"This dream isn't feeling sweet. We're reeling through the midnight streets. And I've never felt more alone, it feels so scary getting old."

Ribs by Lorde, 2016

He worked hard for everything, he was certain of it. He spent his entire summer vacation studying in advance, only to place sixth overall in their Preliminary Examination. It's a shame that he didn't even make it to the Top Five.

Where did he go wrong?

The worse part is, Akabane managed to place two ranks above him. And there they thought that only the two of them would be vying for the top spot when that didn't turn out to be the case, not even the slightest. Neither of them saw this coming. How could the other be so complacent about this?

He didn't even notice it until the results came out. He monitored every activity there is, his mistakes were so minor that they only ranged from one to three mistakes. He occasionally scored full marks from here and there as it should be. He used to be the top student consistently back then after all.

Now, he just doesn't understand why.

Why?

Perhaps he focused on himself too much that he didn't notice how impeccable the others were. Were they really? Maybe he couldn't really blame them, there was an influx of transferees, foreign students even, since it's their first year in high school.

That's when it all spiraled down for him. After that incident, he made a vow to himself to strive harder, but he only ended up striving hard without amounting to anything.

Now. Now he was waiting for the outcome of their Midterms Examination. He aimlessly paced back and forth across the hallway during their lunch break, anxiously eyeing the bulletin board near the faculty room from time to time to check if the results were already out.

Students immediately flocked in the area where he stood once the door finally opened. Incessant noise and chatters soon reverberated through the hallways, tension filling in the atmosphere. Their professor clung the scrolls which contained the Midterm Rankings to his elbow. Soon enough, the professor proceeded to pin them to the bulletin board for everyone else to see.

Asano warily scanned through the list and searched for his name, which only took him a few seconds.

"I see. Eleventh." He mused to himself.

He didn't even bother checking the ranks of his other classmates. His face was void of expression but his mind was in deep turmoil. A storm began to brew inside him. He could start to feel his chest constrict against his will, while tears were almost in the brink of falling. He quickly escaped the scene as he disappeared through the crowds to further prevent himself from losing control.

Control. He was always in control. He always came in first until his last finals in Junior High. He only failed once. But now, he was failing at an alarming rate.

Eleventh. Now he wasn't even in the Top Ten. How did he plummet down far to the bottom so steeply like that?

Akabane couldn't care less about his current class standing. It may not be the first spot he initially aimed for, but at least he was still in fifth place. He only fell one ranking below from the Preliminaries, it couldn't be that bad. He wanted to treat himself after class, perhaps a cup of Strawberry Gelato and some Katsu Burger would make his efforts for the semester go appreciated.

Moments after contemplating, the gaze of his very own pair of mercurial eyes finally left the bulletin board and accidentally made its way to another pair of amethyst eyes that were glistening in tears. His jaw slightly dropped open at the realization. He took a quick glance back to the list of rankings to check his name on it, he then glanced back at him only to find out that he was already long gone.

Asano didn't know where else to go. He felt discouraged to attend the remaining afternoon classes after their lunch break. But at the same time, he felt scared to cut and skip classes. He's never done any school violation in his entire life before. With that, his thoughts unintentionally switched to Akabane. The boy was doing all sorts of violation and yet his grades were still exemplary given his previous ranking. He wondered what his rank was right now? He wondered how Akabane could remain so nonchalant and still be able to score full marks.

Unlike him, he had to work hard for that while carrying immense pressure that felt comparable to the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. This is when it all began to spiral down for him. He strived hard only to end up not meeting any of his expectations. He went from being the smartest and most talented student to just a mere nobody. No one even voted for him during the elections after the Preliminaries. Of course, how could they? He didn't even secure a spot in the Student Council this time around and he didn't bother to ask himself why. Also, almost everyone he knew in Middle School already left. They were already four months into the school year and yet no one eventually stayed with him. He thought that maybe it was for the best to not have any peers for the entire school year so that he could focus more on his studies.

