Day One
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4:00 AM
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Get up. It's time to start the day.
He got up quickly, where others would be in a daze, Yukio did not falter. He moved with purpose. Everything in order. His order. There was no time to waste. He had to catch up on his classes. A drawback of being in the Special Intensive Program was that he got twice the workload of a regular student. That is not even mentioning that the material they were going over is the equivalent of a college course. The first year representative cannot slack. It would be unseemly.
Yu-Keru. Yu-keru. Where did I leave it?
He quickly scanned the room until he found what he was looking for. The bottle lied next to varied pain medications and gauze pads; just to right of small glass bottles labelled 'cold medicine' and his phone. The energy drink that got him through his days, without it he shuddered to think what his days would be like. It was a godsend. He smiled, gratefully remembering how early he got to bed yesterday- 11:30 pm. It had been a blissfully easy day.
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4:03 AM
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With targeted swiftness, he chugged his Yu-keru and collected his textbooks. He walked towards the closet and grabbed his uniform. It was without a single wrinkle. Cleanliness is close to Godliness, Father Fujimoto told him that. Looking back he wondered if he meant it, maybe he was talking just to put him at ease.
No, time to think.
Time to shower.
He began to walk towards the door when he paused by the desk. His face hardened. It was an almost imperceivable change. His eyes grew unfocused and his sight seemed to gaze a thousand meters away.
Twitching, his left hand collected the cold medicine and he began to depart to go to the shower. Before he had made it out of the room he threw a glance back towards Rin who remained sound asleep. Rin was sprawled across his bed in a laid-back fashion. A light smiled spread across his face. He looked so peaceful, he looked so calm. He was only a few feet away, but he was nowhere near him.
Nii-san you are miles away. It's better like that.
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4:10 AM
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Rapid strides got him to the shower at an appropriate time. He was on schedule. Placing his belongings under a sink, he began to discard his sleepwear. The shock that came with the rushing water was a relief. His entire body ached and his eyes strained. The wash of numbness was welcomed. The cold seemed to stall his mind, bringing his frantic mind to halt for a few sweet drawn out seconds. He was on schedule. A few extra minutes won't hurt.
I have time.
Not enough, not if you want to do everything.
Shaking his head he banished the thought. He placed his hands on the tiles of the wall and bent his head so the stream of water would hit his neck directly. Muscle by muscle, the ache in his body began to alleviate. The ache in his bones, that stayed exactly where it was. He was alert, yet exhausted. A fantasy ran through his head, a moot one. It was of him skipping school, disappearing off for the day without telling anyone. It was a plan he had thought of many nights. A plan that he reformulated and tweaked- again and again- when the days got longer and sleep stopped bringing him rest.
It was a simple plan. Rin slept like a rock, nothing shook him from his sleep. He recalled once having a horrible nightmare. The sensation of falling overtook his senses and caused adrenaline to course through his veins. He damn near cracked the floor with how hard he landed. He managed to catch himself, he did not fall, but he did make a sound. Rin had to have felt the movement. He had to, but he gave no indication of being even remotely conscious. He just stood there in the dead of night feeling frightfully alive.
If he left like normal, Rin wouldn't notice a thing. He never missed a day of school, so it wouldn't look terrible. Everyone gets sick. If anyone asked he had a cold, no...he had a fever. He was burning up. Cram school, was another matter though, his brother would definitely notice if he didn't show up. He was the teacher after all. He imagined the confused look on Rin's face as the clock ticked forward and yet never brought him. The confusion would turn into a joke about him always taking his time, feeling like he was more important than the others and so they could wait. The joke would turn into a jog to their shared room, then to the shooting gallery, but then what? Okumura Yukio would be nowhere to be found.
