We made our way down the elevators to the lobby of the building. There we saw somebody running through the lobby, wearing the green skirt and white shirt of our school.

“Hey,” Harper and I called out. “Hey, wait. We’re from the same school as you!”

The girl turned, when she saw our faces, she paused for a second before running away. Luckily, I was a good runner, so I closed the distance in no time.

“Look, we’re friendly,” I said. “We’re not with the military.”

Speaking off, the military flashlights darted through the glass windows of the building. Me and the girl ducked before she turned to me, her face pale with panic.

She looked foreign, with shoulder length black hair and an Asian face. There were the feint traces of her accent in her voice.

“What do you want?” she asked.

Harper caught up, bent over and panting. “Damn, you can run,” she said. Once she straightened up a look of recognition appeared on her face. “That’s the student that’s missing I was talking about.” She clicked her fingers. “Momoko Honda.”

Momoko nodded. “Y-yes.”

“Look, we’re not here to hurt you,” I said. “My friend and I were curious about what was going on with the attacks and she told me that once the monster disappeared, she saw you running into the building.”

Momoko looked at Harper. “You have good eyesight.”

“If you’re okay talking about it,” I said. “We want to ask you what’s your relationship with the monster?”

Momoko hesitated. She cast one look at me and Harper before finally letting out a sigh. “Okay.”

I smiled at her. “And I know just the place.”

…

We arrived at The Usual Spot. It was the only business that was open after the whole Kaiju incident and the waiter wouldn’t let us forget it.

“First you bring a mentally ill girl who thinks she can read minds,” he whined. “Now an immigrant. SMH.” The waiter was the type of guy to use texting acronyms in real life. “You never cease to amuse me April.”

He poured the glasses of coffee and strawberry milkshake that Momoko ordered. Momoko gave us an awkward stare, waiting for us to help ourselves despite her eyes lightening up when the milkshake was being poured.

“Help yourself,” I said. “The food and drinks here are great despite the shitty service.”

Momoko started to drink her milkshake. In the light of the coffee shop it struck me that she was so young. She looked about 15-16 years old, her skin still having the brightness associated with a stress-free life.

Harper and I helped ourselves to the coffee. “So, about the giant elephant in the room,” Harper started.

“Elephant?” Momoko asked, wiping her mouth with a tissue. “What elephant?”

 “The um, giant monster,” I motioned.

“Oh, yes,” Momoko said, she started uncomfortably around the room as if something was going to jump at her. “The giant monster. The Kaiju as the newspapers call it. That Kaiju is me.”

Harper was visibly surprised, but I remained plain faced. I had a feeling that was the case especially after my two ‘incidents’.

“How does that work?” Harper asked. “The nutrition, the…”

“Harper,” I said. “I don’t think that’s what we should be concerned about.”

“I’m sorry,” Harper said. “That was a bit callous. Is it like a medical condition or…”

Momoko tightly gripped her cup. “It’s something like that, yes. Ever since I was a child, I was cursed with this… this… beast. Whenever I felt strong emotion, I would turn into a monster. The monster was small at first but now…”

Momoko stared at the pink milkshake. “And I don’t know what emotions stir it. Sometimes it’s when I’m angry, sometimes it’s when I’m sad and when I turn, I’m no longer myself for a few hours. When I was a baby, I just turned into something the size of a Komodo dragon, as I grew, the beast grew and now…”

As Momoko started getting more worked up, we started to see red scales form on her body. She suddenly seemed much taller than when we first saw her. She noticed the change and closed her eyes, controlling her breathing.

“I’m sorry,” Momoko said. “I just get so worked up when this happens. I’ve learned breathing exercises to keep it in check but now…”

Harper and I stared at each other. We both understood at that moment what we had to do. I put a hand on Momoko’s.

“Momoko,” I said softly. “I know you barely know us, but we want to help you.”

Harper nodded. “Both April here and I helped out someone in the same situation as you,” Harper said though I could hear the unspoken ‘Though she was a massive ungrateful bitch.’ “We’re studying to become doctors and we think we can help you out.”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “But we want to help you so… will you let us?”

Momoko stared at us both. Tears were starting to form in those black eyes of hers. “You both look very sincere.” She smiled. “Thank you so… so much…”

Red scales were starting to emerge on her body. “Oh no,” she cried. She sucked back the tear and started to do the breathing exercise. “I can’t even express gratitude. That’s how bad it is.”

“Yeah,” the waiter said, throwing the bill at Momoko’s face. “Well express gratitude for this you jobless hobo.”

I threw the burning hot coffee at the waiter’s face.

…

The company understood exactly why I did that so luckily, I didn’t face any consequences for my action. Though why they didn’t fire him was a question I’d be asking myself till the end of time (which, granted, for me was soon).

Harper, Momoko and I parted our ways, making a promise that tomorrow on the far outskirts of town we would find out just what exactly was causing Momoko’s unique situation.

I took a shower and went to bed, somehow, I felt excited for the day to come. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt in quiet a long time.

“Someone’s feeling excited,” Mr. Silver buzzed.

“Should I be?” I asked. “I mean this girl’s clearly in distress.”

Mr. Silver paused for a second, if I was in a room with him, I swear he’d be shrugging.

“I mean you sympathise with her situation obviously,” Mr. Silver said. “I don’t think you’re excited you’re helping her out, I think you’re excited to meet a new person.”

I paused, staring at my ceiling. The silver glow of the bracelet making the room feel as if it was bathed in moonlight. “A new person, huh?”

“And also, why’d you want to become a doctor?” Mr. Silver asked.

I thought about it for a moment before finally hitting a slump. “I don’t know. It was the only thing I knew how to do.”

“I feel as if you’ll find the answer eventually,” Mr. Silver said.

“Ugh,” I groaned. “Is this another therapy session?”

The silver glow disappeared, and my room didn’t look nearly as pretty.

“Asshole.”