For as long as he could remember, Satori had always been alone.

He couldn’t remember when he was born. He also didn’t know why he had been born into this world. All he knew is that he found himself deep in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by strange creatures, which were called “spirit” by the humans, and that he himself was one of them.

Satori was extremely hated by other spirits. It was no exaggeration to say that he was shunned by them. The reason was simple. It was because Satori could read the minds of people around him.

(To think that he can know what’s on people’s minds, what a creepy kid.)

(Look at those eyes. I get shivers imagining what he might be thinking inside his head.)

(Oh no. He looked this way.)

(He should just die.)

(I might as well strangle that thin neck to death with my own hands.)

Every time he read other spirits’ minds that can be said to be filled with evil intentions, young Satori’s chest began to throb as if he had just swallowed a heavy stone. Satori didn’t even know that this feeling was called ‘loneliness’. This was because no one had told him about it.

Someone like me shouldn’t have been born in the first place.

Satori shrunk his slender body to keep his figure out of the sight of the other spirit as much as possible. To avoid causing any discomfort, he hid his face behind his long bangs that reached the bottom of his nose, and always stared down at his feet.

If there’s one person whose mind Satori couldn’t read, it was the Dragon God. The Dragon God was a being with extraordinary power that no other spirit could compare to. The Dragon God was feared and respected by all that existed in this world. Moreover, the Dragon God who was more beautiful than anyone else was tired of living for such a long time.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Dragon God, the existence of the tiny Satori was no more valuable than a pebble lying on the side of the road.

What was I born for? Why am I hated by everyone? Why can I know what’s on people’s minds? I never even wished for it…

Satori’s doubts were never voiced, and it sank deep into his chest like a big lump.

The days passed, and Satori, who had been a small child spirit, grew into a young man about eighteen or nineteen years old in human terms.

To begin with, the length of time that passes for humans and spirits is different. When Satori grew into a young man, many ‘countries’ were built and destroyed in the human world. The world that used to be full of nature had been cleared out by human hands. Things had changed completely since Satori was born. In the meantime, Satori was always alone and shunned like usual by other spirits. He never even imagined that things other than that could happen to him.

Then, one day.

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

A black kite bird was circling above the peaks of the mountain range.

Satori looked up at the sky. A thin cloud was floating in the clear sky, which looked like the bottom of a lake. A bug stopped on a tree branch. When Satori stretched out his hand to it, the bug jumped up and down.

Satori chuckled lightly.

The summer grass was swaying in the wind. Satori liked the bugs and flowers because they weren’t afraid of him. The feeling of heaving in his chest when he reads someone’s mind fades away, and he feels like he’s allowed to be here.

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

Satori was lying down on the grassland when he was startled by a sudden rustling noise above his head. He jumped up in a panic.

“…Big brother, who are you?”

It was a human child. His height reached around Satori’s chest. His eyes and nose were well refined. The boy had a small mole around his mouth that was not noticeable unless someone looked closely. It made him look more mature than he actually was. The boy with a blue cloth on top of his head stared at Satori without any sign of fear, then he tilted his head slightly.

(I wonder what’s wrong with him? Maybe he can’t speak?)

“Ah- uh- ah…”

Satori’s heart is pounding loudly. While he wanted to say something back, his head was in a state of panic because he wasn’t used to talking to anyone.

The boy’s eyes blinked in surprise, and then he suddenly smiled brightly as if the sun had peeked through the clouds.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Satori opened his eyes wide. His cheeks flushed and his face became hot. Satori nodded vigorously as the boy seemed like he would get more curious if Satori remained silent any longer. The boy’s expression lightened up. Seeing this, Satori’s heart became warm for some reason.

“I’m Ogigami Sousuke. I went to visit grandma’s house for summer vacation. What’s your name, big brother?”

When asked his name, Satori tilted his head. Up until now, no one has called him with a name. At that moment, he recalled a distant memory from the corner of his head. When Satori was still as young as the boy in front of him, the spirits whispered “He’s called Satori1” as if something bad would happen if the name was spoken out loud.

“…Satori.”

The moment he said it out loud, something fell into Satori’s chest just like a sign.

“Satori?”

Sousuke tilted his head.

“…Satori. Satori…”

…My name is Satori.

A smile naturally appeared on Satori’s mouth. Sousuke’s eyes widened as if he was surprised.

