Ail

About nine years ago...

"H-hello, my name is Ail, and I'm 7 years old. I live in a small house in a place not next to many other houses. I-it doesn't seem very great, but there's a jungle close to where I live! ... But my dad said I'm not allowed to go anywhere near there... Oh, but we have a water well! I-it's really deep; you can't even see the bottom! ... U-um, so feel free to visit, if you want..."

That's the introduction I gave to everyone when I first started elementary school. I'm not good at talking to other people, so I worked really hard on what to say to them so I could have lots of friends! ...

... But that didn't end up happening. No one seemed interested in me or what I had to say, or just ignored me completely. I thought I would be all alone... but that wasn't actually true.

I did end up making one friend. His name is Cole, and he thinks I'm a really interesting person. He doesn't get along with anyone else either, but he doesn't seem to care.

My teachers are nice too; they always listen when I have a problem and help me when I'm in trouble. But I'm happier about making friends with Cole. We'll have a lot of fun doing things together, even if it's just us two!

--

"Hey, Ail." Cole had asked me, after school had ended for the day. "The stuff about the jungle and the well was true, right?"

"U-um, yes." I answered nervously. "I guess those things don't sound as interesting as anything else other people have, but..."

"No way, dude!" He reassured me. "In fact, I wanna check out that stuff right now! That okay?"

"Y-you mean you want to... come over?" I asked in disbelief. "Really?"

"'Course!"

"O-okay!" Wow, I'm so glad! I've always wanted a friend over my house!

And so, I walked the usual way back home, guiding my friend there as well. Along the way, I was greeted by someone passing by, like I always am.

"Good day, Ail. Is that a friend you have with you today?"

"Yes, that's right!" I responded happily.

"Good for you! Have fun!"

"You're... pretty popular." Cole uttered, after the man had walked away.

"No, not really. I just pass by people a lot when I head home."

We ended up in an area that seemed like a dead end. There were nothing but trees in front of us.

"L-let's go..."

"Why're we going through here?"

"I-I'm sorry; it's still pretty far..." I said apologetically. "G-going through here is faster."

"It's pretty woodsy here, and I don't see any houses around..." Cole said, looking around while we were walking through the forest. "You sure we're going the right way?"

"Y-yes..." I apologized again. "I-I'm sorry...!"

"Quit 'pologizing. This makes things even more interesting, I say!"

"R-really?"

"Yeah! It's like we're on an adventure!" Cole stated in excitement. "Just me and my buddy, Ail!"

"Heheh..."

I never thought about it before, but I guess walking back to my house is pretty fun! Maybe it's because I have a friend with me now...

It was so much fun, that it seemed like we ended up getting there in no time at all.

"So this is your house, huh?"

"Yeah. Sorry it's not that great..."

"It's fine! It may be small, but it has a certain... 'class' to it. Y'know?"

"U-um, sure?" Actually, I have no idea what he's talking about...

"So, what should we do first?" He asked, wondering.

"U-uh, I guess we can go inside and do stuff..."

"Actually, what I really want to do is more exploring!" Cole pointed to the area behind my house. "That's the jungle you were telling me about before, right? Let's explore that place!"

"N-no, we can't do that!" I waved my arms in protest.

"Why not?!" He asked, looking mad suddenly.

"M-my dad told me not to go anywhere near the jungle. It's dangerous..."

"So?! It won't matter if he doesn't find out, right?"

"Well, it's true that my dad isn't home right now, but..."

"Okay then! Let's gooo~!"

He started walking toward the jungle, but I grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him.

"What are you doing, Ail?!"

"I-I'm sorry, but..." I tried to stop myself from sobbing. "We really can't go there. I-I'll get in trouble..."

"... Fine, jeez." He sighed, giving up. "Let's do some stuff at your house, then..."

We went back to my house, and I showed him where my room was. We played some games for a couple hours. For some reason, it didn't feel like we were having as much fun as before...

But we ended up playing for so long that my dad came home before we were done.

"O-oh, welcome home, dad..." I greeted him.

"... Who is this?"

"This is Cole. H-he's my friend..."

My dad glared at me and him for a while, then said:

"Just don't make too much noise. Alright?"

