“Nope, it immediately fell right off the cliff.”

Any glimmer of light that shined on the young man’s mood was devastatingly eclipsed by storming dark clouds of unriddled annoyance.

The cause? Shikata’s current, and reoccurring, client.

“So, you’ll never believe what happened next!” said a woman sitting across from our grieving protagonist. Caught up in the unfaltering tailwind of her flapping lips, she didn’t have an ounce of oxygen to spare so her brain could process the vacant stare she was receiving for her loose jaw, “You remember Omu, my co-worker, right? Well, I was talking to my friends and what they told me about what they heard, it’ll shock you to your core!”

As a social worker, patience was a virtue required for people like Shikata. But like workers in every profession, they’re all human, and people have limits, it’s just a matter of how much does it take to reach the threshold.

“And I keep telling them about eating too much butter,” the woman continued. Her eyes widened up as if a revelation struck her and she changed her posture sitting down, “Sorry, went off topic a bit. I just wanted to get that off my chest quickly.”

“She’s been talking for over forty minutes,” Shikata moaned to himself, he was pressing his fingers against his forehead to tend the aching migraine being evoked, “She didn’t leave a second for me to speak. Wait, did I even greet her properly or did she start talking the second I walked in?”

This client’s name was Oshaberi Hako, a junior college graduate who was a few years out, and a very frequent requester for his counseling. If it wasn’t obvious enough, she was quite... talkative. Most of their time together felt like one-sided gossip sessions to Shikata and the idea of it possibly being true haunted the young man for a multitude of reasons. Hitting a point where he suggested they go to a cafe with an outside patio and discuss her current issue; at least then he can mellow out the experience with sweets.

An action he doesn’t personally recommend others.

But this was a special case, he’s desperate here.

Finally getting back on the subject, Hako said, “Back about my coworker.”

“Mmm oh god!” murkily groaned Shikata, it’s been a while since he felt every cell in his body cringe. Constipation has given him experiences more pleasant than this, and at least then once it’s over, it’s over and he can take proper precautions for prevention. Feeling like one was stuck in a looping effect would push the buddha to act out of their usual character, especially if they have been slowly declining from it for a lengthy amount of time.

“Hm?” Haku asked, tilting her head in confusion. Thankfully his accidental outburst was muddily enough by incomprehensible noise that she didn’t hear him, “Something wrong?”

Catching onto his mistake, Shikata quickly stammered a response.

“A- my apologies, I didn’t eat this morning. I was in a rush to leave,” he signals for the waitress so he can order something light and hopefully somewhat healthy, “I am actually pretty hungry. Really wish I had some melon buns right now. Hopefully, this place has some good flavors or at least is made properly.”

“Oh, I can relate! I had my fair shares of stories like that- oh that reminds me of this one crazy adventure I had with my friend--”

“I think we should keep the conversation on why you called me this morning. It sounded important like an emergency.”

“Oh, right, right! As I was saying, my coworker-”

Thankfully they’re back on track, hopefully, Shikata mentally sighed to himself, “A close one. You know, it’s almost a shame.”

He sat back to relax as he continued to listen to this woman, “She’s not a truly rotten person, just an exhaust pipe for unhealthy behavior. By the sound of it, she’s a dedicated worker and is quite the beaute as well; not that I have any interest in dating her or is allowed to, I’m not losing my job to chase a skirt. It’s just sad to see someone with such an enticing bait end up catching nothing because all potential takers get turned away from her hook the moment she opens her mouth… and it never closes!”

Usually, he would refrain from thinking such statements about the people he works with but this was an exception on the basis that it actually happened... multiple times… sometimes it’ll occur more than once within a single day.

Shikata has heard all kinds of crazy stories in his job, many of which made him question the human race’s existence, but even he felt like she exaggerated her experience in the last bit. He didn’t become a believer until he witnessed it himself, never before had he seen a highly attractive woman blow it with five different guys within the span of twenty minutes. If he wasn’t the one hearing her rants exposing how it was all unintentional, he would’ve honestly thought she was doing this on purpose as some sort of deterrent against men she had no interest in with excellent talent.

…

“What the fuck am I doing with my life?”

Reminding himself of that baffling event tanked his mind into questioning what he’s doing, hypocrisy is a grand pet peeve of his.

“I’m not some dump tank for idle gossip! This is not what I worked to be!”

“So now my coworker is being snippy with me. My friend was so right about her! All this is making work a lot more stressful than it needs to be,” Hako stated, miraculously stopping so that someone else could get a word in.

Seeing this as his chance, Shikata straightens his posture before speaking, “Well, Miss Hako, I think you might need to take a step back for a small analysis of your life and your actions.”

