"Sometimes, people cling to their wounds so tightly...
that without showing them, they feel incomplete."
---
Scene:
Saito, Mira, and Aira walk toward a new place —
A settlement on the edge of Ningenai, known as Silent Spire.
It's more populated than the rest — but here, every face either wears a mask, a symbol, or a tattooed flaw across their skin.
---
Saito (narration, stunned):
"I can't understand… these people don't hide their flaws.
They show them — like they're something sacred.
Like their flaws are the source of their strength."
---
Mira (softly):
"People here got tired of hiding, Saito.
So they turned shame into a badge."
---
A boy walks by — under his eyes, the word "UGLY" inked bold.
He stares back confidently.
A girl nearby — tattooed on her wrist: "NEVER ENOUGH."
And yet… she laughs freely.
---
Saito (thinking):
"Is this rebellious healing… or just another mask?"
---
They settle into a small, messy café.
At the front, someone's performing — a poetic voice breaking the silence.
Name: Kiyo
Flaw: Obsession with being remembered
---
Kiyo's poem echoes:
> "Don't forget me.
Because I'll die alone in my own memories.
Even if I'm no longer alive,
Let my flaws stay stuck to your walls."
---
Saito (whispering to himself):
"These people… they don't fight their flaws.
They wear them.
But is that real healing…
Or another form of giving up?"
---
Aira (truthfully):
"I still don't know, Saito…
When does acceptance become healing?
And when does it just mean… you've stopped trying?"
---
Scene shift:
Saito is guided to the oldest person in Silent Spire —
A blind woman called Obaa, or Truthmother.
She can't see —
but her voice cuts through illusion like a knife.
---
Obaa (calm, steady voice):
"So… you're the one they call perfect.
Did you come here by mistake…
Or was your brokenness finally necessary?"
---
Saito (honestly):
"I came to understand.
Why people hold onto flaws…
Why they wear them like skin."
---
Obaa hands him a small, empty bowl.
---
Obaa:
"Inside every soul, there's a bowl, Saito.
Some fill it with flaws.
Some fill it with denial.
And some… with their truth.
The real question is —
What will you fill yours with?"
---
Saito goes quiet.
He stares into the bowl — and for a moment, sees not water, but his own trembling face.
---
Saito (inner voice):
"I've always been blank.
They filled my bowl with perfection.
But I…
I want to fill it with me.
With what's raw.
With what's flawed.
With what's real."
---
Next day.
Saito stands before a giant mural on the street.
Painted across it:
> "Some people live through their flaws.
Some live despite them.
And some…
Are born to rewrite them."
---
Saito picks up a brush.
And writes, beneath it — for the first time, without shaking.
---
> "Perfection was never my dream.
It was their cage."
---
Final scene:
Late night.
A puddle reflects the moon — and within it…
Mirror Man reappears.
His reflection smiles softly.
And across his eyes, a new phrase:
> "You're not done yet."
---
TO BE CONTINUED