Just recently lost a friend who quite completely cut of all his forms of communication, and has a high possibility of already committing sewer-side. This shit broke my heart.
But man, if you're reading this somewhere in the future and want to come back, just PM me on Wattpad, I'll send the link back right away.
The weekend after the celebration of his birthday was one of a kind. He started noticing things that were previously there, but weren't so obvious.
Amongst them was the fact that he suddenly was re-accustomed to the contact with his body. Although not as long as it had been, and neither as deep as he had anticipated, he now felt things to a more personal level.
He felt a certain level of attachment for his guardian. It felt so natural that he couldn't believe it was happening. It felt like something he'd known all along, but had simply forgotten. He doesn't know what it was, but there is no mistaking the fact that he cares about this person.
Another was how he was beginning to treasure the things people gave him. There were so many presents given, but most of them are delicacies that he didn't even like, and some that he didn't know were even edible. It was very flattering that so many people cared enough to buy him these things.
Even more so the scarf Kuroko gave him. It wasn't expensive, according to her claim, nor was it anything that he would have considered purchasing for himself. It was simply an ordinary white scarf with the colouring selected so that it would complement his affinity for black and white.
The bottom line is he was thankful. From everyone who celebrated something so trivial as that single day. He received more on that moment more than anything any other day in his life.
And he felt so good about it.
...
Monday came, and the end-term exam has begun. It was an intense start of the week, and everyone was exhausted. Even at the early morning hour, his classmates were visibly nervous and showed many signs of fatigue.
Even the talkative girl who was usually the most nosy person among them was subdued. It was like all the energy had drained from her. She was taking this seriously for once.
He took a seat by his desk, relieving his bag as usual, and leaned into the scarf for a moment. The surrounding atmosphere was all too quiet, he noted. No one was talking, and no one was smiling. All of them are busy reviewing their prepared notes and just trying to retain everything in their head.
It made him uncomfortable that he was the only one who was taking this lightly. He still remembers everything from the beginning up to this point, so he feels no need to go over the details again.
He was, however, surprised when the teacher suddenly came in without warning. There were no bells to indicate that class was about to start.
Everyone who wasn't on their assigned seats scrambled, running like a pack of wild cats. The young teacher had a stack of paper in her hands, presumably the exam, and she paused at her desk to check.
She then cleared her throat. All eyes are on her now. "As you all might have noticed. The Daihaseisai Festival is 2 weeks away. And as to make sure we have enough time to prepare for it while also making sure you're all not too exhausted after the event, the board has decided to advance it to a further date."
Everyone frowned even deeper with no exception. He has heard of the event and how grand it was supposed to be. Would he have to participate? He wonders what it would be like.
She then showcased a paper on her hand. "This right here is the participation form you're required to fill in." She passes it from the first row, which is now scurrying around, back to him. He took it and began reading.
"By participating in the event, you will be submitting a form at the registration tent on the Day of Daihaseisai. The forms will be due by next week." The teacher announces.
"Now. As for the test." She picked up the pile of papers and handed it to the utmost front desk. "First of the day, Math. There are 50 questions that need to be answered. You all have an hour to finish it."
The majority of the class jerked in surprise. No one was expecting it to be that quick. Such little amount of time for that many questions. It was hellish.
But before anybody could protest in any way, the teacher continued. "Any questions? No? Then the timer starts... Now!"
Many groaned but started off anyway. The papers unflipped, lids of pens clatters as people started marking the answers. It was a messy situation, but it has to be done. They have no choice.
He breezed through them with ease, but it's still taking him no less than 40 minutes. All because the questions demanded a detailed explanation and the answers were too complex to explain by just using numbers.
He settled his pen down. He picked the paper and reexamined it before he submitted it to the desk. His writing is still as messy as ever, but there certainly have been improvements.
He found that his answers were satisfactory, so he waited for the time to pass. Nothing happened through the remaining time.
Next up, Physics.
The same can be said about this one. It was slightly worse than maths. It didn't make that much of a difference though, just 25 questions. But hey, an hour and a half to complete it all, what'd you say about that?
The notes were the same, boring and tedious. Nothing remarkable.
At some point, lunch break rolls in. The majority of the class let out a sigh of relief and joy. They got to leave. They were free.
The same sentiment also plagued some of his inner circles. Even Frenda was complaining of severe headache and lack of appetite, it was pitiful. The six of them all looked spent and they barely restrained themselves from having a nap.
"Senpai, what're you participating in?!"
Except for one.
The underclassmen nearly jumped over the joint desks. Her eyes are filled with stars. She held a piece of paper near her chest. She handed it over to him. "This is what I'll be taking part in. Now let me see yours!" She demands, the palm of her hand extending out.
Hirano rolled his eyes at her antomanic behaviour. "I haven't filled it yet."
"Okay! Gimme it so I can fill it for you."