As he spoke, Hako seemed intrigued by his words. She intensely watched the gestures Shikata performed as he explained his advice and reasoning. Hako never said it out loud to not ruin the magic but it was always fun to witness him talk in such an articulate manner. It reminded her of her college days when she got lectures from professors or went to seminars.

“Right now, your focus regarding this issue should be on your job and how to maintain it at max efficiency. Your job is no longer at a Black Company and pays well for people in your age and skillset bracket.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty ok working there. The workload isn’t too bad compared to my last job and I only get asked to stay for overtime only a handful of times a month.”

“Which you’re paid for and are told about in advance.”

“Yeah. My boss can be unbearably naggy though, it’s why I’m trying to avoid any problems on the job as much as possible. Besides that, he’s ok I guess.”

“That’s what I wanted to highlight. Right now you have a good thing going compared to people’s usual standard of just getting a serviceable job. It’ll be in your best interest not to ruin the opportunity you have by getting into unnecessary drama or letting minor issues get blown out of proportion into full problems.”

“Which is why I’m coming to you! You gotta help me, my friend is away so I can’t come to her for advice”

“Personally, that’s a good thing.”

“What?”

“I meant, that might be for the best right now. Your friend, what was her name again?”

“Hebi.”

“Hebi, right. She is quite a b-… Have you ever considered that Hebi may not be the best influence in your life, at least when it comes to your career?”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems like she has a habit of giving you advice that is not productive at all in solving any issues you have with your coworkers, or your job in general. In my honest opinion, I think she has done more to hurt the situation than help.”

“How!? Can you name an example because she has always been a comfort to my issues; before you of course.”

“Well for one, how about the time she suggested you tell Miss Omu to, quote, eat shit and die if you ever ask me that again?”

“It was because she said something rude! Hebi said to respond with the same tone back to show I’m not to be messed with, you know how often people try to dump their work onto others.”

Shikata took a quick moment to check his notes before stating, “All she asked was if you minded sending a few papers to the supervisor for her.”

“... I mean we started around the same time. Doesn’t seem right that she’ll feel so confident asking favors from me?”

“See, that’s what I mean right there. Simple scenarios which can easily be solved by a civil discussed is being escalated way out of proportion and it’s not getting any better because the third party with very little hat in the ring is giving unhelpful advice,” pressing his fingers against his temple, Shikata asked, “Please think back Hako. Has anything Hebi advised resolved any issues you’ve had at work without immediately sparking several more pressing conflicts?”

The young lady took a moment to think to herself before answering, “I don’t think so.”

“That should be an indicator to start questioning if maybe the person you’re listening to may not be giving you the information you need to make your life better. I can’t dictate who you choose to socialize with but I can suggest being mindful of who you’re letting influence your life. There should be some consideration and boundaries when meshing people from your social life with your career life. Some friends may not have your best interest in mind when it comes to your career, it’ll be good to keep that in mind, you are the one who has to work there at the end of the day.”

“I can see your point. But then what do I do when I have issues with Omu.”

“For one, you can talk to her directly. As I said before, this is your job and it’s a great one. It’ll be in your best interest to be able to discuss any issues you may have with each other before it starts getting in the way of your work. Omu seems reasonable enough to lend an ear. If that doesn’t work, you always have your supervisors or HR department to speak to. Or if it’s an issue that’s minor enough that they won’t look into it, I’ll suggest learning how to wave off the impact of her existence.”

“Wave off her existence? You mean like, pretend she’s not there?”

“Yeah, more like, not giving her your attention outside of what’s one-hundred percent necessary. You don’t need to be rude toward her whenever she speaks to you, that will cause more issues, just don’t bother with her as much as possible outside of essential moments. Keep conversions quick and with as few words as possible, of course, this is the last resort if you can’t get it initially solved. I do suggest trying to work it out first. You don’t need to get along with every person or coworker you have, being able to co-exist within the same room would do favors for everyone.”

…

Hako only took a moment to digest the advice before her eyes lit up, “You know what, you’re right!”

The perky young woman jumped to her feet in excitement, immediately running over to Shikata with joyful and confident eyes, “I’m going to do exactly that!”

“Thank you Mr. Shikata, you’ve saved me once again!” she exclaimed, taking up the social worker’s hand and shaking it while bowing to show her gratitude, “This is why you’re always on speed dial, it sounds so much easier when you explain it!... Wow, your hands are still so tough.”

Politely taking away his hand, Shikata tells her, “I hope you got the assistance you were looking for today.”

“I sure did! I’ll be off right now, thank you!” she said before running off, as she slowly disappeared she called back, “I’ll report to you the good news next time, maybe then you’ll smile!”

