Chapter 1 — A light in the darkness

Somewhere on this planet, there is a very, very dark place. There, you can see nothing, but blackness, which seems to devour everything.

In this place, there is nothing, no one. No one, but one child. That child, you see, isn’t moving. It is sitting in the darkest corner of the room, its head laying between his bent knees, as it is staring into the dark void. It is neither screaming nor crying. It sits and stares, doing nothing. It has no energy left to move a single bone. Time doesn’t flow and so it never ends.

Until… *Knock, knock*
Who…?
*Knock, knock*
Who is there?
*Knock, knock*
Go!!! Go away!
*Knock, knock*
Why doesn’t it stop? Please… stop!!!
… … …
Did it…?
The door slowly opens, but the boy, being blinded by the penetrating light, can’t see anything, as he has to close his eyes.

Even though his eyelids are down, he can still notice the bright, white light. He is waiting, until the darkness is taking over again and the light vanishes.

„H…“, he tries to form a word, as he opens his eyes again, searching for a difference in the room panic-struck.
„Hel…“, he tries again, as he suddenly has to cough.
He is lifting his head, when he hears weird sounds.
*Tak, Tak, Tak, Tak*
What is this… Are these steps?
He begins again: „Hello!?“, feeling anxiety crawling up.
*Tak, Tak, Tak, Tak*, the steps getting louder.
„Eh… Hello!!??“, the little guy repeats.
… … …
The steps… they are gone. The small child, relieved, begins to breathe again.

But then he feels something touching his body and he jumps up and wants to run away, but he notices the lack of strength in his legs, and thus he falls down. Believing he fell to the ground, he is wondering why it feels so soft, as he realizes, that something kept him from falling and caught him before something worse could happen.

„Are you alright?“, a voice is asking the little one.
Still being frightened, he knots.
Oh, he probably didn’t see that. And so, the boy affirms: „Y-Yeah.“
„Good“, the voice answers with relief.
„W-Who are you?“, the child asks with trembling voice.
„Oh“, the voice realizes. „I didn’t introduce myself. Sorry. I am Hodaka.“, a teenage boy tries to comfort the little child with a soft smile.

Chapter 2 — Koji

The child tries to see Hodaka’s face a bit better, but it is really difficult to do so. Hodaka suddenly asks very softly as if he wants to avoid breaking a precious vase: „What is your name, little one?“ The boy thinks a bit and answers reluctantly: „M… My n-name? … I… I don’t know.“ As these words are coming out of this little boy’s mouth, his body is trembling and shivering. „Oh… It is okay. It is all good.“, Hodaka tells the boy, seeing how much he is afraid. „Would you want me to give you a hug?“, he asks then. Inside the little boy there are intense emotions going on, especially feeling confused. After a while, the boy says: „Y-Yeah…“ Hodaka, having a soft smile on his face, slowly comes closer to the boy and touches him very gently. As the boy feels his first touch in years, he feels a strong yearning for more, and he immediately clings onto Hodaka’s body. „Oh… small one… You must be hurting a lot. I feel you tremble.“ After hearing these words the boy starts to weep and isn’t able to stop anymore. „I’m here. I’m here“, Hodaka softly whispers with his gentle, lovely voice. He strokes the little guy with his soft and warm hands as the boy is snuggling down and clinging very strongly. Tears are flowing on Hodaka’s cheeks, as he feels for this precious, little boy. „I see your pain. I feel it. It hurts me to think that you were in that hell the whole time.“, Hodaka whispers as soft as he can.
Hearing these words, the boy still weeping, shows a smile on his face, finally there being someone who sees and understands him.
„Say“, the teenager asks, „Should, we leave this dark place? I could show you the world. You don’t have to be hidden here.“ The small boy thinks a bit, and then he answers still feeling insecure: „Eh… I-I don’t want to meet other p-people. I don’t want them t-to reject m-me again. I-I w-want t-to s-stay w-with you.“ Hodaka still holding the child answers very gently: „I understand. What about a safe place, where only we can be? No one besides us can enter that place.“ The boy still clinging so strongly decides: „Y-Yes, t-that would be g-good.“ The teenage boy, feeling relief for the boy’s sake, smiles. „Okay then, little one…“, he stops as he realizes: „Oh… You say you don’t remember your name. Would you mind, if I gave you a name?“ „Mhm.“, the small one gives his answer. Hodaka thinks a bit for himself and happily replies: „What do you think about Koji?“ The little boy grins and Hodaka knows that everything’s okay. „Okay, then Koji.“, he says as he pushes Koji away a bit, so that he is able to see him into his face a bit better. He holds out his hand for Koji to grab. Koji happily takes it and together Koji is doing his first steps. Slowly, one by one, until they are standing in front of the door, that will guide them into a better place. Hodaka looks at Koji, knotting his head and opens the door.