Day 1 (Part 1)

The sounds of my own peaceful snores and the sensation of my eyelids forcing themselves open had notified me that I had just woken up. I could hear the chirping of birds through the open window of my room, and the still-dark room was a tell-tale sign that it was currently dawn.

 "Haaaaa—" I yawned out, and I rubbed my eyes to clear them of any rheum that had collected during the time that I had slept. My eyes were drooping, still tired, even though I had a sound sleep. Strange… I usually felt energised when I woke up. Did something bad happen? Eh, I was probably just loving the softness of the bed and the warmth of being under my blanket. However, ignoring the feeling of drowsiness, I rose up from the comforting embrace of my bed without hesitation.

I swung my legs to the right and had them go parallel to the floor, doing the preparations to get out of bed. "Hyaa—!" I shouted out, and I jumped out of bed, and I forced myself to move even though I still felt drowsy.

Why the waste of energy? There was just a single reason: it consistently allowed me to shake off drowsiness whenever I felt it. Though, the only reason that I could actually have had that much energy was because of the fact that I always slept early. The normal time for dozing off was around nine-thirty.

"Haaaaa…" I yawned once more; the sleepiness that had remained caused my eyes to water. I opened the door of my bedroom, kept it open, and I marched to the bathroom. When I did enter, the feeling of the cold covering the base of my feet had shocked me. 

I turned the faucet on as I quickly undressed, checking myself out in the bathroom's mirror as I did. There I saw the reflection of my face: tan skin, sharp red-eyes, and golden-blonde hair. All in all, a striking appearance for a person in Japan, and I wasn't completely Japanese, only having about one-fourths of it in my ancestry. Also, I was an exchange student in Japan, so naturally, I stood out.

I looked at myself in the mirror, and I asked, "Who's the lady killer?" I asked the reflection, and the reflection — myself — answered back, "Naturally, you are." Before I said another embarrassing thing, I was interrupted by a loud banging coming from the door.

Knock! Knock!

"Eeek—!" I squeaked out like a small, toy plushie that had just gotten squeezed. Just a second after that I could hear the sound of slight cackling laughter through the door and the echo of splashing water.

"W—Who's laughing?" I exclaimed, embarrassed to have made such a childish sound. Also, how dare they? How dare they interrupt my internal monologue?

"Why, it's your wonderful little sister!" a high-pitched voice replies through the door. I mean, who did I expect? My parents go to work earlier than the time I wake up, so the only person who could potentially do that is her, unless it's a trespasser… Eh, that's clearly not the case, so I won't think about that event happening.

"Why did you even do that?" I asked the million-dollar question. She wasn't the type to take joy in annoying me, especially when it's so early in the morning.

"Your stupid alarm interrupted my beauty sleep!" She gave the million-dollar answer. Though, her answer brought more questions than it actually answered.

"Explain it later, I'm busy right now." With that, our early morning argument ended.

I turned the shower off and I got out, though, not without hesitation; it was quite cold this morning, so when I stopped the flow of warm water, it immediately resulted in the sensation akin to the cold of a breezy rain. It wasn't winter yet, but I knew that I would be cursing constantly once it did come.

Quickly drying myself off, I wore my school uniform. "I can't lie, though. The Japanese winter uniforms do look pretty cool," I muttered to myself. "If only I could actually see myself in the mirror," I cursed, looking at the now foggy mirror; the hot shower had caused it to fog up. Though, it didn't matter, for I already knew that I looked good in it, I think…

Well, I suppose having that mirror all fogged up is a good thing; I once spent ten minutes idly staring at my own reflection, after all. At least now I don't have to worry about getting late.

I opened the door and exited the bathroom, the steam slowly dispersing outside as I turned right and walked through the hallway. As I walk, I catch a glimpse of my little sister. She had similar features to mine: clear and unblemished tan skin, short strawberry-blonde hair, and strikingly sharp red-eyes.

"G'morning, Freedan," she greets, giving a light smile as she does. Her expression had no shame. Normally, I'd be angry at her for interrupting my shower time, but those innocently cute eyes of hers had made me calm down.

Truly, little sisters have that special power to make older brothers care for them. 

I copied a part of her sweet expression and my own greeting, "Cold morning, Alice!" I add, "Don't take too long in the shower, I'll be cooking up breakfast." She nodded as she continued marching through the hallway and towards the bathroom. "Yeah," she responded, very lately, I might add.

