Maybe the World Isn't As Cruel As You Think it to Be.
-By Peadar Davey
Is the reality you see actually real? The Scenery you're so used to never changes.
In this school, Accel College, there was a class, 1ab. This was this classes first year in a secondary school, obviously, as it wouldn't be called 1ab if they weren't in their first year. Today, was their first day in this new school. The teacher was taking the roll, reading out each name, one by one, and asking them to say a bit about themselves.
First, Mikado Ryugamine. A timid boy, who had only arrived in the county 1 day ago. Anri Sonohara, a girl who somewhat seemed to be free of worldliness. And Kida Misaomi, a boy in his in little world who appeared so jovial. All are people who you would have seen in this class.
The Classroom door suddenly opened. In stepped a tall boy with blonde, jelled up hair, dressed in the school uniform. He had one strap of his schoolbag around one of his shoulders and the other one loose. He seemed not to be troubled at the fact that he was late to his first day at school.
"Huh? Late on the first day? Well, we are taking the time now to introduce ourselves, so you can do so now," said the old, grey teacher.
'My name is Seiji Yagami. I am supposed to be in this class, but I won't be attending school very much.' said the boy.
'I don't quite understand, Seiji,' said the teacher confusedly.
'Well you see, there is something that I need to do… something that means more than my life, so I will be leaving school to do my… task. I don't have time for you, but nice to meet you anyway. Please excuse me,' said the boy, and he walked out of the class.
'Seiji? Seiji…?' said the teacher, as he followed the boy out of the class.
This was a sudden event that disrupts the peace begins to stir the restlessness in the hearts of all. But there was one girl who had avoided this interruption. This girl was called Rio Kamichika, a girl with a seemingly mysterious past.
Rio was 15 years old. She had brown hair, tied up in pigtails, and dark reddy-brown eyes. She was looking out of the window. It was a bright sunny day, sunnier and warmer than it had been all summer. She looked so concentrated, but she was the exact opposite.
The reason why she had avoided the interruptions was because, in reality, she should have died two days ago.
Rio was born in a normal household, without any problems or poverty. Sarah Lawliet had a normal happy life. She went out with her friends every day, had a happy family, and was always on time for everything. But this all changed when she entered middle school.
Two years ago, she received a strange message on her phone. All the text said was 'Can this be really forgiven?' Attached to the text were two images. She opened up the images, and to her surprise, the pictures were of her father, kissing a woman, who was not his wife, her mother.
She replied to the number with many texts such as 'Who are you?' and 'How did you get these pictures?' And the person replied with 'I am the person who will help you solve this. These are real photos I took with my phone, and thought that they shouldn't be hidden from you.'
She didn't know what to do. So she did what she could do, and she hid the evidence. But, she kept texting this person, for a reason unknown.
But ever since she had seen these images, family events began to disgust her, but she pretended that she was fine, and laughed at her father's stupid jokes and ate her mother's meals, which were always too sweet somehow.
But this only lasted a year. One day she refused to hide her father's secret anymore. She wrote a letter to her mother, and put the pictures of her father cheating in the envelope, and put it in her mailbox. She watched her mother take the envelope, to make sure she received it.
This idea was given to her by the mysterious texter, who she was still texting, every day. He was 'helping' her get through this tough time for her.
When she came home the same day, after school, her mother and father seemed the same. At dinner, she ate her mother's sweet meal, and laughed at her father's stupid jokes, as she always does. She wasn't sure if she decided not to discuss it with him, or if they discussed it when she wasn't around, but still, nothing had changed.
She went up to her room as usual after dinner, and locked the door behind her. She decided that she was going to disappear, away from her troubles, to a happier life. She asked the texter if she could meet him and talk soon. He said that he could meet her in her local village in 10 minutes, and that he is tall and wearing a long black coat and that he was called 'Izaya'. She agreed to meet him, put on her coat and shoes, and jumped out of her bedroom window, and ran away from her troubled home.
In the village, there was a man dressed in a black leather coat, who seemed to be looking for someone.
She walked up behind him and said 'Excuse me, but are you Izaya?'
'Yes I am. You must be Rio. Come with me. Let's go somewhere where we can talk.' Said the man called Izaya.
As soon as she saw his face, she knew that this man was not to be trusted. But she still followed him because she wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if she had run away at that point.
They walked away from the village through many alleyways for around twenty minutes, with Kira in front, and Rio in the back. She was scared. She had never been there before, and she was with someone she didn't know. She was beginning to hesitate. There was no one around, and it was pitch black. As she was walking along, many feelings such as bewilderment, resistance, and regret passed through her mind. But she accepted it as her destiny. Why should she have to worry about her own safety at this time?
'Emm…where are you taking me?' asked the girl, hesitantly.
'We are nearly there,' said Izaya.
They went on for two more minutes and went into a dark, musky building. They went up the stairs to the rooftop, where you could see for miles.
'You are probably wondering why I brought you here. This is the most popular place in this area for suicide,' said Izaya, as he jumped up onto the edge of the roof. 'Take a look. Come here.'
She walked over slowly, and looked down over the edge.
'W-what?' she asked, confused about what she was supposed to be seeing. All she did notice was that it was very high up.
'If you look closely, down on the ground there are bloodstains.' He said.
'Oh. Right.' Rio said, unsure of what to say.
'Why don't you jump? You can go to another world. Be freed from your pain. Anyway, it's not like anyone would care.' Said Izaya as he walked back from the edge.
'What? Why are you saying this?' Rio said.
She began to cry. She thought it was true. Would anyone care? Would it make any difference to anyone?
'I know that I wouldn't care. I don't give a crap about you.' Said Izaya, dismissively.
That really was the last straw.
'WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? If you don't care about me, why did you make my life hell?' she shouted at Izaya.
Unfortunate events can happen at the worst times. This was one of the worst times for an unfortunate event to happen. The girl slipped backwards, right off the roof.
The moon that night was very large and bright.
To this day no one quite knows how she survived the fall. But she did. She was taken to the hospital by a tall man in a dark leather coat and nursed. When she was in hospital, the girl though about her parents. Her father, and his mistress, and her mother and her father, and she thought about the times she didn't know about. It may perhaps be that things weren't as malicious, selfish and detestable as she used to think of them. They may not have been hidden by her own weakness and compromises. And as she left the hospital, and began to make her way home, she decided to forgive them. Then she thought about Izaya. She thought about what he did. Was he really trying to help her? Did he set it up? In her new optimistic mood, she thanked him, for what she thought what he did was his attempt to help her.
Back in her new classroom she smiled, because ever since that day, the world has appeared differently in her eyes. There are as many dreams as there are people, and the same goes for secrets, and she finally realized that it's nothing out of the ordinary.
The End.