5

'All right!' said Airi, taking out her lunchbox and opening it.

Kenji was surprised to see the flakes of snow her box was filled with. Was this what humans lived on?

'You can have half of the rice,' said Airi amiably.

Rice? Why was she calling the snow 'rice'?

'...thank you?' said Kenji doubtfully. He had never considered that he might not be able to live on what humans ate. He felt a pang of dismay as he looked at the other strange foods — if they were food at all! — and wondered how he was going to eat them.

'And half the omelette...and half the curry...and half the pickles,' continued Airi, as she separated the said items into a separate dish for him.

Kenji accepted the food politely, but deep inside, he was rather nervous. He stared at his 'lunch' and wondered how he was supposed to go about eating it. And why were there so many things? Back home, he had been used to eating only one item per meal!

'Itadakimasu!' said Airi, as she wielded her chopsticks energetically, making Kenji start immediately as if in self-defence.

'What's wrong now?' said Airi, half-annoyed. Seriously, why was this boy so jumpy?!

'Nothing!' said Kenji, realising almost at once that those implements for probably for eating with. 'I was just wondering, do I have to eat with those?'

'Um, yes,' said Airi, looking at him confusedly for a few seconds as he clumsily held them, before she suddenly asked him, 'Wait — you're not from around here, are you?'

Was it that easy for her to figure it out? Maybe humans weren't so far gone after all, thought Kenji in alarm.

'It was just a guess,' said Airi quickly. 'I thought maybe—'

'No,' said Kenji firmly. He must not let her suspect anything, he thought. 'I am from here, why would you think otherwise?'

'I thought maybe you lived abroad and that's why you don't talk much, and that's why you're dropping those chopsticks every time you try to eat with them...'

Abroad. Now what in Saturn's name did that mean? Whatever it meant, though, if admitting to it meant being cleared of further suspicions, it was best to go with the flow and say yes...

'Yes,' said Kenji flatly. 'I lived abroad.'

'Ahhhhh~' said Airi. 'That explains it!'

'Explains what?' said Kenji, trying for the dozenth time to eat with the chopsticks and failing yet again.

'Why you're finding it hard to adjust,' said Airi, taking the chopsticks from him and giving him a spoon instead. 'Here. Eat with this.'

Kenji would have kept on trying until he succeeded, like he knew he ought to, but he was hungry right now and rather desperate by this point, so he took the spoon from her, wondering briefly if her expression was kind or condescending.

He took a spoonful of 'rice', and hesitatantly ate it; it wasn't really snow after all, much to his relief. As he chewed it carefully, he found that in fact, it tasted rather good — scratch that — it was one of the tastiest things he had ever eaten!

'Rice is delicious!' he declared suddenly, as he took yet another spoonful, and then another.

Airi stared at him, amused. It was hard to believe he had never eaten rice before, but judging by the way he ate it, one would think it was the best thing he had ever tasted. Oh well; at least he was enjoying it!

She smiled at him warmly, and was about to say something, when another girl looked at Kenji with disdain and said in a lofty tone, 'Oh, please, don't eat like you're an orphan or something — it's disgusting, to be honest!'

Airi looked at the girl in dismay; it was Rei, the meanest girl in their class; and as always, her two sidekick friends were next to her, snickering at whatever she said, whenever she said it, just like they did now.

Kenji looked up from his rice, the momentary joy that had appeared in his eyes disappearing completely and replaced by a look so sharp that it could cut stone.

'What is an orphan?' he asked coldly.

Rei stared at him for a few seconds, before breaking into a mean chuckle, which was echoed by two girls to her right.

'What, are you loony or something? You can't talk, you can't eat, you've got that weird hair — I think you're some kind of freak, don't you, girls?'

Her friends laughed meanly and agreed in unison, like they always did when their leader said anything.

Kenji looked at them and wondered what to do; Airi had made him temporarily forget all that he had learnt about humans, but now these girls had reminded him of what they were actually like: cruel, unpleasant, spiteful.

'I asked you, what is an orphan?' he repeated.

