#astraphobia

Our first introduction to Natsume's fear is near the beginning of chapter 42, when he and Tanuma accidentally stumble across Taki's home while seeking shelter from a sudden shower. He questions how Nyanko-sensei ended up at her home as well and the youkai, much to Natsume's visible dismay, cheekily explains:

That doesn't end up happening since the rain remained light until its swift end, and the mention of Natsume's fear is glossed over rather quickly to save him the embarrassment, but it's an interesting mention made by Midorikawa nonetheless since it adds another layer to whatever image the audience has of Natsume and the series itself. Nyanko-sensei, having been around this kid long enough to know a lot of his vulnerabilities and insecurities (even the ones his dreams unwittingly reveal to the youkai), has seen and grown accustomed to a side of him that the audience had yet to be formally introduced to for once.

Right about now, you may be wondering how the anime adapted this scene. It didn't💀.

While the start of the episode (S3 EP5) is a one-to-one recreation of the chapter with virtually the same dialogue and scenery, any mention of Nyanko-sensei following Natsume to pick on him when it thunders is nonexistent and entirely skipped over so the gang can go straight to cleaning out the storeroom.

Most fans who have read the manga will tell you how notorious the anime is for excluding some of the characters' lines or scenes that take place in the manga, or just straight up rearranging or changing up those same factors. Sometimes those alterations work wonders, and other times they leave more to be desired, mainly if you know what happened in the manga counterpart of the episode. This such example is one of the times that'll leave people scratching their heads and wondering what warranted getting rid of a scene so insignificant that it'd have no effect on the plot of the episode whether or not it stayed. The only answer I can think of for that is the directors likely wanting a smoother progression of events to make for a viewing experience better tailored for an anime episode rather than a manga chapter.

Or, they genuinely didn't have enough space in the episode to squeeze in that little bit, which I highly doubt, but what would I know, I don't work for them. At the end of the day, we didn't get to see that scene in the episode.

After some more anime switcheroo shenanigans go on behind the scenes, along with an original episode pulling a retcon during a lightning storm, we receive our next moment in a surprising scene from the anime team in S3 EP10 (adaptation of chapter 28). Though the scene itself is short and not exactly an example of Natsume's astraphobia, I feel it should still be included because of its relation.

The chapter originally starts with Natsume and Nyanko-sensei searching for a tree that was struck by lightning during a storm the night before. However, the anime makes an addition of their own by rewinding time to that very night and showing Nyanko-sensei excitedly watching the storm take place while Natsume is tied up with his homework.

Nyanko-sensei goes on to tease him by suggesting that he doesn't want to watch the storm because he's scared, but Natsume dodges the youkai's mocking and begins to tell him to close the curtain before a crack of lightning cuts him off and illuminates his room.

Not only does Natsume not simply deny Nyanko-sensei's claim of him being scared, but his reaction to the thunder is seemingly more sudden than Nyanko-sensei's. Both of these points could subsequently lead the audience to interpret this entire sequence as the anime's first acknowledgement of his phobia, and it'd make for a very intriguing choice on the anime team's behalf after taking their ommitance of the previous scene into consideration. It could be a stretch though ngl, I tend to stretch like crazy, it makes sense to close a curtain when a pet is being noisy—

Finally moving on from S3, we eventually reach the most overt instance of Natsume's astraphobia, and potential origin or exacerbation of it, in the S4 finale (adaptation of chapter 46). This three episode arc is a largely intimate and heart wrenching one as it focuses on Natsume's journey to revisit his childhood home before it gets renovated by its new owners, a task he initially denied himself the permission of doing before realizing Touko and Shigeru would never deny him something so personal. Of course, he wouldn't be Natsume if he didn't attract a youkai along the way, and he's being pursued by one that seeks to feed on the tragic memories he formed while staying with the Aoi family, who was strongly implied to be the first family (if not, one of the first families) he was taken in by after his father's passing.

One of those memories shown to the audience is a younger Natsume relaxing in a shrine while memorizing where his childhood home is located, all in the hopes of gaining more discernible memories of his father and no longer being a burden to Miyoko and her parents.