"No."
Her face contorts. "Why not?" She seriously just asked him that. The audacity of some people.
"Mess around and find out."
She deflated immediately and plops down and her papers. This has happened before, and he's learnt not to heed this insufferable girl's requests. Especially when she's gotten into this childish, demanding mindset.
The girl puckered her lips. That didn't work. She pouted, and wrung her hands in frustration. That also didn't work. She sighed, huffing.
He eyed her for a moment, trying to figure out what would get her to shut up. He couldn't think of any. Girls are complicated creatures that he just couldn't figure out. Every time he settles on a conclusion, they always almost immediately don't last for no more than several weeks. It was a damned tiring process.
He turned to his own paper. He hasn't written anything on it yet. He also hasn't figured out what events he wanted to participate in. He still has a week to figure it out, no need for him to rush the process.
The bell rings and Hirano sighs. The others got up from their brief slumber, looking terrible as ever. They had very little time to recover. Kuroko, on the other hand, was just as energetic as ever. She got up, excused herself and got off to her class.
Later on, he walked home just as usual. For half an hour he walked. Nothing out of the ordinary on the way home. He spent the majority of his time in the living room, paper on table and a pen in hand, still trying to figure out what to put in.
There were plenty of options to go through. All of which are gonna be dependent on their ESP ability to succeed. Level 0s are allowed to participate as well.
He wonders how a Level 0 would prevail in a game where they have to compete against the likes of him. He doubts it's going to be of any challenge.
But still, all of them are gonna put him in the spotlight, something that he wanted to avoid at all cost. He was well aware of the city's darkside. He knew for a fact that he was still wanted, if what his guardian told him was to be true, that is.
They were preparing for a new project, and managed to subsequently find a new replacement for him. But according to the documents the Anti-Skills had found. Said subjects are incapable of it, as they would be too unstable for such forms.
His eyes narrowed. He can only wonder what the world has in store for him.
The next couple of days are without a doubt some of his most stressful days.
After maths and physics are out of the windows, things start to get a little bit harder to comprehend. He relied mostly on his ability to memorize things near instantaneously, and his 20/20 logical thinking. But that could not be applied to things such as interviews.
Even history tests aren't half as bad as that.
He hoped he had done well.
He ranked 4th
For most, that alone is one hell of an achievement, especially in an environment as competitive as Academy City. But he finds no reason to feel pleased about such things, so he just blinked at it and left for his desk.
He hadn't felt the strange stares in so long now. Especially coming from that bratty kid, the one whose desk was just in front of his.
He didn't know why the kid would look at him like that, even though he was the one who occupied the 1st place both in the class and the entire school. Surely that was a difference between heaven and earth compared to his 4th.
But what he didn't notice earlier was that it wasn't just him who was staring at him. It was everyone he passed by. The thing that gave this away was the constant whispers and the way the crowd made way on the hallway. Even Frenda isn't as annoying.
Their stares were a mix of both fear and awe. Which leaves him quite confused, as he doesn't remember doing anything noteworthy this week.
Almost everyone avoided him throughout the day. He wasn't bothered, but he did feel pretty lonely. Kuroko wasn't around either. But he did stumble upon Uiharu, whom he hasn't seen since his birthday.
Like everyone else, she appears to be scared. He knew she was shy, but not this shy. "K-Kuroko is… I d-don't know. She was in the faculty room… I t-think…?" She confesses.
He hummed, his lips pursed. He doesn't like this treatment at all. Him a few months back, maybe. But him now, not one bit.
"Why is everyone so afraid?" He blurts out. Uiharu flinched at the question, and she appeared to be alarmed. But with how uncomfortable he himself looked, it was hard to understand why she should be.
"S-senpai, d-do you not know?" She asks. He thought for a moment before shaking his head. She was surprised. "How could you not?"
His eyes twitched. "Just tell me." The words must've come out harsher than intended. She went back to her fearful demeanour, if not, more. "Did I do something?"
With a quiet tone, she looked away. Gulping before answering. "E-everyone's afraid… T-they think t-that you're gonna do something… They're a-all crazy in the head. All of them. And you just... It's n-not your fault."
He narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about, Kazari?"
"You're a L-level 5… E-everyone either idolize y-you or is a-afraid of you."
The teacher eyed his papers.
He kept his eyes on the floor.
They are not the same.
"So you can't decide what to take part in?" He nodded, still keeping his eyes away from her. She smiled and got up, placing his papers atop a pile of similar contents. "Why don't we take a walk?"
She got up, split the stacks in half and handed him it. He reluctantly took it after she tilted her head at him.
The boy followed his teacher out onto the school corridor. The early noon lights are bright after the light drizzles from earlier. He felt a certain level of serenity through it. "Y'know, Yomikawa-san," the teacher starts. "The world's full of potential. But it's up to you to reach it." Her tone is genuine and meaningful.
