THREE

MIU

"… I'm sorry, what??"

PLUTOS

"We are friends. And from this point onward, I'm going to be sticking to you like glue."

MIU

"Heck no."

PLUTOS

"Now now. Hear me out. You see it's not that you're strange or too different for anyone to comprehend. You're just much stronger than the average. And that's not really strange at all. Only rare. And that in itself an achievement worthy of praise. You say your super human or a mutation, yes. That would be accurate and it would make sense too since you are more powerful than even an adult with the same ki level."

MIU

"Hey hey! Hold on a second! What are you even saying right now with all that babbling??"

PLUTOS

"Ah. Right sorry. So here's the thing. I believe that whoever or whatever got you in this situation in the first place must either want to control your latent power or remove it entirely, but are too afraid to do so not just because you're young, but because you're smarter than they anticipated, as well as being mindful of your own abilities. The problem though isn't that you are different, but rather you have yet to open up to the idea of growing your potential. So I propose that I help you develop that potential and in return you can help me with my project."

MIU

"What!?? I… huh????"

PLUTOS

"In short. I teach you about ki and you teach me about this world. Because I believe that you are a large factor in this project that will help me find answers."

MIU

"Wait… so… you'll teach me how to fight?? And I give you book smarts?"

PLUTOS

"History, my dear Miu. you will help me uncover the secret history of this world. With it, I can find out the answer I seek. I think you are one of those many mysteries. What exactly is a "southerner"? What makes you so different? and why only you?"

MIU

"All very good questions that deserve an answer, but my question is why the hell are you so interested?"

PLUTOS

"A hunch. And I tend to have a very keen eye for these things too. But if I want your help with this search, I will have to compensate you. So I will help you learn more about yourself and why you're being treated so unjustly."

MIU

"You think so too huh?"

PLUTOS

"Absolutely! It's not right to hide potential from the talent it resides from. So I am making you an offer that I hope you won't refuse. I teach you to harness your hidden potential. You help me scour the world for clues. If you're willing to travel with me that is."

Miu had no words for Plutos. He's words were scary to think about, but she knew he wasn't wrong somehow. And that made it harder to turn down his curious offer to help her. There was, however, one detail she hadn't thought about.

MIU

"... what about that chopper incident?"

PLUTOS

"Geh… uh… w-well."

MIU

"If you want to run around the streets willy-nilly like you did nothing wrong go ahead. But I would rather not be associated with a terrorist."

PLUTOS

"I AM NOT A TERRORIST!"

MIU

Shhhh!!

PLUTOS

(whisper) "oop! I swear that incident wasn't my fault! I had no intention of causing a ruckus! That was a complete accident!"

MIU

"Whether it was yours or someone else's, the fact remains that you were involved and you were made to blame. And I would rather not be involved in that issue."

PLUTOS

"But, I'm offering this to get me out of this trouble! You know what actually happened!"

MIU

"You shouldn't be telling me this, but rather telling the police that are trying to catch you to figure out what actually happened. Because the only other witness that you really have is the officer that was chasing you who happens to live in this house that you so casually decided to sneak into!"

PLUTOS

"…!! Ah…!! ... AAH!!"

*knock knock* "Miu??"

Miu looks at the door and hears officer Kosuke calling her.

MIU

"Speak of the devil…"

PLUTOS

"Wait! Wait before you answer that. Please!"

MIU

"What~?"

PLUTOS

"Please, if you help me clear up this incident first, I will do everything in my power to make you the strongest you could be in no time at all! And then we can do the real deal."

MIU

"I don't even know where to begin with this. Just get out! Out! Out!"

Miu pushes Plutos back out the window.

PLUTOS

"Wha~. wait wait wait!! Please! You're my greatest hope I could ever ask for! Please think about it at least!"

MIU

"Leave!"

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Miu??"

MIU

"Coming! Coming!"

Miu shuts her window and curtains then scrambles to open the door. Officer Kosuke was standing in front of her a bit confused.

MIU

"… Hi."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Hey, I didn't wake you, did I?"

MIU

"Hm? Oh! Don't worry about it. I was having a bad dream anyway. What's up?"

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Well Flute called me earlier saying he wanted to talk to you tomorrow about what happened today."

MIU

"O-oh… um… okay."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"… How long has that been going on?"

MIU

"… um… s-since… since… I've been there."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"What!? Miu…!"