"O-okay..."

My dad left without another word.

"Your dad is kind of scary." Cole uttered.

"I-I guess..." I admitted. "I don't see him very much because of his work. And when he is here, he usually ignores me and goes to the living room to watch TV. I-I normally have no one to talk to when I'm at home..."

"What about your mom?"

"M-my mom... died." I explained. "It's always just me and my dad here..."

"... I see."

"This is the first time I've ever invited someone over. I'm glad I can finally play games in my room with a friend!"

--

Ever since then, Cole would usually come over to play almost every day. I was so happy! And it was even better when summer time came...

I found out I had a talent. I'm actually really good at swimming! I told my dad, but he doesn't seem to care (as usual...). Maybe if I get better at it, he'll finally be proud of me!

Even though I'm good at swimming above water, I'm actually not good at doing it underwater. Whenever I try, I get this weird... feeling. It makes me feel scared, and I became even more scared after hearing someone drowned after staying underwater for too long...

But that's okay. Everyone thinks it's cool that I can swim really well, and I've made lots of friends because of it! Cole made some more friends too, so he's not left out or anything. Plus, he is still the only one that comes over my house, so he's still my favorite friend...

... Maybe even my best friend?! I've always wanted a best friend!

"So, what game do you want to play today?" I asked Cole, after going to my house after school, like usual.

"Actually, there's something else I'd like to do." Cole responded. "Remember that interesting thing you talked about on the first day of school?"

"I-I'm sorry, but we still can't go into the jungle area..." I reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. I meant the other thing."

"Um, what 'other thing'?" I asked, confused.

"You know, the water well." He told me. "I wasn't that interested in it before, but I've been thinking about what could be down there."

"Really? Because it's so deep, I have no idea what's at the bottom..."

"Exactly! There could be anything hidden there!" Cole exclaimed, getting excited all of a sudden. "Maybe even treasure!"

"T-treasure?!" I repeated, his excitement spreading onto me. "Do you really think something like that could be down there?"

"It's possible. Let's find out."

"H-how? Like I said before, it's too deep down there..."

"True, but there's still a way we can check." He told me. "Well, there's a way you can, anyway."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah you, Mr. 'Super Swimmer'!" He patted me on the back. "Swim down there and tell me what you find, Ail!"

"B-but, that means..." I started to shiver in fear. "I have to go u-underwater..."

"Um, yeah? Isn't that obvious?" He looked at me in confusion.

Cole really wants me to swim down there, and I can probably do it, too... But going underwater for me is s-scary... What should I do?

"You know, it's not like you have to go all the way down; just low enough so that you can see the bottom." He explained. "And if you have a hard time doing it, just come back up and we'll give up on this."

"O-okay..." I said in understanding.

I gripped the sides of the well.

"H-here goes..." I uttered, then plunged my whole body into the water at once.

--

There it is... T-that weird feeling again...

I thought to myself, while continuing to swim deeper and deeper into the well.

Why do I feel this way? I-is this supposed to happen?

I swam deeper...

My body is covering the light from above me... I can't see in here very well...

... and deeper...

Hey, he said I would have a hard time swimming down here, but this is actually a lot easier than I thought...

... and even deeper...

It feels like the water is flowing the way I want to go... Like the well wants me to go down...

... and deeper still I went.

Hey, that weird feeling is...

"Mnph...!" My train of thought was interrupted by something hitting my head.

Ow, what was...?

I felt something below me. It felt the same as the walls of the well.

I-I already reached the bottom? Really? But... there's nothing down here!

Well, that wasn't entirely true; there was a little pipe connecting the well to a nearby water source. But still...

I don't see any treasure! What do I tell Cole...?

But there was something even more important I should've been worried about. Something I had only just realized...

"MMNPH! Ooog..." I-I can't hold my breath anymore...! I need to...

I looked up, and noticed how far above the top was.

I need to hurry!

I swam up, as fast as I could, before I wasn't able to hold my breath any more. But my vigorous swimming only made it harder to hold it...

I-I can't! I... I stopped swimming, and pressed my hands to my mouth, trying to keep the oxygen in. I'm gonna...!