(…He smiled. He’s somewhat cute even though he’s much older than me.)

…Cute?

It was the first time someone had said that to him. Satori didn’t really know the meaning, but the gentle sound of the word warmed his heart. He felt like his legs were floating softly in the air.

“You see, I want to catch stag beetles for my school project during summer vacation. Big brother, do you know where I can find stag beetles around here?”

Satori knew about that. Stag beetles were often found in sawtooth oak or pin oak trees. When Satori showed him the place, Sousuke’s brilliant eyes twinkled.

“Woaaah!” Sousuke shouted.

(I’ve never seen so many stag beetles before!)

Satori can feel the joy and excitement from Sousuke’s inner voice. Satori suddenly got worried. The boy in front of him didn’t seem like the type to be rough toward the stag beetles, but still…

“Wha- what are you going to do with that stag beetle?”

Satori asked the boy, who was putting a particularly large stag beetle into a cage he brought. This was because some humans collected insects and made them into specimens.

“What am I going to do, you ask?”

(I’m going to keep them and raise them…)

Satori was relieved to hear Sousuke’s following inner voice.

“The- then it’s fine.”

“…?”

(…That’s weird. I haven’t said anything yet.)

The boy looked dubiously at Satori’s attitude. But perhaps he was not the type of person who thought too much into things, for he quickly regained his composure as if nothing had happened.

“Sousuke…!”

Just then, there was a voice in the distance calling for the boy. When Satori looked over, he could see a figure across the field that looked like the boy’s grandmother.

“Ah- crap.”

(I went out without saying a word back then.)

Sousuke stuck his tongue out.

(I’ve gotta go back.)

“Eh-”

Satori raised his voice. When he heard that the boy was leaving, his chest that had been thumping with excitement just earlier, felt like it would wither in an instant.

So he’s leaving…

If possible I want to be together with him just a little more. I want to talk more with Sousuke…

“Ca- can we meet again?”

Sousuke looked at Satori with a surprised face.

“Why?”

Satori’s shoulder dropped dejectedly when being asked with a deep sense of wonder. He looked down at the ground silently. After all, the boy wouldn’t want to be together with him. That kind of person didn’t exist. His chest felt like it got stabbed when he was reminded of that for many times up until now.

“I don’t mind.”

“Eh?”

Satori looked up in surprise when Sousuke suddenly said those words in a nonchalant manner.

“Re- really?! Wh-wh-when? When can I meet you again?”

Satori didn’t expect the boy to say that. Sousuke’s eyes widened when Satori, who was somewhat in disbelief, asked him with enthusiasm.

(It’s funny that he asked that by himself.)

A hint of amusement appeared on the boy’s bright face.

“I don’t mind. I don’t have any other plans. After lunch, I’ll come here again tomorrow.”

Satori watched in disbelief as the boy waved his hands and ran towards his grandmother.

I can meet Sousuke again tomorrow. He’ll talk to me.

It was an unbelievable turn of events for Satori, whose only pleasure up until now had been looking at bugs or flowers.

When the sun goes down and the morning sun comes up, he can meet Sousuke again.

The setting sun dyed the mountain ridges red, and the stars twinkled in the night sky. While looking at the scenery, Satori wished with a burning desire that tomorrow would come sooner.

The next day, Sousuke came to meet Satori as promised. Same for the next day, and the day after that. For Satori, the time he spent together with Sousuke was like a dream. Satori learned for the first time that spending time with someone and talking to them could be so much fun.

Sometimes, Sousuke’s grandmother would come and pick him up.

“Goodbye, Satori. See you tomorrow.”

Sousuke waved his hand to Satori with a carefree smile. Eventually, that hand was connected to an old hand stretched out toward him.

That’s nice…

Satori always looked enviously at the two who’s holding hands together in a friendly manner.

I want to hold hands with someone too.

But Satori knew that was just a dream that would never come true.

There were times when the other spirits would play pranks on Satori when he was together with Sousuke. Most of the time the pranks were as trivial as tripping his legs and making him fall, or throwing mud balls at him. Among that, the harassment by fox spirits was so severe that Satori was sometimes injured to the point of bleeding. Sousuke seemed to be curious when Satori often fell on nothing, or when he suddenly stained his clothes. However, Sousuke would treat Satori’s wound gently with a band-aid that he started to keep in the pockets of his shorts ever since he met Satori.

