One day into the tomorrow and tomorrow of no end. The old man coughed, in succession for more, with no end. Within his embrace a child of three years old. He tried to shelter her from the cold, it seemed.

She did not utter a word, feeding the old man's panic. Her complexion was pale and waxy. 'Please, please say a word,' he prayed.

On the path ahead, over many naked trees, the old man can not believe -- he set his eyes on a small cottage and firewood storage, where stacks of wood lay. No smoke coming out from the cottage's chimney.

"Child, we made it beyond the curtains."

The child didn't move or reply. He carried her forward. One more half mile. The windows of the cottage stayed unlit as they approached. He tried to listen above the rush of blood in his ears. No dogs, no torches. Probably they have gone where else. He set Arina on the doorstep and knocked softly with his two remaining fingers and waited and knocked again.

And so they waited and waited until the old man realized there was a bump in the carpet at the threshold. He lifted it -- a key to the padlock.

"...Where is this, grandpa?" the child finally uttered some words after heating up long enough in front of the fireplace the old man lit a while ago.

"Ta da!" he said. "We're at last, beyond the Iron Curtains! That means we're free to explore the world hereafter! But first, we will have to put in some energy before embarking on the exciting adventure!"

In the kitchen was a pot of potato soup, garlic bread, and a jar of cookies. The old man brought a bowlful of soup and several cookies and filled a glass of water and fed them to the child.

Simple taste, but for the young Arina it tasted like the whole world. She began to tear up out of tasting something so good, so mind-blowingly good, as though everything else had shut down and this was the only thing that mattered, never in a billion years she can imagine it out.

The old man wiped her face with a cloth. Walk the paths of logic. Every outcome has its cause, and every predicament has its solution. You can go back to the campus or you can stay here or you can go on.

Arina didn't finish the meal. Not that she was full, but in fear of running out of food, she stopped.

"Zdravstvuite!" she said to the grandpa, standing on the chair of the dining set. "I may be only a girl of three, but I am a brave Normadian explorer who has come to help you with your adventures!"

The old man adopted a new persona, "Good evening, gospozha, why don't you come to the jungle with me and eat these butterflies, they are as big as dinner plates and may not be poisonous, who knows?"

"I would love to eat your butterflies, but first I will eat these cookies!"

Sometime later, they climbed onto the flying bed and sit side by side, and the old man said, "Where to tonight, gospozha?"

"The jungle!"

"Oh, it's a long journey this time," the old man will say in an entirely new voice, smooth, velvety as if a conductor's. "That's the Atlantic Ocean far below, it's shining under the moonlight, can you see it? Feel how cold it is up here? Feel the wind in your hair?"

"Where are we now, grandpa?"

"We're in Borneo, can't you tell? We're skimming the treetops now, big leaves are glimmering below us!"

Arina can see that they were flying over the trees of Borneo with her imagination. She took a deep breath of fresh air in. What an exhilarating experience. Have you ever wanted to forget a dream is only a dream? Imagination is only imagination? Arina embraced her imagination as her reality.

They visited Tokyo, Scotland, Paris, New York City, Santiago. More than once they put on winter coats and visit the moon.

"Can't you feel how light-weight we are, Arina-child? You can move by hardly twitching a muscle!" He picked her up and spun her around until she can not laugh anymore for the pain of it.

"Here, try some nice fresh moon flesh," he said, and into her mouth went something that tasted a lot like bread. Always at the end they sat side by side again and pounded the pillows, and here came Arina's great disappointment -- the room rematerialized around them.

"Ah," the old man said, more quietly, his persona fading, the touch of dread returning to his voice, "here we are. Back to reality."

***

"AaaaAAaagghhh!!" here went Arina's rage. She angrily picked up a large rock from the ground and blatantly raised it above her head and threw it to the other side of the field. Class 3-E senpais were in shock upon seeing her like this. It did not end there. Arina kept throwing whatever she found that was 'throwable' whilst shouting in extreme resentment.

"HOW THE H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICK!?!" the dreamy, elegant girl Arina Avenira had gone WILD, they thought while sweating. She unleashed her inner demon just because the chairman's son won against her in a Roshambo? (despite so, at least she still avoids cursing at all costs)

"Princess Adeliya!! You're the prime example to your people, please reconsider your action!" entreated Taro, the so-called 'Blade, the Scarlet Knight'.

