"Good morning Morioh!" Kai Harada exclaimed from Diya's radio. Diya opened his eyes, feeling safe and refreshed.
The sun shined into his room. Monday had been the scariest day of Diya's life, but Diya tried not to get upset in his room as a rule. Sometimes it was unavoidable, but his room was the only place that Diya could exist without his severe anxiety.
In order to minimize his anxiety, Diya had as many essentials as he could in his bedroom. He rolled out of his bed and removed his pajamas. Diya stepped into his school pants and sat at his desk. He brought out a small mirror from his drawer and a hair brush. The teenager examined himself in the mirror thoroughly. He groomed himself methodically, running the brush through his thick, dark hair.
I may not be able to control the world around me, Diya thought to himself, but I can control myself. Diya needed everything to be just right,or else he would be wracked with anxiety, more so than he already dealt with.
After applying his face wash, he took a deep breath. Now he had to go to the bathroom to wash it off. Although the bathroom was still in Diya's house, leaving his room meant leaving his circle of control and comfort.
Diya entered the bathroom. Although it was just across the hall, it still felt worlds away to Diya. He leaned down into the bathroom sink and began washing his face off.
What did Rohan mean when he said to be careful of me? Could I be dangerous? No, that's not possible, I don't even have a Stand! Although he did say he fought a Stand whose user didn't even know existed. Diya felt his heart begin to race as he lifted his face up from the sink. In the mirror, he saw the face of Heaven's Door briefly flash. Diya screamed and fell against the wall. He clenched his fists in frustration.
Braver. I must be braver. Just like Okuyasu is… If I continue to let myself live in fear, it'll only become harder for me to leave the house.
Diya was always the type to see things that weren't there. It was a side effect of his intense nightmares as a child. Even though he slept dreamlessly with the help of his pills, the fear he experienced in his dreams stuck with him forever.
As Diya entered the kitchen, he pulled down the bread and grabbed a jar of peanut butter. He hated toast because the toaster always made him jump when the bread popped out. After eating his one-slice peanut butter sandwich, Diya went off to school.
Diya was a fine student, he excelled in many of his classes. He found mathematics came easily to him, history was nothing more than a story for him to enjoy, and he had already had a headstart on learning English before he started kindergarten. The only class Diya hated was science class. Science was nothing but a class full of fear and anxiety. The infinity of space, the mysteries of the human body, the destructive power of the atom; science class never had a shortage of anxieties to bring Diya.
Although he was the son of a doctor, and a model student, school was largely unimportant to Diya. He didn't have many close friends due to his anxiety. This didn't bother Diya. Luckily, bullies didn't typically waste their time on Diya either. He spent most of his time in the halls and in the classrooms trying to avoid situations and people that made him afraid. Despite the inner sea of fear and turmoil, Morioh Central School was totally unimpacted by Diya Nagata. However, as Diya walked the halls on this Tuesday, that was about to change.
Hayato Kawajiri felt his back slam against the lockers. The short teenager glared silently at the oaf that stood above him. Isao Kato was the school bully. He was 18, but still in Diya's class because he was simply too stupid to get by. Kato looked down at Hayato with a stupid grin on his face.
"Kawajiri, buddy," Kato said facetiously. "Seems like I forgot my lunch money today, but thankfully you're here buddy."
Hayato remained silent despite the putrid stench of cigarettes from Kato's breath. Hayato, much like Diya, kept to himself at school. No one knew why he was the victim of bullying while Diya was ignored. Perhaps it was Hayato's steely demeanor when bullies confronted him. Perhaps Isao Kato felt he needed to break Hayato, perhaps he felt Hayato could take it better than the anxious kid on pills.
"You never talk to me buddy," Kato leaned in even closer, his voice becoming more sinister. "Come on, look at you. You're so small and pathetic. I'm a growing boy, I think I need lunch today more than you do, right?"
Diya turned the corner and saw Kato and Hayato and felt his heart race. He put his head down as he began walking past the two of them. Diya knew bullying was wrong, but he also knew he didn't have the ability to stop Kato.
I won't do anyone any good if I end up punched in the face, Diya rationalized to himself. He never had experienced any issues with Kato, and he didn't feel as though now was the time to start. He continued walking, intent on passing the two of them. Hayato watched Diya walking towards them. He didn't feel any hope that Diya would stop this from happening to him.
Diya was now past the bully and victim, his back turned to the teenage violence.
"Hey, quit looking at the weird kid! He's not going to save you!" Kato barked into Hayato's face. He grabbed Hayato by the shirt and picked him up. Hayato remained calm as Kato shoved him back against the locker, making a great crash.
Diya jumped out of his skin when he heard the sound of Hayato's body hitting the locker. He wasn't expecting such a loud, violent noise. He tried to regain his composure as he turned to face Hayato and Kato once more. He saw Hayato suspended in midair, and the bully ready to hit him. Kato turned his head towards Diya.