Ah! I completely forgot to give my name, I'm Freedan Liberia, hopefully you weren't too confused with my lack of introduction ever since I began narrating. Intriguing, is it not? I narrate as I go through the 'story', so I can directly talk to 'you'. Quite funny, really. I'm narrating my own life; I don't have an audience, and instead, I think to myself to try to narrate what's going on in my life to keep myself from boredom.

Imagine if this was a story being read by someone, though...

The readers likely would be too confused

"Haaaa—" a lackadaisical sigh escapes my breath just before I finally reach the kitchen; with a squat down, I open the cabinet beside the gas canister and pull out a medium-sized non-stick frying pan. Standing myself back up, I place it over the stove, light it up, and I walk over to the fridge to get four large eggs. I walk back to the now preheated pan, and I pour some vegetable oil onto its heated surface.

I lightly smashed the eggs to the surface of the counter — sounding a quick crack. Digging my fingers to the indented cracks of the shell, I opened the eggs up, and I lowered them till they were just a few centimetres from the hot surface; I had to make sure I didn't break the yolk, my sister and I loved it when they were runny, after all. Some people considered runny yolks to be disgusting, due to it being 'undercooked'. However, I disagree with that notion; there were three reasons for that: the mouthfeel, its gooey richness, and the fact that it goes so well with freshly cooked rice were the reasons both me and Alice loved it so much. Speaking of rice, it seems that she had used the time when I was showering to cook some rice — truly, my little sibling was wonderful.

With the eggs sent down to fry, I began to hum to myself, reaching the counter above me—I grabbed the salt shaker, and I began to lightly season the sizzling eggs. "Sweet older brother cooking for his wonderful younger sister~" I sang out, having complete disregard for pitch or volume in my voice.

After a few seconds of 'singing', I turned the heat off, and I flipped the four eggs, letting the residual heat of the pan cook the undercooked egg whites. Me and Alice may have loved runny yolks, but there's no way I'll endanger my sister's health with undercooked eggs; I've contracted salmonella once—experiencing the absolute suffering that resulted from the disease, so there's no way I'm risking that now, especially when I'm cooking for my little sister.

I quickly got two plates, and placed some paper towels over them. After that, I got two out of the four eggs that were on the pan to my plate, and the other two eggs to Alice's plate. All of the eggs were lathered with cooking oil, so I placed down paper towels for both plates to deal with that issue. Using more paper towels, I lightly pat the eggs to get rid of left-over grease.

Pitter! Patter! Footsteps came from behind me. "Perfect timing, Alice. The eggs just got done. Get your own rice, though, I don't know the portions you get." I was confident that she was the one who walked up behind me. After all, Japan was a country that had little crime, and I wasn't the vigilant type to be constantly paranoid; also, I'd be a horrible brother if I couldn't tell who my sister was with just the sound of her footsteps.

She stood beside me and gave a solemn nod, following up with a short affirming, yet dry response, "Yeah."

Taking off the lid, the steam burst forth from the rice cooker, and I took a slight whiff of the freshly cooked rice. Wait, that isn't a weird statement, right? Anyways, I scooped up some of the rice and placed it beside the eggs—after I took off the kitchen towels, of course; and when I finished, I walked towards the square dining table. The table had two lunchboxes in the middle of it, and I placed my food on the side against the sunlight and sat down; I dislike eating with it. However, I didn't start to eat until Alice had also sat down, as I was waiting for her to have the 'breakfast talk.'

"So…" were the words that I used to start the conversation. Following up with, "...About earlier—" I cut myself off as I took a bite of my food.

"Is this because of earlier? You know, when I startled you when you were showering?" she asked, knowing exactly what I was about to ask. Truly, a wonderful sister she is, being able to read my mind.

By the time she finished her sentence, I already swallowed the contents of my earlier bite, allowing me to give my response, "Yeah. What was the reason for that? I don't remember teaching you to interrupt the silence of a relaxing hot shower."

Likely expecting—No, anticipating the question, she gives an immediate response, "Your alarm clock ruined my sleep. I woke up fifteen minutes earlier because of it." I now knew why she startled me earlier: she was pissed.