Arina picked up a fallen tree branch this time and smacked it repetitively against a hard stone while grunting with a sense of bitterness. Everybody sweatdropped. Taro, on the other hand, freaked out, arriving at the idea that she had been possessed by the evil Corps of Nightmares.

At last, she snapped the tree branch in half and tossed both of them away, dropping her knees to the ground, punching it. Soil absorbed her droplets of tears. She gave up her image entirely and threw herself on the dirty ground, hands on her belly, breathing heavily as though lacking oxygen and that she was about to die.

"Eww," the whole class said.

"I-I-I can't anymore," Arina having a hard time catching her breath. "I'm the embodiment of TRAGIC! Ooh, Nothing is ever more tragic than being THIS helpless! I failed as a human being; I-I failed to save Sakura-chan and many others and I failed to score higher in my exams and am ashamed of my stupidity and I failed to grab Kasuga Ken's attention as if I'm never gonna be attractive and ladylike enough and I failed to distinguish left and right and I lost to A BEE once and HATED the aftermath free lips filler it gave me and I'm too well afraid to say that I'm beyond disorganized and a LAZY BUMP and oh mother fathers! I lost to Asano-kun most of the time and I couldn't EVEN win a Roshambo!!! I hereby condemn myself as unworthy of my position and deserve to be banished from this world FOREVER! GOODBYE!! Please, I'm about to log out now and don't be sorry for me!"

Arina buried her face and wept dramatically. Literally nobody was feeling sorry for her, instead, were still processing whatever things she just blabbed out.

"My knight, please come here," Arina called out. Ta-- Blade the Scarlet Knight obeyed and rushed to the princess.

"What is it, Your Highness?"

"You see the princess is dying yet you stood there doing nothing!?" reproached Arina angrily, being too absorbed in her role. "I'm passing away from a chronic disease named 'Soul Cancer' and apparently there's no cure for it. You, my Scarlet Knight, will be the next in line for the throne as you are my most trusted person from the court. Take out a piece of paper and write my wish down *sniffed* please."

Taro cried and fled back to class to fetch his notebook and a pencil. The rest continued to watch without interruption as though these kinds of scenes weren't unfamiliar to them at all.

"In the name of Adeliya of the White Kingdom, first of her name. I hereby command Blade the Scarlet Knight to serve as the next-in-line heir for the kingdom upon my death, to rule in my stead."

Taro couldn't contain his tears when writing. He handed his notebook to Arina as she signed it and faked a cough.

"I want more to my funeral than just white roses, maybe rainbow roses would be very lovely," was her final words...

....Until the next day she was miraculously cured of 'Soul Cancer' and demanded Taro the title back.

"Oh, how unexpected life could be!" said Arina dreamily, sniffing the wildflower she just picked. "I never expected I would be THAT mad and pessimistic. Everything is curable in my opinion! I will forever put on a smile even though living in a dangerous world because there are ever still so many things to smile about!"

After school was over she summoned everyone from class 3-E out and clambered on the rooftop (for the sake of acting out grandness) and chest heaved, she released her statement, in a mannerism she had observed long enough and copied from her class president:

"My lovely, brilliant folks! The world is still not on its end and as long as it does, we OUGHT to strive for the better! The end is not an excuse for quitting early, but to do whatever it takes in the time before it ends! Your high school entrance exam is near and you're only a step away from deciding your entire future. Every outcome has its cause, and every predicament has its solution. You're free to choose between flipping your lives over or going with its natural flow that drags you down. And I'm here today, folks, to assist you with all the range of my powers! Who is ready for supplementary classes with the brightest tutors in this land of Japan!?"

"Huh??" off they went. Supplementary classes with private tutors?

Arina was utterly disappointed in her persuasion ability compared to the almighty Asano Gakushuu when she saw that Neko had ignored what she said and resumed examining himself in the hand mirror whilst plucking his eyebrows. Baba, who was beside him, snatched his mirror and raised it high enough for Neko to cry out of not being able to reach it. Taro, almost 'Blade, first of his name' didn't take her announcement seriously and acted as though it was another of their play. The mysterious half-black, half-Japanese girl Arina to this day still didn't know her origin, was the only one who listened out of everyone else who just kind of gave up.

"Please in all your mighty wisdom, my God, reveal to me the way to be like Asano Gakushuu," pleaded Arina on that night, clasping her hands together whilst on her knees. Seo was also there for the food to stare at her questionably.