Satori learned various things about Sousuke from his words and inner voice.

Sousuke usually lived in a place called ‘Tokyo’, and there were a great number of people living there. Sousuke lived in a building called an apartment with a family of four consisting of him, his father, mother, and little sister. The boy’s dream was to become an ‘announcer’ in the future, but Satori didn’t even know what an announcer was.

That day, Satori was playing in the river together with Sousuke. The water flowing from the mountain was cold. The boy had fun with the stone he had just picked up, carefully looking at it again and again in the sun. The light reflected off the inside of the stone, and a small rainbow could be seen. Sousuke said that the rock was called amethyst, and that such a beautiful stone was rarely found lying on the ground. Satori felt somewhat envious of the stone that the boy carefully kept in his hands.

“What about you, Satori? What do you want to become? What’s your dream in the future?”

Satori tilted his head to Sousuke, who was sitting on top of a rock while splashing his legs up and down in the river’s water.

My dream…?

Satori had never thought about something like that. Up until he met Sousuke, Satori had only lived his life while shrinking down his body to avoid troubling the other spirits around him.

My dream. The thing I wished for is…

Sousuke waited for Satori’s reply with great curiosity. 

…I want to be together with Sousuke.

Satori’s chest becomes full with the sudden thought that came to him.

I want to always be together with Sousuke.

However, there was one thing Satori kept secret from Sousuke.

“…I-It-It’s just an example, but it’s creepy if someone can read other people’s minds, right?”

Satori’s heart felt like it was about to shrink with worry. It let out a loud thumping sound. It was as if his whole body had turned into a piece of cold ice.

Sousuke gave Satori a curious look, wondering why he was asking such a thing.

“Why? It’d be useful if we can read people’s minds.” He replied. His big eyes sparkled with pure curiosity.

Satori knew that he wasn’t lying. Sousuke’s genuine smile made Satori’s heart squeeze tightly.

Light shone through the gap of the clouds, causing the surface of the river to glisten. Even so, for some reason Satori’s vision became blurry to the point where he couldn’t see clearly. Satori was crying for the first time. He raised his voice and cried loudly. Sousuke’s words made him happy, but his chest felt so painful that he couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Satori? Satori, what’s wrong? Did I say something that hurt you? Satori?”

Sousuke slid down from the top of the rock in a hurry and rubbed Satori’s back, who was crying while holding his knees on the riverbank. 

(What should I do…? Don’t cry. Does it hurt somewhere? Satori?)

Every time Sousuke’s flustered feelings were conveyed to Satori, his chest became more and more painful.

“Ah, I know!”

Suddenly, as if he had just remembered something, Sousuke held out his hand toward Satori.

“I’ll give this to you!”

The amethyst sparkled on top of Sousuke’s palm. Wasn’t it supposed to be the boy’s treasure?

When Satori looked at Sousuke with teary eyes, the boy blinked with a slightly reddened face. He immediately came back to his senses and put the stone in Satori’s hesitant hands.

“…Are you sure?”

“Yeah!”

Sousuke said that in an angry tone, then chuckled in a bashful way.

Satori looked at the stone in his palm and squeezed it in front of his chest as if it were important. The tears that had once stopped started to well up again.

(Huh…? Why…?)

Sousuke’s innocent voice warmed Satori’s heart.

After that Sousuke patiently rubbed Satori’s back for a long time until he stopped crying.

Even after the summer vacation was over and Sousuke went back to ‘Tokyo’, Satori continued to wait for him. This was because before he left Sousuke had promised that he’ll come to meet Satori again next year. Autumn came, then it turned into winter. Snow had fallen and piled up on the fields and mountains. Satori continued to wait for his promise with the boy. The other spirits made fun of Satori. They ridiculed him, saying that only a fool would trust humans. And then Satori who yearned for a human became more and more isolated from the other spirits. However, Satori no longer cared about that. Because for Satori, believing in his promise with Sousuke was the only hope he had. Satori’s heart became warm only when he thought of his promise with Sousuke.

Spring came, then summer came again.

Sousuke didn’t break his promise with Satori. For Satori, the time he spent with Sousuke was like a dream. The fun times passed in a flash. At the end of summer, the boy promised once again that he would come to meet Satori again next year. But in the following year, the boy never came.

Footnote: