Chapter 4: Pardon the Breakdown
1 year later
Ever since the Valentine's dance last year, Morishige and Mayu had been closer than ever and made some new friends. They met Satoshi Mochida and his little sister
Yuka. Then they met Yoshiki Kishinuma and Ayumi Shinozaki who seemed like a couple but they both vehemently denied it. Seiko and Naomi Nakashima were still very
close to Mayu and Morishige grew somewhat fond of the both of them. Today was your average Tuesday and that meant gym class, something Morishige hated as
much as Kito. He always got picked last, was consistently called gay and fag by the other boys, and had balls thrown at him and the worst part was Mayu wasn't able
to comfort him when he was on the verge of tears. Of course the boys and girls had separate gym classes so couples and friends were unable to have fun together,
and this made Shig a very vulnerable target for ridicule and abuse. "Hey four eyes fag, you're on my team." an older boy named Sechi mocked. "Heads up Sechi. He
might just suck your balls for fun." Kito and his friends laughed. Morishige hung his head as he felt forced over to his dodgeball team. "Don't worry, dude. I'll help you
out." Satoshi encouraged him. He managed to get a slight smirk out of his new found friend but nothing more. Bouncy red, blue, and green rubber balls flew across the
room like speeding bullets and Kito's team kept winning round after round. Last round. Morishige and Satoshi were up against Kito and Yoshiki. Satoshi got Yoshiki
knocked out of the battle but Kito hit Satoshi in the face with a high speed throw. "It's just you and me, faggot. Why don't you just lie down and suck my dick like a
good boy?" Kito laughed. Shig kept his eyes on Kito's hands and the blue ball of death that would decide the final winner. The ball flung out of Kito's hands and
slammed into Morishige's jaw. Kito laughed as he presumed himself victorious but hung his jaw open when it was made clear that Morishige hadn't let the ball touch
the ground and was holding it in his hands. "What was that about sucking your dick?" Morishige smiled with his face radiating confidence despite the marks the ball he
held had left on his face. "Nice job, Morishige!" Satoshi said with genuine applause. "Dude, you kicked Kito's ass. I wish I was on your team." Yoshiki smiled. Kito's
friends picked him up off the ground as Kito's own rage and jealousy bubbled in his brain. "Alright! Class ends in 5 minutes so get your shit ready for your next
classes!" the coach yelled at the sweaty boys. Morishige was in the middle of putting his nasty, sweaty gym clothes away in his messenger bag when Kito, Sechi and
their friends attacked him. "You think you're so great, don't you?" said a blonde boy with large muscles even a grown man would envy. "You sure know how to work
with balls don't you? Well have I got a treat for you." Kito smirked. Sechi kept his eyes on Morishige as he held him by the throat and smiled as he watched Kito
dropping his underwear to the cold, concrete floor. "Let me go! I need to take my medicine after gym class!" Morishige squirmed. "Prachisoki, go though that little slut's
bag and see if he's telling the truth." the purple haired boy instructed his friend as he slipped on a condom. "What are you doing? What are you going to do to me?"
Sakutaro cried. Prachisoki instantly found the medication Morishige was talking about, lying in his bag on top of his gym clothes, and tossed them into Kito's hands.
"See these? If you want them back you're gonna have to let me fuck your little bitch ass and suck my dick. But if you don't..." Kito trailed, "I'll take my Swiss Army knife
and jam it into your stomach. So what's the plan?" Morishige was crying like a newborn infant at this rate. "Good. I like it when my bitches cry before I fuck them." Kito
shoved Morishige to the floor and grabbed his legs and placed them on his shoulders. "I'll make you scream, bitch and no one will save you." Kito whispered into Shig's
ear. "Hold up guys!" a voice echoed throughout the locker room, "I forgot my shoes! Be back in a sec!" The laughter of the boys was so loud that none of them could
hear Yoshiki walking up behind them. "What the hell is going on here?! Kito, what are you doing to Morishige?!" Yoshiki yelled. "None of your business, you little rat!
Just leave Morishige to us." Sechi told him. "Well it looks like the evidence is all on your phones. So I suggest you let Morishige go unless you want to get expelled."
Kishinuma instructed with threats in his tone. Kito and the boys all left the half naked sobbing boy on the floor. "You alright? Did they hurt you?" Yoshiki asked.
Morishige kept whimpering with no response to his friends words. "Here, I'm pretty sure you'll need these." the boy said handing over his friends uniform slacks.
Morishige pulled up his pants and sat down on the bench to cry some more. Yoshiki wasn't the touchy feely type or one to get in touch with his feminine side, but even
he knew that the distress the guy next to him was facing was very difficult to bear and he tried to be supportive. He let out a slight laugh trying to make Morishige
more calm. "Heh...If my parents saw Kito they'd think I was a godsend." Yoshiki turned to face Morishige and saw him lying on the floor with his muscles contracting
violently and his head jerking back and forth. "O crap! What do I do?" Yoshiki panicked. Yoshiki's friends went to check up on him since he was taking so long to get his
shoes and found their blonde friend kneeling beside a convulsing Morishige. "Get help now!" Yoshiki yelled. The boys had never seen anything like it before but they
followed his command and got a teacher and a school nurse to check on him. By the time the help arrived, Morishige was lying still. "He'll be fine, but he should be
taken to a hospital just to be safe." the nurse told a shaken up Yoshiki. A few hours later, Morishige awoke to the sight of his family and friends surrounding him.
"What happened? Why am I in a hospital bed?" "You had a seizure honey. Your friend Yoshiki saved your life." Kumiko told him with a small tear rolling down her cheek.