"What's up with you, Arina?" he asked.

Arina got up and went over to the dining table where he was eating. Seo almost spilled the stuff he was chewing on when Arina brutely slammed the table with her hands.

"I'm SO very tired, Seo!! All I've ever won against Asano-kun are stupid, pointless stuff!! What's there to brag about when I'm a champion at every battle royal match or my cooking skills or my singing and composing ability or my quad jumps and I daresay, Seo!! That recent rap show I participated and won third place in doesn't bring me any satisfaction either! Now tell me in all honesty, Seo, if he was a girl then would I win against him in a beauty contest?"

"Your eyebrows are the ugliest shit ever, why do you even compare your appearance to anyone? Let alone Asano-kun -- he's perfect in all versions, even if he was a girl."

"And that's the MEANEST thing I've ever heard in my entire life!!" cried Arina in anguish. "Although I DO admit it, you should say otherwise!"

"Jeez, girls are so hard to please," Seo clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"I suppose being high maintenance isn't that much of a bad thing, oh, isn't it Seo?"

"It DOES!" Seo widened his eyes in unfathomableness. "You're ALWAYS why can't we travel to the moon today, lovelies? everything else is boring; why can't I have another dress? Said someone who has two rooms of storage for prom dresses ALONE!! Why can't I be prettier THAN the freaking most beautiful girl in the world!?! And NOW it is why can't I be MORE perfect than the most perfect student of this entire nation!!? HOW ARE YOU supposed to live a happy life as you always claimed when you never feel contented for once!?! Be happy with what you've got for the f*ck sake!!"

"Yo-You don't understand!!" faltered Arina. "I'm destined to be the world-- I mean, I'm significant."

"You're significant? What kind of reason is that?" laughed Seo sardonically.

Arina blinked her eyes and protruded her lower lips for not knowing how to respond, folding her arms. Dumb Seo had no idea she was the ONLY person from the whole Orlas nation who was against her government since the majority was banned from peeking at the outside world to form their common sense. Other privileged families were either working for the government or had their reputation to keep within the nation, or rather, were held at gunpoint. To add another to her noble motives, being responsible for what her father caused was also a great reason for her to stand up and make a change for the better good.

But not everything Seo said was untrue, as Arina viewed things objectively later that night, even though she had a heart of gold, being too carefree was never good. A new designer dress wouldn't go up in price and even caused damage to the environment, let alone, people who suffered from poverty whilst she wasted money on all this pointless stuff. And even though striving for the greater was a pivotal attribution to a human's success, feeling contented and grateful for whatever we are having now was the key to long-term happiness. In short, too much of something was never good.

Arina felt her positive energy arise again the next Saturday day when she checked every 3-E student's personal file to find their addresses and visited their parents, one by one.

"This is the opportunity for Yamada-kun to get out of this lifestyle and possibly start a new one all over!" announced Arina eagerly to Taro's parents. "My family has paid for the best tutors all across Japan to tutor the class throughout the whole week! And the best of it is that we won't be taking in any money!"

"That's very kind of you, bu-but, we find it unacceptable to accept your offer. Especially our Taro is a bit erm..." Taro's father said as he sweatdropped at his son dueling with a mosquito across the room. Meanwhile, Taro's mother had had enough of his embarrassing actions and grounded her son for not respecting their guest's presence.

"Don't be very worried about it! I personally find Blade to be quite noble and profound and oh dear do imaginative people absolutely are!" commented Arina in honesty.

'Blade?! Not again...' his parents exchanged awkward looks.

In the end, the victory went to Arina when she managed to convince the two to accept her offer. Some other parents were more difficult given their dignity thus Arina had no choice but to let them pay her 20% of the original hiring cost (she lied to them). In Neko and Baba's case, however, their parents had seemingly given up on them.

"We never have a son! That's all!!" they bluntly declared and slammed the door in her face. What in the? The same went for Baba's parents declaring she was the daughter they never wanted. Arina, nevertheless, forced Neko and Baba to attend the supplementary class in secret.

Finally, the last one to visit -- the Ilunga family, the family of the mysterious half-blooded girl Arina rarely seen talking. Only until this meeting that she learned the girl -- Hisa Ilunga -- carried half the blood of Congolese. Her father was a refugee perhaps? As there were conflicts in the Congo Republic years ago relating to the CIA.

