Shattering Humanity

{7:30PM, Just Outside Main Sanpaku Underwater Tunnel Entrance.}

A large bonfire is set outside the Sanctuary Entrance. Taylor, Sol, and Aiden are sitting around the warm large fire.Daisuki, Scylia, and Zoram are standing away from the "small" group huddled around the exposed flame, underneath the tunnel opening.

The "Head Hancho" of Sanpaku is looking at the early night sky, worried. His wives to be, each have an arm entwined with one of his, and the man swallows his own spit.

Scylia: "I wouldn’t worry, Master Daisuki. The radio call from communications said it was a single helicopter. If that jerk is coming to talk to you at this time, he’s most certainly not going to attack all of Sanpaku, with whoever he can fit in that chopper alone."

Zoram grips tighter and looks at the ground below where SeiõrSnow has accumulated.

Zoram: "I feel so confused. The last time I met Mr. Nephilim, I was on somewhat good terms with him, but I was still Laban’s wife then. Once he sees me here, with you Master Daisuki, I’ll be his enemy, but...

But I don’t want to be anyone’s enemy anymore."

Daisuki keeps looking at the evening sky as a red indicating light on a Blackhawk helicopter can be seen blinking in the distance.

Daisuki: "Believe me Zoram, neither do I."

Meanwhile, Taylor has 10 marshmallows roasting at once on one BBQ skewer with Sol and Aiden sitting on either side of him. They each have one marshmallow roasting for themselves.

Taylor pulls up his torch of melting treats. Each marshmallow is on fire as the big goofball opens his mouth and with a *TSSSSS* closes his chompers over the now bubbling charcoals with a gooey center. Smoke comes out his ears and nose as he chews with a closed smile, unfazed.

Sol: "Careful Big Guy...I honestly can’t tell if you have the same condition as me, or if you’re just getting so strong, you don’t acknowledge the pain."

Taylor lets out an audible gulp, lets out a smokey sigh of relief, and shifts his torso back and forth, looking for the bag of soft white treats so he can load up more.

Aiden, who has lost noticable weight within the month of his new environment, chuckles up at his academy assigned squadmate. He then pulls back his lightly toasted treat and blows on it. The smartest of Sanpaku bites the entire marshmallow and breathes quickly through his mouth to cool it down some more without spitting it out. Sol giggles before eating hers without a problem.

Aiden finally cools his down enough to swallow.

He observes the gorgeous young dark skin woman eating, before she awkwardly notices him looking at her out the corner of her eye.

Sol: "What’s up? Do I have some on the corner of my lips?"

Aiden quickly looks away embarrassed.

Aiden: "N-no, it’s nothing, it’s j-just I’ve never gotten to ask you about that. S-Since I’ve been kinda busy lately and we’re in separate Divisions, I haven’t gotten to ask you about that condition with your senses..."

As if she is used to other’s infatuation with her dud senses, Sol has a recited answer ready.

Sol: "I was 5 years old when I broke my arm and didn’t cry from the pain. That was the event that made everything make sense, ironically speaking. My parents never hit me or abused me, so they wouldn’t have known, but I was born without the ability to use 3 of my 5 senses.

I can’t smell, taste, and I don’t have any feeling of touch or pain. All I have is sight and hearing, which is all I need. I’m grateful for just those two senses, because I can appear ’normal’ and I can fake a ’normal’ life. Even if it’s pretending to like foods my friends liked or agree with a friend while shopping, that the fur on that coat did feel unbelievably soft, because it is unbelievable to me.

I don’t know what feels good or what feels bad. All I know of existence is what I see and what I hear, because of the Big Guy here, when I sit on his shoulder and get to see the world from higher than even his view, my heart...I can feel ’something’ over my heart."

Aiden looks back up at his big friend, reloading his long BBQ skewer with more marshmallows.

Tay is putting the stick through each sugary puff sideways, so the GigaBeast can put more treats on the stick at once.

Aiden: "When I think about not having even one of my senses, it kinda messes with me psychologically. We all adapt and learn to find happiness differently, but a vital question is, why do we crave that desire for happiness in the first place?"

The young scholar takes off his glasses and cleans the lenses with his shirt.

Aiden: "Individual dependency, or self reliance, is usually important to achieve a desired happiness. My naked eyesight has been below average my whole life, but because of these convexed pieces of glass, I can have above average eyesight and become the most academically prolific out of my peers.

Something so simple allows me to know what the world looks like, what beauties and dangers it holds, and the information that can be read, alone on a quite night. My empathetic mind gives me anxiety, when I think about people living entire lives, unable to experience these everyday sources of happiness and then I feel guilty, as if, my senses are a privilege.

Why does a simple, easily gained ’privilege’ make me feel guilty, when my life was mediocre at best in the first place?"

Sol looks confused, her eyes shift left to right.

Sol: "Are we still talking about my senses, or...?"

Aiden continues deep in thought, talking out loud.

Aiden: "I’ve read about the people who lost certain senses permanently in accidents and how they managed to cope with their new handicap. How those individuals overcame their physical adversity. Completing everyday tasks I have become accustomed to easily finishing.

