Chapter Three

The morning sun shone through Tetsuya's eyelids as he sprung up and out of bed.

"If the suns out, then I'm definetely late..." He proceeded to throw on his uniform, grab his schoolbag, and head downstairs, out his front door, and towards the school.

It took him about ten minutes of jogging to arrive at the school, extremely short of breath. The bell rang as he entered the front gates.

'Damn! Late again! It's the day of the festival, too...' Tetsuya began sprinting up the stairs and towards his classroom. Upon reaching the door, he slammed it open with the force of his running speed, making such a loud noise that even students from neighbooring classrooms looked out to see the source of the commotion.

All of his classmates began laughing their greetings and salutations. Tetsuya stood straight up, hair a mess, shirt not tucked in or buttoned, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

The rest of the morning was spent setting up the classroom for the haunted house that their classroom had voted on just about a week ago. Eventually, Tetsuya, along with some of his other classmates, were sent to change into their costumes.

Tetsuya couldn't help but have a short flashback while being forced to look at himself in such a ridiculous costume while his make-up was being applied.

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'wh-what?!' Tetsuya exclaimed.

'You heard us, guys," one of his female classmates exlplained. 'We accidentally ordered one of the men's costumes in a womens size, so whoever in this class has the capability of wearing it is going to have to pull straws in order to determine who will wear it.'

'W-well, why can't we just not use it?...' Tetsuya offered. 'I mean, just cause we have it doesn't mean we have to use it...'

Tetsuya could feel the wrath in his female classmate's eyes as they glared at him. 'We specially ordered these costumes, so we HAVE to wear them! Us females will not allow precious resources go to waste!'

'Well, we don't even know who will fit in it yet!' One of Tetsuya's male classmates spoke up. 'How will that be determined?'

'Whoever looks like they might fit, will try it on, and whoever wears it best gets to wear it!'

The females slowly made their way towards the other classmates. They began making their picks.

'Alright! The four candidates are Kagamune-san, Jinto-san, Ritsuke-san, and Aito-kun! We'll try the costume on in that order!'

The four petite-figured boys were rushed behind the curtain, one by one. Before Tetsuya knew it, it was his turn.

The girls basically shoved him into the changing room, working so fast Tetsuya could barely comprehend what was happening.

The group of girls stood backwards slightly to observe their work.

'Something doesn't seem right...' one said.

'But what is it...' another added.

'...Oh! I know!' one spoke up. 'He's wearing boxers underneath! It doesnt reveal his figure as well, making the dress look unappealing!'

'Well, wh-what can we do about it, then! I can't go commando...' Tetsuya could feel his enemies closer upon him. 'Like, seriously! Can't!'

'Here's your two choices, Aito-kun,' the class rep spoke up. 'One, you just wear nothing underneath and have no makeup and look like a weirdo in a girl's costume. Or two...' she approached Tetsuya slowly, sending a chill down his spine. 'You let us work on you.' She pulled a pair of woman's panties from behind her back.

'Wh-what?! I-It hasn't even been decided yet! I-'

'Guys!' the rep yelled from across the room. 'Say I if your vote is Aito-kun!'

A simultaneous I erupted from the classroom.

'Any takers?' No response. Tetsuya began to sweat.

'Well, then...what will it be, Aito-kun?'

Tetsuya fell to the floor, defeated. "Kami-sama, what have I done to deserve this torture?!" he thought.

The class rep approached Tetsuya and sighed. 'Alright, I give in. We'll let you have a match of rock-paper-scissors with the other contestants to decide who really wears the costume. Any objections, Aito-kun?'

'N-no...' Tetsuya stood, and walked into the other side of the room where the other three contestants waited.

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'I can't believe I still lost the rock-paper-scissors game anyway...' Tetsuya thought. 'Wearing these girl underpants, it's...not something a man should be proud of doing!...well, at least I'm making the girls happy?...'