Unfortunately, he falls asleep at the shrine and consequently loses track of time before having his slumber disturbed by a violent boom of thunder. He's so frightened by the ordeal that he can't even bring himself to rush back to the Aoi family's place, and his exhaustion puts him back to sleep until he's eventually found by some of the neighbors who went out searching for him.

The anime, with the natural strengths it has over the manga, goes the extra mile by not only keeping this portion relatively untouched, but further setting up the scenery and depicting just how rapidly the area goes from peaceful to turbulent. The character animation and voice acting make for a splendid combination and do a wonderful job of capturing this image of a helpless childhood version of Natsume.

What comes soon after this scene is a depressing sequence of events on its own, even more so when we can see he's still reeling from the storm and believing he caused the Aois to get into trouble by not getting back before dark. The adults obviously don't fault Natsume for getting stuck in the storm, but he doesn't see it that way in his shocked state.

The way Miyoko reacts by throwing her frustrations onto him doesn't help either.

And so, after aimlessly running off in his last unsuccessful attempt to find his childhood home, the memory fades away with a somber note as his present self recalls the moment he finally stopped calling for his long gone father.

Now, one could argue that Natsume had his fear of thunder prior to his time with the Aois since we don't have much reference material to work with when concerning his short period of time with his father, and they could be right for all I know. It's common for children to be startled by loud noises and bright flashes since they just aren't quite accustomed to those loud noises and bright flashes being customary for weather disturbances. Natsume, who we know grew up to be pretty sensitive to the things that go on around him, may have been one of those children who felt apprehension anytime a bad storm rolled in, and his father may have been the one to quell his fears back then. So, if we go with the conclusion that his fear didn't originate here, then this scene likely could've aggravated it. But I'm personally leaning a bit more towards the concept of this being the cause of it (partly due to how appealing that conclusion is to the obsessive part of my brain).

His initial reaction to the thunder is seemingly one of surprise rather than fear, and his behavior suggests that he's more concerned with making it back down the mountain before the thunder halts his progress. Although he's seen trying to talk himself down and fails to do so with how relentless the thunderstorm is proving to be, he doesn't need to have preexisting fears or anxieties over thunder to resort to calming himself down.

The dialogue differences strike me as something to consider too, but they're likely irrelevant.

Setting aside everything I just ranted about in the above paragraph, I should specify that I'm not simply pointing to the storm scene as the singular root cause for his future woes. Many psychological problems often aren't so black and white that someone can definitively point to one person or thing as the sole reason for the existence of their psychological problems. And phobias obviously don't always develop as a result of going through or observing a traumatic event; people can grow to fear or strongly dislike something merely by its association with an unpleasant memory or stressful situation. I know I'm starting to stretch hard rn, and this part of the post is getting awfully wordy, just hear me out—

Going back to that aforementioned short period of time with his dad, it's plain to see just how innocent of a time that was for Natsume. He was playful and affectionate with his dad like many children growing up in a healthy environment would be at that age. He doesn't even appear to have an awareness of youkai (if so, only slight enough for it to not become a problem for him just yet). We're shown later on that he would commonly draw around the house too, as evidenced by the nearly two decade old pieces of artwork his father never removed from the kitchen area and closet.

Natsume even proceeds to make a comment about this childhood version of himself likely being the mischievous type for him to run around drawing on surfaces without a care in the world.

He undeniably had his own troubles at that stage of his life though, with one of those troubles being his mom and the empty spot left behind by her passing away. Apart from his heartwarming portrait of a family with both parents, he's also shown lamenting to Miyoko after the death of his dad about not being able to remember his mom. We've seen with those two examples that her absence indeed left an impact on him early on in his life, but he doesn't stay too broken up over her considering how little he got to bond with her, and he doesn't openly despair about the loss of his dad until his growing sense of loneliness and longing becomes too much for him to smooth over.

The point I'm trying (and admittedly struggling) to make here is that after moving in with Miyoko and her parents, the worries on Natsume's plate increased tenfold and weighed him down far more than he was willing to accept at first. Suddenly, this kid had little to smile about in life, taking a glance at his only picture of his parents causes grief and envy to flare up in his chest, he's afraid of being a burden to those who took him under his wing, he's eating less than Miyoko because he's concerned with coming off as too greedy, he feels responsible for Miyoko getting picked on because of his relation to her, he's still learning the way back to the Aoi family's home, and now he's surrounded by all of these weird creatures that apparently no one else can see.

