--Rain.

Just the rain beating down - that's all I can hear.
But if you listen carefully, you can hear a cry from a distance.

...it's a girl's cry.

Underneath the playground equipment in a certain park.
Under its roof, there were two children.

'Gusun........Gusun......Masamune-kun......Mu-chan, are you going to die?'

'I can't help it... and already...'

There was a five-year-old Masamune and a little bird.

In Masamune's hands, he could see a white kitten that had gone cold and stopped moving.
Masamune looks at the motionless kitten with lonely eyes and gently holds it in his arms.
A little bird cried out next to it.

''It's been abandoned... so...''

'Why?

It's...

Masamune choked on the question.

--Why did you throw it away?

Masamune didn't understand.

It was just a moment ago.
Amidst the stinging raindrops, there was a cardboard box in the corner of the park, from which a little bird said, "I hear a cat's cry.
It was a little bird that first said, "I hear a cat's cry" from there.
But the temperature had dropped and the kitten was weak.
Suddenly, the little bird called the kitten "Moo" and went to hold it in his hand.
It was a child's idea. It didn't make any sense.

When Masamune saw the kitten, he had a quick thought.
He then took the cat from the little bird, wrapped it in his own clothes, and warmed it up.
That was just a few moments ago.

But now ... it was too late.

Masamune comforts the crying little bird next to him and proposes to bury it in the garden of the house.
Kotori couldn't do anything about it, she just left it to Masamune.

The little bird adored Masamune.
As a child, Kotori did not understand the meaning of her actions, but she always stuck close to Masamune like an older brother, even though they were the same age.
And Masamune was always taking care of Kotori, who was like a younger sister.
The two of them were always waiting for their parents to return, and they were often together because of their close ties to each other.

The garden of an empty house.
Masamune was digging a hole with a shovel.
Kotori was beside him, looking at Mu, who had died, and was in tears.

'Masamune-kun.......why did you die?　Why did Mu-chan die?

It's because he dumped me...

There's no way to know why you're going to die.
Even if you do know, you don't have the words to answer.

'Does being abandoned kill you?'

'Oh...'

When Masamune finished digging the hole, he buried Mu in it.
Then he slowly covered it with dirt.

'I'm sure he's ... laughing in heaven.

Heaven?

'Yeah...'

Despite saying it himself, Masamune feels somewhat uncomfortable with the word 'heaven' even though he is a child.
But above all, he had his hands full with comforting the little bird.
I shouldn't cry.
Otherwise, the little bird will cry more.

At this time, Masamune is the "older brother" that the little birds think of.

'Adults throw him away when they can't keep him...'

Masamune's voice was drowned out by the sound of rain.
Kotori looked at Masamune curiously with a question mark on her face.

At that moment, Masamune's words were not heard by Kotori.
What was hidden in those words?

Masamune had lost his father.
Masamune's father had been ill.
So it couldn't be helped.
But even though he was only five years old, Masamune may have had some feelings about it.
After his father's death, this house was the only one left in his possession.

For a while, they sat there and watched the grave as the rain continued to fall.



　Even when they went to elementary school, they were still together.
For Masamune and Kotori, it was a normal part of life.
And above all, Kotori liked Masamune.

"You're hanging out with a woman?

But the environment that surrounded Masamune as soon as he entered the school.

--abuse.

One of his classmates started insulting Masamune, who was always with Kotori, calling him "creepy".

You're the one who's ignoring me!

Masamune is pushed away.
The three of them were laughing at Masamune, who had fallen on his buttocks.

''Masamune-kun, are you okay?!''

A little bird runs up to him immediately.

''Hahaha!　You're a girl again?　You can't do anything without a woman to help you?

The tone of those three people became even more rough when Kotori appeared.
And Kotori glared desperately at those three.

''Tch ... let's go?　If we stay here, we'll catch the Hidaka fungus.

The three of them said they were "out of shape" and "uncomfortable", and then they went away.

Are you okay?　Masamune.....

Masamune looks up as Kotori calls out to him.
But at that time, it wasn't just Kotori's face that was visible, it was the face of a classmate.

--It's the face of a classmate.

The classmates in the classroom were all looking at Masamune.
The strange thing is that you can clearly see each and every one of their expressions.
And I can sense a faint hint of malice from them.

-- they're all smiling...

Masamune had a great deal of sensitivity.
And Masamune felt fear at that moment.
'Are you okay?' next to him. Masamune didn't pay any attention to the anxious little bird, but was simply horrified by the "human" he could see from there.