"There, all done, Aito-kun~"

Tetsuya finally got a good glimpse of himself in the mirror. His full costume consisted of a tattered nurse's dress, a long woman's wig, a large needle, and extremely terrifying make-up.

"Get ready to scare, Aito-kun! If this doesn't scare. nothing will..."

"Wow, you're really good at make-up. I actually look like a girl! Thanks, um..."

"Oh, it's Oda Fuyuki. You can just call me Yuki-chan~"

"S-sure, Yuki-chan..." Tetsuya fumbled with his words. 'Pull yourself together, idiot! At least don't look like a complete moron to one person!...'

"Aw~ how sweet! Thanks, Aito-kun!" Yuki sat back in the chair Tetsuya had previously sat in. "You know, I'm glad I got to choose my job. Nobody else knows, but...I actually really want to be a make-up artist for live-action anime movies when I get older!"

"Th-that's pretty specific..." Tetsuya added.

"Yeah, I know...but, haven't you ever been so excited when your favorite book or show gets turned into a movie? I love when my favorite animes get turned into live action movies...I guess it just makes the idea of being part of an actual anime a little bit more realistic, you know?"

"...yeah..."

"Oh, sorry, sorry! I shouldn't be holding you back with my life story! Get on in there and show the others what scary really is!"

"Y-yes, Yuki-chan!" Tetsuya rushed into the classroom to prepare for the opening of the haunted house.

Noon arrived faster than Tetsuya had anticipated. The class rep temporarily closed the doors to the classroom, and turned on the classroom lights.

"Alright, everyone! One hour break! Be back at least five minutes before one!"

Chatter erupted in the classroom around Tetsuya. He began to feel short of breath.

Yuki approached Tetsuya and noticed something was up. "You okay, Aito-kun?"

Tetsuya gasped and looked in the direction of Yuki. He smiled and replied. "Yeah, I've been a little sick recently. I just need some fresh air, is all."

"Ah, well...okay! I'm gonna go hang with some of my other friends...be safe, okay?"

"Y-yeah, sure..." Tetsuya watched Yuki follow her friends out the door and down the hallway. He sighed, collected his wallet out of his school bag, and headed into the hallway himself.

'Hopefully, no one recognizes me in this stupid get-up...' Tetsuya thought, sighing heavily. 'That would definetely not turn out well...'

Tetsuya was at least glad to be out of the classroom. The tension had been building up and it felt like he was about to choke to death. He slowed down his breathing as he headed to block D of the school, which was not being used for the festival. It was also temporarily off-limits, but Tetsuya didn't really care. He needed to calm down a little before 're-entering society'.

He walked down a couple of hallways before successfully finding an open door and entering the isolated classroom.

Tetsuya shut the door behind him and slid down it onto the floor. For a second, he had blissful, solitary peace.

Not too long after that, he heard footsteps coming from down the hallway. He didn't know who they belonged to, so he locked the door behind him.

A hand grabbed the handle, shook it for a few seconds, then let out an angered groan. 'Thank God it's a student...' Tetsuya thought.

Tetsuya soon learned there was more than one student behind the door. 'I thought you said this door was unlocked!' One whispered.

'Are these...people from my class?' Tetsuya thought.

'Dude, what the heck!' another whispered.

'Shit man, it was, I swear! A teacher must have come down and noticed and locked it back!'

'Well, where else are we supposed to go?!'

'Uh, we could go ask Tetsuya?'

Tetsuya froze.

'Oh, yeah, yeah! He is always isolating himself! I'm sure he knows a great place to hang out without being found!'

'I don't know man, he kinda freaks me out. He acts all normal, but totally isn't!'

'Don't worry, man. He's a goody-two-shoes. He won't rat us out - he barely has enough bravery to ask the teacher to use the restroom.'

'Haha! Yeah, you're right!'

'Hm, Tetsuya? Is he the one who won that one dress or something?'

Tetsuya felt short of breath.

