Preparation ✧ 3

My eyes slightly widened, and Rai gasped loudly.

“Wait, is that Director Emery?! Scoot over a bit closer…!”

I had to admit that I was rather curious to see this particular photo in detail, so I took a glance at the pretty boy, and once I was sure he was absolutely not paying any attention to my actions, I changed my seat to the one next to me.

“Yikes, that made a louder sound than I expected… anyhow, let's see what we have here…”

The photo seemed to be old, as the Director had a different hairstyle and younger features. However, she looked as tired and overworked as ever. Next to her was probably the doctor we were currently waiting for.

“Are they married? I had no idea the Director was married, oh my gosh…”

Rai was always very curious about people's private matters, so this gave her quite the buzz.

“...and who is that between them? Their son?!”

Settled between the presumed couple, there was a teenage boy with dark, long hair. His bangs almost covered his eyes, and he didn't really seem all that happy to have a photo taken. It somewhat made me want to snort. I also hated having my photos taken when I was thirteen or so.

“Why does he look so displeased? Is he embarrassed? He has a sort of emo look to him, too…”

This person must have grown up and become an adult by now, so I wonder how he felt having this photo on display on the doctor's desk, visible to all patients…

“I'd throw a fit if our parents had our teenage photos being shown to everyone like this.”

“Aww, but it's so cute… though, only the doctor seems to be smiling in it. How interesting…”

At that moment, we heard footsteps approaching. They were very hasty. It was probably the doctor.

He entered like a swift wind, and shut down the door. “My my, sorry for making you wait for so long, Rudi—” He stopped in his tracks spotting me. “Oh!”

I raised a hand and did a polite bow, suppressing my laughter at the presence of this rather silly looking doctor.

“Hello, it's Mirai. I'm here for the checkup.”

He smiled, practically beaming. He ran a hand through his dark, curly hair. “Ah, right right! Miss Mirai. I was anticipating meeting you very much.” He extended a hand as he introduced himself, and I shook it. His hands were quite rough, unlike his softie appearance.

Then, he took off his white coat and hung it next to his desk. He readjusted his green framed glasses and sat down.

“My my, it's so hot today. Where did this heat come from, isn't it too early for this?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it caught me off guard too. What a… warm welcome it is.”

He laughed, sounding very amused. There was something very childlike about this doctor. Keeping a merry smile, he took out a clipboard with a page full of messy handwriting on it.

“Haha, indeed indeed! I was almost done with the examination of Rudi, then it'll be your turn. Please wait a bit bit!”

I supposed he had the habit of repeating words, alongside a slight accent. The ‘Pretty Boy’ that I had learned the name of to be Rudi got up and stood in the middle of the room.

“Arghhh, his figure is to die for!!!”

Rai was still in her explosive admiration mode. When the doctor got up and started to gently poke his antlers, I got more interested in the sight in front of me too. I had always been curious how these health checkups went for Aberrants of Anatomical Divergence.

“They grew rather nicely, even the flowers are blooming cutely~ I'm proud of you! Be careful lest you hurt them, okay okay?”

Rudi didn't respond and kept on standing without any particular expression change. Dr Moti examined the antlers from all angles, moving back and forth, taking notes.

“What about your medicine?”

Rudi responded to that question. “I've been taking the same ones. They're rather effective… as you can see.”

Dr Moti nodded, this time him being the silent one. Jotting down more notes, he sat back to his desk. Seeing this, Rudi sighed and momentarily closed his eyes. He was probably relieved that the examination was over.

“Alright, now it's your turn Miss Mirai. Since your Aberrance is not of a physical variant, I'll simply ask some questions and take note of them.”

Rudi turned to me and asked if I minded him staying inside the room. I didn't assume the questions would be anything too personal, so I gave him the permission.

“What a gentleman! But yeah, I agree. It's alright if he stays. Maybe he will find us to be cool and want to be our friend~”

I didn't think he was particularly interested in socializing with anyone, so I didn't respond to Rai’s comment.

Dr Moti began by asking questions that I was very familiar with from our past experiences with doctors. Were we always like this (yes), when was it first noticed (from childhood) and about the parents’ reactions (they were fine with it)...

Then, his questions actually started to divert from the usual.

“Can I know what makes Mimi and Rai the happiest?”

…what?

I was momentarily stunned with the unexpected nature of this question. What did that have to do with our health? I didn't know what to say, so I stammered that I'd ask Rai, and closed my eyes. I didn't really have to do that, but I had slightly panicked.

“What makes me the happiest? Huh… well, these last days have made me more cheerful than ever. So I guess meeting new people, having fresh experiences?”

I relayed her message to Dr Moti. “I am the exact opposite, by the way. Such things can be rather draining for me.”

I heard Rudi slightly snicker at this. Ah, I knew you were one of us, brother.

I continued, this time to express myself. “Rather than socializing, what makes me the happiest would be things like moving my body, like doing exercise and crafting items.”

The doctor smiled and nodded along. “Indeed indeed, you two are opposites. Most fascinating. Contrasting duos make the best of pairs, though!”

“Eheheh, just like the doctor and his wife~?”

“We are not sure about that yet… also don't compare us to them, ew.”

“I didn't mean it like that, geez…”

He asked a few more questions that were more akin to questions you could find at personality tests in teenage girls’ magazines rather than a medical examination, and with his last question, the peculiar ‘examination’ was over.