But that was all for nothing.

It all happened so quickly. He wondered how long he could keep up with it for more years of education to come ahead of him.

Eventually, the rivalry between him and Akabane ceased to exist. With what's happening to Asano right now, Akabane would've used it as leverage, as a vantage point to spite and provoke him out of fun. But even Akabane, the most devious delinquent back in Middle School, couldn't bring himself to do it. It's not that he pitied him or anything, it's just that he didn't care.

It's just that he didn't care until his gaze met those glistening pair of amethyst eyes in front of the bulletin board a while ago.

"Here." He calmly said as he stuck out his arm and held out a carton of strawberry milk to Asano, who mindlessly sat on his desk beside the window with a blank stare. The latter was snapped away from his thoughts from the moment Akabane stood by his side. He blinked several times before he acknowledged his presence.

"What?" He bluntly asked Akabane as he narrowed his gaze. They barely interacted with one another and now the former 3-E student just casually approached him out of nowhere.

"Are you... okay?" Akabane carefully asked him without any trace of concern. The moment those words came out of his mouth, he immediately knew that he made the wrong decision.

That was probably it. That was Asano's breaking point. The dam finally broke and all it took was one stupid question about how he felt from none other than Akabane himself. He abruptly stood up and slung his bag onto his shoulder, snatched the strawberry milk from Akabane, and stormed off.

He's finally doing it. He's skipping classes for the first time ever in his life because he felt... bad. That and he probably looked stupid while he drank the strawberry milk in tears as he strode across the hallway.

But he didn't care about that anymore.

"I guess not..." Karma muttered to himself while he stared at his empty palm that held the carton of strawberry milk just a few seconds ago.

Should he just leave him be and give him some space? Should he follow him? Why is he even asking himself these questions? It was bewildering, seeing Asano act that way. It was uncharacteristic of him. He never thought the day would come he'd see him like that. He liked it better when that stuck-up asshole was over-competitive, at least it didn't disturb or bother him that much.

"It's not like it's the end of the world, right?" Asano heard a familiar voice utter from behind as he leaned onto the rails of the main building's rooftop. The mild breeze caressed his cheeks that still stung from his now dried up tears. His soft, strawberry blonde locks flew gently with the wind, slightly obstructing his view of the hilltop where the former worn out, End Classroom once stood.

Without turning around, he bitterly spat back, "Well what do you know about it?"

Asano heard Akabane take a few steps closer. The delinquent told him with an irritated undertone in his voice, "For fuck's sake, you're eleventh out of three hundred students. That's still gotta be something."

Was... was that just a form of consolation? What was Akabane even trying to do? What is his ulterior motive behind this? He shrugged off that annoying feeling of being confused and tried to drive him away, "And you're talking to me because?"

Akabane sighed off coolly. He's sure that it's going to take more than this to break through his tough exterior. Why was he even getting himself involved in this anyway?Why was he even trying? He raised an eyebrow and asked him back, "You weren't planning to kill yourself, were you?"

Asano finally turned around to face him and barked out a humorless laugh in response, "Tch. Akabane, it appears that you're smarter than me now, so why don't you go figure that out for yourself?"

After that, Asano brushed past by Akabane, slightly bumping his shoulder in the process of doing so. He stopped right at his tracks when he was just a few steps away from Akabane. Without facing back, his stern expression slightly softened as he muttered a half-hearted, "Thanks for the strawberry milk."

Akabane didn't respond to that. Instead, he kept his silence and watched Asano disappear as he stood idly at the rooftop. The winds have gradually increased their intensity, and the clouds were now tainted with blotches of light-grayish hues.

He didn't know what to do anymore. Asano didn't know what to do anymore.

Perhaps they were both going to skip classes today.

Note: Tell me what you think about this. I honestly don't know if this should remain as a one-shot or if I should continue to write a multi-chaptered story about this. Thanks for reading!