Suddenly, he's no longer that carefree toddler we saw sitting on his dad's lap as the two of them watched over his late mom's garden.

I feel moderately certain about Natsume's experience with the storm, coupled with this pivotal and devastating shift in his life, being the plausible cause for him developing his irrational fear of thunder as a child.

After this arc, we aren't greeted with another scene featuring or centered on his astraphobia until chapter 85 (which doesn't appear to be adapted in S7 judging from the PV😭), and it focuses on Natsume, Tanuma and Taki viewing a limited exhibition at an old inn that has a deep history with youkai. Not too long after the owner engages in conversation with Taki, Natsume and Tanuma briefly comment on how peaceful the inn is making the both of them feel, and a sudden lightning strike cuts through the tranquility of the inn.

It catches everyone off guard and, unsurprisingly, has Natsume frozen in place as Tanuma asks him and Taki if they're alright.

Much like Nyanko-sensei's first time mentioning Natsume's fear, the moment doesn't last long as the gang soon realizes they'll have to spend the night at the inn while they wait for the sudden storm to pass.

By this point in the manga though, Midorikawa has evidently decided to make Natsume's astraphobia a recurring element of the sorts. She could've easily left his astraphobia as another facet of his that we get to see once or twice and never again since it's not serviceable to the story as a whole, but she's started using his phobia as an additional means of displaying his discomfort in any given situation. Having a thunderstorm suddenly appear during a moment of serenity, immediately after Natsume tells Tanuma the place is making him feel strangely good, was a brilliant move of jarring him. And it works especially well here as a sign of the looming threat that'll find its way into the inn over night and slowly creep upon the group the longer they remain there.

Midorikawa pulls this same stunt again to slightly greater effect in chapter 117, where Natsume, Tanuma and Nyanko-sensei happen upon the Kisaragi Manor and find themselves taking part in a ritual for summoning youkai.

It starts with the trio meeting up in the evening to view the bamboo lanterns, but a woman claiming to be in search of a mansion requests their help to find it before it gets too dark, as well as to avoid getting caught in a downpour should the drizzle grow heavier. While Tanuma shows interest in the ritual, and the people they meet are treating them somewhat cordially, Natsume is disconcerted by the arrangement they've found themselves in. He's surrounded by five women he's never met in his life, is once again in an unfamiliar place that feels weird in Nyanko-sensei's own words, and is thrown for a loop by everyone's enthusiasm with the idea of meeting youkai rather than being put off by them.

The group isn't even a minute into their summoning ritual when a huge boom of thunder shakes the room and causes a power outage, sending them into a brief stint of darkness until Hitomi relights the candle.

While waiting for the candle though, Natsume answers Tanuma's question by for once admitting that he's bothered by thunder, leading to Nyanko-sensei characteristically picking on his phobia by calling him a chicken.

Again, the moment is subtle and restricted to one corner of the page, but it sticks the landing. Instead of using the lightning or thunder as a sign of things to come as she's done before, Midorikawa uses them here as an integrant of an already somewhat concerning scene slowly veering towards being disturbing. In addition to selling just how uncomfortable of a situation this is for Natsume, it also depicts how far along he is in his friendship with Tanuma to be honest about an irrational fear we know he'd rather not speak of.

Alas, chapter 117 was our last time seeing thunder scare Natsume, at least until the next time Midorikawa chooses to use his fear to her advantage, unless the anime miraculously surprises us with its own original take as we've seen it isn't afraid to do. What we've been given so far though is plentiful in comparison to many other plot points or quirks that get reused or called back to far less than this one. I won't throw a tantrum if his never gets referenced to or utilized again (which I doubt will happen knowing Midorikawa's writing), but I eagerly anticipate seeing it again should it reappear.

It's captivating to watch this minor detail frequently make it's way back into the story somehow, to the point that it eventually cemented itself as a miniscule yet effective way of shedding different shades of light on the many complexities of Natsume.

