** Image above is Kurosaki Ayato's appearance.
April 2, 2004
The sounds of school bells signaled it was finally time for lunch. The first day of my third year of middle school and I was already over it. I got up from my desk, taking out my packed lunch I had prepared for myself the night before.
"Oops. My bad," I heard a boy mockingly say a few rows ahead of me.
I heard the sounds of books as they fell to the ground. There were three boys towering over the new student that had just started this year. Even if it was a new year, it was obvious that this boy had not been with us the last two years. He was a fresh face.
"Oh, no problem," the boy said in a friendly tone.
The boy had slicked back hair in a ponytail with thick looking glasses. He seemed like the perfect target for the bullies of this school.
The three boys laughed at him.
"So listen, nerd," the leader of the three said, "This is how things go around here. You are going to be our little errand boy."
I was now next to the seated boy, staring at the three that stood in front of them.
"What the hell do you...?" the boys froze the second they saw me, "Ah. Oh. It's y-you, Kurosaki-sama."
The bullies at this school thought that using such an honorific would appease me but it only annoyed me.
"It is the first day back and a new year," I start with the same emotionless expression I had since I was 8. "Already you punks are giving me a hard time. Did you idiots forget I exist or something? That this school is my territory?"
"W-wha. We were just making friends with the guy," one of the other guys said.
"Yeah! He doesn't have any friends yet so- So we were just-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses," I cut the leader off, "I am not blind nor deaf. I saw and heard it all." I took a step forward causing them to take a step back. "This school isn't for you to bully other kids. It is a place of learning. If I see you trying anything again I won't go easy on you. Take that as my warning."
"W-we're sorry!" the leader said as he bowed his head. The other two followed in his example. "I swear it won't happen again!"
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to him. And pick up the books you knocked down while you are at it."
They quickly picked up the books and apologized several times before running out of the classroom as fast as they could.
I had established a reputation ever since I had turned 12 years old. It had been an accident on my part. I had never meant to make a name for myself. I never meant for things to go as far as they did. But it was moments like these that were worth it. I was able to protect the students of this school from bullies like those three that thought that they were the shit.
"Thanks," I turned my gaze down to the boy who was still seated at his desk with a pen in his hand. He had what I assumed was a thankful grin on his face.
I shrugged, "It's nothing. They must have thought that because you were new you'd make the perfect target."
His lips twisted as if he were confused, "What do you mean?"
"Everyone knows that if you are being picked on by the delinquents in this school to go to Kurosaki-kun for help," a turned to see a girl who'd been in the class watching a few feet away. She wore a smile on her face.
"Seriously. They picked the wrong room to pick on him," another girl said with a scowl on her face.
"Right? It was right in front of Kurosaki-kun. How stupid," another said, turning her eyes on me with a smile, "You were amazing again, Kurosaki-kun!"
"Yeah! You are so cool!"
The girls kept on gushing over me. This always made me feel so awkward. I wondered if they knew underneath the male's uniform and my stoic expression was just a girl that had locked away all her emotions, would they feel the same way? Probably not. To them, I was nothing but a 'pretty boy' who was able to protect them. And honestly, that was fine with me. I didn't want anyone finding my secret. Not ever.
"But aren't you a delinquent?" I heard the new guy question.
I could feel his eyes taking in my appearance. I didn't wear the school's uniform as it was intended. I didn't know how to tie a tie nor did I want to learn how. I felt restricted with one on. I also left the first two buttons of the white blouse undone. I also had three piercings on my left ear where that half of my hair was tied back to show them off.
"Not all delinquents are the same," I replied to him. I turned my gaze to the girls, "I am sorry if any of you were scared."
"We could never be scared knowing that you are here protecting our school, Kurosaki-kun." All the girls in the room seemed to agree.
"Man," I turned to a boy in the back that was witnessing this all, "I wish I could be as cool and get the girls." His three friends that surrounded him as they ate their lunch laughed at him.
"Good luck with that," one of his friends said before turning to me with a grin, "Thanks again for looking out for us. Because of you we can all focus on our school work rather than being bullied by those lowlives."
I kept forgetting that other than the bullies of this school, everyone else seemed to respect someone like me.
"Good," I said. I turned back to the boy, "What's your name?"
I never really took the time to ever ask anyone for their names. I never cared enough to ask. It wasn't as if I wanted to make any friends. I wanted to keep everyone at arm's length. There were only a few people that I let close to me but that was because they were too stubborn to stay away from me.
"Baji Keisuke."
"Baji-san, where is your lunch?"
He seemed surprised by my question, "I didn't bring one."
"So, you intend on doing your work rather than eating?" He nodded his head. "Here." I placed my neatly wrapped bento box on top of his desk. "If you intend to study hard you need a proper meal. It is necessary to have the proper nourishment for your brain to operate at its best."