Yoshiki looked away, not wanting to feel like some sort of superhero or saint. Naotaro, Morishige's grandfather, hugged his only grandson. "Thanks grandfather. You
always know how to make me smile." Sakutaro told him. His grandfather's husky blue eyes locked onto the boy that saved his grandson's life. "You should be proud of
yourself, young man. If it weren't for you, we'd be well...not happy to say the least." "It's no trouble sir, but I think I should head home. I'd stay all day if I could, but
my parents are probably wondering where I am right now." Yoshiki smiled. Morishige wasn't sad his friend left because he knew he had a life and needed to get home.
Not much else happened in the week or even month that followed Shig's trip to the hospital. Sure, school was typical in that Shig was bullied and all, but nothing as
extreme as what had happened a month ago. But one Wednesday morning he got some news that he wish he never knew about. "What's wrong mom? Did something
bad happen?" the boy asked his mother. "Your grandfather passed away last night. Someone tried to mug him and he fought back and got stabbed so much. There
were wounds all over his body." Kumiko cried. Morishige didn't seem phased at first sight and went to school with no problems. "Shig, bro what's up?" Mayu asked very
cheerfully. Morishige seemed numb to her words and his eyes looked blank. "What's wrong? Did someone hurt you? Are you sick?" Morishige fell into Mayu's arms and
sobbed so heavily that her clothes were soaked from his tears. "Grand...ppp...a died last night. Someone killed him because they were a big coward. He wouldn't hurt
anyone and he was my idol. I wish I was there so I could've saved him." "Shig, there's nothing you could've done. If you were there you would've gotten hurt and I
can't stand to see you hurt." Mayu told him. She let out a smile to brighten the mood between themselves. "C'mon, let's go and hang out with Mochida and Kishinuma
in homeroom and then we can have lunch with Seiko and Naomi. We might even get that new girl to sit with us." Mayu said while guiding him to homeroom. "You mean
Ayumi, the girl Kishinuma likes?" he questioned. "Yeah, that's it. Geez, I can't remember anything today." she laughed at herself. When they got in homeroom their
friends greeted them like they haven't seen each other in years. Yoshiki surprised Morishige with a noogie and a pat on the back which Shig was taken aback by. Kito
and his crew all stood around his desk talking to each other about the usual: money, how much a certain teacher sucks, how much of a badass one was, how they
could kick all the asses of everyone in school, and doing drugs, usually Jagerbombs. But Morishige could hear a slightly different subject being whispered amongst
them. "So this old guy was walking the streets by himself like a total loser. So I tried to get some money off him, and the fucker thought he could beat me so I stabbed
him like 50 times. Of course he stood no chance, and I got me an easy $100 bucks!" Kito laughed. "Wow, man. That's so hardcore! I bet he bled out like a bitch."
Wantasubi, the boy with the muscles of a pro bodybuilder, said. "Yeah and no one will care because old people are useless like that four eyed faggot over there with
his even faggier friends and his slut girlfriend." Kito snidely told the gang. Morishige could feel his face catching fire with anger. Kito killed Naotaro! No, that can't be
right. Shig must be paranoid and over thinking the situation. And why was he picking on his friends who have done no wrong to him and why did he call Mayu a slut?
He must be having a super ego trip today. On his way to pre-algebra, Morishige was attacked by Kito and his gang. Shig didn't want to get in trouble so he decided to
just make a run for class. The halls were filled with so many people that is was hard for both parties to accomplish their goals. Morishige felt like a gazelle running
through the plains and Kito and his friends were like a pack of lions going in for their prey. His heart raced through his chest and he skidded on his heels as he got into
the classroom. Mayu and all their friends had already made it to class and Morishige lost sight of the kids who were chasing him. "Hey Suzume, Morishige's here. I told
you he was fine. This teacher takes his sweet ol' time before he gets here so he couldn't have gotten into trouble." Ayumi reassured a slightly panicked Mayu.
Morishige felt very relieved and approached Mayu to back up Ayumi's claim but he felt someone shove him onto the polished wooden floors. Thankfully, his glasses
didn't even get scratched but when he saw Kito standing over him with a knife he felt like he was paralyzed from the neck down. "Well, well. Looks like you've got
nowhere to run. No one in this room will save you." Kito smirked. Mochida and Kishinuma tried to hold Kito back, but his friends pummeled them to the ground. "What
makes you tick little guy? Maybe I should try my knife out on your girlfriend over here." Kito grabbed Mayu's arm and made a long, but not deep, cut. Shig's eyes
widened, his heart was racing faster than ever before, and everything around him seemed unreal except for what was going on with Mayu. Morishige got up and
tackled Kito to the ground. "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER! I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!" Sakutaro screamed like a banshee. Shig yanked Kito's knife out his
hand and his vision turned red. Without knowing it, Morishige plunged the blade into Kito's neck. The children all had horrified looks on their faces as Kito began
gurgling on his own blood, watching him struggle to survive. Mayu knew she had to stop him from killing Kito. "Shig, bro! Stop it! You'll kill him!" Mayu yelled. When she
faced him, his eyes were as wide as saucers and his face seemed to show that he seemed happy at what he was doing. "Stop...ppp...I'm s...orry" Kito cried. Shig's
face didn't change it's expression and he continued to stab Kito. He plunged the knife into Kito's heart at least twice. When Morishige came through, he saw himself
standing over Kito's limp body with Kito's knife in his hands. "What did I do? O God, I'm a murderer!" Sakutaro dropped the bloodied blade onto the floor and backed
away from the corpse in the middle of the room. Some of the other kids, including Seiko, Satoshi and a few of Kito's friends tried to get a teacher to call the police as
Morishige just sat on the floor in complete horror of what he had done. He didn't know what would happen next or how Mayu and his parents would feel about him,
but just the sheer fact that he killed another student, someone else's son, someone's friend, and someone's boyfriend made him shudder in pure terror.