I couldn't handle it any longer. My breath came bursting out, forcing my hands apart. Having no more energy to swim, I began to sink back to the bottom...

I-I... I want to breathe...

And so I did. I breathed in, and breathed out, and breathed in... I kept doing this, and eventually, I felt better.

... But wait...

I'm breathing?! But how? I thought it wasn't possible in water!

I kept on sinking down to the bottom, but I was still able to breathe like normal.

Did the teachers lie to me? Or maybe...

"... This is a magic well!" I shouted, also realizing I could talk underwater too!

I sank down so much that I reached the bottom again, but I did nothing but laugh happily.

"This feeling of being underwater doesn't feel bad at all! I like it!" I lied down on the well's floor. "It feels nice; it feels... homey."

I opened my eyes, and saw someone above the water swinging their arms wildly.

"Is that Cole? What's he doing that for?"

... Wait, he must think I drowned! I'd better hurry up and go see him!

I tried to swim up again, and for some reason, it seemed easier to swim than before!

"How is this happening? Maybe it's because I'm not scared anymore, or maybe the well is helping me again!"

I poked my head out of the water when I had made it to the surface. This startled Cole, who had still been looking down for me.

"Hey! S-sorry for taking so long, Cole!" I said in apology, however not being able to keep a grin off my face.

"W-what happened to you?!" He asked, still looking scared. "I thought you were... a goner!"

"Oh, something amazing happened down there! You see..."

"I don't care!" Cole yelled before I could tell him. "Just get out of there!"

He forcibly pulled me up out of the well. For some reason, it felt kind of unpleasant leaving the water.

"About the well, I..."

"Shut up! Let's forget about that stupid well, okay?!" He said adamantly, then tugged at my arm, bringing me to the house. "Let's just do something inside or whatever, where it's safe!"

"B-but..." Being in that well was a lot of fun...

--

The next day, we had swimming class at school. I was really excited to see if the magic I had at the well would work in the pool, too.

I can't wait to show everyone! I bet they'll think it's really cool!

"You seem really happy today, Ail." Cole said, sitting next to me by the side of the pool with the other students.

"I have something amazing to show you!" I told him, unable to contain my excitement.

"Oh...?"

"Alright, all of you are free to do what you'd like today." Our teacher told us. "Just make sure you get some swimming practice in! It's more rewarding than you think!"

"Okay." All of my classmates said in unison.

"Now... swim!"

Unlike the other students, who just got up and walked calmly, I ran as fast as I could to the pool.

"Slow down there, buddy! Heheh!" The teacher chuckled. "You might trip!"

But I didn't trip, and as soon as I made it, I cannon-balled into the water. Of course, doing so brought me underwater immediately.

Alright, let's see... Can I...?

I inhaled a little bit.

I can! The water tastes kind of funny, but I can breathe here, too! ... Okay, next...

"HEEEY!" I shouted. "Yes, I can talk underwater again!"

But that's weird; does this mean it wasn't the well that let me do these things? ... Maybe I actually have superpowers or something!

My classmates had started to get in the pool then.

"Alright, I'll stay under the water and swim around. Heheh; let's see how long it takes them to notice me!"

I started to swim. Like before, I noticed I swam faster than when I was above the surface.

"It feels like... I'm flying, almost..."

I closed my eyes, and imagined I was flying. I stopped moving my arms, and spread them out like wings. I expected to move slower because of that, but I didn't care. I just wanted to feel like I was one with the water...

"... Huh?" I opened my eyes, upon realizing something. "I'm swimming faster now! How is that possible?"

Is this what the teacher was talking about before? I've been practicing swimming a lot, so is this my reward?

Only moving my legs, I started performing turns and spins around the pool. I was swimming so fast, I could make a fish feel jealous!

I don't really get it, but I don't care! This is so much fun!

As I was swimming around, I was also surprised that I wasn't hitting anyone else by accident. But that was because...

"... Oh, wait a minute. There's no one in the pool anymore. Where'd they go?"

I finally decided to poke my head out of the water, to see where they had gone. It turns out they were all sitting or standing at the sides of the pool, and had been watching me swim.

"Did you all see what I can do?" I asked merrily. "Wasn't it coo-..."