This last question was actually related to wellbeing, at least. He had asked if we felt any shame, or resentment towards our Aberrance.

“Not that I can remember…? Nothing too bad. Rai? … she also agrees. We are very cool with it, the downsides are manageable.”

“Lovely, lovely! Thank you for your cooperation. You two, um, three…?”

“Hehe, it's somehow so cute to me when people say that, including the dormant one~ No need to thank me!”

“She says to not mention it. May the rest of your day go smoothly, Dr Moti.”

With the doctor cheerfully handing us some pieces of candy as if we were little kids, me and the Pretty Boy left the office. Rudi asked whether we had anything else to do in the building, and if yes, he would wait so he could accompany us to the place where the rest of the troupe was.

Rai found this extremely impressive for some reason, and was losing it over him ‘being sooo considerate!!!’ but really, wasn't this just common sense? I would have waited before we left as well.

“That's because you're a considerate, kind lady too~”

My temper had turned short with the exhaustion of the day, so I hissed out a ‘shut up’. Hearing this, Rudi turned towards me, albeit without any particular emotion on his face.

“N-not you. Erm, the Director said we would go straight to meet the others after this. So, we can go now. Thank you…”

I awkwardly replied to the Pretty Boy, and the indifferent expression on his face turned into the smallest smile imaginable.

“Alright then. Follow me. We can go there by walking. It's very close, but we will sort of have to get fried under the sun… sorry about that.”

“Nah, it's fine. It's not like you have a saying about the weather. Let's go.”

Once the embarrassment from my accidental hiss wore out, I found that it was actually extremely comfortable to be with him. Our silence was not caused by awkwardness; it felt like a fresh breeze was flowing between us despite the sun frying us, as he put it.

People always said I should talk and socialize more, so how come I felt like me and him were forming a bond already? Just walking side to side, without having to force any words out of my mouth. I liked this vibe. I felt like I had found my kin.

I guess even Rai respected that. She had turned silent as well, contrasting with her usual demeanor. I feared for what would happen to him once she took over, though. The number of curiosities she held about him would more likely result in a whole tsunami of questions coming his way.

A faint smile appeared on my face. Oh Rai… you were such a funny one.

After ten minutes, Rudi announced that we had just a little bit of walking to do. He asked if the heat was manageable for me, and I think it somehow made me agree with Rai: he was genuinely considerate. I nodded to signal that I was holding on just fine.

“I'm glad. It's just right around this corner.”

Then, after taking a few steps forward, he suddenly said, “I'm envious of you.”

A million question marks flooded my brain in an instant. Wuh—what—why?! I couldn't think of anything to inspire envy, not alone for someone like him?

My confused expression must have amused him, he laughed softly. I swear, the leaves of the trees around us shook a bit with the impact of the beautiful sound of his laughter.

“What, is it that unexpected? I meant how you said you had no resentment for your Aberrance. Must be nice.”

That didn't particularly clear up my questions. Rai, who had been quiet for some time loudly exclaimed “What?! Don't tell me that he hates his Aberrance…? But they're so so so pretty…”

I had to agree with her here. Well, I was sure that the antlers could be a hassle from time to time, maybe they took up too much space, and made things like sleeping difficult…? But resentment, it was such a heavy word. Was it that unbearable for him?

I kept on blinking, unsure what to say. He sighed, this time the sound resembling white, puffy clouds rather than a fresh breeze.

“I try so hard to make peace with my stupid antlers, but I hate them so badly. I wish I could just be a normal person. They're so useless, and they cause me so much pain.”

“B-but, they make him so gorgeous…” Rai quietly commented. For me, that was not the main point of concern here.

“Pain…?” The antlers hurt him…?

He raised a hand to play with a strand of his hair. “Yeah. They hurt like crazy when they grow. I dislike being dependent on medicine, too.”

“Medicine… right, people with Anatomical Divergence tend to take them…”

He continued. “I have to take a bunch. One for suppressing their endless growth, one to keep them strong, two for the pain and itching, and one for stabilizing… All of this and for what? How useless…”

He lowered his hand, placing it inside the pocket of his shorts. “As you can tell, I am not exactly fond of my Aberrance. So I found it very fascinating to hear you didn't have strong feelings against it. Almost a bit inspirational.”

I fought the urge to glance at his antlers, and tried to focus on his eyes instead. They were almost hauntingly beautiful. The color—I honestly couldn't tell what was going on with his iris hue. Instead of having one certain tone, it seemed to be a mix of pink, green and brown. At least, those were the colors I could catch without staring too hard. I spoke up.

“Hey, I… didn't know the antlers could cause you this much pain. No need to compare yourself to us, just because we are all Aberrants doesn't mean we are the same. We don't have physical ailments like that, nor do we have to take medicine. So it's just normal that we wouldn't resent it.”

“Mimi!!! You should comfort him, why are you telling him that we indeed have it easier than him…?!”

Crap, that was not my intention at all! To my surprise, he didn't react any badly.

“Haha… instead of telling me to be positive and to be thankful about their ‘beautiful’ appearance, you told me things just as they are. How refreshing.”

He smiled, this time rivaling the warmth of the sun.

“I feel like we will get to be good friends. Such a pleasure to meet you.”