Mikey

I pointed to the empty space above her head and asked, "Mama! What's that?"

Mom's bewildered expression only added to my amusement as she tilted her head and replied, "That? That's my head."

I couldn't help but pout at her response, thinking, "My mama can be an airhead sometimes."

Undeterred, I sought answers from my dad, grandpa, and even grandma. Their responses were equally perplexing.

"A tree," my dad offered, completely missing the mark.

"I wasn't talking about your background, I was talking about above your head," I muttered in frustration.

"Air," grandpa chimed in, earning an eye roll from me. "Huff! People are so stupid," I grumbled to myself.

Then there was grandma, who simply said, "Magic." At that point, I couldn't help but throw in the towel.

Reflecting on those moments, I realized something peculiar—no one seemed to notice the small circle above their heads, each adorned with a different number indicating perceived danger level.

Of course, it wasn't until later that I understood what those numbers meant. Through careful analysis (yes, even five-year-olds can be astute), I observed that a toddler had a circle with a 0, a soldier had a 7, a regular man had a 5, and my mom, of all people, had an 8. 

Yes, my mom is more dangerous than a soldier. 

Don't ask me much—I sometimes think my mom is an devil too.

When I was just a wee tot, my mom was a college professor. Now, most moms might entertain their kids with coloring books, but not mine. Oh no, she handed me scantron sheets and let me loose with a box of crayons. Imagine the power!

She used to hand me the scantron sheet before she wrote the exam and let me colour whatever lettered bubble i wanted for each answer. if i coloured two by accident, she made an 'all of the above' option.

One time she gave me it and i coloured the 'a' bubble for each of the 130 questions except for the second last one and she just went with it

later on, she told me that it was the most entertaining exam she had ever watched her students take

Because of this ,I realise in future I might be able to outsmart everyone but not her 

It's like she's the ultimate boss level in the game of life

I never asked or told anyone about my abilities to see a circle above people head with distinct numbers

You know , Even though I realised I was unique and weird in a way .I wasn't afraid of it instead curious 

Because...The one I am truly afraid is my mom

But...

" Do you need help? " My 7 year old ass question the blond boy— Mikey

" What? " He looked at me confused" What help ? " 

" Are you okay ? " My 7 year old ass asked again 

" ....yes   ? "  

" Oh ...Okay ,Then " 

As the near by girls continued their hushed conversation, I couldn't help but overhear from my desk, pretending to focus on the notes the teacher was discussing.

"What's going on?" I heard one of the girls inquire, her curiosity piqued.

"Mikey got busted reading a naughty book at school," the other girl divulged, barely able to contain her laughter.

"Seriously?" The first girl sounded genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, and guess what his punishment was?" The giggles in the girl's voice were unmistakable.

"He had to kneel on the floor, holding the book for everyone to see!" The revelation was met with a mixture of shock and amusement.

"Did he actually kneel?" someone interjected.

"Nah, he bunk the class like the typical Mikey," came the response.

"Yep, typical Mikey," another voice chimed in agreement.

Soon the whole class was silent, I looked at Teacher ,Who had stop talking for second 

Uh Oh

The sudden silence that followed was broken by the stern voice of our science teacher, who had clearly overheard the girls' chatter. "Do you girls want to keep talking during the lesson, or do you want to keep your kneecaps?" she threatened, her eyes narrowing in disapproval.

Swish-!

Before anyone could respond, the classroom door swung open, and in walked the main protagonist of our story—MIKEY Swaggering into the room like he owned the place.

Well, considering he practically ran Tokyo, I wouldn't be surprised if he did own the school too.

As he strolled into the classroom, the atmosphere seemed to shift. With an air of nonchalance, he made his way to his desk, not bothering to acknowledge the teacher or the curious glances from his classmates.

Placing his bag on the desk with thud-! ,  he glanced around the room, his expression unreadable. Then, without a word, he turned on his heel and headed straight for the door, as if he had somewhere more important to be.

I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief. Talk about disrespect.

" His features is beautiful right!! " A girl whisper 

" I know ,he is kinda cool too " another respond 

Is he ?

How can I talk about beauty, When I can't even gaze at beauty

Glancing at the clock, I realized that lunch would start in just five minutes.

