You're useless. You're better off dead. When did I become like this? What started this? Was it the time I won the haiku contest? Everybirdie made fun of me for months... no, I just ignored that. Maybe it was the poem I wrote in English? I never saw the end of that one and yet, no... it still wasn't that. Worthless. Trash. You don't deserve to live. The voice in my head never stops talking. It puts me in my place. I am useless. I am trash. I should just die.

I failed my entrance exams. All of them. Even my safety school. That's where it all began. Yes, I'm sure of it now. Everything else hurt, but I bounced back. I sought refuge in my writing, and I was happy. I'd write out my feelings, and that kept me going. I made it into Yamasemi Prep school, and I learned about the wonders of video games. After about a month, I began to get addicted to gaming. I'd play all day, all night, missing class to play video games non-stop. One day, I just turned my computer off. I never turned it back on. I began to spend more time lying in my futon, sleeping all day. At this point, it had been at least a couple weeks since I had been to class. I hadn't even left my room. I had enough food to last me another month, and I was writing. It was all I did. I'd wake up, eat some food, write for a bit, eat again, and then sleep. The entire time, since I had started prep school, the voice inside of my head talked to me. This is garbage. Just give up. You're awful at writing. I ignored it and kept writing. Why keep trying? Why keep bothering? You're not good. You're not improving. You're only getting worse. I stopped writing one day. It became too much for me. How long had it been since I left my room? 3 weeks? 4 weeks? I lost track of time. I stayed in my futon all day. This was rock bottom. Just do it already. Why keep living when it's only brought you pain? Why deal with the problems of the world when you can just slip away? How much longer could I handle it? I heard talking from outside the door one day. I walked over, and pressed my head against it to hear what was going on.

"Hey, you know that weird smell that's people have been talking about lately?" Weird smell... I know that...

"Well, the landlord began to get a bit worried by it. He thought something might've happened, and well, he was right. The student in room 702... he's dead."

"It's really strange, you know? It's been so warm lately, and a lot of young students lately are just passing away like this... who knows what's causing it? They say that his body itself just... melted and ruined his futon. Everything left over is rotten and decaying. That smell is awful, though. I really wish the police would clean it, because I'm beginning to consider moving out. Absolutely disgusting."

Reality shattered. My world fell. I screamed and ran back to my futon. I hid in my blanket and cried. My neighbor... I never knew him. I don't know his face, I don't even know his name. And yet, now he's dead. Nobody cares that he's dead... they just care about the scent. My neighbor is dead, and nobody cares... nobody is sad or anything.

I saw a corpse in front of me. His ribs were exposed, and he was missing an eye. His other eye was out of his eye socket, hanging by a thin strip of flesh. His entire body was melting. "It could have been you."

My legs were moving out of my control. I ran into the door so hard it was forced open. Everything was a blur. I couldn't think straight. I stumbled down the stairs nearly falling. No... this can't be happening. There is no way this is happening. What if it happens to me!?. I stumbled around for a few minutes, unable to stop moving. I finally made it to a street light and sat against it, catching my breath. Rain poured down from the sky, leaving me drenched. I... I said I wanted to die... do I really? Do I just want to be forgotten like that and gone forever? I buried my face into my arms, my tears making me even more soaked than the rain was making me alone.I heard a stranger say my name, and I looked up.

I was walking home from teaching one day, when I noticed a brightly colored quail sitting against a street light. His face was familiar... "Nanaki-kun...? It's you, right? Kazuaki, Nanaki, a student at Yamasemi Prep?" It was one of my students, Kazuaki Nanaki. He had stopped showing up to class about a month or so ago. "It's me, Hitori Uzune. Where have you been? It's been about a month. I was beginning to get worried, but you never gave any contact info!" I passed him my umbrella and flashed a quick smile. "Life can really get us down. Even I'm let down sometimes. You just have to keep on pushing forward, you know? Don't let life keep you down. We all face troubles, and we have to overcome them. It helps us grow and it defines us as who we are. If we didn't face any difficulties, then we'd always stay the same and life would be boring. Listen, if you ever need someone to talk to, please contact me. It hurts me to see one of my students in such a pained state." I waved, and gave him a smile as I walked away. Before I turned the corner, I looked back and saw he was already gone. "Nanaki-kun..." I muttered under my breath. "Please be safe."

I made my way back to my room, clutching Uzune's umbrella tight even when I made it inside. What a gracious gesture... I'll remember it forever. Tears still in my eyes, I held my school contact book in my hands. Hitori Uzune... No. I couldn't. That was clearly just a kind gesture, there's no way he'd actually want to talk to me. He's smart, and he looked cool the way he walked away without his umbrella... there's no way he'd want anything to do with me. Absolutely no way.

I saw the corpse again, a foot in front of me. Just you wait. With the way you're living now, it'll be no time until you wind up dead and suffer the same fate I have suffered. I jumped, letting the book go and fly into the air. No! I don't want to die! Without skipping a beat, my hands flew to my phone. "U-Uzune-kun! It's Kazuaki Nanaki, your student at Yamasemi Prep!"

"Uzune-kun really saved my life~" Kazuaki wiped away his last few tears, as he leaned onto Hitori's shoulder. "Without him, I don't know if I'd even be here today." He wrapped his arms around Hitori who tried to hide a smile.

"We had a lot of one on one classes, and after a lot of hard work and effort he really made some major improvements. Helping teach him in a way helped me improve too, and I don't know if I'd even be working in such a nice place without those classes." Hitori placed his arm around Kazuaki, making the young man blush. "We've grown really close since then, and I've decided to be more of an assistant this year just in case Kazuaki-kun has any trouble teaching and could use another hand."

"Ahh, thank you Uzune-kun!" Kazuaki opened his eyes and gazed at the clock. "Oh no, class is almost over! I have to get back!"

"...Do you even remember why you ran here into the staff room in the first place? Mr. Nanaki, please don't forget these papers."

"Ahhh! Thank you, Isa-kun! I owe you big time!" He sprinted out the door, back to the classroom.

"Hohohoh. So you do."

"Don't even think about it, Isa."

"I've been developing a medicine lately that could possibly help him. You see, by injecting a serum that disables the part of the brain that triggers sadness, Mr. Nanaki will be unable to feel these negative emotions. It's a simple step towards a more peaceful world, Mr. Uzune." Hitori rolled his eyes.

"Listen, you're not going to test it on Kazuaki-kun. He's already been through too much, and I won't allow you to risk it." Hitori walked towards the door, and slowly opened it. "I admire your intentions Isa, but sometimes you just get a bit too risky. You're a remarkable scientist, but all it takes is one screw-up to taint your name. Please stay away from Kazuaki-Kun." He walked out the door, letting it close squeak shut behind him.

A/N: Let's start to get a bit more serious! Can't have Hatoful Boyfriend and just be silly, can you? This chapter is mainly just a retelling of Kazuaki-Kun's Book, which can be purchased from Hato Moa's Amazon page. It's short but very good, and I highly recommend anyone who likes Hatoful to check it out! It's only a dollar, and it takes place in an AU where Nageki didn't die. I've kind of melded it into this AU with a few very minor changes that don't really impact anything. Some parts of this chapter may read a bit funky; that's because I originally wrote it using Moa's written dialog from the book. However, I realized how unoriginal that is (and plagiarism?) so I went back and replaced it all with my own dialog.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because I had a lot of fun writing it. I really like writing for Kazuaki-kun, and it sort of helps me vent to put his feelings down. Thank you for reading, and shout out to ANGHELLOVER123 for encouraging me so much ily can't wait for your review on this chapter