My sister gazed down at the ground, not wanting to meet my face.

“Kazane... What are you doing so late at night?”

I asked, my mouth quivering.

The curtains were dark, without a sign of light. Instead, a dim red glow emitted from the blinking lights of the alarm clock. Not a single thing moving, the only sound was the crickets outside.

And yet, Kazane sat among the couch, gazing wistfully into the night, as if deep in thought. Deep in thought, almost as if something big had suddenly occured to her, something that changed her life entirely, that needed hours to think about.

“Dad talked to you too?”

I couldn’t help but ask. The question came out of my mouth instinctively.

“Well... Not quite. More like mom.”

Kazane’s eyes wandered to the window, her expression soft as she stared outside. I could see her mouth moving, as she formed her next words.

“I assume he told you everything too?”

“W-Well, I suppose.”

The memories of my dad in my room were blurry, and it wasn't the easiest to think straight.

Seeing Kazane’s passive expression, her soft voice, as I put my fingers on the wall, the hard, rough sensation, it was then I realized that yesterday was no dream. And neither was what was happening now.

“What a shock. To think, after all this time.”

Kazane murmured, running her fingers through her hair. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared intently at her hand.

“Mom did say that it would take a bit before I could do it.”

“Do what?”

Kazane glanced at me.

“Oh, I guess he didn’t tell you everything.”

“... Well, he did say there was a lot more for me to learn, before leaving.”

“Is that so? Well...” Kazane closed her eyes, before returning to her gaze out the window. “I...” Her voice lowered.

“I’m kinda worried. About what is to happen about my life,” she finished. Her gaze dropped to the ground, and she waited, as if waiting for her big brother to say some reassuring words, to comfort her, to tell her that he’ll protect her, to tell her everything is going to be okay.

Something about her line bent my mind. Up till now, my life was normal. Wake up. Study. Sleep. Normal things happening. There was no need to ever wonder what happened next, except for false delusions that maybe something cool might happen. The worst has been opening up emails that informed you your test has been graded. So for the possibility of life being some fantasy happening now, it was absurd beyond belief.

I wasn’t that kind of person to smooth over broken glass. The situation was seriously wild. There was no way I could lie to myself, lie to everyone, that “everything will be okay.” No matter what sentences like those that I thought of, my mouth couldn’t speak it out. They would be the same lies I told myself, that losing was okay. But I still remembered my dad’s words.

Ayato is going to die.

Perhaps what he meant was that man who chose to live differently. Perhaps that meant that man who put his all into studying to show the world that he was not something normal. Perhaps that meant the man that wanted to believe that there had to be something more to life than an endless cycle of sleeping and working.

And so, when I walked to the window my sister looked out of and put a foot on the window sill, I knew exactly what I wanted to say.

They weren’t out of concern to reassure Kazane. They weren’t smug words to criticize the world. They were words from the bottom of my heart for self-satisfaction. They were directed at no one other than myself.

“You see? I’ve been telling you all, all this time, Ayato Hinode was someone special!”

My eyes were shut as I waited for a response. A response for who? I did not know. The remainder of my sentence bounced around the living room, echoing on the word special.  

Special.

Special.

Special.

That’s right, I was special. It wasn’t those higher, advanced level chemistry classes. It wasn’t those meaningless competition victories that I got in junior high. No, it was the fact that I, Ayato Hinode, could have special powers and had the chance to be the main character in some fancy, action-packed plot. There was no need for any of the sacrifices made earlier in my life.

A small giggle came from behind me. Then it turned into laughter.

“Haa? Why are you laughing?” I asked, turning around, to find Kazane covering her mouth, her eyes smiling as she laughed.

“You know, I’ve never thought of you as ordinary. But sometimes, you do some really stupid things.” She shook her head. “To think, that was your first thought after finding out you could have some special powers.”

“...”

