It was almost laughable, how easy escaping his boredom had become.

Izayoi had fallen into place against the wall of the bathhouse, a small smile spreading across his face at the shrieks and splashes coming from the other side of the wall. He'd briefly entertained the last notion in his brain; the glass ceiling was but a single hop away, and even if the girls caught him looking in on them, they'd never be able to catch or hurt him.

He'd decided against it, preferring to sit and watch the lights above him as they streaked through the night sky. It was a sight he'd seen so many times before, and yet, he'd yet to lose interest in the sight.

It was something so normal, compared to what he'd been thrown into all those months ago. Something that had even happened in the world he'd left behind, and regardless the sight remained firmly within the boundaries of 'not boring'.

The brightest light he'd seen that night passed over his head, a snicker escaping his lips at the collective sounds of wonder behind his head. He was no different from the other problem children when it came to stargazing (and only to stargazing); Asuka had spent much of her life indoors and away from the night sky, as had You.

The first meteor shower he'd ever witnessed happened when he was seven, one of the only times in his life that he was still unsure of.

The day leading up to that evening had been admittedly harrowing, downright heartbreaking to anyone that wasn't him. It had been one of those rare periods, the few weeks and occasional month he wasn't forced to jump between orphanages, where that annoying spark of hope would erupt against his will and blossom in his young chest.

Only to be crushed as he found himself on the doorstep of yet another new place to live.

Even as a toddler, he'd known he wasn't a normal human. How could he not, after all the doors that had been torn from their hinges with a single knock and all those bones he would break whilst playing with the other children in his ward?

No one thought he would hear what they'd say behind his back. No one thought he'd understand when he was given less food than the others, and false reassurances when every pair of prospective parents would bring the freak back to the place from where they'd taken him. He was only three years old, too squishy for the outside world to be safe, even if he was so obviously stronger than anyone they'd ever met.

Sometimes, they'd try to use him for their own gain. Nobody could possibly stop a brat who had been photographed lifting a truck, who knew from personal experience what a bullet felt like when it was bouncing off his skin.

They'd never had any other choice than to take him back after he refused. Just another weak, common human, thinking nothing of him after a single glance at his small stature.

He had always been smarter than them. He'd always been stronger than them. He would always be better than any of them could hope to be.

And yet, that damn spark would always find a way, stroking a small ember into his heart with every new parent and leaving him a frigid ache when it was inevitably blown out.

That night, he'd been the one to leave. He'd been the one to blow that flame out, the one to ignore the tears as the ice spread through his veins and his brain finally registered what he'd been telling it all this time.

They don't care, they don't care, they don't care…

"Izayoi!" He didn't bother stifling the full laugh at the voice, he could just see Kuro Usagi's hair change colour as her words scared the birds from the surrounding trees. "You'd better not be watching us in the bath, again!"

The pair he'd left behind had been the first he'd felt he could possibly trust. An older couple, who'd taken him in over two months previous, who'd never given him those glares of contempt he'd grown up surrounded by. Every 'Izayoi-Chan' had sounded genuine; a far cry from the acid that would be spat in his face whenever he'd heard his name before.

He'd thought they cared. He'd cared about them, after all.

Until his mother had turned around, a bottle in one hand and a single sentence on her tongue.

"What, Freak?"

He hadn't looked back as he demolished their front door. He'd been two towns over until he finally stopped running, collapsing on top of a hill he'd never seen before, trying to rub whatever was burning his eyes away.

It hurt. He wasn't used to pain - nobody had ever been powerful enough to inflict any on him. But his heart had clenched, the vision he'd built for the future had crumbled, and now his progress was all for naught. He was right back where he'd started.

Alone.

"If I was, you'd never know about it!" He didn't bother waiting around for a response, even if one of the girls expected to be listened to. He pushed himself back to his feet, a single hop sending him into the forest nearby. The stars were brighter out there, away from the lights on the ground that would interfere with them. He spent enough time in there to know where the best clearings, with the most comfortable grass were.