From underneath his downcast eyelashes, Caleb peered at the man and woman standing before him. Their conversation had turned down to hushed murmurings that Caleb could no longer make out again. They kept giving him concerned glances, their brows furrowed, but didn’t make any other move. He was still stuck in the goddamn chair—no amount of shaking had made him able to break free, only worsening the cuts and bruises that made up his skin.

Throwing a tantrum clearly did not work. But then again, it never did. Those things were considered childish, and therefore a flaw that he couldn’t afford to have.

He clenched his jaw, biting his tongue until he tasted copper. He learned rather early on that silence was often better than noise, and if calming down was the key to getting what he wanted, then he would do it. He could be perfectly calm. He could behave so well that they would have no choice but to give in to him. His nose twitched.

Caleb closed his eyes and breathed in deep, straightening his posture. There was only ever one thought that allowed him to let go of his anger. That kept him grounded.

Truth be told, Caleb could not remember why he was here, how he got here, when he got here. It was easier to forget. Forgetting kept the sorrow and pain away. An empty place in his rotting mind where he didn’t need to feel anything. And as each fleeting day passed, he didn’t even need to try. Before long, the days started to blur together, and everything felt too fast and distant for him to recall. It was all the same, so what need did he have for any attachments. He could only briefly grasp onto short glimpses in the present before they slipped through his fingers again like sand in an hourglass, and he was once more swallowed by darkness. A world where he knew no one and nothing. Life had become dull and meaningless. Confusing.

Besides, remembering was a fruitless endeavor he had long given up on accomplishing. Like a band tightening around his head, warning him from diving in too deep. He could not think past the pain. And Caleb oh so hated pain.

And yet… for some reason, amongst all the other unknowns and unfamiliars, it was so easy to remember her. Yes, her. The one they all called 001. Except, she wasn’t just a mere number. She was a young girl. The one that had always been with him since the very beginning. One moment, he had been floating in darkness, but the next, he was by her side, grasping onto her as they were pulled apart. The story of their birth, their creation.

And it happened again and again. 001 and 002 were always brought together only to be separated once more. The strange adults in white lab coats who kept lingering around them claimed that it was just another part of the experiments. Until eventually, he stopped seeing her completely. The so-called researchers had grown weary of their tantrums and thought best to lock him away.

Occasionally, the strange adults would mention 001. He desperately clung onto any information he could gather, storing it away, saving it for an opportunity. Those moments were the only moments worth remembering of his endless, isolated days. Not seeing, not knowing left him helpless… but knowing any scrap gave him hope, a reason to keep living. Forget everything else. Remember only her. That was the process that helped him survive this boring, wretched, white place instead of completely wasting away so far.

The ache in his chest sharpened. But this time, everything felt different. Things had been wrong before, but the adults had never been so… uneasy. After every experiment, they usually kept their expressions blank, taking notes, murmuring about what to do for the next experiment. They went about their days, with smiles on their faces, acting friendly with each other, treating the children as if they were their own. The contrast had always made Caleb’s stomach tighten, his skin grow cold. But “dread” was not an emotion they ever showed. For them to be so alarmed, something major had to have happened.

What if… he never got to see her again? What if this time, the separation became permanent, and they were able to kill her without bringing her back?

His world tilted on a sharp diagonal angle and the floor wobbled beneath him, threatening to fall away. She was his reason for existence. The only connection he had in this off world. The only thing he could remember among the fog. Without her, he had no answers, and he was lost to the confusion and the emptiness. She helped him think straight when the static in his head got too loud.

It didn’t matter if they saw her as a liability, as the source of their impending destruction. If she truly wanted to destroy the world, then he would gladly join her.

I will kill them all.

I won’t let anyone take her away from me.

She is my salvation, not theirs.

But Caleb couldn’t let his aggression roam free just yet. He wasn’t known for being delicate. He had been trained for the sole purpose of being violent. A living weapon. He knew that much. However, that was also the very reason why they had him locked away, why they kept them separated. If he was going to plot his escape, to find out what was going on, to reunite with her, he needed to seem amiable and more appealing.

