The mysterious boy's calloused hand felt rough against Tara's delicate face. But that was the least of her concerns right now. She was not one to listen to a stranger, especially one without the decency to cover his privates.

"Listen. I-"

Before he could say another word, Tara delivered a swift kick to his nether regions.

The boy screeched. He drew his hand back, scrunching over as he writhed in pain. Tara took the opportunity to make her escape.

She rushed toward camp, ready to alert everybody of the rogue lurking within the forest. The pebbles of the worn path crackled underneath her equally as worn shoes.

Just before the clearing came into sight, a figure fell from the trees once more, this time landing on its feet. She skidded to a halt, coming face to face with the same dark haired boy.

Tsk. The same kid from before? Or is this place infested with his doppelgangers?

Rather than fear, a rush of adrenaline pulsed through her. Tara shifted her stance, ready to flee the instant another opening presented itself. She expected assailant to lunge at her. Instead, he merely stood there, arms crossed.

Even more strange was the fact that he had found himself a pair of makeshift briefs, which were tattered and full of holes.

Tara abruptly turned away, narrowing her eyes as she pinpointed the Marberry tree from which the stranger appeared. There was nothing except for the red berries scattered across the dirt.

She turned back towards the boy, who hadn't budged an inch. A vein showed prominently on his right temple. He bared his teeth at her for a brief moment before letting out a sigh.

"Is that how you treat people?" he asked with a hint of annoyance. His gaze shot downwards, toward his groin, before darting back to her. Tara cocked her eyebrow.

Tara stayed silent at first. She remained apprehensive, ready to call for help at a moment's notice. "I'm sorry for intruding on your territory. But I don't think that was any way to mark it. Now let me go."

The stranger let out a hearty laugh before his expression grew dark once more.

"You remember that being that fell from the sky three months ago?"

Tara's eyes widened. A lump formed in her stomach. She barely managed to spit out a single word. "Y-yes."

She grit her teeth. Could it be? No. No one could've survived a fall like that, if that even was a human.

"You're still here, huh?" he said, imitating the exact tone Tara had heard before she lost consciousness, "You were awake, right? You twitched a few times as I said that."

Her own voice became frantic. "N-no. You can't be. No one could survive a fall like that."

The boy frowned. Tara paused before muttering, "Not that anything could fall from the sky."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The sky only takes. It never gives."

"How could that be? Not even rain?"

Tara's furrowed her brows. "Rain?"

"You don't know what rain is? Water falling from the sky?"

"Water doesn't fall from the sky."

He ignored her comment. "Has there been some long lasting drought?"

Tara's confusion shifted to exasperation. "Stop using these words. I don't know what they mean, and frankly, I don't think they're even real!"

He chuckled a few times in disbelief. "I'm probably not making myself look like a sane person, am I?" he responded dryly.

To Tara, that was the most sane thing he had said so far. "Falling out of that tree in the nude certainly didn't help."

The boy scratched his head, ruffling his dark hair. He looked away briefly before turning back towards her. "What can I do to make you think otherwise?"

"Not sure." Tara was in no mood to let herself be swayed.

"Fine, I'm sure I can word any more questions I have so that I don't sound like a complete nut job. Sound good?"

Tara peeked over his shoulder. The camp was still far away, but she could make out Mikey and a few of her cousins piling wood in preparation for dinner.

She was almost tempted to cry for help, as most logical people would, but a feeling in the back of her mind stopped her. Perhaps she was more eager to learn more about the mystery man than she cared to admit.

He spoke up, drawing her attention back to him. "By the way, you haven't told me your name yet."

"Not telling."

"You play it that way?" He raised his voice. "Fine. I'll go first. My name is Hatsukoi."

"Hato...key?"

"Hatsukoi," he repeated, "Hat-su-key. Now you."

Tara reluctantly relented. "Tara."

He gleamed. "That's simple enough. I've always been bad at remembering names, but yours seems manageable."

"Wow. Great."

"Now Tara, can you tell me what you meant by 'the sky only takes'? What, does it eat people or something?"

She didn't answer immediately. A tear formed in her eye. That word - eat. Her thoughts turned to her beloved family members falling into the sky. She always tried to convince herself they weren't actually eaten.

In the back of her mind, she knew it mattered not whether they had been eaten or banished to another hellscape. They were gone from this one, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Hatsukoi realized his blunder, he took a single step forward. "Maybe those weren't the best choice of words."

"You think so?" Tara's reply was meek, yet she continued. "We don't know what happens to them once they are too far for us still on the ground to see. But we do know that once a year, the sky opens up and places a curse on some of us."

Hatsukoi's interest was peaked. She could see it in his eyes. "Those cursed fall into the sky, never to be seen again."

A gust of wind briefly interrupted the otherwise pristine silence.

"That must be terrible. I'm sorry," Hatsukoi uttered. Tara could hear the genuine sorrow in his voice.

Those words alone melted away Tara's scorn for the newcomer. She no longer saw a repulsive exhibitionist, but rather a young man who was just as confused as her. Still, she wasn't ready to trust him; his supposed supernatural appearance in this world poked endless holes in his credibility.

"Can I ask you something?"

Hatsukoi nodded.

"Why do you look like..." Tara paused, trying to search for the right word to use. "...this."

Hatsukoi winced as she motioned her hand at his visage. "Quite the blunt question if I would say so myself. Have you never seen anyone like me?"

Tara's eyes wandered around his entire figure, inspecting it once more. "Black hair. Yellowish complexion. Brown eyes."

"I'll take that as a no."

"That's right."

"How should I put this," he pondered, "I-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a voice calling for Tara from camp. She glanced towards its source but didn't move an inch. Hatsukoi was astounded at her newfound hesitance.

Finally, she spoke up. "Will you be around here for a little while longer?"

Hatsukoi smiled. "Yeah."