'Someone who has no mother or father: like you, I suppose! You never mentioned your last name in your introduction,' said Rei, with a triumphant look.

'Where I am from, there are no last names; we only have one name,' said Kenji, frowning.

'Oh, really? And where are you from, weirdo? Freakland?' said Rei, leaning forward with a malicious grin.

Kenji gazed at her steadily, his expression silent and ice-cold. She was provoking him, and he knew it. While her attempts to hurt him were insignificant and meaningless to him, he couldn't help but wonder why she was acting this way. Was it a display of power? A cruel sport? No one from his kind would ever insult another for no good reason!

'Why do you want to hurt me? I don't even know you!' said Kenji.

Rei laughed and spoke mockingly. 'Awww, poor boy doesn't even know us! Is there anything you know, huh?'

Kenji stared at her. If she went on provoking him this way, it warranted a response; a challenge, when given, had to be responded to; an attack, when launched, had to be answered with a stronger one. That was the only logical course of action; the honourable way his people adhered to.

'Why are you so quiet? What are you looking at? Cat got your tongue, dummy?' said Rei, stretching out her hand with an evil grin and flicking him hard on his forehead, making him wince.

'Okay, that's enough, Rei—' started Airi in indignant protest, but she stopped short when she saw what Kenji had done.

At lightening speed, he had grabbed Rei's wrist and flung her backwards, making her land with a surprised yell several feet away from the picnic spot, where she screamed and burst into tears, rubbing her bruised wrist.

He walked up to the two other girls next, who weren't laughing anymore, but cowering back. 'I don't see how "orphan" is an insult, but since that's what you meant by it, it's your turn to join your leader,' he said, and he was about to make a similar attack on one of them when Airi came in between with a furious look on her face.

'Kenji! Stop this right now! How could you?!'

'They initiated the attack,' said Kenji coldly. 'I only responded. Please move out of my way!'

'No, I won't! You're overreacting! They did very mean things, yes, but even so, this is no way to act!'

'Why not?' said Kenji, who looked so calm that it felt unsettling. 'Like the saying goes, "light a fire, and it will burn"! They must suffer the consequences of what they did! Now, move!'

'Are you crazy?!'

'Oh, so now you're insulting me, too?'

'Kenji, that's enough! ' said Airi crossly. 'I didn't know you were this spiteful, this cruel!'

'Me, spiteful? Cruel?' said Kenji in disbelief. 'What did I do?'

'If you can't even see it, then there's no point in talking anymore,' said Airi, shaking her head. 'From now on, Kenji, I won't have anything to do with you — ever again! I wish I'd never bothered trying to be friends with you in the first place!'

She turned away and walked off, leaving Kenji standing there, amidst the open-mouthed classfellows and forgotten lunches, wondering why that simple action hurt him somewhat.

He walked off himself in the opposite direction, much to the relief of the two girls, who ran at once and helped their leader up.

'Yeah, walk off, savage!' called out Rei tauntingly. 'Try something like that again and I'll report you and get you expelled!'

Kenji paid her no heed and walked on. If anyone was a savage, it was her; it was human beings in general; just look at how all the others had only watched silently while Rei had insulted him and he had attacked her. Whose side were they on? Neither! They were only spectators, who watched injustice take place but never did anything to stop it: savages.

Except Airi.

Her last look before walking off; her kind words changed into ones of anger and disgust before she left him; why couldn't he stop thinking about that girl he hardly knew? That human girl...hadn't his father told him how humans would always betray each other? Surely, she was no different.

Thinking about her was making him weak, and he must remember that he was here for a mission, not to make friends; he was here to learn about humans and go back, not let himself get influenced and trapped in their lair.

He took a deep breath. If she didn't want to have anything to do with him, then neither did he. He wasn't a human; he didn't care what anyone thought; he didn't get hurt over little things; he didn't feel anything; he only acted as necessary in accordance with the way people treated him: violence for violence, distance for distance; the logical, emotion-free approach his father had always taught him.

And yet...thinking about Airi made him feel unhappy.

He shook his head and increased his pace.

Thinking about her made him feel.