Miu held her head down in fear from what he might say next but he didn't press her.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"… come down stairs for a moment. We gotta talk."

Miu didn't like how he said that and was scared of what might happen. She knew she wasn't going to be able to stay with the Kosuke family but she didn't have anywhere to go now once tomorrow comes. Miu and Officer Kosuke enter the living room of the house and she sees Matsuda sitting on the sofa in front of a blank TV. he seemed lost in thought until he heard them walk into the room. He sees that Miu looked really distressed, unlike the happy- go-lucky wild girl he's used to seeing. She and Officer Kosuke head to the dining room to sit and Matsuda follows after them where everyone met with the mother, Mrs. Kosuke, who was already sitting at the table waiting for them.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Sit down kids."

Everyone sits down around the table and it's quiet for a second.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Okay, then… First of all, Miu. Can you explain to me what exactly led up to that scenario you two found at that apartment."

MIU

"… Nothing. This was always happening. Even to the neighbors in the building."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Do you think you have an idea why?"

MIU

"… probably because most of them were false charged criminals who lost their homes. I'm not really sure since I hardly ever talked to them. They would leave as soon as they got a place elsewhere or…"

OFFICER KOSUKE

"… or?"

MIU

"… or if Mr. Endou filed a report on them for something. I didn't get why though until I started noticing my stuff going missing and seeing some of those neighbors begging on the street."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"What made you think you couldn't do what they couldn't? And call for help?"

Miu gave him a look that made Matsuda feel cold and go pale as if he didn't recognize her in that instant. Matsuda looked around and saw his parents didn't seem fazed by it as if they'd seen it before.

MIU

"… He knew what I am somehow."

That statement shocked the Kosukes and made Matsuda confused.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"How did that happen??"

Miu glances at Matsuda and notices his confusion and could feel his nervousness. Mrs. Kosuke understands why and taps officer kosukes hand.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Matsuda doesn't matter right now. We'll get to him in a second. Right now we need to get to the bottom of this and figure out how that man knew about you."

MIU

"… I don't know how, but one day he suddenly threatened to tell the school about it. And if he told the school, I would never be able to get as far as I am to this point. I'd also lose my place here in Mozu if it got out, because I knew he was capable of making up stories with some weird files he'd get from somewhere in his back office."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"… what else did he tell you?"

MIU

"Not much other than treats like that whenever I confronted him after catching him taking my things."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"… So why didn't you tell me about this?"

MIU

*Mumble* "Like I haven't tried… you were on vacation with Mrs. Kosuke, Matsuda were on the senior trip, and Kobi was being Kobi and not paying attention. I couldn't tell the school because of the threats and since you were gone, I had to stick it out for a while before growing the courage to tell the other officers at the station. Including your partner that was transferred after I told them what was going on. But since most of the higher officers knew about my predicament they simply told me to fuck off basically because they're too busy to deal with a child's paranoia. I tried doing what you told me to but no one would give me the time of day, so I gave up and tried calling you with the number you gave me, but the number was disconnected."

The dining room was now filled with heavy tension as if a demon had walked into the room with them. Matsuda didn't understand why he felt so much pressure on his body but it made him cower and sink into his seat.

MIU

"... so."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Nope. That's good enough."

Officer kosuke pulls out a recorder and hits the pause button and rewinds it a bit then sets it on the table and hits record again.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Matsuda. Tell Miu what you told me after we brought her in this afternoon."

MATSUDA

"Uh… yeah, okay... well… I found this in the apartment when we came in after you."

Matsuda pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and sets in on the table. The tension in the air instantly dissipated the moment Miu saw what was written on it. She recognized the handwriting to be Plutos's. She suddenly felt bad for sending him out of the window the way she did and blaming him for her current predicament.

MATSUDA

"... also, I saw the guy from the chopper incident on her rooftop, just over her room. He was there for a moment then suddenly left just like last time. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing, but I think he was the one that caught that landlord, Endou, and tied him up then left this note there."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"So Miu… I want to know your Opinion on this matter since you were also there during the incident as well. Flute is doing the same with his son. So what do you think? Do think the guy from the incident did this, or do you think he helped you out?"

Miu could hear what he wanted her to say. He wants her to blame Plutos but after what she just said, that completely contradicts everything she just told him. This made her more furious than earlier and everyone felt it. Mrs. Kosuke and Matsuda already knew why and glared holes into Officer Kosuke for it. He seemed to not understand why everyone was so mad at him.

