Otherside (English Version)

Prologue

A good number of our men have landed on the island where we have just landed.  I stayed on the Moby Dick.  In the cafeteria, alone, he collapsed on the table, suddenly.  It happens to him sometimes.

The others don't bother trying to wake him up.

He does it on his own after a while.  I've decided to stay so he won't be alone when he wakes up.

His face... Even asleep, it looks like all the misery in the world rests on his shoulders.

He has a little something that attracts others.  He is always surrounded by people.

However, something is wrong.

His smile does not deceive me.

That fucking forced smile.

It's not okay.

And no one sees it?

Impossible.  They ignore.  That's all I can see.  This shadow that follows him, that doesn't let go.

They pretend it doesn't exist.

I can't be the only one who noticed.  Impossible.

He had something.  Something special.

With his hair reflecting all the colors of the evening.

And his eyes, deep, dark.

These stains on his cheeks.

And his smile.

His fake smile.

I run a hand through his hair, he jumps.

"Hmm ?"

I smile.

"You got something there."

I point to the corner of his lip.

He wipes himself on the tablecloth then sighs:

"Ah... It's cold."

After a while, he asks me:

"Where are the others?

_Outside, I answer, they are visiting the island.

_Ah, have we arrived?

I give him a nod, to ask him if he wants to go outside too.

He shrugs and gets up from his chair.

When our feet touch the ground, I realize that his are bare.  I arch an eyebrow, he frowns then lowers his head.

"Oops. Well, too bad."

I chuckle.

He advances along the beach, one foot in the water, another on the sand.  His gaze is lost in the waves on the horizon.

Arrived at his height, I question him:

"Don't you want to join the rest of the crew?"

He turns his head towards me.

"We're good there, aren't we?"

His fake smile... He doesn't have it.

Not when he and I are alone.

No.  With me, he just doesn't smile.

Doesn't he like me?

Maybe he doesn't feel the need to be polite to me.

So much the better.

I don't like him lying to me.

That he's lying to himself

Suddenly he calls out to me:

"Hey Marco..."

I look up at him.

"You think..."

He pauses.

"...that I deserved to be here?"

I tilt my head, taken aback.

"That is to say ?"

His eyes go back to the sea. As if what he's saying isn't really meant for me, he whispers:

"The world may be more beautiful without me, how do you expect me to know that?"

And then I understand.

"Ace..."

It was after this sentence that everything became a little clearer, and more complicated at the same time.