"Yes, our daughter has informed us about this. We just couldn't believe it, you know," said her Japanese mother, a touch of sorrow in her voice, "that there are still people out there who don't discriminate against her complexion..."

"It's funny how people are so quick to point out differences when there are so many ways we're all alike," said Arina gleefully.

Insecurity usually dragged her head down, but after hearing so, Hisa slightly let down her guard and lifted her gazes as they met Arina's lively ones.

"Sometimes life hides gifts in the darkest of places," she said with a very bright smile. "You are gifted to be stronger than any of them."

With simple sentences, Arina had no idea how impactful her words were for Hisa Ilunga to carry on with her life hereafter, constantly saying them to herself as if a spell.

It was a successful attempt at the Ilunga family. Arina exhaled in exhaustion after an entire day trying to convince people. On the way home, she imagined soaking in the (cold??) bathtub and relaxing in there for hours. Pure heaven.

Her neighborhood was like any other. Kids will pour down the street to play with each other. People will walk their dogs past the houses. Today Arina walked home to see that kids A, B, and C were having a wrestling match with each other.

"Well, well, what do we have here kids?" Arina barged in. The kids upon seeing her were wild with excitement.

"Big sis Arina!!" they exclaimed and threw themselves in her arms.

"Will you play with us!?"

"Pretty pleasee!!"

"SURELY YES!!" Arina, too, was wild with excitement.

The kids already used a stick and drew a circle on the ground, however, for Arina, to further spice up the challenge, she erased it and drew the circle even smaller than before.

"Is this alright, big sis Arina??" they gave away an anxious look.

"Oh, kids, this world is truly unpredictable, and we must learn how to adapt to whatever situation is being thrown at us," lectured Arina as the big sis she was.

She watched kids A and B on a rematch this time and out of a sudden--

"STOP! You're doing it all wrong!" said Arina, barging in between. The kids went 'heeh...' as a subtle way to say 'So what do you want...?'

"I will make an example!" she eagerly declared. "First, hold your opponent like this, and remember kids!! Never go easy on them, or they may get back at you -- whoosh! See?"

Arina brutally tossed kid B outside the circle. The other two had their jaws dropped to the ground.

"Holy cow, big sis Arina! That's AWESOME!!"

"I will definitely try that move!!"

They instantly huddled around to shower her with compliments. Arina laughed and told them to try it on her.

"Alright, big sis, I'm not going easy on you!" proclaimed kid C in full confidence. Arina and he got into positions, and as a weeb he was, always screamed to boost his power level before charging an attack.

'I can feel the rush of my blood, I can feel the color of my hair changing!' his inner voice said as he finally lunged forward and used the technique Arina just showcased.

"Kame KAME HAAAA!!"

He was barely able to lift Arina even by a little, though in his imagination, he did, and it was splendid. But perhaps it was not his imagination, because Arina had acted as though she was truly being lifted and took the blow.

"Ah haa!! See how powerful I am!?" kid C bragged to his friends. They were all impressed by him, yet declared anyone can do what he did.

Meanwhile, Arina--

"AaAAAaagh!! My back, MY BACK!!" she wailed in pain, writhing on the ground. Kid A, B, and C sweatdropped.

"You have the potential, kid...I wish I would be able to see your growth in the future. Bu-But now while undergoing the final stage of soul cancer combined with a broken back...I don't think I will make it out safe this time," she uttered and faked a cough.

"You're always overreacting, big sis..."

"As if that could fool us."

"Ooh, busted?" gasped Arina, as she sat up and laughed. "Oh well, too bad for an attention seeker like me."

They settled for more rounds, having no idea what will be coming at them.  Five more minutes passed. The tree friends rustled. Arina relapsed into reverie while watching the kids dedicate themselves to the new move they just acquired.

'Kid A and kid C and kid B and I would indeed make a very lovely household. I would be a Japanese whose name is Sachiko-- no, I like Yukina better now -- snow and blossom sound ever so romantic, and I would be their biological big sister. Every morning I would be the one to make them anime-themed bentos and they can proudly show them to their friends at school. I would be the one to tell them stories every night, and we would have so much fun having exceptional family game nights. Oh, what an indeed lovely story; only if stories by me are real, then the world would rather be very much a better place, oh, is that a dog? Oh, how I LOVE dogs!' -- she waved at it in the mid of her thoughts -- 'Where is its owner by the way? Oh, is it coming toward us? I would surely pet it! Aww, it wants to play with kid B-- hold up!!"