Before I finished, I noticed no one was looking at me with excitement in their faces like I thought they would be.

They looked... horrified.

"U-uh, is something wrong...?" I asked again, my smile disappearing from my face.

No one said anything, only looking at me with fear in their eyes.

"U-um..." Why do they look so scared...?

"M-monster..." One of the students said quietly.

"H-huh?"

"W-what is he?!" Another student cried out.

"Why are all of you acting like this?" I got out of the water. "I..."

"No, stay away!" They exclaimed, most of them running away from me, the others curling up and shaking.

W-why are they so afraid of me? What I was doing wasn't normal...?

I decided to ask the teacher.

"T-teacher...?" I uttered to him nervously.

He didn't say anything. When I tried to touch him to get his attention, he jumped back in surprise.

"S-stay away from me!" He yelled, then ran away like the others.

E-even the teacher...? Why?

There were only a few people left. I noticed one of them was...

"Cole!" I ran up to him, seeing he was curled up like the others. "Are you...?"

When he noticed me, he immediately got up, and started walking away from me.

"A-Ail..." Cole uttered softly, looking afraid as well.

"N-not you, too..." I started to sob. "Why? I-it's me, your friend..."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. A fish freak like you isn't any friend of mine!"

... E-eh?

Before I could say anything else, Cole rushed forward, pushing me to the ground while running away with some other students.

"N-no... Don't go..." Still lying on the ground, I reached out my hand in Cole's direction. "Don't leave me... E-everyone!"

But there was no one around. All of them had already fled the pool area... I was all alone.

Why did this happen? I just wanted to show everyone how good at swimming I am...

There was never a moment when I wanted someone's help as much as I did then, but... none of the teachers came to my rescue this time.

But worst of all, Cole didn't want to be my friend anymore...

... I didn't know what to do, so I just lied there, crying for a couple hours.

--

When I finally decided to go home, the sky was already orange. The streets I walked through on the way there were as empty as the pool area was.

I guess the nice people I always passed by don't want to be near me, either...

When I reached the forest area, I realized it was probably late enough for my dad to have come home already.

It's getting dark... I wonder if he's worried about me...?

When I had gotten home, I saw my dad standing outside of the house. He was most likely waiting for me to arrive.

"I-I'm really sorry for getting home so late, dad..." I said nervously.

"... I heard about what you did at school today." He told me, giving an even colder glare than he usually does.

"Y-yeah, that was... U-um..."

Wait, maybe dad might know about it...!

"D-dad? Do you know why I'm... like this?"

"... Yes."

"Y-you do? Then, could you tell m-..."

"You're an abomination. You disgust me!" He turned around to enter the house, and then closed the door in my face.

"W-wha...?" I mumbled, shocked about what I had just heard.

I-I know what those words mean... But why would my dad say them to me?

I tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Dad, why?! DAD!!!" I cried out.

"I want nothing to do with you anymore! Leave, and never come back!"

"N-no!" I burst into tears. "D-did I do something I wasn't supposed to? I didn't know! I-I'm sorry!"

My dad said nothing.

"P-please let me in! I'm sorry! I-I don't want to be all alone!"

I kept struggling to get the door open, but it was all in vain.

I dropped down to my knees, laying my head against the door, my tears not stopping.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

--

My memory of what happened right after that was kind of blurry. Without any food I became hungry, and without any shelter I had nowhere to go. But worst of all, I had no company, so I felt really lonely... I had started to go delusional.

No one wants me around... So I'll go where no one else wants to go...

For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to wander into the jungle. Which was actually good, because venturing in there... pretty much saved my life.

In the jungle lived a man who had dark skin, wore strange clothes, and talked funny. He told me that he, along with his daughter, never left the jungle and survived by foraging for food.

The man let me live in the jungle, but not with him. Instead, he and his daughter taught me how to hunt for food and how to make my own place to live. Despite not having much interaction with them, I was still thankful to them, since I was now able to survive. They were also the closest thing I had to family...

When I was a little older, I decided to go out and get a job. I wanted to make some money so I could go back to school again. Of course, everyone in town had found out about me, so I couldn't make any friends...

