It's a deal

“I assume your promise is for an important person.”

The girl nods. Tired of admiring the landscape, she turns her gaze on him.

“Do you believe in such a thing as soulmates?” She says suddenly waiting for his reaction.

The boy gives her a confused look. He tried to understand Kibo’s thoughts, but between them was an invisible wall of mystery.

The only way they could know each other was by being completely honest. Yet they kept a low profile. Maybe that’s why Haru accepted her to be around him, because she will be able to know what he tells her and otherwise.

“I believe in destiny.” He answers after a long silence.

A smile appears on the girl's face while she started to approach him.

“I didn’t expect another answer from you!”

Kibo stops in front of him. Covered in some pale lights her figure looked pretty.

“What is your biggest wish?”

It’s ok for him to answer that question? Should he tell the entire truth this time?

“Change and answers.”

“What if I told you that what you want to achieve is impossible?”

His eyes widened. Does she know the future? Does he stand no chance in front of this society?

They seem to understand each other, why is she taking his hope away from him?

“No matter what you have to say about this I won’t give up!”

“What if the journey to the top is more dangerous than you think?”

“I will reach the top whatever it takes!”

“There is a high chance for you to hate the answers you will get.”

“I will still feel satisfied!”

“What if you don’t get to complete your wishes and everything is in vain?”

“There is no effort in this world that will lead to nothing. Everything will be worth it!”

“Remember your words from today! Never let anyone trample on your purposes! If you ever feel like giving up, I will be there for you. I will be your hope!”

She held out a hand.

“Let us use each other, partner!”

He couldn’t believe it. It’s a hobby of hers to play with people’s emotions?

She is going to be his hope? That should be fun!

Haru answers the hand gesture with a shy smile on his face.

Screw the whole world! It feels too good to be real! Being able to find someone to support him is more than he has ever hoped for.

“Partners until the end!”

“You realize that I also want to achieve my goal, right?” She adds still shaking his hand.

“Did I say that I won’t help with it?”

“You don’t even know what an important role you play in my purpose, Mister Chibana!”

A smirk appeared on her face. Should he be worried or play along?

“Then I guess you’ll have to always stay close to me so you won’t lose an important piece of your puzzle, dear!”

He returns the same energy.

“That’s more like it! Take care of me in the future!” She takes a seat next to him on the bench.

“Now that we are friends-“

“I never said that, suicide girl!”

“And we're back to my nickname…” She sighs. “Anyways, tell me more about yourself and the world you live in.”

“What exactly do you wish to know?”

Both of them were avoiding eye contact.

“What’s the deal with your arm bandanas? They look pretty funny! These faces with different emotions are weird.”

“Believe me, if you were to wear them they wouldn’t look funny anymore, just scary. They are a must for everyone and are made by the factory I work at. They are connected to it-“

“They work wirelessly?”

“Sort of. They record our feelings and the way we express how we feel. In the end, the information reaches FF. From there, the higher-ups and the worker your life is assigned to will note down about you.”

“And they also control your emotions?”

“That’s right! We use only the six moods and the rest are considered unimportant. We live by the rule ‘The less the better!’, so as you get closer to the government you slowly lose your humanity.”

“But even the ones with power are at risk.”

“Glad you understand the situation.”

“I think I know the 6 emotions you have on the bandanas. You have happiness, anger, disgust, fear, surprise, and sadness.”

The boy nods.

“For example, if you are happy, the circle attributed to happiness lights up?”

“How did you know?” Haru turns his head to face her.

The silence between them is interrupted by her giggle.

“I just made a guess because yours have been on ever since we arrived at the fountain! I knew you enjoyed my company, but don’t fall for me yet! It will be too easy!”

She looks amused as the boy struggled to hide his right bandana.

His face got a pale red color and the light became even more visible.

“Chill, happy boy! You are going to turn into a lighthouse!”

A little laugh escapes her mouth while her partner was getting more flustered.

Suddenly the boy let out a groan. His head was hurting really bad and his whole body started to shake. Tears formed in his eyes while the pain got even worse.

He looked as if he was electrocuted.

Kibo’s face turned pale not knowing what is going on.

“Haru?”

“Are you ok?”

“What is going on?”

Her voice sounded like an echo for him. He messed up this time. His father will give him a lesson if he returns home.

She tried to touch his shoulder and some shocks traveled through her entire body.

He couldn’t talk; otherwise, he would have told her not to make any contact with him. Even if he felt week, he tried his best to stand up so that she wouldn’t get affected as well. As soon as he moved he fell to the ground.

To his surprise, she helped him get up enduring the pain.

The intensity of these electric shocks was smaller when she also shared it with him.

After some minutes the light of the bandana turns off and the pain goes away. Only then did she let go of him.

He was speechless. Why would she go through this voluntarily?

“Do you have a death wish?” He asks after catching his breath.

The girl didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what just happened. Sill, as soon as she realized she could help him to get rid of a little bit of pain, her body acted on its own.

“Are you alright?” The boy tried to break the silence.

He seemed concerned but at the same time, he felt guilty.

“Me? What about you? I can’t even imagine how horrible it was for you…”

She hugged him tightly trying to calm him down. He was still tense and his body didn’t stop shaking for not even a moment.

“Don’t worry, Haru! It’s over now! You can take your time to return to your senses!” She patted his back gently.

“I’m s-sorry…”

“Don’t even dare to apologize again! I’m fine, relax! I won’t leave you alone until you’re ok!”

How pathetic of him. He wanted to change society when he is weaker than a woman. Will she hate him?

Haru hugs her back after seeing that she doesn’t seem mad or disappointed.

“To make sure you won’t get the wrong idea I will just say this once. Don’t blame yourself for things you can’t control!” She whispers still trying to calm him down.” Also, there is no reason for you to feel ashamed for showing weakness. In my eyes, you were really cool for trying to resist it and for trying to help me!”

Without even realizing her words and actions made him feel better. He used to go through this pain pretty often when he was younger. His mother would always stay by his side, but after her disappearance, he suffered alone.

This silence that fell between them was more comforting than any of his family dinners.

She retired from the hug and wiped away his tears.

“Be sure that I will want to know about this next time.” The girl says with a serious tone.

What does she mean by next time? Will she leave him?

“Are you going somewhere?”

He acted like a child who was left alone at home.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to get too attached to strangers?” She seemed amused by his reaction.

“But we're not strangers anymore!”

“What a little boy we have here! Don’t miss me too much while I’m gone!”

Her eyesight was becoming blurry and everything around her was starting to disappear.

From his point of view, the girl was turning invisible little by little.

“How will we meet again?” He asks impatiently.

“I think a night in my universe means a whole day here.”

“Then your day also means a day here.”

“Yes, so let’s meet in this park in two days. Before you go to your job!”

“Don’t you dare be late!”

“I won’t! After all, I must babysit you!”

She laughs while she disappeared completely right in front of his eyes.

On the bench, she was replaced with a blue flower.

“Forget-me-not…” Haru whispers as he picks it up.