Why is the weird kid looking at me? Usually when he hears me beating some punk kid up, he runs away. Kato thought to himself.
"Hey kid, run away if you know what's good for you!" Kato barked at Diya.
Diya began to sweat as his heart continued to race faster. He was being threatened by a bully. This had never happened to him before. Okuyasu's voice echoed in Diya's mind, Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to tackle it head on.
Diya Nagata hated science class, but there was one thing he did know. One could theorize and write papers all they want, but true science was done through the action of experimentation. Diya would never become braver by standing next to Okuyasu, he had to apply the lesson Okuyasu taught him. Diya clenched his fists and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Put him down or… or" Diya had lost his words in the anxiety of his bravery.
"Heh, or what? You'll report me to a teacher?" Kato mocked Diya, still holding Hayato by his uniform.
Diya nodded timidly. Kato began to laugh in Diya's face. The kid too timid to bully was finally a target for Kato. He tossed Hayato to the ground on his right and began approaching Diya.
"Do you really want to do that?" Kato slowly approached Diya, towering over him. "I've never gone after you because you're weak, you cry too easily. I would definitely be punished by attacking you. But if you're brave now, that means I can punch you too."
Diya looked at Hayato on the floor, then back up at Kato. His heart felt as though it might beat out of his chest like a train might break through a wall of cardboard boxes. His hair was drenched in sweat. All of a sudden, Diya realized that this was not the best course of action for him.
"I… I don't want to do that." Diya shook his head no.
"Then get the hell out of here kid!" Kato screamed at Diya, spit flying into his face.
Diya put his head down and ran past Kato towards Hayato to make sure he was okay. As he ran by, Kato smirked and shoved Diya to the ground. Diya hit the tiled floor hard on his side, landing next to his classmate, still laying on the ground.
He knew he shouldn't just stay down. Even if he couldn't defeat Kato, he could be a hero in other ways. He knew he had to check if Hayato was okay. He struggled up onto one knee and gently shook Hayato.
"Hayato, Hayato. Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I'm fine. I don't care much about that guy, he does something like this everyday. I don't care, I've been through worse." Hayato shrugged Diya off and began to stand up. Diya looked over his shoulder to Kato, who was looking at the two of them and laughing at them.
Kato made eye contact with Diya and turned to walk down the hall away from them. Diya and Hayato continued to watch him as he walked.
Kato continued to chuckle as he walked down the school hallway. What a couple of chumps. Kato mused to himself. He began to daydream of different ways he could have hurt the two high school students. Damn! I forgot to take their money, Kato realized. I guess I could go back and get it from them.
"I'd like to see you try, bastard." Kato heard Diya's voice growl behind him.
Did that kid just call me a bastard? He's too much a crybaby to do something like that… How did he hear my thoughts though? This is bizarre.
"I did just call you a bastard," Diya's voice responded. "You're a stupid bastard who will never succeed in life because you'd rather hurt others than try to better yourself."
"What!?" Kato screamed as he turned around enraged. Shockingly, Diya was immediately behind him. "H-how are you there? You were on the floor on the other end of the hallway!"
Kato was unnerved by Diya's seemingly supernatural speed. Also unnerving was a slight change in Diya's appearance. Kato could see no anxiety or fear on Diya's face. His eyes seemed darker, almost black, and a frightening grin stretched across his face. Kato saw dark streaks below Diya's eyes. Streaks that he wanted to believe were from tears, but he wasn't so sure. Kato began to back away from Diya.
For every step Kato took backwards, Diya took a step forward, his smile unwavering.
"Hey, I'll leave you and Hayato alone from now on, okay Diya?" Kato put his hands up to show he wasn't going to swing. Diya remained silent as he continued to approach. "Come on kid! What do you want from me?"
"You were daydreaming of different ways you could hurt me and Hayato, weren't you?" Diya said coldly.
"N-No! I mean, well, okay yes I was. But I'll never try it again, I swear!" Kato cried out.
Still smiling, Diya closed his fist and looked up at Kato. Kato felt as though he knew what would happen next. Diya would try to swing at him. This was his chance, these timid kids never knew how to correctly throw a punch. Once Diya swung and lost his balance, Kato would be able to counter.
But Kato never got that chance. Diya swung his fist and it collided into Kato's cheek. Kato stumbled backwards and Diya followed up with a straight jab into Kato's nose. Kato fell backwards on the hard ground, his nose bleeding.
On the other end of the hall, Diya and Hayato still sat by each other on the ground. Hayato watched as Kato began pleading and backing away from something that wasn't there. All of a sudden, it had been like an invisible force had hit the bully twice. He had experienced power like this before, even if he couldn't actually see it.
Diya sat on the ground as his doppelganger by Kato disappeared, horrified by what he had just seen.