And so, he would keep himself in check. He would prove that he was reliable, trustworthy. Even though every fiber of his being boiled and yearned to hurt everybody else, he would refrain. Because hurting them would eventually lead to hurting her, and he could never hurt her. He would bide his time, to get them on his side, to get her to take his hand. Everything would fall back into place as soon as they were together again, free from this place once and for all, with only each other to depend on for the rest of their days.

“Is… is he truly done?” a trembling voice sounded.

Caleb opened his eyes again to see the woman called Dr. Zhang kneeling down by the chair, looking up at him. The man addressed as Dr. Chen was currently pacing, looking between Dr. Zhang and the hallway.

“Are you feeling better?” Dr. Zhang whispered. Caleb blinked at her, then turned his head away. He didn’t have to answer her. But he nodded anyway.

“Josephine, we need to hurry. There isn’t much time left.”

Dr. Zhang rolled her eyes. “I have to unstrap him.”

“He better be on his best behavior,” Dr. Chen grumbled. “It wouldn’t do us any good if he destroyed the whole building before the monsters even got to us.”

Dr. Zhang glared at him. “You know, maybe that would actually be a good thing. It’s more than what we deserve. But don’t be ridiculous. You see how quiet he is now.”

Dr. Chen stared at Caleb. Caleb stared back, the corners of his lips twitching up before falling back into a straight flat line.

“I don’t trust it,” Dr. Chen shivered, rubbing his upper arms. “You know how he is.”

Dr. Zhang sighed. “Yes. But who’s fault is that, really?”

She then unstrapped Caleb from his chair and grabbed his hand. “Come, but you must promise not to do anything reckless.”

Caleb tilted his head. Why should he promise her anything? What had she done to deserve such promises from him? He owed her nothing. Still, he nodded his head once again. Dr. Zhang slowly smiled, as if that meaningless promise was enough to somehow ease all her worries and doubts about him. Then, she finally led him outside.

***

Caleb was greeted by bright, shining white light. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the heat searing into his eyes. It had been too long since he last wandered these endless tunnels, and his “special” room had been dimmed in comparison. He could feel someone nudge him along, but he had already forgotten who was by his side.

He was back in that floating space, where he was nothing and felt nothing. There was no sense of direction. Left couldn’t be told from right, down couldn’t be told from up. There was only the single current, and he was helpless against its pull, forced to follow the flow of the stream.

As he passed, the ringing filled his ears again. His body kept ricocheting against scattered rocks that emitted garbled, drowning cries. He could feel bile rise in the back of his throat, threatening to come up, as his head split open. Slamming into a wall, he keeled over as a rush of air left his lungs.

He felt something grab his elbow.

“You can’t stop here now,” a voice approached him. Then he was yanked again. A jolt of electricity shot through his arm.

After that, the voices got clearer.

“Philip, report. What exactly happened?”

“I… don’t know myself. We had been researching the polar night as usual, its connections to the rifts and energy pulses we have been experiencing from the Tunnel. If it was also connected to… their existence and what they are. Then suddenly… Little Bomb exploded again.”

“Let me guess,” the woman said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “The explosion caused the core to become unstable and spike abnormally, just like I said it would.”

The man shook his head. “A black hole suddenly ripped open right above us and took out the whole unit. We managed to get out unscathed. But as I’ve already said, monsters started appearing from the holes, nothing like I’ve ever seen. The whole city around us has gone into chaos. It’s… it’s all gone. And it all happened so quickly…”

“The boy has been acting strange as well. I noticed it when he used his Evol on the researchers. His nerves are shot and his power unstable. Whatever happened, is having an effect on the children.”

“Or… the children are the ones who caused this.”

The woman scoffed. “You don’t truly believe that nonsense, do you?”

“But we can’t rule it out.”

“I—”

Low roars sounded from far outside the building, cutting her off.

“Let’s just focus on getting out of here,” the man mumbled.

“Dimitri, that idiot,” the woman clicked her tongue. “I never liked him. I hope we make it in time.”

Suddenly, they emerged into a circular clearing, and it was easier for Caleb to catch his breath. Around them were several archways, leading into different sections of the research center. Each archway had some label next to them on the walls that Caleb couldn’t bother to read and understand. The only one he ever recognized and was allowed to enter was the one he had just come from, the one labeled “UNICORN.”

