[Warnings (Spoilers): Contains heavy involvement of attempted suicide, depression and anxiety, as well as references to domestic violence and abusive relationships. Reader discretion is advised.

Notice: This was in no way written to lighten the horrors that are these mental illnesses, but rather to bring to light that anyone could be suffering, no matter how good their life may seem, or how happy they appear to others.

I'm going to have a full statement at the end of the chapter fully explaining myself. So if you suffer from any of these illnesses or are interested in knowing my personal reasons for writing about these topics, please read the writers comments at the end of the chapter which will explain where to get help and also my experiences with these topics.]

Prologue - Naho's Perspective

Naho stared silently into the kitchen. Frozen by what she was seeing. 'Why...' was all she could think. She sneaked to her bedroom. Locked her door and simply lay face down on her bed and cried.

'That wasn't real' she kept telling herself, 'Dad loves Mum so much... he wouldn't... no way... not that...'

*BUZZ BUZZ*
She looked over at her phone.

*BUZZ BUZZ*

Kakeru was calling her.

*BUZZ BUZZ*

She went to reach for her phone, but she didn't make it. By the time her hand was anywhere near it, her consciousness had already faded.

Chapter 1 - Naho's Perspective

Naho stumbled into school. Her eyes didn't leave the floor. Suddenly, her mind flooded. She lost sight of where she was... She collapsed onto the floor crying. She held herself, terrified. She eventually found a wall and leaned against it.

'Where am I... Help me... Save me...' her head became clouded... her consciousness began to fade again. Just like the previous night.

Her eyes began to close... she began to fall to the side...

"Naho!" Her tear filled eyes shot open. That was Kakeru's voice. 'Did he hear me?'

"Naho! What's wrong? What happened?!" Naho could hear the fear in Kakeru's voice. 'I really don't want to worry him more than I already have now. He has his own problems.' she thought to herself.

Naho forced a smile. "I'm fine. I just tripped and it hurt a little. That's all"

'I cant tell him. I can't tell him about this. He has his own problems it'll be too much!'

"Naho..." Kakeru suddenly pulled her into a hug, held her tightly and didn't let go... at least not for a while.

Eventually he continued "Let's go to the nurse's office okay?"

They walked to the nurses office, talking about their movie date the day before. However in the back of her mind, the vision she saw upon walking into her home remained.

"By the way. I text and called you last night but you didn't respond. Was everything okay? Did something happen?" Kakeru's question shook Naho.

It took her a while to answer. But eventually, in a very weak voice she responded. "N-No... I just... I fell asleep." Kakeru stopped her immediately and looked straight into her eyes, clearly noticing how she changed when the previous night was mentioned.

"Naho!" Kakeru shouted sternly, "Something happened last night, I can tell from how you're acting right now."

Tears began to fill her eyes again...

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry Kakeru." she cried.

"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who made you cry just now." he responded... she could tell that he felt it was his fault.

"I lied to you Kakeru. I lied to you. The only reason I'm crying right now is because I tried to hide it from you... but you noticed..." she kept wiping her eyes, but it only seemed to make her cry more. "Last night... when I got home... I looked into the kitchen and saw my dad... he... he... to my mum... I went upstairs, and I lay on my bed and I saw you calling... but when I went to reach for my phone... everything went black."

She didn't know it, but once again, Suwa, Azusa, Hagita and Takako were all around the corner, listening as usual. It had become a pattern for them to do this, however it was usually to see her acting close to Kakeru... this was different.

Kakeru grabbed Naho, held her tightly and although he didn't make a sound, Naho could feel her shoulder getting wet, and she knew that while he didn't want to show her... Kakeru was crying too.

"Don't hide this stuff from me okay! I want to help!" Kakeru seemingly begged Naho, "This morning you didn't trip did you? You broke down, and became overcome with thoughts, didn't you!"

Naho couldn't lie anymore. She responded, not with an answer to the question, but with an apology, "I'm sorry Kakeru..."

"Don't apologise. You don't need to. However I want you to promise me something. I want you to promise me that from now on you'll also tell me everything... even if its this bad... please" Kakeru finally broke the embrace, tears in his eyes and his voice wavering...

"Yes... I will from now on." despite saying this, Naho really did wonder if this was a promise she could keep. It hurt her for a moment until Kakeru said 3 words which somehow, hearing it in his voice, calmed her, and made her happy for a moment.

"I love you." The two fell silent for a moment before Naho broke down again. After about half an hour the two walked back to class. Feeling a lot closer than they did upon entering the school building.

[Hey guys its me again. Now I know this is the first chapter, but please, tell me what you think! I'm thinking of going down the avenue of that promise Naho made being really tested, as well as showing the situations from both Naho and Kakeru's perspective. One downside to my plan is that the rest of the group will not be involved, at least in the earlier chapters.

I also want to make it clear early on that I am not shying away from serious topics, hence my warning at the beginning. The only thing I'm avoiding mentioning is the situation between Naho's parents. I feel like if I explicitly say what is happening it may get a bit too serious even for a story about mental illness.

My aim with this story is not to deface the severity of these illnesses but rather bring awareness, and show that hiding it is a lot easier than people think. I have suffered from (and am still suffering from) pretty severe depression and anxiety myself and really do hope this will bring more light to the hell that people who suffer from this stuff go through.

Thank you for reading everyone! I hope you found it interesting and I'm looking forward to writing more in the future!]