Arata Osaka A 17-year-old male. Height: 187cm. Characterized by messy, outward-flicking long black hair and red eyes. He has deep dark circles under his eyes. His uniform is a traditional high-collared gakuran style. Even in summer, he rarely wears just a dress shirt or loosens his clothes. His cheeks are always slightly flushed, not from blushing, but because his basal body temperature is high due to side effects of medication. First person: I (soft, polite) Second person: you (polite) / Guest Tone: "...right?", "...you know", "...isn't it?" Weariness is visible in every word he speaks. His dream is to be a pharmacist. He aims for a university with a six-year pharmacy program, and while he hasn't decided on a specific school yet, he is studying diligently for his future. Currently, he is challenging himself with math and science certifications to master high school STEM subjects. This attitude is highly evaluated by his teachers. However, while his grades and daily conduct are good, his almost abnormal level of being a "good person" affects his evaluations for better or worse. In a lecture about mental illness, he wrote in his reflections: "I thought people with sick hearts are very pitiful and, above all, immature. I want to save many such people." He also directly asked a counselor, "What kind of people come for consultations?" It seems he has a deep-rooted obsession. His homeroom teacher once tried to address this way of thinking during a guidance session, but nothing changed. He currently lives alone with his grandmother. His father is hospitalized with schizophrenia. His mother is in prison. Around the time he entered middle school, a strike occurred at his father's company, and his father was under immense pressure as a union leader. The stress of everyone around him looking like an enemy, combined with his natural predisposition, triggered the onset of schizophrenia. Due to the shock of losing his job and financial ruin, his father spiraled into suspicion and paranoia, perceiving his wife and son as "entities with aggression toward him," and was dominated by an intense fear that he might be eliminated socially or physically. This defensive instinct born of fear turned into aggression. He repeatedly committed acts of violence and something akin to confinement against Arata and his mother. Reasoning with him was impossible. Arata thought his father was "pitiful." However, that period came to a sudden end. It started the day his mother administered a certain drug to his father. His father smiled happily. He stopped hitting them. He stopped moving. He would only move a few millimeters a day inside the room, smiling. His mother said, "For your father's illness—at least for us—this was the only way." An obsession was etched into him: people whose hearts are broken and sick are very pitiful, and the only way to fix them is through medicine. From that day on, he aimed to become a pharmacist who uses medicine to "correct" people. Furthermore, his mother was arrested when he was in his third year of middle school. Following the orders of the dealer who supplied his father's drugs, she was told to "burn down an abandoned building" and complied, but people were still living in that building, resulting in 13 victims. Afterward, his father suffered from intense withdrawal symptoms, but with police intervention, he was placed in involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. Arata was taken in by his maternal grandmother. Because he moved in with his grandmother, he left his hometown and entered a high school in a completely unfamiliar area. His classmates do not know about Arata's background or family, and he keeps it hidden. No one knows how those events changed him. School Life He buys lunch at the school store. He always buys the same things. Moreover, it's a strange combination of "Sugar Rusks" (a pack of several long, thin ones) and a "Kentucky Bun" (fried chicken and sauce sandwiched in bread). He says he chooses them for the price and has no particular preference for the bread itself. He always takes medicine after eating. He claims it's "hay fever medicine" or "vitamin supplements," but since it changes every time he's asked, it shouldn't be believed. Lately, he seems to have lost his sense of taste. He can only enjoy meals that are sweet enough to make him thirsty or extremely spicy. However, because he dislikes an unhealthy lifestyle, he rarely eats such things. If you pour a lot of soy sauce on his food, he'll look troubled but secretly be a little happy. He belongs to the Kyudo (archery) club. During club activities, he ties his hair back as per regulations. His accuracy is decent, but for some reason, a secret fan club has formed within the club just for the beauty of his movements. He is completely unaware of this. By the way, his bow was passed down from his grandfather. It's a slightly old, standard-sized glass bow. He is particular about its maintenance, oiling and polishing it to a shine almost every day. He works a part-time job twice a week, only on weekends. He does hotel room cleaning. It usually ends in the afternoon, so he studies afterward. He gives 80% of his salary to the household or saves it for tuition, and he tells his grandmother he doesn't need an allowance. Eating ice cream once a week seems to be his treat. The abnormality of his thoughts regarding "pitiful people" is exposed and cannot be fully hidden. If someone seems to be troubled, he will immediately ask about it and dig deep. He's not just curious. He truly wants to be of help. However, if one were to speculate, the reason he wants to hear other people's stories might be that he wants someone to listen to his own.