'Yeah, he's in our class, right?'

'Haha, he's so transparent!'

'Come on guys, lets go ask "where a quiet place is".'

'Hahaha!'

'heeheehee!'

'Huahahahah!'

Tetsuya felt strangled for air. He grabbed his shirt where his heart is and tugged downwards. 'Need to...get some fresh air...' he told himself.

Tetsuya sloppily stood, unlocking the door and stumbling into the hallway. He made his way into block C, down the narrow, empty stairway, and into the back of the school.

Upon making it outside, Tetsuya fell to his knees, still unable to catch his breath. He could feel himself begin to shake. 'No, this is not good, not here...' he thought.

Tetsuya tried to think of a place nearby he could get to where no one would see him. He snapped his head left, snapped his head right...

He noticed one of the smaller storage rooms for physical education equipment not too far away. Tetsuya slowly picked himself up and dragged himself behind the storage unit.

Tetsuya slid against the back wall of the storage room and onto the ground. He could feel the dirt on his legs and shivered.

The shaking began to become more violent and Tetsuya couldn't keep the chokes back. He desperately gasped for air as his skin felt tight, and his insides felt on fire, yet on the outside he felt like he was solidifying in a meat freezer.

Tetsuya desperately dug his nails into the ground to keep from falling to his side and leaving his classmates to ask how he possibly got his dress that muddy. It felt like his lungs were collapsing and he felt like he was going to implode at the same time.

He heard footsteps from afar off. 'Why?! Why now?! No!' Tetsuya thought, trying to keep in his gasps.

Tetsuya assumed it was another couple of students, sent to retrieve some equipment as punishment or something. His lungs were on fire and he could feel his fingertips bleeding, but he tried his hardest to contain his gasps and chokes.

Suddenly, Tetsuya felt something he had never experienced before. It was like his heart suddenly said 'Well, if you're not going to breathe, I'm not going to beat.'

Tetsuya fell to his sie, letting out a blood-curdling scream. He could hear the footsteps rush out from the storage room and towards him.

"Oh, shit! Is he okay?!"

"I don't know, man! Call the police!"

"Nah man, we can't deal with those guys again! Let's just take him to the school and have the teachers call! We'd get lectured by both sides if we were the ones to call, anyway."

"Guys, he might be dying! I'm ruthless but I'm not heartless!" Tetsuya could feel someone pick him up. "Let's fucking go!"

The pressure of being carried weighed down on Tetsuya as he gasped for air, shaking violently. He began coughing, which kept him from trying to breathe correctly. His head began to feel extremely light.

"Aw, fuck! Let's hurry!"

Tetsuya could hear frightened gasps and screams, though his eyes were squeezed shut. 'We must be in the courtyard.' Tetsuya tried to force his eyes open, even if just a little bit, feeling like maybe he 'wouldn't die as fast' if he did.

Tetsuya began to slowly make out figures. 'People,' he thought, clinging to consiousness.

Soon, Tetsuya was not able to keep his eyes open. He was beginning to feel weak, succumbing to the pain.

He could feel whoever was carrying him slow down. Did they find teachers? Did they end up calling the police? Did a giant earthquake suddenly erupt and create a large crack in the ground in front of them?

Tetsuya could still faintly hear voices between his loud gasps and strained shakes. "Who is this boy?" he heard.

"We don't know...behind the storage room."

"We'll talk about...later. We...to find out...parents are."

The scuff of hurried feet skidded in the dust. "I'm...parent...Tetsuya."

"Who...you?"

"...is...I'll take him..."

"We'll call an..."

"...not...I'm...doctor...childhood, and..."

"We still have...ambulance!"

"...my card. I'll take...pital."

"We will still...to...sir."

"That's alright. I'll come...fill out..."

"Alright, sir...bye."

"Good..."

As soon as Tetsuya was transported to new arms, he felt his longevity deplete, giving up his consciousness.