Everyone wears masks. Sometimes they're the kind used in celebrations across the globe. Sometimes they're the sort that children don on October 31st.
Sometimes they're masks to hide one's true face from the world.
At one point in your life, you have pretended to be fine, even when you're not. You've hidden yourself from the ones you love because you don't want them to worry, or you don't want to be a bother. Or maybe you always wear your mask; never letting anyone get close enough to take it off.
Tsuzuki Asato is one these people. He wears his mask of air-headed, simple-minded happiness all the time. He hides the pain and turmoil deep inside; he keeps the ones who care about him from seeing his suffering. He believes in some twisted way that he deserves this chaos. He smiles through his tears.
Outside, he wags his puppy tail, and begs for sweets.
Inside, he writhes in agony, crying out for anyone, anything that can ease this torture.
Outside, he teases his blushing partner, and whimpers when his paycheck is cut again.
Inside, the suffocating darkness he lives with everyday grows tighter. It cuts off all sense of Good, leaving only its sister, Bad.
He thinks that by hiding the pain, he can spare his friends. He thinks that they won't ever know. He is wrong.
He bottles it up. And even dams break when the pressure is too much.
And Tsuzuki Asato breaks, he will come close to losing everything he has gained. He will come close to losing even himself.
Masks may hide, but they cannot heal.
Sometimes they're masks to hide one's true face from the world.
At one point in your life, you have pretended to be fine, even when you're not. You've hidden yourself from the ones you love because you don't want them to worry, or you don't want to be a bother. Or maybe you always wear your mask; never letting anyone get close enough to take it off.
Tsuzuki Asato is one these people. He wears his mask of air-headed, simple-minded happiness all the time. He hides the pain and turmoil deep inside; he keeps the ones who care about him from seeing his suffering. He believes in some twisted way that he deserves this chaos. He smiles through his tears.
Outside, he wags his puppy tail, and begs for sweets.
Inside, he writhes in agony, crying out for anyone, anything that can ease this torture.
Outside, he teases his blushing partner, and whimpers when his paycheck is cut again.
Inside, the suffocating darkness he lives with everyday grows tighter. It cuts off all sense of Good, leaving only its sister, Bad.
He thinks that by hiding the pain, he can spare his friends. He thinks that they won't ever know. He is wrong.
He bottles it up. And even dams break when the pressure is too much.
And Tsuzuki Asato breaks, he will come close to losing everything he has gained. He will come close to losing even himself.
Masks may hide, but they cannot heal.