Arina snapped out of her dreamy state in an alarm. That dog wasn't trying to play with kid B, it was trying to TEAR his flesh instead.

Kid B screamed in agony, whilst the other two shouted at the top of their lungs and rushed in to desperately save their friend from the bad dog. Arina abruptly snatched the wooden stick lying on the ground and smacked the dog with it just like how she did against the stone days ago. And It didn't budge a bit!!

The dog closed its strong jaw on the poor kid's leg, almost as if ripping his flesh. Blood was already splashing out. Even at every attempt Arina made whilst tearing up to save kid B, the dog still didn't budge. She flashed a shocked glower, the breed of this dog -- the Normadian Shepherd!! Who the hell in Japan would raise it?! That only meant one thing.

"Sidet'!" Arina tried giving a command but failed.

Kid A and C couldn't bare the dire circumstance but cried out. In a desperate attempt, Arina had had enough of seeing kid B's situation get worse as she looked for the emergency knife on her thigh holster and stabbed the dog with it. Repeatedly stabbed it over and over.

The boys screamed in fright. Her tears couldn't stop spilling forth. Perhaps this dog only listen to its handler's command and did whatever it was told. But under these kinds of situations, one must make a choice between one to another, and Arina had no choice but to choose kid B.

She ended the dog's life in the eleventh stab. It didn't release its jaw until its final moment...what a well-trained dog. One cause led to a dire consequence. Arina cried over her guilt for killing the dog and the poor kid's injury.

Kid B lying facedown on the ground with his ripped leg. Blood was leaking out from the wounded spot, splashing. Kid A and C both let out mournful cries. Arina dropped the knife covered in blood and struggled to tap on the screen of her phone due to its liquid smearing everywhere.

"Kids, dial the number for me," she had no option but asked. There was an awful, sickening feeling in her for the thing these unfortunate kids just went through.

The culprit finally showed up. He was looking like any Japanese man and spoke the language fluently. Arina immediately condemned him as an Orlas agent! As it showed in her expression full of resentment. She hid the kids behind her back.

"Oh god, what happened?" he widened his eyes in shock. "My-My dog, why is he--?"

"You don't need to pretend in front of me!!" confronted Arina. Her eyes glowered in rage. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?!"

The boys, apparently, were still too traumatized to notice the odds of this conversation. The dog's owner froze for a while until he slightly pulled his hat down his eyes sockets by a bit, partially snickered.

"Why? Oh, it's because we have the power to control you," he murmured in their native tongue.

Lightning within her struck, by instinct, Arina hid the boys further behind her.

"YOU SON OF A--" she almost cursed. One of the wicked things in the world. Arina drew a long breath and let it loose.

"Bury your dog. He did a great job obeying you," she said at last, just at the time for the ambulance to arrive and witness the scene.

Arina was officially nominated as 'the girl who attracted great danger', and again appeared on the news. Seo was the shockest in terms of being addressed. It happened just blocks away from his house! In the end, Arina revisited the traumatized boys after the event and comforted them through cuddles.

'Oh, what shall I do...?' was her thought every time she pulled the boys into a hug.

Asano Gakushuu from that day on insisted to escort her everywhere, which she obviously had to refuse. What if he ever found out about her visiting class 3-E, and even worse, paid for their tutors?

At this moment on, Arina swore to keep her guard up 24/24. But something just didn't seem right to her -- why did they have to go this far to control her if she only served them the purpose of expanding 'Orlas race tolerance' under her name? Maybe she was here for another reason?

Regardless of the incident, Arina carried on helping class 3-E in all her efforts. At least before things turned out to be worse, they can have a moment of triumph for themselves once.

Now every time she looked at her beloved ones, her fear stirred at the prospect of that single line. 'Why? Oh, it's because we have the power to control you.'

And even if she kept her guard up most of the time, there were still situations that were out of control. At night Arina heard the whole neighborhood thundering outside, and the sound of the fire engine resounded.

Panicked, she jumped out of bed, rushed downstairs and fled out of the house to see where it was coming from. Seo's house. Arina paled upon seeing it burned down.

Alas, did she or anyone related to her owe the KBGs in the past life? as Arina thought. She was truly now diagnosed with soul cancer.