Caleb scanned the room, his gaze navigating the maze of heads. When he finally landed on a familiar figure, Caleb sucked in a breath.

There in the center of the clearing surrounded by the lab coats was the girl he had seen so many times and had come to know more than his own self. Her arm was lifted up and bent at a weird angle. His eyes followed the arm to the man holding it. He didn’t stand out too much in particular from the others, other than his eyes which bulged and vibrated. Caleb bared his teeth at the sight, his lip curling back into a snarl.

But one of the researchers had spotted Caleb. “Is it wise to bring him here?”

This accusation drew attention. The researchers glanced at each other.

“He is docile,” the man by his side spoke up, placing a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. He squeezed. Caleb immediately dropped his snarl, blinking up at them. “No need to worry.”

“More importantly, has the Professor been escorted to safety?” the woman asked, shifting the attention away.

“Yes,” the researcher said, still side-eying Caleb. “He has already left the building. I’m sure the Evol-modified vehicle will protect him from any threats. As it’s his own creation, after all.”

“Good news,” the woman nodded.

“Ha…haha…” the man from the center of the room shook his shoulders, then threw his head back as his laughter escalated into a burst. “Don’t you all see? We’ve been abandoned. Of course the Professor prepared for this very occasion. He already saw it coming. We were his pawns, sacrifices to be made for his great scheme. And we fell for it. He manipulated our greed and now we will all pay the price for it.”

“Dr. Yu…” the woman said carefully. “Perhaps you should unhand the girl.”

The girl was limp in his hold. It wasn’t clear if she was lucid. She looked so… weak. Had Caleb really wanted to risk everything for this girl?

Dr. Yu dangled her arm. “She’s the cause of it all. I’m going to be the one to set things right. None of this would have happened if we had just kept our curiosity to ourselves. If I do this, offer her up, maybe we’ll still be spared. We all knew this might happen—it’s why we created the fail safe in the first place, in the event that she used up all of her purpose.”

“We still don’t know for sure… it’s too soon to say…”

“Dr. Zhang,” Dr. Yu cut her off. “Don’t you understand? We’ve been played. All used! We started this research in an effort to find the world’s most desirable yet unattainable dream: the blueprint to immortality. EVER had approached Gaia with a message. They told us that soon, the world would end, but that there was a way to stop it, and only we could figure that out, with our special skills. If we figured it out, our safety and entry to the new world would be guaranteed. We just didn’t know the full extent of what was in store for us. But surely, you’ve guessed it by now.”

“EVER has known all along. All the different aspects of research they’ve assigned to us. It was their way of keeping an eye on the situation, of using our knowledge to aid their own salvation. They wanted to dirty their hands without having to dirty it themselves. They made us do the work for them so that they didn’t need to lift a single finger. Now they have all the information to proceed while we’re the last ones left. Our attempts to outsmart them only backfired on us. Monsters. That’s what their plan was. Our secrets and sins only sped up our own demise. We are witnessing history! I’m sure the Professor is cackling in glee now. Don’t you think it’s convenient how he arrived here right on time? Because he knew. He got what he wanted. And now we’ll all die in his place. But if we kill her, kill her and erase all evidence, we can still maybe… yes, this is the way! It’s our last option! Our only option to redeem ourselves!”

Purple and blue lightning flashed from outside the large glass windows surrounding the circle, cementing his words, highlighting the sneer on his face. Kill her, kill her, kill her.

“No!” Caleb lurched forward, only to be yanked back by Dr. Chen. Dr. Chen subtly shook his head and put a finger to his lips. But Caleb didn’t want to wait. They were discussing her death.

“If you move again, you’ll be cuffed, and you won’t be able to do anything,” Dr. Chen warned. Caleb paused, then glanced up, seeing some of the researchers throwing cold glances his way. He closed his eyes and took quick deep breaths.

“You slimy bastard,” Dr. Zhang snapped. “Out of all of us, you were the one who desired immortality and fame the most. Now you’re casting aside the one that would’ve helped you achieve that to save yourself?”

“I’m only saying what we’re all thinking!” Dr. Yu hissed. “001 is to blame!”