Sure, startling someone for revenge sounds tame, but you have to know that Alice wasn't the type of person to even voice out something unpleasant, so her doing that was surprising; my sister is an angel, after all. Though, did she learn to be spiteful from her friends in school? If so, then I'll have to approach them, peacefully talk to them, and peacefully smash their heads to the pavement—No seriously, I should actually do that.

But this begged the question, 'Alarm Clock' is what she said. What did she mea—Oh, so that's why. Earlier back when I woke up feeling extensively drowsy, I had actually woken up before my alarm clock rang out. Crap, I also remembered that I didn't even close the door of my bedroom, so when the alarm clock did ring, the sound wasn't reduced from being in an enclosed room.

Beginning to fully understand the reason for her not-so-intense frustration, I drown myself in shame, metaphorically, of course, shame was just a feeling. Still, I'm so sorry, sister dearest!

Directly copying the action I had just done inside my mind,, I set aside my plate to the right and I bowed my head so quickly that I accidentally smashed my head to the table before I apologised, "I'M SO SORRY, OH GREAT SISTER DEAREST!"

"Really? 'Great sister dearest'? That's definitely not creepy, Freedan," she responded, a mocking smile had framed her lips. "Anyways, at least make your alarm clock more silent. It was loud enough for me to hear it, closed door or not. I mean, seriously, are you trying to make yourself go deaf?"

"I'll change up its settings later when school ends." I assured her, taking my last bite after I did. Finishing my breakfast, I drank two glasses of water, and looked towards the wall clock; it was now seven-thirty in the morning. After waiting for about thirty more seconds, Alice had finished her breakfast, too, so I took the now empty plates and placed them on the sink, where they would be washed after Alice and I come back home from school later.

"Start the car," I tell her as I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. She merely nods in response, and in a few seconds I could hear the faint sound of an engine roaring. Though, considering the amount of walls between the bathroom, it would surprise me if anyone else can actually hear that. In about thirty seconds, Alice entered to brush her own teeth.

Finished with brushing my teeth, I quietly walk towards the garage, and I enter my car. The interior was neat, not even a speck of dirt or dust blemished the sleek matte-black; red lines accentuated the black along with gold trimmings. With a push of a button, the windows rolled down, and the scent of the fresh morning air entered, relaxing my mood.

As I took deep-appreciating breaths of fresh air, I heard the sound of the car door opening on my right, and felt the car shifting slightly with added weight. "I brought the lunch boxes you forgot." From her tone, I gathered that she was annoyed.

"My apologies, Alice," I replied. Opening my eyes to see her holding two small bags, and I look towards her face, her normally aloof expression turning to one of a slight frown — a frown so subtle that only I, her brother, would be able to notice it.

She sighed. "Apology accepted, Aiden." Hearing her words, my eyes narrowed slightly, and my voice lowered. "Do not call me by that name," I growled. It was a light growl, one that showed annoyance rather than anger, but still, "Ah—I'm sorry, Alice," I immediately apologised. I took another deep breath, and I said, "You know what happened six months ago, Alice. So please, don't ever call me by my old name unless we're having a meeting with the Barthomeloi."

"Understood." Her face contorted as her lips pursed and her eyes glistened from tears. But they didn't escape, they didn't flow, my sister wasn't the type to show her vulnerable to me, not anymore. Her calling me by my true name suggested the past, but my response directly referred to it. I should not have reminded her of the past. Sure, she started first by calling me of true name, but I shouldn't have lost my composure like that.

"Speaking of the Barthomeloi, have they contacted us this week?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

The wetness that used to be on her eyes was all but gone now, and only steam lingered. Though, even if the moisture caused by her getting teary was gone, her voice was still shaky when she said, "Nothing except for the allowance they give us monthly."

 That car ride was awkward. Alice slept through the thirty-minute journey between our house and school, but I still felt off considering what we just argued about just earlier.

"Haaaa—" I sigh. Sure, cruising around Tokyo to Metropolitan Souya High School was pleasant; with the bright-yellow light of the morning sun. However, just the pleasant sunny morning wouldn't make the tense atmosphere disappear. I'd rather be forced to talk to The White Princess for a whole minute than deal with this.

Imagine if I actually had to talk to her though; if that was the case, then I might just cry on the spot and hope she isn't interested in drinking my blood. Oh wait, True Ancestors don't need blood. Or do they? You know what? I'd rather not think about that, it's not like that'll ever happen, so I should just calm myself down.

Finishing parking my car, I turned my head towards Alice, who was currently napping, and I nudged her arm to wake her up, "We're here."

"Hmm?" she grunts for a moment, but she immediately fixes her posture and opens the door, exiting it with the grace of a noble. Though, I wouldn't allow her to be more graceful than I am, and so, I left the car stylishly, as befitting of me, a narcissist. Being proud of winning a competition against a contestant that didn't even know they were competing, I narcissistically laughed inside my head.

Just saying though. I'm not an actual narcissist.

We started to walk towards the school building together, and I waved my hand to some passing acquaintances. "Good morning, Freedan" was what they usually said. My usual response was just nodding and casually saying, "G'Morning to you too."

I saw a blue-haired girl a hundred metres from us, not an unusual colour of hair, but I was sure that there wasn't a blue-haired bespectacled beauty in the school. "Hey, sis. You see that girl over there, the blue-haired one with glasses?" I ask, my eyes glowing faintly with a faint pale-blue light.

Alice quickly looks towards the girl after a moment, and she whispers, "No, never seen her before. What, have you fallen for her? It's not always that you use reinforcement just to gawk at a girl." Good, she's being sarcastic, at least she's not upset anymore.

"Don't talk about Magecraft here in the school, and I didn't use reinforcement on my eyes," I whisper back, completely ignoring her attempt at teasing me. A light grin paints Alice's face, and she runs towards the Women's Kendo Club.

I checked my wristwatch and saw that there was still more than an hour before homeroom starts at eight. Knowing I still had a good amount of time, I walked in the direction that Alice ran. After all, we both were in the Kendo club, but we were separated by a wall as we weren't of the same gender.

Walking through the hallway, I could evidently note that there were in fact, little to no students walking. Which makes sense, as there it was only those that had club activities that actually went to school this early.

As I got closer to the Kendo Club,

Pitter-Patter! Pitter-Patter!

I heard a series of footsteps coming from behind me, and the rate of the footsteps indicated that whoever the source of the footsteps behind me was running.

"Good morning, Freedan!" The voice behind me greets me with an excited voice.

I turn around, and I see neatly combed black-hair and bright, yellow eyes.

"Club president, good morning," I say, lightly bowing my head as I do.

He nods, and shows a slight smile as he says, "You know, Freedan, you're pretty relaxed."

One of my eyebrows raises in confusion. "May I ask why you think I am?" I ask him. I was only walking through the corridors, so why does he think I was being relaxed?

"Well, you didn't turn around to look behind you when I was running towards you," he answered.

My lips form into a joking grin as I say, "Club President, I must have you know that the world doesn't run around you for me to care if you were speeding up to me or not."

His eyebrows raise in response, not responding for a second, likely reflecting on what I just said, and almost immediately he responds, "Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that!" he yells out, sounding embarrassed. He takes a deep breath, clears his throat with a dry cough, and explains, "I didn't mean it like that, really...It's just that ever since the news of the 'vampire-killings' spread, most students have acted more tense and vigilant of their surroundings."

My eyes peer into the Club President's as I smirk and say, "Right..." sounding as if I wasn't believing a word that he was saying. It seems like he noticed that, and in response, he attempted to show that he was serious, he narrowed his eyes into a blank stare.

The 'Vampire-Killings' are a rumoured series of murders done in a way where the bodies found showed signs of their blood being sucked. There are vampires that exist, but the correct term we'd use for them is 'Dead-Apostle', there is another type called referring to themselves as 'True Ancestors', but only one True Ancestor is left alive, being 'The White Princess' I referred to earlier.

However, even though vampires exist, I doubt that a Dead Apostle would be here. And the Mundane public — people with no knowledge of the supernatural side of the world — would also agree with my statement. After all, not only did they not believe in the existence of beings such as vampires, but it's far more likely that it's just a random psychopathic serial killer with a literal thirst for blood.

Imagine how shocked I'd be when I found out that there really were Dead Apostles roaming around.

"Anyways, I have something to do, Freedan. I'll be talking to a friend in the Archery Club," he breaks up the light-hearted staring contest between us, and starts walking towards the Archery Club. "Oh, and you don't have to worry about the Kendo Club Room being closed, one of the first-years went inside early to practise."

Whoever the first-year that's practising already deserves my praise, hardworking people are hard to come by; and nothing screamed hard working to me like students who invested a lot of time to what they were passionate about. Whoever I see in the Clubroom would be given something valuable from me: praise, and maybe I might pay for his lunch.

"Okay, President." I turned away, and I began to walk towards my original destination, planning to reward an underclassman.

Reaching the sliding door of the Kendo Club, I swing it open and I dash to the right. It was one of the many displays of inhuman instinct that I had. It was likely because of the Pure Eyes' passive ability that I was able to have an instinct so... effective that my body moved away from danger even before my mind could perceive it. The last time I truly did require it so much as to cause an involuntary reaction was just two months ago, when a fellow student capable of moving metres in just a split second tried to cut me into seventeen pieces with a knife. Though, it's fortunate that the danger this time is nothing compared to that.

Fwooosh—!

Passing wind whistled through the air as a Shinai swung in a diagonal trajectory. The Shinai didn't reach me, but I knew that it would've been painful if I was hit, so I was thankful that my body moved for me. Unfortunately for me, that instinct would only be used in life-or-death situations.

It was fortunate, however, that this wasn't a life-or-death situation.

It looked like the one I was about to praise and give a hearty-meal to was trying to attack me. How unfortunate for them, no more praise, no more free food, and definitely an assured beating.

Annoyed, I turned around, and I saw the sight of an average Japanese teenager. Short black hair, brown eyes, average build, no magecraft, and not to mention that disgustingly average looking face. It was annoying to think that such a mediocre insect dared to hit me— Ah, my magus side showed up for a bit. I sighed before asking, "You attacked me without warning, can I consider that assault?"

The mediocre insect immediately gave a panicking expression and tried to say something, "I—I..." 'it' stuttered, before continuing with 'its' excuse. "I'm terribly sorry, it's just that your sister told me that you had great reflexes, so I did that to test out if what she said was true." What a sloppy excuse.

My expression showing enmity, I smiled before speaking, "Since you wanted to test it out so much, how about we have a duel?"

He meekly nodded, noticing my fury even as I tried to hide it.

I quickly put on my Kendo equipment and we began our duel. Actually, it's a lot more accurate to call it a single-hit beatdown; ever since he annoyed me, he never stood a chance of even touching me. Now, do you want me to recite a poem on how thoroughly I smashed this insect?

 ***

In Kendo's realm, where warriors spar,

Two souls clashed, near and far,

For I, a vessel of pride and ire,

Struggled to quell my inner fire,

Donned in armour, they faced the ring,

A duel of words unspoken, a deadly swing,

A clash of wills, battle unseen,

Where arrogance and anger danced between.

There I stood, my gaze ablaze,

Five metre's distance, a lethal maze,

Eyes held bloodlust, a storm concealed,

As the other shook, his fate was sealed.

The air grew tense, electric, raw,

As the insect boy's Shinai saw,

A feeble attack, a futile stride

There I sidestepped with utmost pride.

My own strike swift, my Shinai's kiss,

Landed true, brought torment's bliss

A calculated blow, a twisted glee,

In that moment, my true side set free.

Facing forward, they boy took flight,

Three metres backward, a pitiful sight.

A grim satisfaction, a moment's thrill,

As my dominance sought to instil.

 ***

It's quite apparent that I have what it takes to be a poet, and safe to say, he'll be regretting what he did, when he wakes up. Seriously, though, who attacks someone just because they thought that person had great reflexes? That's like jumping off a cliff just because you know you can't die. Still, I might have gone overboard; after all, I put enough force to make this random mundane pass out. It wouldn't harm him in the long-term, but I still hurt him quite a bit. Now, how do I explain this to the Club President?

BAM!

The door of the clubroom slides open.

I look behind me, and I sigh, not a sigh of relief though, it was a sigh that was for the expectation of a punishment.

Of course, it's the club president. Most likely, he'll be asking what I did, and I'd have to be careful answering; I can't show my grin of joy and satisfaction.

I took a deep breath, fully accepting the Divine Punishment known by the whole of the Kendo club as 'The Justice of a Fair Fight.' Where the perpetrator of the 'injustice' is beaten down by the best practitioner of Kendo in the metropolitan prefecture of Tokyo. And from the amount of force that I put in my strike against the boy, I'll definitely be the one who's taking the beating.