“But maybe that’s also why...” her voice trailed off as she glanced at me. Her mouth opened, her lips moved. “That there's no way I could accept such a thing,” she finished, her eyes narrowing.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Normal humans. What in the world could that mean?” Kazane stared out the window. Her hand shook by her side. “The days that I spent in school. The days that I became friends with the others. There’s no way they could be for nothing, right?” Her voice thinned as she finished her sentence.

“Kazane...”

“Ayato too. You were always something special. There was never a need for something like this to make you special.” Kazane lowered her head. “Even though sometimes you're annoying, I can’t help but think... that the banter we exchange will come to an end.”

It was impossible to read her face while she kept her head down. Nothing could be seen but the silent swaying of her hair. But it was also then when I realized. That a person who dares calls themselves special must honor it by doing special things. I sat down in front of the couch.

“Well, a certain person once told me that everything becomes useless when you die.”

Kazane looked up and glared at me. Her eyes were slightly red. “Really? Of all things to say, you choose some pessimistic sentence to smooth everything up?”

“T-that’s not what I mean! You didn’t let me finish!” My hands waved in front of me, trying to reassure her that I was not an old hag that only spouted things about the meaning of life and death.

“Sheesh,” Kazane sighed, and leaned back on her chair. But she waited patiently for my next words, staring at the ceiling.

“But when I thought about it more, I thought. Maybe it means that when you are alive, everything is useful.”

My eyes wandered up to the ceiling. They were the same words I told myself, whenever I thought everything was meaningless.

“In other words, while you’re still alive, there’s no way school or friends could be anything less than meaningful right? Even the arguments, fights, banters that we got into, they’re all going to mean something while you're alive.”

Kazane didn’t respond.

“I mean, if you think of life as a state, everything up till now leads life to be that state. So how could anything be meaningless?”

I waited for a response. Nothing. I slowly turned down to see Kazane’s eyes closed, her chest rising up and down every time she breathed, with no intention of saying something back.

In other words, she was asleep.

“Dammit Kazane, what did I spout all those words for?”

...

Surprisingly, I was not sleepy that morning. After staying down in the living room for a few hours, I finally went back upstairs and stared at the ceiling for a few more hours. Of course, after dealing with Kazane.

I sipped my coffee. During the weekends, Kazane and I were always up before our parents. Although after that 4:00 session she pulled, probably not.

Sheesh. After prompting my godly speech, you fell asleep! Was I that boring?

I shook my head as I took the last sip of my coffee. Alas, may there be another time to speak like a special man. Feeling full, I left the dining table and made my ways to the stairs. But as I got up, I ran to her yet unexpectedly again.

“K-Kazane? You're awake right now!?”

Kazane yawned while rubbing her eyes. Her hair twirled around her face, all messed up from bed. The moment she saw me, her eyes widened and she jumped back.

“Ayato? What a surprise bumping to you...”

I sighed. “How are you awake right now? Didn’t you go to bed at like 4?”

“Oh yeah, I did...” Kazane closed her eyes, and leaned on the wall. “What even happened last night,” she murmured as she groggily rubbed her forehead. “Ah. You were trying to comfort me after declaring yourself special, and then said some pessimistic line.”

“Well, that was the only first part.”

“Huh... I don’t quite remember what happened after though.”

“You don’t remember what happened? You complained I was pessimistic and so I changed it to be hopeful!”

“You did? Well... I would sure like to hear it though.” she paused. “I’m sure that I fell asleep on the couch. But I woke up on my bed. Did you carry me up here?”

“Who else could’ve? Although you were surprisingly heavy.”

The corners of Kazane’s mouth twitched upward. “Well, that’s true, I suppose.” she said, ignoring the second half of my remark. She looked out the window. “It’s still quite a shock though, to find out all that CHK and GIRUS nonsense.”

“CHK and GIRUS nonsense?”

Kazane blinked. “You don’t know? Oh, I guess dad never explained to you about the CHK stuff.”

“Was there anything important?”