“How about a vote?” Dr. Chen called out. The researchers looked at him. He shrugged. “We voted on how to proceed with the experiments. It’s only right.”

Dr. Yu laughed again. “Very well. But as if it even needs to be called to question. We all already know the answer.”

Dr. Zhang narrowed her eyes. “We’ll see about that.”

“All in favor of getting rid of the rotten source of our problems?” Dr. Yu shouted, raising his hand held up high. A sea of hands followed suit. Caleb’s stomach dropped, and his body tilted, swayed back and forth.

“All in favor of… protecting the creature that started it all.”

Only Dr. Chen and Dr. Zhang raised their hands beside him.

So it was decided.

Something inside Caleb was… breaking. Whatever… thing… that had been inside him, aching to escape, finally released. A loud holler erupted from his throat, and suddenly everything near him was being flung about him. The ground beneath him shook.

“I thought you said he was ‘docile’! Stop that thing!”

Thing. Anomaly. Subject. Creature. Freak. Weapon. Masterpiece. It.

They had never once been treated as human beings.

Hands suddenly grabbed out to him, pulling him under. He tried yanking free, but he had already exhausted all energy, and became easily subdued. The next thing he knew, his hands snapped behind his back, bound by the damn cuffs that blocked his Evol.

Careless. Stupid. He allowed the shock to bring down his guard and get easily overcome. If he had been less emotional, more obedient, he could’ve gotten to her by now. As consequence, his plan had failed. His only chance, lost.

Your emotions are your biggest flaw, the words curled around him like a snake gradually suffocating the life out of him, preparing for its next meal. You’ll only find yourself hindered by them. This is why you’ll never reach your full potential.

“Let me go!” Caleb screamed at them, even though he knew they wouldn’t listen to him. They never did.

“002, calm yourself!” a voice hissed in his ear. A womanly voice. Who was it again? Why did it seem so familiar? It was always so hard to remember. He didn’t care to remember. Nothing mattered. They were all conspiring against him.

“Aren’t you going to stop him? He’s going to kill her!” Caleb collapsed to his knees, the throbbing in his head and arms reaching a peak once more as dark spots slowly danced along the edges of his vision. Dammit. He couldn’t pass out now. When he opened his mouth again, such an ugly noise escaped from it. Why couldn’t he breathe? Each gasp of air was suddenly so painful. He choked it down and tried once more. “Haven’t you done enough already? I know you don’t care what happens to us, but what about your research? If she dies now, she won’t come back this time!”

The woman turned her head away from him. “There’s nothing I can do if the majority has voted.”

“Liar,” Caleb spat. “You always choose to do nothing. You’re a bunch of hypocrites. I won’t ever forgive you for this! You hear me?”

He knew his forgiveness didn’t mean much to them, anyway. It was all a futile attempt, one last desperate attempt, to save her. He hated that he was so… helpless. He hated that he was of so little importance, that everyone else ignored him. She was the only one who had cared, and now she was going to be gone. Gone for good.

The ugly noise escaped from him again.

Dr. Yu continued to drag the girl. Perhaps, because of all the commotion, the girl finally opened her eyes. She blinked slowly, her gaze taking everything in around her. When she saw the tube-like chamber at the end of the room, the chamber that was getting ever-so close to her, her eyes widened, and she began to frantically pull on the man’s arm.

“Where… where are you taking me? No, I don’t want to go there!”

“Be quiet!” Dr. Yu yelled at her. “This is the punishment you deserve for all the trouble you’ve caused us!”

Tears began to streak down her face. She screamed and kicked at the man, but still, he did not stop.

Caleb tried to move towards her again, but it felt like there was a barrier between them, something holding him back from reaching her. As if sensing him, her eyes suddenly clashed with his. And that was the last thing she saw before she was thrown into the chamber. Her glass coffin.

The girl banged on the glass. “S-someone! Help me! I… I can’t…”

Slowly, eventually, her tiny fists ceased to pound on the glass. She leaned back on the glass, slouching downwards. Her head lolled to the side.

It wasn’t until the girl’s eyes slowly drooped close, her body growing still, that he realized what the ugly noise he had been making was—he was sobbing.

