Hiromi Shiota woke from her slumber, her eyes still dark and baggy from staying up so late with Nagisa. They had so much 'fun' last night, well at least it was fun to her.
She went to her bathroom, staring at her face in the reflective glass over the sink. She examined her features, her unruly hair, the slight wrinkles under her eyes, her sweet, thin lips. She released a frustrated sigh, before rinsing her face with a handful of cool, bluish water.
After she got out of her shower and dressed herself, she opened the mirror cabinet and stared at a small plastic bottle. It read 'Fluoxetine - TAKE 2 TABLETS BY MOUTH DAILY, MORNING AND EVENING, Warning: Taking more of this medication than recommended may cause serious bodily harm'
She let out an icy breath before opening the bottle and placing a tablet on her tongue. She walked to the kitchen and poured a cup of water to flush it down.
She walked into Nagisa's room, adjacent to her own. She carefully crept in, cursing at the creaking of the door. She sat down on his bed, admiring his beautiful face. From the moment he was born, Hiromi had fallen in love with everything about Nagisa. That blue hair, not much unlike her own, his charming smile, and that elegant alabaster skin. Everything about Nagisa was perfect, well almost everything.. She shook such a thought out of her head.
"Oh my sweet darling Nagisa, promise to never end up like me. Go to a wonderful university, and find yourself a job at an esteemed company. Something I was never able to do.." A somber look dominated her face.
She noticed him muttering about in his sleep, mentioning someone called Karma. How interesting, she thought.
She gave him a light hug, still trying to prevent his waking up, and then left his room, wishing him to have a good day.
The school day had only just begun, and Karma was already tired of it. He had chosen on skipping second period. Global History, what a bore. He decided on patrolling the hallways, seeing if anything interesting was happening. Some gossip, a fight, a blue-haired girl. He blushed at the idea. But soon, his thought would become a reality.
He noticed a small figure walking ahead of him down the hallway.
That blue-haired beauty was slowly walking next to the wall, before turning the corner.
Karma followed suit, a fluttery feeling overcoming him.
He had never felt this way about anyone before, and he didn't know why he was feeling it now.
He quickly caught up to Nagisa, tapping him on the shoulder.
Nagisa turned around, wondering who had interrupted his daydreaming. He met his eyes with Karma's and dread filled his whole body. 'Oh no'
Karma noticed the look on his face, "Hey, what's wrong? Not happy to see me?" A devilish smirk defined his face.
"What, no! I'm fine, just a little tired that's all. And I've never seen you on this floor before."
"Well I know I'm supposed to be on my floor for Class-B, but I thought I would roam around the school instead, have some fun y'know."
"Uh huh, yeah sure. Well, I have to get back to my physics class now. If I miss any more of it, I think I'll fail this semester." Nagisa was ready to get away from him, after all, he was too embarrassed to even make too much eye contact with him, considering what happened before.
"Oh yeah? Well, I could help you with that. I may not look the type, but I know a thing or two about physics. You could come to my place after school." Karma had never invited anyone to his house before, especially not a girl. But it seemed to have spilled from his heart and out of his mouth. He was anxious to hear the bluenette's response.
'What the heck?! I barely know this guy, and he's inviting me to his house. Not to mention he thinks I'm a girl' Nagisa's mind was in havoc
"Well, uhh, I don't think I can today. I have to stay after school to help someone with something." He had to think of an excuse quick.
"Oh, that's fine. How 'bout tomorrow?" Karma had spoken faster than he could think. Why was he harassing this poor 'girl' to come to his house?
Nagisa was far too soft-spoken to deny people, something he could thank his mother for. He just wanted to leave at that moment and couldn't think of anything else to say except for
"Yeah, s-sure I guess. I can use all the help I can get at this point."
Karma was relieved he hadn't scared her off yet. He asked for her number, and she gave it obligingly, before running off to her class.
'Nice, I actually got her to come' he thought, 'but I did kinda force her too. Dammit, I hope she doesn't think I'm some sort of creep. Well, I'll just be kind and helpful tomorrow, and show her I'm not that bad. Yeah, that's all I have to do!'
It was last period and Asano was ready to end it all. Sure, he was a scholar, but even he got tired of school at times.
When the bell finally rang, he headed out to his office, which was actually just the classroom used for student government. In fact, there would be a student government meeting taking place there in 10 minutes. After that, Asano would have to head to track and field practice. Then after that was done, he would have to go to the karate dojo his father forced him to join. Finally, he would head to the gym, where he would zone out the entire world around him and break down his body till he couldn't move anymore. He would just lie there on the sweat-soaked mat beneath him, struggling to keep his aching agonies locked inside his heart as tears threatened to be released in a vicious downpour. But of course, he would never let those tears escape, he would never let anyone see him in such a state of turmoil.
He'd go home, eat dinner with his parents only saying a word or two, and then go upstairs to his room. He'd read a few chapters of his new favorite book and then get undressed.
He'd take a shower, brush his teeth, wash his face and go to bed.
Before he went to sleep, he would ponder about existence, wonder if there truly was a god in this loathsome world. He'd say a prayer of sorts and then drift off to the quiet realm of sleep. His dreams often included a certain blue-haired boy.
What an exhausting routine indeed.
Meanwhile, blonde hair whipped in the wind, and a set of aqua-blue eyes gazed down upon a city of lights. A city that never sleeps.
Author's Note: Well I thought I'd put the focus of this chapter more on the supporting characters and note their troubles, especially Hiromi's and Asano's. Hope you enjoyed it.