　Gradually, Masamune began to distance himself from the little bird.
The little bird was still too young to understand what Masamune was thinking.
But Masamune noticed that when Kotori spoke to him, he spoke less and less, and eventually began to ignore her.
It wasn't until a little later that Kotori realized why.
Now Kotori couldn't understand it.
There wasn't a particularly clear trigger.
It was a gradual process of figuring it out as she grew up.

When Masamune went to school, he was smirked at and laughed at by the people around him, and when his clothes or skin touched them, he was treated as if he was 'infected with the Hidaka fungus', as if he was a dirty thing.
Even after I stopped talking to the little bird, it's still there.

--The fungus is contagious.

The reason for this is trivial.
But even they don't understand it.
But that's just the way it is.
Children are.....
He ran his mouth for no particular reason, and even if he had realized that it was hurting them, few children would feel guilty from it.

Kotori watched the figure from a distance, looking worried.
He wanted to talk to her, but there was nothing he could do about it, as Masamune refused to talk to her.

He was left out of the group at dodgeball, and there was no one to hold hands with on the field trip.
No one wanted to hold hands with Masamune.
It's not that there's anything particularly unclean about it.
But since the people around him say so, Masamune is unclean.
That's what 'society' is, not just for children.

Those seated next to him let go of their desks and felt disgusted with Masamune.
Masamune had no friends.
That continued throughout his elementary school years.

And even though his class had changed, Kotori had been watching him for a long time.
Ever since she learned of Masamune's reasons for refusing, she had only gazed at Masamune.


By junior high school, Masamune had made friends around him.
Kotori was relieved to see them in the distance.
The number of those who called Masamune "germs" in elementary school decreased as they entered the upper grades of elementary school, and by the time they entered junior high school, they were gone.
They had forgotten why they had called Masamune "Hidaka Fungus".

"How convenient for them...

Masamune muttered to himself, looking up at the sky.

'What is it, Masamune?　Are you at twilight?

It's not like that!

Masamune is embarrassed and angry.
There Masamune is living a normal middle school life.

However, the peace and tranquility does not last long.
Although their numbers have decreased, there are still people everywhere who don't think well of it.

I don't know why, but there was one student who didn't think well of Masamune, who had become a lot more cheerful than when he was in elementary school.

One day, when I went to school, I found Masamune's desk and chair in the classroom thrown out in the hallway.

'What are you doing?'

Hmm?　No, there was something about my desk and chair in the hallway.

Hmm....

However, although it was a small matter, Masamune was somehow aware of it.

Once the heart is injured, it cannot be healed so easily.
Particularly in the case of Masamune, it is not that someone apologized to him, nor did he resolve the problem himself, it just faded with time.
In other words, the people around him grew bored with him as they grew up.
The people around me have forgotten all about it.
No one would remember.
That Masamune was bullied....

--But he remembers it.

Memories of those days remain vividly in Masamune's mind, just like photographs and videos.
And it feels as if it was yesterday.
That is why there is a gap between the victim and the perpetrator.
Masamune was still in junior high school, but he knew that.
Now, if he had pestered the guys around him, and one of them remembered him, 'How long are you going to hold on to this?' And only to be ridiculed.
So Masamune was able to surpass them by overwriting their memories.
But people have no such function.
While making memories of his junior high school days, Masamune never forgot a single millimeter of them.

Then one day, an event occurs that marks the end of his junior high school life.

When Masamune arrived at school in the morning, he found his textbooks and other belongings scattered in the women's restroom that should have been in his desk.
Even the textbooks were scattered in the toilet bowl.
The textbook clearly states "Hidaka Masamune".
But that was only the beginning of the "beginning" that was to come.

The teacher asked in homeroom, "Who threw the Hidaka textbook into the girls' bathroom? He told the classroom.
Masamune told him that he didn't remember what happened.
The teacher immediately took issue with this and asked him in homeroom.
But he couldn't find the culprit.

Days and days passed.
The teacher handed out a piece of paper to the students, explaining, 'If you say you did it, don't write your name on it.
But that didn't work either.
Before long, the school didn't do anything in particular about the incident.
In the end, time passed without knowing who did it and for what purpose.

And then the day came.

One day, a female student overheard him saying to Hidaka, 'You know what, Mr. Hidaka?

--The truth is, it was you who did it, wasn't it? And....

Hidaka couldn't react to the words that were suddenly said.

--What does it mean?

Those were the first words that popped into his head.
His eyes widened in surprise, and Masamune thought about it for a while before he calmed down.
He wondered why that was happening.
Why should I, the one who was done to me, be made to sound as if I am the perpetrator?

Then, having cooled down, Masamune looked at the female student again.
But before thinking about it, he should have immediately denied being different.
Or maybe if he had denied it right away, none of this would have happened.

--You can find a lot of people who have a lot more than just a few.

