As Akiko grew older, she finally realised that nobody else in the world saw the shapes that she did.
However, this didn't discourage her or make her sad. Instead, she revelled in her uniqueness and every day she delved deep into her mind, exploring what she could do with the ability only she had.
Of course, the most obvious thing was that Akiko was able to sense the moods of another person. This became easier as she grew older and more sensitive to the shapes; she could spot, or sometimes feel, small and subtle differences that told her volumes about the people around her.
Everyone who met the child always left with the impression that she was mature beyond her years, and very perceptive. Part of her mature and intelligent gaze came from the fact that she spent so much time thinking about her surroundings or contemplating deep within herself, organising her thoughts, rather than running around without a care in the world as other children her age did. However, other children got on well with Akiko, because her beautiful smile soon put them at ease, and they happily played with her whenever she wandered over to join them.
As Akiko grew older, she discovered more power within herself. When she was eight years old, she realised that in her sleep, she could let her mind float upwards and gain a bird's eye view of her surroundings, allowing her a greater range. In fact, she could do many things with her mind in her sleep, including being able to see shapes through walls. It was as though the shapes that she needed to clearly see when she was younger were now becoming a sense for her, and she could detect their presence and feel.
Just as Akiko was starting secondary school, another change happened within her. Her power gained an active quality! Instead of merely observing the shapes, Akiko found that in her mind, she could somehow touch them and move them. She started doing this whenever she had the time to develop her "shape moving muscles", and soon, Akiko could even dispel an angry or tense atmosphere by shunting the angry shapes away, until they lost their anger and became softer and fuzzier.
Every evening before going to sleep, Akiko created a routine for herself of moving shapes with her mind to make the world a little more happy and harmonious. As a result of her inner calm and content, the girl was able to apply herself well to her studies and became a model pupil at school.