His eyes widened in horror. What… what have they done?

“Now. Take him—”

Caleb never got to hear Dr. Yu finish his sentence. Caleb’s ears were ringing once more. The ringing reached a crescendo, blasting his ears, and suddenly all noise faded away, rendering him completely deaf. The world around him suddenly became so, so slow…

Then everything became dark.

***

What… happened?

Caleb slowly opened his eyes. But the ringing didn’t go away. He stretched his arms. The movement gave him pause. Why was he able to move? Hadn’t he been bound?

A gust of wind was hitting his face, blowing at his clothes. He frowned. Even stranger. There shouldn’t be any wind.

Clutching his head, he blinked away the last of the bleariness and looked around him.

Nothing was left of the white and pristine corridor.

Fire licked at his skin. Debris was everywhere. There was so much smoke and dust in the air, that he couldn’t see anyone or anything else around him. He could feel something looming above him, flying overhead, circling him.

He coughed.

“What a mess.”

A deep voice broke through the cloud, interrupting his fit. A pair of sleek black loafers stepped into Caleb’s field of vision.

Who…?

“W-who are you?” Dr. Yu shouted. He tried to scramble back up, but fell back down, coughing.

Heels crunched on gravel. The pair of loafers belonged to a tall silhouette, which glanced down at the man. Then clicked its tongue. “Tsk… how pathetic. Not even worth my time.”

Kicking Dr. Yu aside, the silhouette proceeded forward, towards the glass chamber. The only structure that remained standing.

Caleb looked at Dr. Yu, writhing in the dirt. The silhouette had made it look so… simple. The very man he wanted to destroy himself. The very man who had ruined his entire world in a single moment. The very man he couldn’t succeed in stopping.

The silhouette stared down the chamber. “Well, this wasn’t how I was expecting our reunion to go. I had been longing for a more proper face-off. After all, the least you could’ve done is repay me for all those lonely years. Instead you give me an unfair fight. What am I supposed to do now?”

The silhouette paused, as if waiting for a response. When it didn’t receive any, it sighed, slowly raising its arm up, pointing at the chamber. There was something in its hand.

Caleb’s chest tightened again. Something wasn’t right.

“W-wait…” Caleb stretched his hand out, still recovering from the blast, unable to move. Everything around him was happening in slow motion, out of his control yet again.

A loud bang pierced through the night. Glass surrounded them, littering the ground, breaking the coffin free. The silhouette lowered their hand.

“Wait, please… stop… don’t…”

Caleb managed to grasp onto their pant sleeve. The silhouette finally turned to him, and Caleb caught the sight of silver and crimson glistening in the moonlight.

The silhouette, a man, smirked at him. He leisurely pulled out a gold coin from his pocket, his blood red eyes shining. “Let’s make a bet.”

He tossed the coin high into the air. “Will you be able to catch up to us, little one?”

He swiped the coin back with his hand, then just like that, he vanished. As if he were never there. A red and black mist emerged from the place where the man had been standing moments ago, trailing around the room and curling around the broken chamber, then evaporating. Caleb’s hand fell away to nothing.

No trace of the girl remained. She was gone.

And he had no idea where they went.

He had been… abandoned.

A loud crack rang in the sky, snapping him back to reality. A reality without her. A reality where he failed to protect her.

A cold sensation dropped onto his fallen hand. For a second, he thought he was crying again. But then the cold sensation became a repetitive tap, spreading throughout his whole body, and he finally brought himself to look up at what he believed must’ve been the sky. Thousands of water droplets pelted down on him, drowning out any wretched noises he would have otherwise made, blending in with any tears he may have shed. A perfect harmony.

He trembled. The thunder claps wracking his body. He… didn’t want to look away. He wanted to etch everything into his memory. For once, he didn’t want to forget. He never felt more cold or bleak in his life until now. The absolute picture of misery. His fingers slowly curled into his palms, clenching into fists.

Pip…squeak…

But then the world suddenly turned sideways, and his vision went black as he sank into darkness once more, finally giving into the pain.

####

I hope this chapter is as good as the first. I am still a little unsure about some parts, but did not want to take several months to revise again.