Obviously, 99% of those stories are meant to be inspiring and inspirational, but one of the most imprinting examples of realism I’ve had, was the story of one pitiful man. He needed to be on constant watch after losing his eyesight. The war veteran would try to swallow or kill himself with whatever his clutching hands found. Trying to find windows to climb out of so he could fall on his neck."

With one eyebrow up, Sol shrugs, and takes another marshmallow out the bag to roast. Accepting the conversation is no longer about her.

Sol(under her breath): "I thought this was about my own condition and the adversity I’ve gone through, but I guess you can go first."

Aiden: "Huh?"

Sol: "N-nothing, I was just mumbling to myself how I wish there was something like your glasses, that could help me with my messed up senses."

While talking, Aiden continues to look at his own glasses with his naturally blurry vision, in front of the crackling fire.

Aiden: "Everyone wants to encourage the positive out look on life, but realistically, a drastic change to one’s surroundings, without any preparation, can be too much for some people like me. To be honest, I’d rather lose my legs than my eyes.

I think... I think I’d rather lose any other sense or motor skill, than lose my sight. I have the utmost respect for the blind and deaf, because if that were my fate, I wouldn’t want to make the best out of it.

I’d want death.

Over generations, these glasses have been improved by others over time into what they are now, and thanks to the generosity of those ’smart people’ before us, my sense of sight was heightened to 20/20. Why do I get to use this ’invention’ and my mild inconvenience is fixed?"

Aiden returns his black rimmed glasses back to his face and he lets out a sad sigh.

Taylor eats another full skewer of charcoaled marshmallows.

After he swallows it all, Sol holds up her perfectly toasted treat in her teal nail polish fingers. The same color as Shelly and Itsuka’s.

The giant admires it until Sol holds her hand out for him to take it.

Sol: "Try this one. It might taste a tiny bit better, because Mama made it herself.Just for you Big Guy." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

TayTay carefully takes the personally made treat and examines it while Aiden continues venting. The genius, unaware the other two aren’t completely paying attention.

Aiden: "When you think about it, most of humanity’s greatest inventions were created solely because someone had personally suffered themselves. They wanted to bring comfort to their own life first, and once their intuitive new idea works for them, profiting off the rest of humanity’s desire for happiness through the invention comes afterwards."

Taylor slowly eats the golden brown marshmallow, made by his ’Mama’.

Sol lets out a cute giggle, watching the usual glutton carefully eat her ’cooking’, unlike his usual chaotic eating technique.

Aiden: "Another example that comes to mind, is when students first apply for medical school, the most consistent admissions question asked, is ’why did you chose to be a doctor?’.

’Because my family already has highly respected professionals in the field’, or ’Someone important in my life, died from an unfortunate medical situation, and I want to find a cure or avoid others from feeling the same way’, are the most common and reasonable answers. The second most common answer is, ’for the love of science’."

Taylor chews for a second, his taste buds send the flavor to his brain, and while his brain processes it, TayTay’s mouth hangs slightly open, and he stares ahead in a trance like state. Sol tilts her head with a small smile and eager eyes of the sun, waiting for a reaction, but Taylor doesn’t move.

Sol: "Youuuu good Big Guy?"

Aiden looks away from the fire to the SeiõrSnow falling from the partly cloudy night sky, still unaware of the other two.

Aiden: "Why else would someone go through all those years of rigorous academic courses, internships, and training, if not for their own personal aspirations, to help them stay motivated?"

While TayTay is still trying to process how much he enjoyed the perfectly toasted treat, Sol snaps her fingers in front of his face, no effect.

’Mama’ sighs and defeatedly shakes her head, taking a seat back on the ground.

Aiden: "Are there any humans who haven’t truly suffered, and yet, are also willing to prevent the suffering of others?"

Sol is listening again, with her arms wrapped around her legs, wearing matching black sweatpants as the rest of Takamagahara. The fire’s reflection is camouflaged by her eyes that resemble the sun.

Sol: "I haven’t really gotten the chance to know him yet, but from the way you all and especially Shelly, talk about Katsu, it seems he’s one of those types of people. Shelly told me, he might be someone who hasn’t been through ’the wringer’ in comparison to others, but instead of being satisfied with that fact, he’s always trying to end the suffering of others.

But then again, like you said, it’s would be his own happiness that motivates him to see everyone else happy."

The young genius stares deeply into the fire.

He thinks about the day they were all in the elevator together, before the squads, and before their life in Hell.

Aiden: "When I first arrived at the Sister Mountains and enrolled in the academy, Katsu was my first friend and Shelly obviously became my second immediately after.

At first, I thought he was being too careless and overconfident. But once I saw Shelly take out every challenger, even teachers, during combat training and then win a sparring match, against ten other students, without a single hit from any of her opponents, I knew why Katsu always smiled."

Sol turns her head to look at Aiden, still fixated on his thoughts. Her scarred cheek pressed against her knee.

Aiden: "Katsu really does want to end everyone’s suffering, you can tell by the look in his eye...

Well, at least the human one..."