“We’ll see,” replied Shikata, rolling with the comment.

“I won’t forget this!”

“Hopefully not.”

She went out of sight.

…

“She’s not going to learn anything is she?” Shikata told himself, furrowing his eyebrows. He looked down at the notebook he has whenever he had to talk with Hako, a lot of it was filled with harsh criticism that he would have to heavily filter if he wanted to say them to his client and not risk getting fired, “This was her third time calling me this week… what the fuck am I doing with my life.”

He let out an exhausted sigh.

Never before did he feel like his life was so inane with mundane acts.

Dead silence has dominated the farm estate The Masked Wanderer was on.

The fighting was over, the threat was gone, and the land was calm once again. Yet, no one felt like a victory was earned.

Flowing up into the sky was a hail of red particles, reaching greater heights until they slowly faded out. The entire time, the wanderer stared up at the spectacle in front of her until it was finally over.

The wanderer then turned toward the woman she just saved.

All the devastation drained her capability to muster the energy to weep, she was just tired. So much was lost in a few minutes, it felt unreal, yet it happened, her life had a vibrant change.

With nothing left to do, the wanderer unplucked her spear from the ground and made her exit without another word. While sad it was nothing new, traveling through this plane of existence one would see tragedies of all kinds.

For a single being like The Masked Wanderer, there was only so much she could do for each case she stumbles onto.

The walk through the streets dragged heavily on Shikata’s mind, what was objectively a successful session felt more like a defeat to the young cynic.

“You know, this isn’t exactly how I envisioned my life at this. When I became a social worker, I expected to be mending the wounds hidden deep in society by helping the hard cases, not this Saturday morning drama show,” he sighed.

His mind wandered back to earlier in his day, the encounter with the old man at the train station stuck with him.

“Someone like that should’ve been the priority of my day.”

As Shikata sluggishly strolled through the streets, he couldn’t help but notice the signs of struggle he noticed from the people he walked by.

“Or that gentleman, his eyes are red, face was distraught, and why is a regular office worker out at this time; he probably got fired today. Or her, she’s overly flustering over her hair covering half her face; is she suffering a form of physical abuse from work or at home? Even that young kid over there weeping, there’s a university nearby from the direction he’s coming from and I think today was the day they announced who got accepted; must’ve failed to get in. People his age take it extremely hard whenever they don’t get into their desired schools, will he be able to handle it on his own, can anyone help him before he takes any unnecessary drastic actions?”

He thought maybe he could help them. His body jerked toward one of the hurting people he passed by but halted as he had lost them. Those three weren’t the only person that showed signs of pain, it was a sea of people in anguish that awashed his vision. Each going their own way and fashion, getting further from his reach. Even with all his skills and knowledge, what could he do to turn the tide?

The vacant eyes of Shikata stared up at the blue sky above him.

“I guess a helping hand can only be held so low.”

At times, he questions if any efforts he makes at all matter or if it was a futile endeavor.

“It’s like a waterfall, no matter how much I try to divert it, the water moves around my offered hands to fall into their fated destination. My attempted assistance could’ve been there or not, nothing would’ve changed, I’m only indulging myself in a pious play.”

The world being so big and chaotic, it’s hard to see anything that can give it a moment of calm.

Could a dream achieve it be so foolish?

His thought was interrupted when he heard the crunching sound of paper crumpling near him followed by a yelp and a thump. Looking close by he found a woman on the floor, her groceries laid out on the floor, and a small girl next to her who shared similar facial features.

Hearing her groan was practically a calling card for Shikata to come over. The young child was attentively asking her mother if she was ok only to see a man she’s never seen approach the both of them. Seeing his stoned face understandably frighten the child, the mother finally recovering from her fall looked first at her child to assure she was ok but trailing her sights up to what was rattling the girl. Their eyes mimicked each other, sharing the same unsettled display.

“Are you ok?” Shikata asked as he bent down to help retrieve her groceries.

For a moment, the mother seemed surprised that she was being assisted by a stranger. Snapping out of it, the modesty in her made her move to help collect her items, “You don’t need to help… with… that.”

Her words trailed off as she witnessed Shikata’s hands shoot out quicker than a child grabbing a candy bar, swiftly picking up all the littered items and repacking them back into the bags. The mother barely had time to process the amazement before Shikata was finished, holding the bags up as if they never fell in the first place.

All she could think to say was, “Oh.”

Standing to his feet, Shikata held out a hand to help the mother up, who accepted it. While helping her up, he noticed the lack of a ring on either of her hands.