MIU

"… I think he helped me, but I don't have any way of proving that, I do know that this isn't Endou's first offense. So I would defend the stranger over the man that I've seen stealing from my home on multiple accounts."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"…!! ... I understand… Then what do you think we should do with the guy from the incident?"

MIU

"I think we should find him and get his testimony before jumping to conclusions on everything."

Officer Kosuke didn't seem too keen on agreeing with Miu for this issue. He mainly wanted to catch the guy that was the first suspect at the scene of the crime.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Miu, what do you mean by that?"

MIU

"I can see that you want to catch the guy that ran from the incident. But I didn't see the whole thing happen. I was on the other side of the incident helping the other officers get the people to safety. I can't make any rash judgments on the situation that could get someone life in prison. Not until I'm more prepared and better experienced."

Officer Kosuke stares at her for a while and sees how serious she was. All the fear from earlier was completely replaced with annoyance and disappointment.

OFFICER KOSUKE

*sigh* "Alright fine. I'll drop it for now. You can head back up, kids."

He turns off the recorder and puts it away. Mrs. Kosuke follows Matsuda upstairs.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Miu. stay here for a second, will you?"

Miu stops at the stairs and glares at Officer Kosuke, he still didn't seem to understand why.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Don't look at me like that. Come and sit, will you?"

MIU

"I'm fine here, thanks."

OFFICER KOSUKE

*grumble* "Fine, have it your way. You had a rough day, so I understand."

MIU

"… What did you need, sir?"

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Tell me, do you honestly believe that guy is innocent?"

MIU

"Why? Do you not?"

OFFICER KOSUKE

"A random foreigner shows up and flees when something happens in front of him as if he was running from trouble. What am I supposed to think?"

MIU

"You should be asking Matsuda this, since he was there with you."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"...t-true but…"

MIU

"And just because he saw him at my apartment doesn't give you the right to make random connections and throw me under the bus like that."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Wah!!? Now hold on a minute..!"

MIU

"Also, if you were just going to cut me off out of nowhere just to make that random connection while I was trying to explain the rest of my story of an ACTUAL CRIMINAL running around my room trying to steal not just one alarm clock, but all of my cutlery, all of my cooking pots and plates… I mean what kind of ghetto dickhead does that crap nowadays?! And if you want more to that dumb connection of yours, asking me why I don't think that flying devil should be arrested, but instead the creep of a landlord should, its because I found my parents bracelet in Endou's pocket."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"... WHAT!?"

MIU

"See? If that stranger was the one who caught Endou and saw what he was taking, don't you think he would have taken it himself if he was the kind of guy you want him to be?"

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Uh… no, but…"

MIU

"If you don't want to know the whole story, fine. Try to catch the guy. Don't interrogate Endou and release him into the wild to keep stealing peoples stuff and selling it on the internet or in his office, straight up in broad daylight. He's not doing enough wrong for the officials to care about. Nope. they want the guy they THINK is a terrorist, cuz he ran away from a scene when he was spotted nearby."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Okay now you're just making up scenarios."

MIU

"Isn't that what my job is supposed to be when I enter the force? I want to be a detective, remember? I live on my imagination based on the scenarios I'm given. And here you are, trying to get what you want to think out of me to have the means to just go straight for catching him instead of taking care of the crime that was just handed to you on a silver platter. For all I know, the guy was probably just there and the chopper might have spazzed out after noticing him and ended up as the greatest freak accident of the century."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"Now you know damn well I can't do that!"

MIU

"And why not! They happen almost every month in this country. Something malfunctions, breaks down, stops working all together and BAM! Car accidents, construction failure, bridge collapse from an earthquake or a storm or overpowered tidal wave. Whatever, you, out of everybody in this one city, think it's because of a terrorist until someone else proves it's not! You got my parents into trouble because of that mindset in the first place!"

It was dead quiet. Miu knew what she said had crossed the line, but she wasn't wrong either.

OFFICER KOSUKE

"... No. you're right. I'm being rash, aren't I? I shouldn't be jumping to conclusions... like I did to your parents. You should go to bed. I try to see what I can do."

MIU

"If you do manage to catch the guy… make sure you ask him what happened from his perspective. You know everyone has a story to tell, and whether you believe it or not, It's never right to jump to a conclusion without every piece being put into place first."

OFFICER KOSUKE

"... yeah, that's true. Thank you, Miu."