But now, Masamune is in junior high school.
It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of the meaning of that "look" and "gaze" than before, as Masamune's ego is starting to grow.

--''It's disgusting...''　

The female student muttered a single word.
At that moment, the wound that might have been healing opened again, and it turned into an even bigger wound than before.

--that eye........

Those eyes, as if people don't even think of people as people and deny they even exist.
Those eyes, as if they were looking at raw garbage with a strange smell.
No, it would be crueler than that.
At that moment, Masamune remembered.
The pain of those days........

After that, it didn't take long for them to be surrounded by enemies.
When I talked to the teacher, they were just talking.
There was no power in their eyes as they said, "Leave it to the teacher.
It only said that they were facetious.

Gradually, my friend started to laugh.
The frequency of the laughter increases.
Finally, all of my friend's eyes directed at Masamune had turned to contempt.
And the corners of their mouths were raised and they were all grinning.

And the next thing you know, Masamune was alone again.
What had been a fun lunch was just a matter of how quickly they could finish eating.
When he finishes eating, he goes to the library, where there are no other students in his grade, to pass the time.
I'm alone every day.
I don't talk to him during class unless I've been assigned to do so.
He doesn't speak a word from the time he leaves home until he comes home.
That was junior high school for Masamune.

Kotori watched over Masamune from the shadows.
Rumors of Masamune had of course reached Kotori's ears, and she had even consulted her teachers alone, hoping to do something about it.
But the teachers didn't take up the matter, saying that it was past time for them to do something about it.
Kotori just watched Masamune from the shadows as he grew increasingly isolated.


One day, Kotori was hurrying up the stairs alone, as her next class was a mobile classroom, when someone whispered to her.
Then she heard someone whispering and muttering something.



-- ''.................''



The little birdie thought sluggishly and stopped once, and from there he slowly proceeded to peer beyond.
Then, at the top of the stairs, she saw the figure of one of the boys.



-- ''.............................''



--What?



Little birdie noticed right away.
It was Masamune.

-- there's no one around right now.
There is no need to worry about anyone seeing you if you talk to them now, and you don't have to worry about causing trouble for Masamune.
It's okay now--.

Kotori stepped forward again and tried to speak to Masamune.



-- 'I wish you all could die...'



But at that moment, the little birdie's feet stopped.

--Now.........what did you say?

But there was no doubt about it.
Sure, you can hear the wind in here.
But it's quieter than a classroom.
So much so that even that small murmur could not be missed.

-- 'Huh ... I wish they all died ... and then I'd ... I'd ...'

What does Masamune say?
The little birdie was confused.

The image of Masamune from before was still there in the little bird.
That gentle Masamune who had been abandoned by his owner and then died, and who had said he would take the kitten home and bury it....

And then there's the gentle Masamune, desperately trying to comfort himself from crying...


-- '...you'll be happy.'


That's why I couldn't believe Masamune muttering such horrible things alone.


-- ''Everyone should just die...''

At that moment, tears naturally ran down the little bird's cheeks.

The little bird then wiped the tears away and left the place unnoticed.
Then, wiping the tears that were pouring out of her, she went to the next classroom, wiping them again and again.

The Masamune that Kotori knew was no longer there.

Instead of laboring over life, he wished for the death of others.
Maybe it was just a trivial matter, too.
Something accidental, for example, something that wasn't special and meaningless, as is often the case in adolescence...
But Kotori didn't think so.

That event further increased the distance between Kotori and Masamune.
But.........



Months have passed since that one incident, and the two are now in high school.
Kotori was still watching over Masamune.
In the back of her mind, she thought that the Masamune of those days was still alive.
And above all, Kotori liked Masamune.
And I believed that one day he would return to that kind Masamune.

But even after entering high school, Masamune found himself being bullied again.
Masamune's eyes at that time were completely different from before.
His eyes were like those of a 'recluse'.

Gradually, Kotori couldn't see any trace of the old Masamune.
The only thing holding the line between Kotori and Masamune, which Masamune himself did not know, was Kotori's desire to believe.
Perhaps Kotori herself has some kind of mental problem, and in the end, she may just be dependent on Masamune.
But who knows what that is.
Even Kotori herself doesn't know.
Perhaps she was just looking for something in herself that was lacking in Masamune, who had always protected her when she was a child.

But Kotori couldn't do anything about it.
After all, until now, Kotori had done nothing but watch over him, and there was nothing she could do about it now.

'Hey!　Hidaka!　Go get some juice!

Good luck with mine, Hidaka!

Masamune was used as a pacifier again and left the classroom without a trace.
In Kotori's mind there was only a sense of helplessness and sadness that she couldn't do anything to help.

And that's when that light enveloped the classroom.

--The light of the summoning of the heroes.