𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙠𝙮𝙪𝙪 𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

nightmares // kuroken // angst

The hallway around them started to disappear, changing to a dark, black void that seemed to both go on forever and also trap them in, like a box. Kenma sat there in the middle of the students, who were now circling him in the same way that vultures circle their prey. The students started growing taller and taller until they towered over Kenma tremendously. He was shaking so badly he was worried he might never calm down again, and even though he wanted nothing more than to back away and hide, he couldn't bring himself to move. He was frozen in place, his papers, textbooks, and shattered gameboy scattered on the ground around him.

The students' faces and features only distorted more, becoming so unnatural that Kenma could barely recognize them as people anymore.

And then, the yelling began. The monster-students around Kenma all opened the mouths simultaneously, letting out vicious remarks and nasty comments about everything the blonde was insecure about: his long hair, his height, his clothes, his addiction to video games, his lack of friends, and so on.

He could feel his breath speeding up, each intake of air getting smaller and smaller until he was dizzy and could barely breathe at all. He put his hands over his ears so he wouldn't hear the yelling, but it didn't help. In fact, it made it much, much worse, as if the students were all now yelling through megaphones as they screamed at him.

And suddenly, the dark ground beneath him opened up, letting him fall through the hole and further. He kept falling, and falling, and falling—

He shot awake in bed, his whole body trembling. He took a few shaky breaths and hugged himself, pulling his hoodie around his body tightly as he tried to calm himself down.

~~~

"Are you looking forward to the first day of school next week, dear?" Kenma's mom asked, taking a sip of her morning tea as she sat with him for breakfast.

"Not really," he mumbled, still trying to shake away the fear from his dream last night.

"You'll finally be at Nekoma High, though, isn't that exciting?"

"I guess."

"Ah, lighten up a little bit, Kenma," she said, giving him smile that looked both sympathetic and reassuring. "I'm sure this year will be great for you. You'll be at a new school, which means new friends!"

"Yayyy," he answered, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "Mom, people don't like me. I . . . I'm too different."

"That's not a bad thing, dear. It's better to be yourself than it is to act like someone you're not just to blend in."

Kenma took a deep breath, sighing sadly as he finished his breakfast. "Thanks, Mom."

"Of course, honey!"

The blonde stood up and took his dish over to the sink before rinsing it out and walking back to his room, turning on his computer and opening up a game. Just like he always, he spent his free time playing video games in his room. Yeah, it might not have been the healthiest way to live, but he didn't really care.

~~~

That night, he didn't go to sleep. He simply pulled an all-nighter, and it was mostly accidental. He had stayed up binging another anime, and didn't finish it until some ungodly hour. By then, he decided to just stay awake.