Ah

That explained his sudden appearance. Always the opportunist, he probably just wanted to make a quick getaway before the lunch rush. Typical.

Everyone in school is cautious around him—out of respect and fear for his physical abilities.

Even though he seems to talk to his classmates normally if someone asks him a question, he's still surrounded by gangsters. Hardly anyone talks to him, except for students who are members of TOMAN—the rising gang in Tokyo.

But for me, he's more than just a feared man. He's a dragon, a lion, an elephant, a tiger—every dangerous thing in the world rolled into one.

I tiptoed around him as if he were a sleeping dragon, always maintaining my distance.

Because, you know, it's not every day you want to risk getting your lungs stop working .And I mean it literally 

My lungs literally fucking - stop working in front of him 

As long as I can remember, we've been studying in the same school, the same class, the same section, until I turned 7 years old.

When I was 7, I remember the number above Mikey's head was 5, the same as an adult man. That definitely caught my attention right away. Of course, I didn't talk to him much. I've always been more of an observer than a talker.

But then, one day, his number changed to 20. It was so out of the blue that I thought the circle above his head must be malfunctioning.

Or maybe I was wrong about the circle. Perhaps it didn't reflect someone's danger level.But no matter how I tried to rationalize it, I always came to the same conclusion—it showed the danger level.

And if that was true, why in the freaking world would a 7-year-old boy suddenly, in just one day, become the most dangerous person I had ever seen

?

Did Mikey suddenly become a secret agent overnight? Maybe he just started taking his superhero training seriously. Or perhaps he accidentally stumbled upon the recipe for world domination in his cereal box that morning. Who knows? The possibilities are endless.

So, I started to notice him more than ever. He was behaving just as he always did.

If not for sudden change in danger level — Everything about him was same 

Except for one thing—his Tapping.

At that moment, I was really into Morse code stuff. So, while I was sitting in front of him, I noticed him lightly tapping his finger on the desk.

Being intrigued, I started decoding it using Morse code, and to my surprise, his tapping spelled out "HELP."

Suddenly, I wanted to say something, but my social anxiety got the best of me, and I ended up staying silent.

After that, I couldn't help but notice that he always did the same tapping since the day his number changed. Before the change, it was just random tapping, but after the change, it was always "HELP."

It made me frown every day.

As I listened to people talking about him, I learned that he was a boy living with his grandpa, sister, and older brother. His father and mother were dead, but he seemed to enjoy life like any other normal boy. There was nothing—absolutely nothing—in his life that seemed to set him apart from the crowd.

Because of the sudden change in his number, I started to wonder if his mental health was okay. I couldn't see any physical changes in him that would explain such a drastic shift.

I even convinced my mother to buy cakes from the shop near his house, hoping to overhear something that might explain his sudden change. Maybe he was being abused at home or his friends weren't treating him right.

But no, there was nothing.

In the end, after all my efforts yielded no results, I decided to question him directly.

"Do you need help?" I asked him outright.

My 7-year-old self asked him that question, not knowing what answer to expect from him, or if he indeed needed help. How could she help him even if he did?

But, Soon Something change ..Again

His circles was becoming darker day by day .

As his circles became darker day by day, something else changed too. Dark clouds seemed to gather around him, like his aura was becoming darker and darker. Strangely, there were no physical changes; he acted like any normal child.

As a student who used to sit in front of him, I began to feel suffocated. It became harder to breathe whenever I was near him, and I started sweating profusely. Each passing day, it became even more difficult to stand beside him. A shiver would always run down my spine, and I'd feel goosebumps rise up.

At just 7 years old, all these symptoms scared me. So, I filled out the form to change sections, not wanting to stay in the same class as him. Since then, I avoided any path he walked, any place he stayed. I avoided everything about him, and soon, that fear became a habit.

But this year, our paths crossed again, as we were placed in the same class. I was terrified of him. The dark clouds surrounded him so much that I couldn't even see his face. I only knew how he looked because of his school photo; there were no clouds in the pictures.

Standing beside him felt like being in a concentration camp, the air heavy with carbon dioxide. Every cell of my body quivered, crying out for me to run.

But as he was a delinquent, he rarely stayed in class other than during lunch.And I never visit cafeteria; Because of him

So, we rarely collided.

Yep, I forgot how he looked.

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