COTE One Shots

Man of Many Names part 2

Happy New Years everyone! It's 1:14 for me right now and I decided to start writing a one shot so uhhh yeah.

Fujioka Tomiko POV

I started humming as I made my way back home. It had been a long day, starting with that boy who bought gum. He even made me a flower! It's made up of gum wrapper, but still! It feels like it's been ages since I'd gotten a present. Let me look at it again...

My hands went into my pockets... Not here, huh?

Wait, where did it go! I'm such an idiot I really am.

I ran as fast as I can back to the convenience store. It's still bright outside, but in a couple of hours, the sun will go down. 

After making it to the back door of the convenience store, I heard Ogawa-san and Matsunaga-san talking.

"sigh. That girl is so useless. I dislike her attitude too." Matsunaga-san says.

"I agree. My goodness, if it weren't for the fact that we pay her less, I would've fired her already." Ogawa-san says.

"What made you hire her in the first place? I mean, she's just so annoying. She's such a pain."

"Seriously! Her whole happy-go-lucky personality annoys me so much. I only hired her originally since I pitied her."

"I really hate her guts. I think we should fire her since her parents were in-"

I left the place immediately. Why. Why Why Why?

I just tried to go about my life as happy as I can and...

I wanted desperately for those words to be fake, to be lies. But I just couldn't believe that... Why do they hate me? Why?

Tears rolled down my eyes. My entire body was shaking. Is there really nobody who actually likes me?

But... why? I- I don't understand, what did I do wrong? I thought I could finally move on...

My situation just... keeps getting worse. It feels like I'm in an endless spiral. Were all those memories we made, those conversations we had, was everything fake?

After running for a long time, I wipe my tears with a tissue. No more crying. I hear a noise from a nearby dark alleyway.

I- I want to go see what's happening, but I have a feeling that if I do, I'll be seriously hurt. For some reason, it feels like I need to go there.

Taking small steps into the alley, I hear the noises get louder. Wh-what's happening?

As I get closer, I finally see the origins of the noises.

It was 3 gang members, in black hoodies with masks. They were kicking an older woman over and over. When I saw who it was, I was horrified. It was the landlady.

As I went closer, they noticed me and started looking at me.

"Haha, so she was lying after all. She was talking about how you weren't living there and stuff."

"W-wait, what are you talking about?" I say nervously.

"You don't know? Hahahahaha. Well, we'll fill you in, kiddo. Your parents were in debt until they passed away, so we were looking for you to pay it off."

I was about to run away when one of them grabbed me and pushed me down.

"Although, it doesn't seem like you can pay anything. How about you pay another way..."

Another way? What does that mean?

"What do you mean another way?"

"I mean, with your body." They give me a horrifying grin.