“Divorce, never married, wedlock, or maybe a widow?” he asked himself, “Or their child flushed it down the toilet, that surprisingly happens more than you’ll think.”

Getting to her feet, the woman showed her gratitude with many forms of, “Thank you!”

“Huh, oh don’t worry about it?” he says, his mind was adrift in his memories for a bit before her voice brought him back. His eyes lowered down to the little girl hugging her mother’s leg, “Uh… is she yours?”

“Yes, yes. Where are your manners Hogo? Greet the kind man.”

Poking out her head away from her mother, the girl named Hogo mutters, “H-hi, thank you.”

“She’s a little shy,” her mother explained, trying to wave off her daughter’s demeanor.

Assuring raising a hand, Shikata went to ease the tension by telling her, “It’s nothing new, I scare children often.”

“What?”

“Eh, I meant kids find it intimidating when I approach them… because of my stature.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Don’t blame them either, at their age I look like someone who’ll give them a pretty lengthy scolding. That’s nightmare fuel to them.”

That last comment managed to get a giggle from the woman despite the dry delivery. Echoing her mother’s sentiment, the child started to ease up a bit, looking at the gentleman in front with less fear and more curiosity from how he managed to make her caregiver smile. Looking past the stone-face, Hogo laid her eyes upon Shikata’s hands and her eyes became dazzled with amazement.

“I recognize those rings!” Hogo blurted out, pointing to the multiple accessories attached to his finger. “They’re from Crescent Fate Princesses.”

“Huh?” the mother said, befuddled at first before she started to remember, “Wait, do you mean that show you’re always watching.”

“Yeah, I love it! Those are Stellar Rings, they give out amazing powers to do fantastical feats. Do you see the longer metal one on his index? That one specifically was worn by the vigilante Gentle Eclipse! He goes around the galaxy executing his own sense of justice to help people and oftentimes being at odds with the main hero Marine Lunar and The Moon Crew.”

“Oooh,” the mom exclaimed, nodding her head as if she understood before immediately breaking the illusion covering her confusion, “What?”

Shikata squatted down as he explained, “Imagine superheroes, but they’re magical, mostly girls, and are in space.”

“That’s better.”

“The sequel series is extremely popular these days. I assume you’re a fan?” he asked Hogo, holding out his right hand so she could get a closer look.

The little girl happily jumped at the chance to awe at the metallic accessory, ”It’s my favorite show! These look a little different from the show though, did you make them yourself?”

“No, they’re modeled after the design from the original series. It was a gift.”

“Awesome!”

Shikata rose to his feet, reached into his pocket to get out his business cards, searching through them before handing one to her; one with a different set of addresses and numbers on the back, “Anyways, I should be going. You lot have somewhere to be as well. Here’s my card, if you need any assistance with something let me know; I know a few places that could be able to help with any troubles you may have.”

Looking down at the card and back up, the mother told him, “Thank you, I’ll certainly repay you for this.”

“I like melon bread,” he said before walking off.

Exchanging quick farewells, they went on their way.

As he walked away, the young man looked back at his right hand to eye the metal ring; and began glaring at it almost in disgust seeing it on his finger.

“This shouldn’t be here,” he thought to himself, almost tempted to toss it off his finger right then and there. It brought a sickening feeling to his stomach, but soon he calmed him as he crossed the street, “Eh, no use thinking over it now. Not like being overdramatic will doing anything anyways.”

Shikata looked at his phone to check the time, noticing he had received a few text messages. His heart sank when a message from Hako was among the top ones he recently received; she didn’t even go to work yet what could’ve happened in that small time free!

“I’m about ready to check out today.”

Sighing, he went to answer his phone.

SCREEEEECH!

BASH!

SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!

It was right then that the shrieking of rubber rubbing against asphalt and the honking of a horn tore through the air with an ear-piercing cry. Like any regular person, his first instinct was to look in the direction it came from, both out of curiosity to see what happened and if this disturbance could affect him as well.

It was the latter, for as he turned to the street he discovered a runaway truck swerving recklessly in the streets at high speed straight toward him; and unfortunately, it was a lot closer than Shikata would expect. The young man was square in the middle of its path and he barely had time to process what happened before the truck was only a couple of yards away.

Could he get out of the way? Run, jump, duck, roll, dodge.

All sorts of options that may not give him a high chance to evade but would be something that might assist in his survival.

Yet, an eerie relaxed expression hit Shikata’s face as he stared at the charging metal vehicle. Only a thought passed through his mind.

“How about that?”

The next couple of moments were fuzzy for Shikata, it was a hectic couple of seconds, but there was a single certainty that it ended with everything turning dark.

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Then an angelic voice called out to him, “Greetings, you have died.”