He finally looked over up to her. "I did not know a lot of people, and I haven't been teaching for that long. But I do know that you are exceptional."
He did not reply. He doesn't understand how this has anything to do with him not being able to choose what event he is to participate in.
They walked onto a passage between the classrooms. "The thing that is holding you back is yourself." That sentence resonated in his mind, like a bell of some sort. She softens. "I don't know whether it was lack of confidence or motivation that made you hesitate. But just know that everyone in the class looks up to you."
They stopped by the lockers. She knelt down to his level. "If you can't do it for yourself, do it for others. Make them proud. You'll thrive like you always do. Okay?"
He thinks about it for a second. He nodded. She brightens. "Alright. Why don't we stick to Capture The Flag? Sounds good?" He shrugged. "Okay then, it's settled."
She picked up his stacks of paper, ruffling his hair before heading off into the other end of the corridor. "I'll be watching you then." She said before turning off a corner.
He rubbed the back of his head, and headed outside. She's nice, he thought. He didn't really interact with her much. But she really does sound as if she knows him. That made him feel respect towards the older woman.
He walked past the entrance. The outside feels very humid. He could even feel water on them still. Maybe it was going to rain again later? He doesn't know.
The dirt beneath his shoes was still damp, sinking, leaving his foot imprints a bit as he walked on them. The clouds depart a little in this part of the world. But the grey ones remain.
His gait slows down a little as he passes through the school gate.
"What's up, Level 5."
A certain voice he hasn't heard in a while called him out from the side. The voice was irked to even say the last word, it was clear he was holding in a scoff. He looked over to see who it was.
"What do you want?" He said between a sigh.
The boy shrugged, sneering all the while. He moved forward slowly, pulling his hands out of his pocket. The distance between them diminishes, so is the concealed malice hidden behind.
"Nothing." The boy answered, passing by Hirano. Sakazuki's shoulder brushed his as if to provoke the white haired boy.
The lack of reaction from the gesture seemed to have only further heightened his frustrations. "I'm surprised you're still this thin with how much you're fucking the teachers." He states with a grin. Suddenly his express shifts. "Get off of her back you dickwat. You're nothing but a teacher's pet." The tone was contemptuous.
His head perked. The word reminded him of a memory long forgotten. He used to be called that a lot back then. It wasn't that serious but the continuous use of it was what made it hurt. Even more so as it had come from fellow orphans as well. The extra attention was what made them jealous.
They thought the special class was a school. So they immediately assumed the scientists as the teachers. The word 'class' still resonates with him to this day with a negative effect. A remainder of what it used to be. Only several months ago did it slowly normalize itself.
But that word.
A dark look casts itself across his face.
An exhale, restrained anger in them clearly heard by the other boy, who turned around with a slight smirk.
"May you choke on your wet dream you rotten little prick."
The smugness in Sakazuki's expression shatters. A wide grin stretches across his face as he looks back to Hirano. "I'm gonna kill you."
The grin changes to a visage that embodies an animalistic, purely base aggression. An expression the boy is entirely familiar with. He's seen thousands of them, maybe tens of thousands.
And all of them end in one scenario...
His right arm extends and his hand barely meets the boy's chin. His instinct kicks in. And all he sees is red.
Blood spurts into a reddish mist, drifting down onto his shirt, yet never it was touched by them. Bones from his entire limb sticks out, piercing through the skins and ripping through with ease. Its flesh twisted into a spiral, there was no telling apart the skin and the meat.
It didn't last one second before the scream of absolute agony was heard. Sakazuki was sent to the floor from the shock, his entire arm now a floppy messy chunks of flesh, bone and blood. His body thrashes and buckles, with agonizing sounds pattering as his voice wails in pain, not stopping even for a breath.
Hirano stood in silence. Looking down with a surprised look. Not of what he just did but what just happened. But it was unmistakably the same scenario. One that he had briefly imagined. And here it is, now a reality that he cannot escape.
Realization struck him like an earthquake. "What have I done..." He whispers.
Something hard landed on his shoulder, surprising him. His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. He briefly noticed the hand, and in that very same second, the beautiful hand was ruined.
Again. He sees nothing but red.
His teacher, backs against the wall, face ghostly pale, mouth wailing in pure agony. Her entire arm suffers the same punishment. Her long sleeves that he used to think were nice have merged with her arms, fused from the unnatural twisting. Crimson leaks out of the torn flesh.
He wanted to puke. With his heart racing faster than that of a cheetah, he started to register what had happened. And like never before, he ran with his full capacity. His eyes wide and teary, he dares not to blink.
He ran into a corner, and fumbled around inside an alley. His back pressing against the wall, he pulled at his hair. Slowly his body fell to the floor, hiding his face into his knees.
He cried.
New chapter next week.