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A/N: For future reference. If a chapter is primarily told from the perspective of another person, the main POV will be written like this [Example] in the title. This is just to ensure you aren\'t confused about who\'s narrating.

By the way, this current character is a girl, in case you can\'t tell from the name.

***

Have I been tamed?

My entire life, I\'ve always walked the path of independence. The world is a dark, perilous place, but I\'ll make myself strong enough to fight against it all. Staying after school every single day, swinging my metal bat against the ball machine, I\'ve never once thought that I\'d need someone else to help me.

Well, that idea didn\'t last very long.

In truth, I was scared. I pushed people away because I was scared. I trained myself so hard because I was scared.

I was scared because I\'d seen what type of monsters lived in this world.

Hidden in the shadows, where no one can see them, they operate. Like surgeons, they carefully manipulate their targets, subtly breaking them down. Step by step, like a musical piece, they would destroy their targets from the inside out.

For years and years, I\'ve lived with them.

In a laboratory, I was surrounded by countless monsters.

I was scared because, one day, the monsters would consume me.

As time went on, I got more and more paranoid.

These monsters were scary, not only because they were strong but because they hid in plain sight. From afar, they look like normal people, walking around, going to school, and playing games, but secretly, underneath, they\'re lifeless heartless monsters.

At first, even I couldn\'t recognize them.

*

Several years ago, when I had just begun adjusting to the conditions of the Ideal Human Project, something happened that would change my life forever.

We were all abandoned children. We were all friends—at least, that\'s what I believed. Playing together every day, I felt a warmth from the other children that I never felt from my biological parents.

My most significant memory was that of a girl. At first, she always had a completely distant expression. There was no fear, sadness or anger in her eyes. However, the more we talked, the more she opened up and the more emotion she began to display.

Eventually, I would learn that her name was Hasegawa Mio.

She played the piano beautifully. She was incredibly pretty. She was unimaginably smart. She was immensely athletic. She was incomprehensibly... perfect. Yet, she didn\'t treat me like I was any less than her.

We were all friends.

We were all friends.

I kept telling myself that.

!#$*&%^$#&*$#

Then, there was The Incident That Ruined The Outcomes.

Staring down at me was a cold, listless boy. His eyes were dark—no, not only that, his eyes were—crazy. The only thing that I could describe him as was a psychopath... but that doesn\'t explain who he truly is.

He was not a psychopath... he was something... else.

I never knew he was capable of doing so... cruel.

The sight of blood for the first time. The sound of Tachibana Emi crying out in despair. The metallic taste of hopelessness. Those memories would be forever stuck in my mind.

I always thought that Hasegawa Mio was the star of the project. However, it was on that day that I found out that she shared the stage... no... I couldn\'t really tell at the time... but there might have been something else that I was missing.

The boy who was always referred to as... Subject Zero.

It was on that day that I decided what my mission would be.

*****

Years later.

"What\'s wrong? Are you feeling alright?"

I looked up to see a boy with his hand held out toward me. I was sitting alone on a swing, with the rain pattering in my hair. It was a cold winter afternoon. I had just finished baseball training, but I didn\'t want to go home just yet because my mind was full. My mind was on the verge of collapse.

I thought I might just give up... on everything.

"Yeah, I\'m fine..."

"Are you cold?"

All of a sudden, I felt the warmth of a jacket being wrapped around me.

"Huh...?"

"If you\'re worried about something, just tell me."

Ah. Screw it all.

"I\'ll tell you, but you\'ll think I\'m crazy."

"I wouldn\'t think something like that~. Just tell me whatever is on your mind."

"I\'m scared of monsters."

​ "Oh? Is that all?"

I took a deep breath.

"It\'s not the type of monsters you\'re thinking about. These monsters are invincible. They look just like people... but inside, they\'re empty."

"Sounds scary."

"Haa... scary doesn\'t even begin to describe them."

All of a sudden, his arms wrapped around me.

"You know, the best way to fight against a monster is to use another monster."

Huh?

"I\'ve got a monster inside me," he continued.

I didn\'t believe it at the time. I thought he was just another boy trying to look cool, or maybe he was trying to mock me. However, his next sentence would change everything.

"If you don\'t believe me. I\'ll prove it to you—I\'ve got a little gift from the doctors who played with my genetic code."

At that moment... he showed me something that changed my world.

It was something that was completely inhumane... completely sadistic... but...

At that moment... I realised that he really was a monster.

At that moment...

"I\'ll protect you~ in exchange, be my wife, okay?"

At the time, it was such an unbelievable turn of events. I had just turned sixteen a few days ago. I was completely overwhelmed. However, with no other hope to grab onto, I accepted his offer.

If not for him, I might have given up on everything.

"I don\'t even know your name..." I muttered.

"It\'s Murakami Akio!"

"Akio... will you really protect me...?"

I could feel his warm hands on my face.

"I\'ll protect you." As he said that, his face suddenly reddened, blushing with an embarrassed expression, "You might not remember. But I\'ve known you for a long time. If it weren\'t for you, I would have given up a long time ago. Now, I\'m here to repay the favour."

For the first time, I felt safe.

Akio, can you protect me from the monsters?

!#$(#*%&#$

Can you protect me from Hasegawa Mio and Mizuhara Ayato?

!#$*(&%$#(*

Whether or not you\'re capable of doing so.

You\'re my only hope.

Only you can help me fulfil my mission, the thing most valuable to me as an Outcome:

—to defeat the monsters who haunt me.