength would return. Most of the children were either bred to be something that would benefit their village on a larger scale. Soldier, Carpenter, Doctor, Farmer, Pharmaceutical Studies. Kei didn't want to become anything of those things, and was ultimately exiled and deemed a heretic for this, which lead to his current situation. He sighed. They wouldn't throw him in jail or harm him, but getting the same benefits as everyone else who did choose that lifestyle was out of the picture. He slowly got up from the log, turning his body so that he could rest his back on it, which surprisingly felt great. He gazed at the stars once more, which were illuminated from the sky. Kei thought to himself that he had nothing to lose. If he got caught on fire during his sleep where would that take him besides where hw is anyways? He started to drift in thought. If they could get some kind of friends, some kind of opportunity to earn a large sum of money. Anything that could elevate their lifestyle even if it was 1 step above they would take it. They knew it was coming. Fate bends to those who dare to grab it. Kei slowly closed his eyes drifting off to rest. The flames kindling echoed throughout the field. The next morning Kei was awake. They were a bit confused since the sun's light usually ripped them out of their sleep, almost like some kind of alarm clock. But it felt darker today, and there was no forecast for the weather. Kei slowly opened his eyes, but to his surprise someone was standing over him looking into his eyes. And for that matter that person was a beautiful woman, one that couldn't be compared to the stars at night.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.