Sometimes, a door closes. Another will open for us. But what leaks through isn't necessarily light. …
Sometimes, I even find myself repulsive. Every time I look into a mirror, a wave of exhaustion washes over me. I sigh and tuck the hand mirror away. My name is Ron Irus. Well, it is Ron, but I call myself Irus. I will officially register Irus as my surname once I am wealthy and famous enough. Perhaps. …
I am twelve years old this year, yet everyone at the Jinlus Orphanage insists on calling me "little brother." Whether they are ten or seventeen, they all call me "Little Ron." It is strange, but I rarely pay it much mind. After all, people tend to look after me more that way. Sometimes they say I am stupid or mentally deficient, so I need the help. I believe they are wrong, because the teacher said everyone possesses their own kind of intelligence, and everyone should follow their own path. But I am not smart. My grades are abysmal. I am not athletic because I am too weak. I am not artistic because I find it utterly tedious.
I watched the sunlight filtering through the curtains. I was in a room saturated with colors, where vibrant squares of yellow and blue stacked atop one another. Toys surrounded me. Or rather, I had placed them there. I wanted to feel like a superhero facing a horde of monsters.
"Brrrr."
"Bratu!"
"Hey Ron, come out and play!"
Bratu, a boy from the orphanage, called out to me from outside the window. How peculiar. How did he know I was on the second floor?
"Coming!"
I shouted back and sprinted down the stairs, though my vision kept flickering with greens and purples blending into gold. The ordinary staircase I walked every day, that monotonous reddish brown wood, was no longer dull. With every step I descended, a ribbon of color draped around me like a cloak. Suddenly, those colors swirled together into ink black. I was wearing a pitch black mantle, and it felt magnificent. But as I hit the final step, it turned snow white, tightening into a pristine white suit. I saw it clearly, but the moment I stepped onto the floor, everything went dark before returning to normal. I did not dwell on it. I had grown accustomed to such things.
"I am here, I am here!"
I dashed across the playground, but then I spotted Lunas. He was a boy two years older than me but possessing a staggering height of 1.8 meters. He was whispering with a few other children and Bratu. When they heard me, they turned around.
"…Oh, Ron."
Lunas scratched his head, looking back and forth between me and the paper in his hand.
"What is that?"
I asked. Lunas whispered a few more things to the other kids, then shook his head and looked at me.
"A report about you came in. Do you remember those tests from a few days ago?"
I nodded vigorously. The stares from the others grew increasingly strange as Lunas spoke.
"IQ Score: 112. No psychological disorders. No mental illnesses. Physique: Normal, currently in late onset puberty."
Despite Bratu and the others being somewhat prepared, this was still incomprehensibly difficult to grasp.
"Vecic, what do you think? Did he cheat?"
"Do you think he is smart enough to do that? No, are you smart enough to even ask that, John?"
"Damn, if cheating were that easy, I would have a 200 IQ. I would not be stuck here."
The comments flew back and forth. Lunas looked at me and said he would try asking the director. As for me, I jumped for joy. From now on, they could no longer call me a fool. …
Currently, I am reading "The Kingless Lord." Roughly speaking, it is a book about the death and legacy of a monarch and the subsequent decline of a generation. I like it very much. I usually read it in the classroom while everyone else is out playing. Suddenly, I noticed a strange silhouette at the classroom door. That person carried a heavy scent of guava and grape perfume. It was the kind of fragrance that would make you cover your nose even from ten meters away. He had dark blue hair styled in a slicked back undercut. A display of haughty extravagance shimmered in his eyes. His hands, though showing prominent veins in the shadows, were not calloused at all. On the contrary, the soft curves of his hands suggested they were quite well maintained. He wore a suit that looked simple, but the stitching on the fabric, while appearing random, invisibly formed a pale blue octagonal emblem.
"An aristocrat," Ron thought.
The figure with the bright blue black hair looked at me and shook his head. His expression resembled that of the Shisa dog the orphanage kept. When he left, I immediately stood up to follow. Whenever I tailed the teachers, they would usually laugh and give me candy. I followed him down a long corridor. I was trembling slightly. The hallway was flooded with sunlight, for this was the path to the director's office. I was always afraid of Mr. Haller, the director, because he beat me whenever he had the chance. But I told myself: "Don't be afraid." I would just stand back up, just like when I fell down the stairs.
I ran to the door, which was slightly ajar, letting out a sliver of light. Inside, two different men were arguing incessantly, as if they were about to kill each other. One voice belonged to old Haller, the other to the stranger. I hid by the edge of the door, waiting for something. Then, a thunderous roar struck my ears, forcing me to clutch my head.
"You bastard!!! He is just a child. A CHILD WHO JUST AWAKENED HIS CORE. Please, he will die!"
"I did not tell him to go die! I said I want him. Emma will be my adopted daughter, and she will be protected under the Crystal family!"
"How is that any different?! She will be forced onto the battlefield, and then she will die!"
"She will die from YOUR IGNORANCE first!!!!"
"You people are the ones handling the conflict at Agler City, so get back there!! The last time I served, you generals were too busy chasing women and bedded slaves in the heart of the military camp!"
"And without us, this country would have been dead long ago! So shut up!"
"You dog, you only see humans as tools! This world would be so much more peaceful if you Elites did not exist. The Five Fingers, the Circle, whatever. You are just bastards shitting on the people's heads!"
"It is because of imbeciles like you that morality is used to define oneself! You people are not smart enough or backed enough to escape that logic! Keep drowning in your ignorance, you ORPHANAGE director!" …
To celebrate someone leaving the orphanage, we usually throw a party to bid them farewell. The day they leave becomes their new birthday, separate from the one when they were admitted. In the dining hall, about thirty people sat at pristine white tables, waiting for the two most important guests to arrive. Since this was just a small orphanage, there were only about five staff members. They acted as maids, teachers, and nannies. They were busy bringing out the food. But even when the food had grown cold, there was no sign of the director or Emma.
"…Sorry, I need to take care of something."
Lunas stood up, looking a bit restless, claiming he needed the restroom. I guessed that was not the case. It was just... never mind. I do not think I should think about it. Today is a happy day, isn't it? And we should focus on the candle on the cake rather than anything else. Has anyone ever mentioned that when you focus on a flame, it grows so large? …
Strange, the moon that night was far too bizarre. It looked like a human curling up inside a blood red eyeball, with nerves intertwining like a web. It was black, red, and white. And it was crying. Its tears turned into thousands of snowflakes, blanketing the world in white. And I, was I crying? Not really, I am too stupid for that. Instead, I felt overwhelmed, because for the first time in my life, I stared at the moon for so long. And it was beautiful. I cannot describe it.