Miu heads to her room and shuts the door. Officer Kosuke pulls the recorder out of his pocket and hits stop, then puts it in his office before going to bed himself.

The next day, Miu and Matsuda leave early for club activities. On their way, Miu had a thought that made her remember Plutos's actions. She instinctively turns around and looks around the rooftops for a moment, trying to find him but with no luck.

MIU

(think) 'I wonder if He's around? He'll probably start following me again… I should figure out what exactly he wants later if I get the chance to talk to him. It's just too strange that some rando came out of nowhere saying that. Help him learn the secrets of the world? He didn't give me the impressions that he was the adventurous type. Quite the opposite in fact, the guy looked like a total moocher. Regardless, I don't trust him. He's hella sus.'

MATSUDA

"Miu??"

MIU

"Huh?"

MATSUDA

"I've been trying to get your attention for a minute now. What's up? Something on your mind?"

MIU

"Uh, oh… Sorry. Got lost in thought... Not a lot of things have been going too well… like having to think of what to do about a new lifestyle. I might have to drop out of school and get a job to find my own place later. So I was thinking about what I need to find all of that in the next week."

Matsuda frowns at the idea that Miu was leaving. At the same time, Plutos follows close by in the shadows of the alleys nearby listening in.

MATSUDA

"... hey, Miu?"

MIU

"Hm?"

MATSUDA

"... back at the house… from last night… What were you and dad saying… about that landlord knowing what you were? What did that mean?"

Miu cringes at the question and stops walking. Matsuda stops ahead of her and turns to face her. He knew he was asking something he shouldn't but he felt like he needed to know. They knew each other for too long not to ask now though.

MATSUDA

"... look. I know I shouldn't be asking but I don't want to see you in so much pain. It pisses me off knowing that you're being treated like a whole other species all together. We've been together since we were in middle school. We know almost everything about each other already, so I don't think this one little secret will change anything in our friendship."

MIU

"Even if I'm not really human?"

Matsuda goes quiet and his face fills with shock from how different her usual tone was. It was like she was a completely different person. Her light-heartedness was completely overshadowed like a void had eaten her heart. Her usual cheerful, girlish expression became a hellish, blank expression that made him feel feverish. Plutos saw this and felt a chill run from the base of his skull to the tip of his tail and cringe from the creepy feeling. He understood at that moment this was her real face that she was masking. Plutos was amazed at the fact that she was able to hide such a distorted aura.

Matsuda backs away from Miu confused and creeped out.

MATSUDA

"… heh… hah hah. Um… Miu… you mean the fact that you're from the south, right? I already knew that, so…"

MIU

"... I know you know that already. It's not hard to tell with my eye color. You met my dad once before, haven't you?"

MATSUDA

"... yeah. Dad brought him in one day, how could I forget?"

MIU

"They never told you what he's race was classified as, did they?"

MATSUDA

"Oh… no. they didn't. Or rather they couldn't even tell my dad. So…"

MIU

"... well. I can't tell you either. Matsuda, I'm just going to tell you this. I'm not human. Not at all. Even though I look human."

MATSUDA

"Come on, Miu, please tell me what's going on. I really want to be there for you."

MIU

"But you haven't stopped backing away from me."

Matsuda looks down at his feet and notices his legs trembling. He couldn't bring himself to step forward. He was too scared, and he didn't understand why.

MIU

"... You should go to the club. I won't be going today."

MATSUDA

"What!? But…!"

MIU

"Don't argue, please. I need to be alone for a while."

Matsuda lowers his head in shame and walks on. Miu stays where she is and waits for Matsuda to disappear in the distance.

MIU

"... Please come out. I don't actually want to be alone. But I can't do anything but stand her right now, so…"

Plutos appears in front of her and tilts his head, his arms folded over his chest and his tail sweeping the ground gently.

PLUTOS

"... Would you like to take me on a tour of the town today? Instead of going to your learning environment?"

MIU

"What would that even accomplish at this point?"

PLUTOS

"Serve as a distraction from whatever you're thinking about right now. It's pretty apparent that you don't want to go to your learning environment. So why not take a detour?"

MIU

"With you? Looking like that? No offense, but you stick out like a sore thumb."

PLUTOS

"Would you go if I didn't look like this?"

MIU

"... honestly, I probably would. But I have a job to do at school for the next week, and I… WHA!?"

Plutos suddenly didn't have his horns and his pink skin was as white as the clouds from his head to the tip of his tail. The only color that showed on him were the tear like streaks under his eyes and the amethyst colored domes on his head, and torso. His eyes are still bright yellow and grey. Miu removes her glasses and cleans them off then puts them back on blinking in disbelief. Despite the teary appearance, he had an impish looking smile on his face that made Miu's cheeks turn pink with blush.

MIU

"... P-Plutos??"

PLUTOS

"Yes?"

MIU

"... How??? What?"

PLUTOS

"How about we walk for a bit while we talk?"

MIU

"... y-yeah. Sure, okay."

Miu gets ready to start walking until she looks down to take in his figure to realize he really had nothing on. It simply looked like he had on a body suit. Miu takes off her bag and jacket, throws the jacket at him and pulls out her sweatpants and her undershirt and hands them to him.

MIU

"Y-y-you should put these on before we go. You look indecent like that."

Plutos looks at her baffled then shrugs and goes back to the alley to change. He walks back out and Miu turns even more red from how good he made a simple tracksuit look.

PLUTOS

"Is this better?"

MIU

"... after school you and I are going shopping for clothes. … especially shoes."

PLUTOS

"Ah. I can get those after taking you to school. I have a set of boots, but I often find them pointless unless It's cold."

MIU

"Alright then."

PLUTOS

"Well. let's be off. We can't have you late for class, right?"

Miu steps to Plutos's side and they walk off down the street talking. Plutos continued to ask her about what made her different from the others around her and why she was using a persona separate from the one she used for him when they first met. Miu answers all of his questions while asking a few of her own about Plutos and his brothers until they make it to the front gates of the school. Miu usually makes it to school before the rest of the student body did for club activities, so seeing the school bustling before class was a bit new to her. It didn't take her long to notice a lot of the girls staring at her and Plutos.

It took her a moment to notice why when she looked at him at a profiled angle. He was out of place with his tough guy appearance but she knew he was a very laid back person after talking to him for a while. Plutos notices her staring then looks around to see everyone doing the same.

PLUTOS

"Hm. seems I am a bit out of place here. Does this form not fool them?"

MIU

"Ah. no. I think it's just that you're not like a lot of the other races here in this city. So you stand out a bit because of your appearance. But I doubt anyone will recognize you like this."

PLUTOS

"... then why do they all seem so wary? They look as if I'm going to eat them."

MIU

"Pfft! Maybe it's because you look like a delinquent in the tracksuit."

PLUTOS

"What? How rude. I would rather consider myself a gentleman if I do say so."

MIU

(laughs) "With the way you speak it's hard to think of you as anything but an easy-going gentleman."

PLUTOS

"Hmph. I see you have noticed at least."

MIU

"Well yeah, we were talking for all of twenty minutes. How can I not tell?"

PLUTOS

"True enough."

Plutos and Miu stop in front of the entrance.

PLUTOS

"Well, I better stop here and let you get to your studies. Where should I get you for later? Here?"

MIU

"You follow me around anyway, so I'll call you later when I get the chance. Make sure you stay this way so you don't get into trouble."

PLUTOS

"Alright. Until then."

MIU

"Bye bye, Plutos."

Plutos walks away from the school waving back. He suddenly disappears in the crowd and everyone that saw it panics from seeing him vanish. Miu sighs nervously and walks on to the school ground to head to her first class.

The day went on as it should for a long while until she got to her last afternoon class. She enters the room to sit at her desk when she notices it covered in ink and scratches. The seat had been covered in food as if someone dumped their whole lunch on it. She glances up at the class and sees everyone staring at her as if she was a problem. She was being "targeted". Becoming a "target" means that you did something to upset one of the more troublesome groups in the school. She knew of a few that would always be a pain in the ass to deal with, one of them is part of her class but she has never bothered anyone from any of the groups. She was always careful to avoid anything related to something that could mean negative attention. So how is she a target? Who decided to pay attention to her? It made no sense. The teacher of the class enters the room and sees Miu standing in front of her desk. This teacher didn't care about his class because most of them are troublesome, Miu however was always his smartest student that didn't need any attention before. Her behavior at the moment was odd.

TEACHER

"Miu Mi. Is there something troubling you? Why aren't you in your seat?"

Miu turned to face the teacher and her eyes were completely dead, yet tears were flowing from them like waterfalls. The sight of her distress frightened him enough to make him drop his folder and step back.