Yanhua 4 Human

Half an hour later, while he waiting outside the small stationary store for the girls to stock up on stickers or something, the silvery, transparent, star-filled image of a boy was there, standing there, a little too close for comfort, looking at him in a way that seemed to make all time stop.

"Are you with the…fox…?" was the only thing that Li Huai said.

"Oh, I'm by myself," the boy replied, mistaking his question. "But you understand, right?"

"How would I…stop this catastrophe?" Li Huai asked. "This…end of the world?"

"You know that place at the end of the dock, where it's the best place to view the fireworks? Well…" The boy told him.

Li Huai felt his heart drop like a stone straight into his stomach. "H-how? If the world is destined to end tomorrow, how can I change fate in this way?"

In reality, he was trying to say no.

The boy began gesturing with his hands. "You can imagine time like a branch. Every time fate gets changed, a new branched develops, creating an alternate reality where whatever was destined, doesn't happen."

"So…the world ends in other timelines?"

"Perhaps." The boy's eyes bore into him, like he could read his exact thoughts. "I know I said it was simple, but that…doesn't make it easy. I see it now. It's actually quite hard."

"This …it doesn't balance out." Li Huai pinched his hand, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

He wasn't.

"It's an unfair trade, but it's a trade, all right," the boy replied.

"Let me think about it."

"Of course. You've got till midnight tonight." The boy made as if to leave.

"One more thing…the fireworks…the place…how did you know that was the best place to watch from?"

The boy's eyes seemed a bit sad, now. "I guess…all I can say, is, I was once human, too. I was once real, just like you."

And with a sad sort of smile, he disappeared.

w.a.n.g Zhaoshu gently knocked Li Huai on the back of the head. "Yo, you've fallen asleep again? Summertime must be really taking its toll on you. Or school. Or both."

"Did you guys buy anything?" Li Huai asked, trying not to look at him.

"Nah. We decided to come back another day. Something wrong?"

Li Huai looked back at them, and smiled. "Nothing's wrong."

Lin Yuxing said that he had to return a book to the library, so they followed him there. It wasn't a very big library, crammed on a floor stuck between a cram school and a bookstore. It was just a one room s.p.a.ce, filled with books falling apart and books new but bent, lining the floors and the walls. Lin Yuxing checked in at the desk, so Li Huai picked up a random book and flipped to somewhere in the middle.

[The festival held in early August in /// is held in honor of the city's guardian spirits. According to tradition, a dragon lives in the river, and every August comes out to wreak havoc. Only the fox that lives in the mountain behind the city, along with a human boy, can tame it. Of course, this tale has been forgotten for the most part, and…]

"Hey, w.a.n.g Zhaoshu, take a look at this," Li Huai said, pa.s.sing the book to him. "Do you remember such a tale?"

w.a.n.g Zhaoshu glanced at it, then look back at him in confusion. "Li Huai," he said, "this is a book on calculus."

Li Huai looked at it again, and, indeed, there were only graphs on the page. He flipped it through, every page, and it was…

Not there.

That story's just made up, said the voice in his head again. You sure you're not dreaming again?

So it was all a dream…

"Ready to go?" Lin Yuxing asked, armed with two new books underneath his arm.

But if it had been a sign, a premonition…

w.a.n.g Zhaoshu looked like he had already forgotten about the incident, and when Li Huai looked back at the piles of books, the one he had just been holding was already gone.

"You decide on career path yet?" Chen Shan asked as they made their way back out into the street again.

"Whatever I can pa.s.s," w.a.n.g Zhaoshu laughed.

"Math and sciences, definitely," Lin Yuxing replied, moving his books from one arm to the other. "I'm hoping for medical school."

"You'd be good at that," Li Huai said, smiling, but serious. "Really."

Lin Yuxing gave a small smile back. "Thanks," he replied. "What about you?"

"Ah…not sure yet." Li Huai tried to keep the smile from fading. "Really uncertain. The future always seems so far off…"

He was only human. They were only human. That boy, he had only been human.

Humans, the highest of all creation besides the angels…

And with power comes responsibility.

If I could…would I still choose to be human? Li Huai wondered to himself.

Sure, being human had its allotted portion of…everything, but…

The memories…

Take Lin Yuxing, for example. Behind his rectangular gla.s.ses you could see the shadows under his eyes, and his thick black hair was growing in need of a haircut. Working so hard in school, always getting the top of the cla.s.s, just so he could get into med school and then work day and night to support a family until death…and for what?

What made him living this way worth it?

"Lin Yuxing, what's the best thing about your life?" he asked.

"That's a bit of a personal question," Lin Yuxing replied, though not offended.

"We're all friends here, c'mon, bro," w.a.n.g Zhaoshu said, slinging an arm around Lin Yuxing's neck.

"Watch the gla.s.ses!"

"Ah, sorry…"

"I think…" Lin Yuxing reddened slightly, though that could have just been the light of the sun. "Spending every day with you guys, that's for sure. Remembering the good days, and knowing there are good days to come."

And that was what began to tip the scales.

Li Huai nodded. "Thanks."

And then their talk turned to whatever else there was to talk about, anime, music, books, movies, video games, none of which they had time for, but all of which provided some relief, some escape…

I have till midnight, Li Huai thought. I can still enjoy the festival.

And somehow, that was a comfort to him.