“Well,” Kazane frowned, as her hand dropped to her side. “Our family and some others are CHK type. Some light core thingy that I didn’t understand. But apparently, there’s some other type called GIRUS that is trying to kill all the CHKs.”

“Haa? So we’re being targeted?”

Kazane glanced at the window. “Well, according to mom, they have not been active for the past 60 years. But recently...”

I followed her gaze to a pond surrounded by trees.

“I don’t understand it either,” my sister said. “But when mom and dad’s are so urgent, it’s hard not to trust them.”

I dropped my gaze to my hand. As expected, this was some fantasy action with some evil dudes floating around to try to kill me. Some spectacular journey for me, I suppose.

Just then, footsteps came from below. Ah, my parents were awake. My dad’s head emerged from the stair as he walked into the living room.

“Good morning,” he said, so casually that you could think it was an average morning, that nothing happened yesterday.

“Dad...”

“Oh yeah,” my dad said. He rubbed the tip of his forehead. “About last night...” He paused, as if thinking about what he needed to say.

“Was what you said yesterday true?”

“It was,” my dad said, glancing at me. “Well, if you still don't believe me, I can show y-” He was rolling up his sleeve before freezing up. “Ah nevermind, maybe your mother can show you again.”

My mouth opened to ask why, but he shot me a glare. And that's when I remembered.

Don't tell anyone about it, not even Kazane.

Perhaps what he meant was that smoke thing, not the GIRUS. But why? There were still many things that I didn't know.

Kazane glanced between us. “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing at all,” my dad said. He looked towards the table. “Well, there's so much you guys still need to know.”

“About school...” I trailed off, remembering what he said.

What if I told you to quit school?

“Well...” my dad said. He scratched his head. “If it comes time, you'll most likely be unable to attend school. But that's an IF, afterall” He turned to look at us. “Though recently, GIRUS has been pretty active.”

“Girus?” I asked.

“Oh, I forgot. I never told you.” he looked out the window and sighed. “Unfortunately, like I said, the world is complex. There are two types of non-normal people.” He gestured to me and Kazane. “Ayato, Kazane, me and your mother are considered CHK types. For reference, there are a few families such as ours in Japan.”

“What exactly is a CHK though?”

“CHKs are people who have a CHK core.” He glanced down the stairs. “Maybe your mother could show you.” My dad turned back to face me. “Anyways, the more important matter isn't what CHK is, it is what GIRUS is.” His eyes narrowed.

Despite being indoors, I could hear the wind blowing against the window as a cold shiver ran down my spine.

“GIRUS is a cluster. A cluster of people planning to end the other population.”

So there were killers running around trying to kill us. It was just as I expected. Why? Perhaps they wanted to take over the world, or another bizarre, cliche reason. But it wasn't what I cared about.

“How do we fight them? Knives? Guns?” I asked.

My dad glanced at me, observing my face. He let out a sigh. “Perhaps if you ambush them. No, not even. Most likely, those weapons won't even hurt the pawns, let alone stand a chance against any of the ranks.”

“Ranks?” Kazane asked.

“Some GIRUS are much stronger than others. They are denoted a rank.” My dad’s face darkened, his forehead wrinkling. “If you ever see one, one with purple light when they activate any powers, run away immediately. Don't even think about fighting back. “

I stood back in response to his sharp tone.

My dad glanced at our faces, and his expression softened. “Sorry, that was a lot to digest. But...” His eyes dropped to the ground. “There's still so much more to learn.”

A moment of silence clouded us.

“Kana!” my dad said, looking down the stairs. “I need some help!”

There was a moment of silence. Then-

“Ah, you guys are all up so early this morning.”

My mother walked up the stairs. Her white bathrobe just barely scraped the ground as she lifted her feet. She noticed our faces. “Didn't get good sleep last night?”

“Well...” Kazane started.

My mother smiled. “Let's sit down. Then we can discuss. It may be huge, but certainly not anything unfaceable if we face it as a family.”