Where could he be? What happened to him? Flying past his eyes were the faces of the other cram students. The hardworking Suguro, who took class deadly serious. He would be irritated that his time was being wasted and he was not getting closer to his dream. The concerned look of Konekomaru, who would likely be the first to worry and suspect something was wrong. Next, was the smiling face of Shima, laughing along at Rin's joke showing no indication of thinking any differently. He would be the second to know something was different, but the only one likely to figure out what he had done. Moriyama would be worried and start trading theories with Rin, trying to rationalize his absence. She would be so confused, even if he explained it to her she wouldn't understand, neither would Rin. Takara wouldn't care. He would just sit back and watch. Izumo would be impatient and call the others idiots for rushing to outlandish conclusions when it became clear he wasn't going to show up she would join Rin and Moriyama. Mephisto would know he was gone within fifteen minutes. It would be impossible for him to stay gone long.
It would be a real inconvenience, their concern, if not a bit touching. This problem though would be easily remedied by leaving on a day where they had a different class. He could arrange it the day before. He could pawn them off on Shura or some other first-year teacher. They could do work on their practical physical education classes. They wouldn't have time to notice his absence until noon. If he played it right he could even fly under Mephisto's radar. Be gone and back before anyone noticed.
Mephisto would notice.
What could he do?
Why am I considering things that are impossible?
Leaving has never been an option.
He turned the knob easing off the water. If he lingered a bit, he wouldn't think of it again. He got out of the shower and changed into his uniform. Without a single thought, he marched off to the shooting gallery.
The gallery has its own locker room: blue and grey lockers line the wall. They vary in size ranging from small, for those who only want a place to put whatever items they might have on hand or in their pockets, to medium for those who want to put in a small bag along with their weapons of choice, and large lockers for duffle bags and backpacks and weapons of large size. With strong steps that seemed to get louder and harder with each step, he approached his locker. A modest blue locker, enough to fit a change of clothes, his guns, and if need be a backpack.
He took out his guns and headed for the shooting area. There lined up directly in front of him about 20 feet away were three human shaped targets. He unloaded three rounds within quick secession of each other, easily within the span of thirty seconds, they all hit dead in the centre.
Decent.
He did a few more secessions with a nonmoving target from different distances, before feeling that there was no more improvement taking place.
I hit every target, but I'm too slow. I need to get faster...stronger.
He was about to make his way over to the ball range when his phone rang. It was an alarm.
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5:00 AM
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Time to work out.
He quickly left the shooting gallery. He walked with his legs stiff and straight. On anyone else this would have looked like the walk of a man about to lay a beat down on some poor unfortunate soul, but not on him. No, on Yukio this looked dignified and gallant, less like a general off to war and more like a prince off to rally the troops. If any of his classmates were to pass them he would smile and greet them, with a smile so dazzling it would make them forget any inconsistencies they noticed. Okumura Yukio was seamlessly put together.
Though, he was slower than when he made his way to the shooting gallery from the shower and more likely than not he would be slower when left the gym.
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6:00 AM
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He was walking, but it was a staggered walk. The steps were coming down heavily. One could hear him down the hallway, his arrival sounding off like war drums.
Step-step-step-step Dun-dun-dun-dun
This wasn't acceptable. This was intimidating. This was forceful. This was pathetic. There was a lag, his steps wavered for just a few seconds too long.
What did he look like?
He knew what he felt like, a stack of bricks in tightly buttoned uniform. His muscles ached, his head was clear from the exercise, but he could sense himself starting to go foggy. He felt rush of dysphoria slam into him knocking the air out of his lungs. He had to get to a bathroom.
Dun-dun-dun Dun-dun-dun-dun
Gunshots, his quick steps had turned into gunshots firing off in the dawn. He flew down the corridor in a blaze of gunfire. He only slowed down once the bathroom was in sight. He dove in like a soldier ducking into the trenches to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
He looked into the mirror and wanted to scream. He wanted to slam his fist into the mirror until it was so thoroughly covered in blood that he couldn't see himself anymore. He looked pallid, the colour had drained from his face, the only pigment that seemed capable of staying on his face were the black rings that seemed to have made a home for themselves under his eyes. The worst part though was his eyes. His eyes were wide with the look of madness.
He looked like he had seen a ghost. HA. HAHA.
