Hi guys! I was gonna save this for tomorrow but I couldn't wait xD Enjoy!

Hero Simulator

Chapter Twenty-Two: Our Secret Place

The cool breeze rippled through the little boy's hair as he ran down the street with tears welling in his eyes. The school day had ended and instead of returning home, he decided to flee to a place of comfort and solitude. No matter how fast he sprinted, he couldn't shake the lingering words haunting his fragile mind. Their cruelty continued to beat and break at his confidence and strike at his core. It wasn't a new feeling. He had experienced this pain before but every time his parents swore things would get better. Their kindness was the only source of hope he could hold on to.

He approached the park with a heavy heart and skidded to a stop in front of its entrance. By now the tears were pouring down his cheeks and he was grateful to be alone. No one really came to the park during the snowfall, or at least to the area he enjoyed staying. He shoved his hands into his coat pocket and trudged along the snow covered path towards his secret place. In the distance he could hear couples laugh and children play in the more populated sections of the park, but his mind tried to drone out their sounds. All he could hear was the pounding of his heartbeat and the sniffle sounds from his nose.

Once he saw the familiar large rock resting beside the pathway, he knew it was time to change course. He exited the trail and began to march through the gap between the surrounding trees. Plots of snow fell from their branches and would sometimes land on his shoulders but he didn't mind. They were all distractions from the torment encompassing his thoughts.

And then he saw it. In the distance was a small open area surrounded by trees and shrubs. The sunlight poked through the tree branches and shined their rays down on the lone bench resting in the center of it all. The boy's eyes lit up and a small smile appeared on his rosy face. He wiped at his eyes and darted towards the bench and through the patches of snow residing in his way. The bench's origins were unknown to the boy but it soon became his token place of solitude. It was his way of escaping the agony in his world.

He looked down at the wooden bench and gently brushed aside the snow mounds piling on top of it. Within its surface was scribbles of couples and names, each one representing a different story. The boy had carved his name into the bench too and has since been the last person to ingrain their name into the wood. Or at least he thought so.

Once he brushed away all the snow, there was a new name written right below his own. He climbed onto the bench and bent down to get a closer look at the freshly carved name but found it difficult to decipher. He even ran his fingers along the three letters to see if it would help him read the name.

"Aya?" He read aloud and tilted his head with confusion.

When did this Aya person discover his spot and carve her name into the wood? He decided to brush it aside for now and allow the remaining time to think about his day and the hopes for the future. But when he came back to his spot the second time, he discovered something out of place. His eyes were still red and wet from the tears spilled before he reached the park but his heart froze once he saw the large rock by his secret pathway.

He noticed the snow contained smaller footprints leading to the bench. He slowly followed the trail through the woods until he spotted a silhouette in the distance. The presence of another at first frightened the boy, but when he saw the expression on her face, his heart began to soften and curiosity struck his mind. He stepped into the open and the girl glanced up at him with cold, silver eyes. He hesitated, but then swallowed away his fears and continued towards the lone girl and his favorite bench. She watched him approach closer and her expression never changed.

"Can I sit here?" He asked in a quiet voice and the girl simply nodded to his request. She scooted over so he could sit and kept her eyes glued to the snow surrounding her shoes. The boy tried to avert his attention away from the girl but her silence made him restless. His sniffling nose was the only sound evident within the area. Embarrassed, he tried to wipe at his runny nose and the tears on his cheeks but the girl noticed.

"It's alright, you don't have to be embarrassed." She muttered and the boy felt his face burn even brighter than before.

"Okay." He managed to say and withdrew his hands away from his face. The girl turned to look at him and studied his expression with the same blank stare from earlier.

"Why are you crying?" She asked in a direct tone, causing the boy to shift in his seat.

"I'm fine."

"It's okay to cry. My dad says people should cry…" She nodded and looked up at the sky in thought, "He says it's a way of showing emotion. That's what people are supposed to do."

The boy blinked at her with wide eyes, unsure of how to reply to her statement. It sounded like she had never experienced sorrow before. That could explain why she was studying his face with curiosity. But how could a person lack so much emotion? It seemed unreal to him.

"That's true." He mumbled and wiped at another stray tear falling down his cheek.

"You come here a lot when you're sad."

The boy blushed once more and let out a small chuckle. "A-ha, what do you mean?"

She allowed her silver eyes to lock onto his. "I've seen you come here before. I usually sit on the swings in the playground but your spot is much nicer." She gently patted the wooden bench.

"It is nice when you want to be alone." He added, memories of his time here flooding his thoughts.

"Loneliness doesn't bother me. In fact, I feel more alone surrounded by others than I do here."

"Why? What makes you feel that way?" He felt concerned for the girl and wanted to help her ease whatever troubles she was carrying. She sighed.

"I don't know. Not even the doctors know why I'm like this. Other kids used to bully me because of it."

"I get bullied too," The boy muttered as their cruel words lingered in his mind.

"Is that why you're crying? Because they hurt you?"

"Of course it is. They say I'm weak and treat me like I'm not even a person. So I may not be tall and strong like them, but it doesn't give them a right to push me around all the time." He clenched his fist in a tight ball and felt more tears creep their way to the surface. He tried to brush them aside and turn to her. "When they bully you, doesn't it hurt you too?"

"Not really. I know I'm different from them so it doesn't bother me. Things have changed recently, especially after dad told me to start acting more cheerful. Now the people who once bullied me are my friends. But even when I'm with them, it doesn't really make me happy."

"That's terrible!" He exclaimed and felt his eyes water for her pain. She noticed the tears streaking down his cheeks and titled her head, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Don't worry about me. You're luckier than what you think. My dad tells me that as time goes on, things will get better. Someday I'm going to find the thing that will make me feel." She turned to him with gentle eyes. "And someday you're going to be someone incredible."

The boy's eyes widened as he watched the girl stand up and brush the remaining snow off her jacket. She gathered her school supplies and flung her bag over her shoulder, indicating her time for departure. The boy stood up and shook his head.

"Where are you going?"

She stopped in her tracks and turned to him one last time. "It's time for me to head home. Maybe we'll see each other again." She looked down at the snow and smiled. "Thanks for talking to me."

The boy watched her body disappear beyond the trees, leaving him alone at his secret spot. He was intrigued by her mystery and hoped he would see her sometime soon. The name Aya had embedded its way into his mind and helped him endure the bullying at school. But every time he came to the bench, Aya was nowhere to be found. For the first time in his life, his secret place felt lonelier than the world beyond the park and as the time stretched on, he stopped coming. She slowly began to fade from his thoughts until she was nothing but a faint memory.

Budo never saw her again...or so he thought.

Awwww, what a fluffy fluff memory.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it and please remember to like and review! I will officially be taking a short break from fanfiction until January but that doesn't mean I won't post anything within that time period. I've had a fanfic account for YEARS and never wrote anything but I'm so glad I did. The community on here is amazing and you all mean so much to me! I promise that when I get back more mysteries will be solved and I hope to finish this fic strong for the sake of all Ayando fans xD Until next time!