That's why, when I was 16, I decided to move to a different part of the region. If I could go somewhere where no one knew about me, I could have friends again. At least, for a little while...

--

Nine years later, a few days before Ail's first official day attending Neturus High...

"Neturus High." I said to myself, standing right outside the school entrance. "So this is the place I'll be attending for a couple years..."

It doesn't look very interesting. It seems checking it out a couple days early was just a waste of time...

"Hey, you." An unfamiliar voice said suddenly.

I turned around, and saw a droopy-eyed, glasses wearing guy looking at me. To be more precise, he seemed to be looking at my head.

"You talking to me?" I asked, even though the answer was obvious.

"Would you happen to be acquainted with any scientists?" He inquired, ignoring my own question. "More specifically, a famous scientist from another region?"

"Um... no?" I responded, confused by the guy's random question.

"Hm... I see." He thought to himself for a bit, then said, "Oh well. Here you go."

He suddenly threw something metal at me, which I barely caught before it hit me in the face.

"W-what? These are...?"

"... keys. They're for a moped I stored somewhere at the back of the school." He explained. "It's yours to use as you like."

"Uh... thanks?" I uttered, baffled by the stranger's generosity.

"A scientist I met in a different region asked me to give the moped to a guy with blue hair. If it's not you, would you mind giving it to its proper owner for me?"

"..."

"Or not. You can keep it if you want. I'm just sick of holding on to that thing..."

So I come here to make friends, and I end up with a free moped... Funny how that worked out for me.

"Hey Tech, who's this guy, bud?" A burly guy and a girl walked up to us.

"I have no idea."

"U-um, I'm Ail. I'm transferring to this school." I decided to introduce myself. "N-nice to meet you all..."

"Oh yeah, I heard about you!" The girl cut in, with a cheery tone of voice. "I'm Chelsea, nice to meet you!"

"I'm Mac, and this is my pal, Tech." The big guy added. "Nice meeting you, bud!"

"You know, you're pretty cute." Chelsea stated, winking at me. "Let's be friends! Of course, if you want to be more than friends, I wouldn't mind that either..."

"Hey, don't tease him like that, bud."

"Heehee!" She giggled, sticking out her tongue playfully.

"Anyway, I see by what you're carrying that you must be planning on moving into the dorms. Am I right, bud?"

"Yes, that's right."

"But you're not supposed to be transferring until about a week from now, right? Sorry, but you'll only be registered your own room once classes start for you, bud." Mac told me. "You'll have to stay in one of the guest rooms for the time being. Are you okay with that, bud?"

"Sure, I guess. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem, bud! It was nice to meet and make a new friend." He said happily. "You can come hang out with us whenever you want. See you later, bud!"

Mac waved goodbye to me, while heading into the school building with the other two.

... Friend, huh? Can he really say that so easily...?

--

Every time I'm about to enter a new school, I always feel a rush of excitement. I always wonder what different and interesting things I'll see compared to my previous one. I don't know why I always think this way, because each one turns out being as dull as the last. And this time was probably no different...

... because school's never fun without any friends.

But maybe, just maybe, I'll make a friend this time. A friend who'll truly accept me, no matter what I am.

Even if it's just one friend, that's fine. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun doing things together, even if it's just us two!

End of Chapter 13

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Writer's Comments:

Here it is; that long-awaited second original chapter that I mentioned back in chapter 6! And, obviously, this one is a flashback chapter.

Originally, I was only planning on having this chapter be the part after the "nine years later", and that's it. But I figured it wouldn't be long enough that way, so I decided to go into more detail about Ail's past... And honestly, I didn't expect it to end up being this long... but it did. (I should be used to this by now, lol...)

By the way, I know it's kind of jerkish of me to put this flashback chapter right after a cliffhanger. I was actually going to put this one up as chapter 10, but then decided it would be better as chapter 13. Why? Because... reasons. So there.

Anyway, since this one is up, that means chapter 14, the chapter I've had done for quite a while now, will finally be viewable to the public eye! ... After I finish editing it of course. I didn't predict exactly what I was going to write in between chapters 7 and 13, after all.

(I realize the last above comment won't matter to anyone once chapter 14 is put up for real. Well... I don't care. So there.)

- CS-Masyet