There had been a small forest nearby on that night, come to think of it, close enough to shield anyone that may have been watching him. It must have been a pathetic sight, watching a seven year old whilst he was in the middle of realising he had nothing.

Well, that wasn't true. He had money, a fair amount saved up in his pilfered wallet, with no regard nor remorse for how he'd gained it. The only time he would let it out of his pocket was when he bathed, and even then it was never out of his sight.

Someone would steal it. There was nobody he could trust with it, and any fight he was a part of was pitiful, to say the least. He'd never given up looking for a challenge in the past, and had never been short a victim or two.

If he were a normal person, would he have been as stupid as all the other children? Picking fights with someone they knew was far out of their league, expecting him to go down after the single punch he'd let them land on him, the test of if they were worthy of any effort?

The thought was sobering, to an extent. They were lucky he didn't kill them with his blows; that he'd made sure it would never happen without his intent again. Even with his regard for their safety, it would always somehow be his fault, even after the entire room watched a fist collide with his jaw first.

He'd never had that problem in the abandoned buildings and wherever else he'd called home.

It had only taken a few seconds to reach his spot, but even then the journey was starting to get old. Leaping off the branch he'd landed on, Izayoi linked his hands behind his head and rolled onto his back, not caring of the slight indent he made in the grass as he landed. The stars were brighter, and as something that let off a gentle blue light scrambled past his foot, he found himself wishing he'd brought a book alone.

Books had rapidly become his most precious companions on his old world, the small gusts that would assault his face whenever he flipped through the pages, the calming aroma of the shelves that would surround him every time he sneaked into a library.

It was more exhilarating than going in through the front door, and he wasn't planning on giving any of the books back after he took them.

There was so much that interested him in those pages, a thought that almost had him shuddering in delight when he'd discovered it. These books were nothing like the boring examples he'd been privy to in the orphanages and foster homes. Those had had pictures, for God's sake!

No, these had been far more engaging. Quantum physics, fictional fantasy trilogies, even the odd encyclopaedia every now and then. They were something new, something to think about, something to distract the dreams he would have at night and make him forget that he had nobody that cared about him.

Those days he'd spent running through new towns, a bag of stolen books over his shoulder and however many law enforcers on his tail, were some of his favourite. They had nothing on the years he'd spent with Canaria, of course, but they had been pretty damn close on occasion.

He'd never hurt them, not when they were just doing their jobs and hadn't hurt him first, but the looks on their faces after he flipped the first car had been enough for him to laugh for hours.

But even so, those days were far apart. Books couldn't keep him entertained every hour of every day, and eventually, he'd come to terms with the fact that education was necessary. He wouldn't get very far without it, no matter how smart he knew he was. Not in that world.

The forest was quiet, incredibly so. Izayoi's eyes remained on the sky, tracing the invisible lines that connected the lights. There were so many possibilities up there, always a new angle to look from. It was comforting, an absent part of him acknowledged, that something so simple as staring was as good as finding an opponent who's attacks could leave a scratch.

School had been a nightmare. No exaggerations, no better adjectives to fit. There was absolutely nothing being taught that he didn't already know, not even after he'd gotten to high school and listened to everyone else complain about how hard the work was.

Every time, he'd snort. Every time, he'd get glares in response that were easily ignored or returned. He was used to nobody wanting to give him the time of day, he would have been surprised if they had. That had been his life for years, consistently getting perfect grades, if only to spite the world around him, and continue his trend of abhorrent attendance. Going ignored by everyone unfortunate enough to share his classes, ignoring whoever would attempt to get closer to him.

They'd just turn their backs on him. Try to use him for whatever they wanted. He'd lived through it before, and almost felt insulted that they'd try such a trick on someone who was so obviously smarter than them all.

But even with their few deviations from the norm, that never changed the fact that he was bored. His life was boring, his life should never be boring! He was born special, so high above a normal human's criteria, yet he was forced to live his life by those standards.

It was torture.

