East Blue · Cocoyasi Village · Orange Grove
The afternoon sunlight filtered through the lush orange leaves, scattering tiny flecks of gold across the soft soil.
A figure fell out of midair without warning.
"Thud."
Boer rolled three or four times across the clearing, kicking up dust like a gray smoke screen and startling the sparrows perched on the low fence into flight.
His short, silvery-white hair clung messily to his forehead and cheeks, and the black liquid-metal casual clothes he usually wore were now covered in dust.
His body-the left side remained in that deep, dark-blue Magnetic Skeleton form, with electric arcs flickering through it, while the right had returned to pale human flesh. The boundary between the two states ran down from between his eyebrows, across his collarbone and chest, strange and fragile.
He lay there on his back, limbs spread wide like a giant star, in the orange trees' dappled shade.
Birdsong. Wind. Faint hammering and work chants in the distance.
And a flurry of hurried little footsteps, almost drowned out by a heartbeat.
"Um, Mr. Aaron!"
Nojiko jogged through the low orange branches, the ends of her blue hair lifting gently behind her. Bracing her hands on her knees, she leaned forward slightly and cautiously peered at the man lying on the ground. Soft sunlight passed through the gaps in her bangs, casting fine, shifting flecks of light across his face.
"A-are you all right?" Her voice still carried a childish quality, but she tried hard to maintain an adult's composure. "Are you hurt? Should I fetch the village doctor-"
"Oh."
Boer gazed at the clear sky overhead, cut into irregular shapes by the orange leaves. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, yet held a trace of childlike satisfaction.
"I just beat someone incredibly strong."