An ugly laughter filled his chest. Who was he gonna call? Control slipped away from him for a moment and at that moment the bathroom filled with a frantic laughter.
He had no one to call. The only person he ever could have called was the same person who pitted him against the ghosts in the first place.
Deal with it. You weak snivelling coward. They are never going to go away and you are never going to be able to get away from them.
Like a rubber band stretched too wide, Yukio snapped back together. He regained his composure. He took a moment to assess his heavy body and look into the mirror until his pupils shrunk back to a normal size. Then he slipped his hand into his pocket. He pulled out some Yu-keru. Without much thought, he chugged a good portion of it. He continued to stare himself down in the mirror.
I can't show my face like this.
He imagined the reaction his classmates would have to his current appearance. The look of pity in their eyes once they were reminded of their Rep.'s poor health. It would come as no surprise since he had health problems since middle school. He always left class early. Their poor, poor Rep.
Pathetic.
He splashed some warm water oh his face before meticulously wiping himself down with a paper towel. Then as hard as he could he began pinching his cheeks. It was painful the first time he did it, but he liked the result. The slightest bit of colour returned to his face. He didn't look anaemic anymore, or at least like the anaemia was that bad. He went in a second time. This time applying even more pressure. The results were even more pronounced, but he still looked like he might pass out. He went in a third time. While he clasped his checks hard between his first finger and his thumb he wondered if it was possible that he could tear a chunk of his face off. It felt like he could. Once he had lost all feeling in his face he erased himself in the mirror. Finally, he looked like a healthy young man, if not one with a slight blush.
In fact, he looked all most plastic, like he was a mannequin.
Good, a model student should look inhuman. Let them all strive to match up to me.
The library had such a pleasant smell. It was an old and settled smell, like the smell of the monastery. The library felt like it had stood there from the beginning of time and would stand there long after.
It felt like an oasis in the loud desert that was True Cross Academy. Yukio closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He could hear only his own breathing. If he turned his head around there wasn't a single soul to be found. He was on the highest floor his legs could carry him to.
Focus.
He had two days worth of homework to catch up on. There was the eight-page long essay on the Meiji era. It was due two days from now. He didn't expect to have too many problems with it as long as he could find the time to get it done. Then there was his calculus homework, which he was five days behind on.
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He was good at it. Yukio shined in all his math classes. He was like the northern star; he leads the class in grade point average. Yet, here he was with no time to get his work done. What would the class think? That he couldn't do it? That the Rep. might not be as smart as they all thought he was? Maybe he shouldn't even be the First Year Representative then if he was so dimwitted!
Underneath the table where his hands were, Yukio's knuckles had turned starch white. The colour of death its self. So, he had to start pinching his knuckles too.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
There was time. He could make time. He just had to think. What could he move around in his schedule to allow him to get caught up? During the day? It's no good. Missing class would draw unwanted attention to him. His classmates would buzz around him like wasps the next day stinging him with questions. Perhaps in the evenings? No, that wouldn't work either. He had to teach, prepare future lesson plans, grade assignments. The only thing that would come from putting that work off would be him getting even farther behind. Later in the evening? Work. Work. Work. At Night? That could work! He was averaging four hours a night, but if he just trimmed it down to two hours from now until the weekend that could allow him to get caught up. There was only one problem...His hand twitched and he became acutely aware of the weight in his pockets.
There were remedies for all types of problems these days.
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He'd get it done. Somehow: he would get it done.
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7:00 AM
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School started at eight. He had to be fast if he wanted to get this done without his absence being noticed. The air was burning across his face. It felt like he was breaking brittle panes of glass when he walked and the shards were scratching against his cheeks. He had been all over downtown looking for a high tower. His training had been...stagnating for a few days now. He had so many questions and was frustratingly short on answers. The only option if he could not find answers was to solve the problem himself. That meant experiments and he was the lab rat.
Quickly, but brutally he rubbed his left eye.
His search for isolation had brought him to Kinko's Shopping Center. Named after it's founder, Kin Komatsu, Kinko's was a shopping mall that went under during the recession that hit Tokyo following a tragic earthquake. It's highest towers never got around to being fixed. Apparently, the new owners forgot about the land or just didn't care enough to do anything with it.