"WHAT THE HECK?! What happened here?!" The president yelled out. His gaze towards the unconscious boy, and in a moment, his gaze turned to my direction.

This will hurt, but I genuinely need the beatdown. Sure, the kid assaulted me for a stupid reason, but I shouldn't have struck him so hard to have caused him to literally pass out with one swing to the body. I need to accept my punishment.

"President...I got angry at him, requested a duel, and I...put enough force to knock him out in one blow?" I said, sounding unsure of myself on whether I would lie myself out of a well-deserved beating, or to accept it like a true respectable heir of the Api fami—No, I'm Freedan Liberia now, but yeah, I deserve the punishment.

"Since you're honest, I'll only beat you up to the point where you can still walk. Albeit, with heavy steps." I gulp at the statement. Physically, at this moment in time, the Club President's latent physical strength is more than mine — when trying to pass off as a normal person — and as I said earlier, he's the best in all of Tokyo, so safe to say the I'm actually gonna be hurting until I can safely heal myself when I can get into the boundary field of my house. Wait, I don't need to use Magecraft to regenerate a few bruises like that.

The Club President hummed to himself as he wore his equipment, and with each equipment that fastened to him, the more my breathing started to hasten. Thank goodness I'm a magus, if I wasn't, then I won't be able to heal any bruised bones that I'd gain from my punishment. "Remember, Freedan; you mustn't blindly anyone, even if they annoy you." Says the guy that's about to be beating me up. He continues with a kind voice, "I know this is somewhat hypocritical of me..." Thank god you know. "Anyhow, we'll be having a proper duel, so block all you can."

"Yes, sir. I will consider this punishment as another form of training," I said, trying to sound honourable. "If we duel at least once every few days I might surpass you in skill by next year," I said, not noticing how arrogant-sounding the words that I had just stated were. I mean, they weren't blatant delusions, but what I just said would earn me the beating of a lifetime.

"Oh, a true beatdown is what you're asking for, huh?" he asks, with a confident smile on his expression. "Don't worry, oh underclassman of mine, I'll clear you of your delusions."

Both of us go into stance, and the air around us freezes. The advent of my punishment is nigh.

My left foot forward slightly, and my centre of balance firm, the duel begins.

He takes a step forward and swings down his Shinai, his balance unfaltering; The swing came down at such a speed that the air whistled.

I take a deep breath and lightly step back as I block his first strike.

Wooden swords clash, the sound echoing throughout the 'arena'.

For me, there's no room when in a duel. Only an arena, a stage for battle, if you will. One must not care for anything that isn't related in battle. Sure, looking around for the optimal spacing, hindrances within the arena, and trajectory of sword swings may seem like basic things to look out for, but they must be fully considered. Experience allows for the ability to make these thoughts into a part of their fighting-style, allowing for flowing combinations of sword swings that have the optimal force, and optimal trajectory that forces their opponents on the defensive.

Though I blocked his sword, my balance has faltered from the rushed step back, and I wait until I plant both of my feet on the ground before I sidestep for better positioning. "Kuh—!" I voice out; my opponent swinging horizontally before I could regain my optimal form. I regret making that provocation.

With his horizontal strike blocked, I move forward, thrusting my Shinai towards him.

But it's blocked, through sheer skill and reflexes, he parried my thrust just in time, forcing my Shinai downward.

I tried to bring my sword up, but just a split-second after his parry, his Shinai had already struck my chest.

Thanks to the armour, the impact of the blow is reduced, but it still hurts.

Once more, he swung horizontally, and I attempted to parry in response.

But before the swords clashed, his trajectory changed, and his feint worked.

The side of my ribs were struck with a diagonal swing, and the impact felt far more apparent.

"AH—!" I groaned. However, I had no time to wallow in pain, for this was a duel, and there was no mercy shown in duels.

Ignoring the pain to the best of my abilities, I swung down. Surely he had expected me to falter for a few milliseconds from the pain.

The sound of my Shinai striking was heard, but that sound was that of the whistling air.

He dodged it with some difficulty, so he wasted a split-second of movement, but I completely whiffed my attack, so I wasted at least half a second.

Before I was able to solidify neither my offence or defence, a swing had already struck my head.

I felt no pain, and yet, everything went black...