And yet, that was the world he'd been born into. It was infuriating; the thing he wanted to do the most was try. He wanted to fight someone who could break his bones, wanted a test that he couldn't complete without even having to read the questions. He was so far above everything around him, he was destined for a life of complete monotony. He would never have a wife, because he would never let himself be cruel enough to do that to someone who couldn't keep up with him.

He would never have anyone that could oppose him, who could tell him he was wrong, who he could look at with anything other than distrust.

And then, that letter had fallen from the sky, his name written in a way that just felt cheerful.

The last of the meteors had passed a few minutes prior, a sigh escaping Izayoi's lips as he climbed to his feet and brushed off his clothing. He'd thought about it before, quite a bit, as a matter of fact, but he'd never truly acknowledged just how much Kuro Usagi and the rest of Little Garden had done for him.

They'd saved him from a life of loneliness, a life that would wear at his sanity, that would suck the life from his soul, until he was nothing but a super powered shell.

A life where he'd have nothing but the stars for company. Where his Gift could never be anything but a curse.

It was only a few seconds of running that got him within viewing distance of the bathhouse again, the smile on his face a far cry from the usual smirk. He was tired, a fact that honestly surprised him, but considering the prize of tomorrow's Gift Game, sleep would have to be one of his priorities right now.

He wasn't going to let his first true home down, after all.

The bathhouse had an entrance to the main building for the Communities' greatest assets, and even though the front door was a small hop away with his abilities, he didn't really care. There would still be a wall between him and the girls, even if it were unnecessary, in his humble opinion, so it wasn't like he would see anything, no matter how much he not very secretly wanted to.

The door was silent as he pushed it open, a surprise considering the rest of the Communities' condition until recently, though not as big a surprise as he was facing now.

Asuka and You gave him brief glares, distracted from whatever Kuro Usagi had been saying by his entrance. All three, for whatever reason, had decided to stop in the corridor before going to the changing rooms, leaving them in nothing but towels.

Kuro Usagi hadn't seemed to notice his entrance, despite those ears she was so very proud of, and that alone gave Izayoi an idea.

Bringing a finger to his lips, Izayoi felt that familiar smirk spread across his face as both girls facing him suddenly smiled. His intent was very clear, but apparently, attempting to punish him for walking in wasn't as important as messing with Kuro Usagi. Very little ever was.

The cat in You's arms, damned traitorous creature, meowed out a greeting, the loud noise distracting Kuro Usagi out of whatever lecture she'd hypnotised herself with. Izayoi sent the thing a murderous glare, darting forward before he could be discovered.

Kuro Usagi squeaked as Izayoi wrapped his arms around her towel clad form, both his arms grabbing his wrists and trapping her in his embrace. He'd considered raising his arms, and almost had when he felt one arm brush against her chest, but had decided against it.

"I-Izayoi!" Kuro Usagi squirmed in his grip, her hair changing in a flash. The grins she was receiving from the girls looked downright evil, which probably meant she was on her own, unless Jin chose that moment to walk by.

Considering he was already asleep, that wasn't very likely.

"Yep. There's something I've been meaning to say for a while now." Izayoi whispered into his temporary hostage's ear, cracking a grin as he felt the shiver run through her body. Sometimes, it was just too easy.

But unlike everything else, that didn't make it boring.

"And what might that be?" She must have been building a tolerance to their teasing recently, if she could recover so quickly and not sound curious. He'd have to try harder in the future.

He leant closer, catching her gaze as she watched him from the corner of her eye. He'd already pressed her against his chest, leaving as little space as he possibly could without hurting her. The fact that she was only wearing a towel just made that better.

His lips brushed against her cheek lightly, a deep chuckle bubbling over as pink rushed in to cover the lower portion of her face. He could smell the soap she'd used in the bath, and he wouldn't really mind if his clothes' scent was similar afterwards.

"Thanks for the invitation."

He kept her trapped just long enough to watch the confusion surface, and a second later he was gone, his waving hand being the last of him to disappear around the corner.

...Thoughts?