If one thought too hard about it this place would be impossible to look at. It was the ruins of someone's dreams, of their hard work. They lost everything. While the people who have everything forgot they even had it. Why? because they don't need to remember.
His steps were awkward as he made his way over debris and shards of glass that could easily slice through his shoes, but Yukio did not falter as he cleared away through the literal and figurative ruins of the shopping mall. Eventually, he found what he was looking for; A high tower. Well, it was more of a Ferris wheel. Not the large kind he saw at the amusement park, but rather the miniature versions one would find in a shopping mall. Obviously.
He made his way to the top of the Ferris wheel slowly. Quickly, he made it to the top quickly. At least he would have if he was a normal high school student, but he wasn't. He was first class exorcist Okumura Yukio and he could have gotten to the top much faster if it wasn't for his damn tired body. He felt like he was trying to climb to the top in wet clothes.
When he got to the top he was disappointed. The Ferris wheel was high enough that it would definitely crack a few bones if he jumped, but it didn't present the risk he needed if he was going to force his eyes to spark. Still, it wasn't a complete waste. At the very least this was a start. Kinko's was incredibly secluded. It was considered dangerous, due to the debris. Therefore, no one ever came anywhere near it. It would be a good place to launch his new training program full throttle with no fear of interruption.
For a few moments, Yukio stood quite at the top of the Ferris wheel. Staring deep into the ground beneath him. The look in his eyes was as if the ground was just going to swallow him up.
CRACK
What was that?!
Without skipping a beat Yukio had both his guns drawn out in front of him as he searched the surrounding area for the source of the noise. He didn't have to search far as he quickly spotted the culprit.
Directly below him, staring up at him with big eyes was the Student Council Vice President of True Cross Academy —Inoue Reo.
Inoue-Senpai!
Yukio quickly put his guns away and began to scramble down the Ferris wheel.
Shit! This isn't good. I've done everything in my power to keep my secrets for my classmates. If Inoue-Senpai gives me away than all the work I've done since I was seven years old will be for nothing. I'll be exposed!
By the time he made it down to the ground, his heartbeat was completely erratic, but his face was smooth and friendly. Not that it mattered, because by the time he reached the ground there was no one there. He was alone again.
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7:30 AM
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The walk back to school was a long one. Yukio didn't want anyone to know where he had been- especially Mephisto. Though the reality of the situation was the Mephisto would find out sooner rather than later, but still, it never hurt to try and buy himself some time. So, he went to the school and took the long way around and entered through the back.
His sweat was gathering at his underarm despite the cold morning. Before he entered through the back gates he pulled out a moist towelette and began to wipe the sweat off his forehead and neck. He made sure to follow up with a fresh coat of deodorant under his arms. No one would be able to tell he went anywhere at all this morning, let alone jogged back. No one...except for one person.
Yukio was walking in through the southern entrance when he heard the train whistle go off in the distance. For a moment he turned his head and gazed gently off into the direction of the train.
His gaze was broken by the first ringing of the bell: class was going to begin.
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Chapter Notes:
Hello, again! How are you?
I'm ahead of schedule with this post. That's good because I am about to become very busy with work and summer school, so the sooner I get this out the better. There is a lot to go back over with this work especially, it's longer than all my other works put together, despite it only being six chapters long. It makes me happy to be working on it again though, I forgot how much work I had put into this series. I have so many ideas for The Daily Verse Universe you guys don't even know! I have a lot of fun surprises for you guys, once I get farther along with this series.
All that being said, I'm looking for a temporary Beta reader to help edit the rest of the original chapters. I can do it myself, of course, but it's a lot of work to do and I'd rather just focus on finishing and polishing the new chapters. If you're interested feel free to reach out and PM me! I'm looking for someone who is reliable and good with English and grammar. Also, someone who can get back to me with their notes pretty quickly.
I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Thank you so much for reading! I have you have a marvellous day!
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