He looked down at the desk to the bento box and back at my face, "What about you?"
I shrugged, "I won't die from missing one meal today. I will just make sure to make two lunches for next time."
"Wait. Two?"
"For me and you."
He looked stunned.
"Aw, I wish I got to try Kurosaki-kun's cooking," one of the girls commented.
"Me too," a chorus of agreements were heard from other girls and even guys in the class.
I don't know why I had offered my lunch to this guy. I also didn't know why I offered to prepare lunch for him again. I suppose that I felt the need to take care of the new guy at our school after witnessing some guys trying to take advantage of him. If I took him under my wing, no one would dare try to bully him again. Yeah, that had to be it.
"Oi! Ayato!" I turned to see my friend from another class approach me with his little girlfriend holding on to his hand.
"Matsuno-san," I greeted the smiling boy as he came closer to me.
He frowned, "How many times have I told you to just call me by my first name and drop the honorific? We are friends, aren't we?"
I met him in our first year. He had it in his head that he wanted to be the top of the delinquents of this school. He was strong enough to win every fight he'd been in. Up until the day he approached me. I was the one to win that fight and somehow earned the guy's respect and friendship. I asked for neither but since then he had always tried to stay by myself until I finally accepted him as my friend by the end of last year.
I looked away, "This again? I'll call you whatever I want."
"Should I call you by the name all delinquents know you by then?"
I turned to him, eyes staring deep in his eyes, "I didn't tell anyone to call me that."
"What name?"
We both turned to look down at Baji who looked at us with curiosity.
"The Shi- Wait," Matsuno pointed down to Baji, "Are you the guy that I heard got held back a year?" Baji nodded his head once. Matsuno blinked, "You are not what I was expecting at all." He sighed, "Dammit. That's disappointing."
"You were hoping for a fight, weren't you?" his girlfriend said with a giggle. Matsuno blushed.
"Is school too boring for you now?" I asked.
He grinned, "Naw. Not when I am friends with the Shinigami."
"I swear. You want to die."
He laughed.
"You're the Shinigami everyone's been talking about?" I turned to Baji who seemed to be shocked.
"Well, he has hair as red as fire and golden eyes doesn't he?" Matsuno retorted, "Just as the description says."
"Are you coming, Kurosaki-kun?" Yukimura Misaki, Matsuno's girlfriend, questioned me.
I nodded, beginning to walk towards Matsuno and Yukimura.
I turned to look over my shoulder to Baji, "Don't forget to eat."
We walked out of the classroom to make our way to our regular spot on the rooftop.
"That's unlike you," Matsuno commented, "You don't usually show interest in others. You gave him your lunch, right?"
I shrugged, "It's nothing."
Yukimura giggled, "Ayato-kun is just so kind hearted. He probably noticed how hard it must be for someone to start a new school and make new friends. It's really sweet."
"I can be sweet too," Matsuno said, pouting.
"The only person you are allowed to be sweet to is me," she said to him, giving him her special smile.
Honestly, I was glad Matsuno and Yukimura had begun to date last year. She was a nice girl. She may be small and weak but she was there for Matsuno and she was the one that got me to accept him as my friend. She was also one of the only girls that wasn't at all interested in me. I could tell how much she cared about Matsuno. They made a good couple. The only thing I hated is that she seemed to be able to read me like an open book sometimes. It really unnerved me.
Some girls can be scary observant.
"Here," Yukimaru said, offering me some of her food, "Chifuyu and I are going to offer some of our lunch to you."
I was going to object but she made a look telling me to shut up and take the food. I did.
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April 12th, 2004
I carefully placed the bento box on top of Baji's desk like I had been doing everyday we had school. Cooking and preparing a lunch box for another person wasn't too much trouble for me. Actually, in a way it felt kind of nice. I had no one else to share my food with. Matsuno had Yukimura to make his lunch for him. She loved to cook. I did it out of necessity but I wasn't the worst cook. I had no one else to share my food with. If I shared it with anyone else I knew it would cause trouble. As embarrassing as it was to admit, I had fangirls. But Baji was new so no one would question why I would help him like this and 'take him under my wing'.
"I have to ask," I paused mid step to look back at the boy that was sitting at his desk, staring at me.
I had wanted to quickly hand it off and make my escape to meet my friend and his girlfriend on the roof. I hadn't actually talked to him since the first day. I was doing a terrible job at keeping people at a distance these days.
"Why are you bothering to make lunch for me everyday?"
"I already told you why. If that's all then I'll be goin-"
"You are a lot nicer than the rumors say about you," I turned back to look at him. "They say the Shinigami is merciless and undefeatable. You never lost a fight. And that you nearly killed someone once a few years ago."
I turned my whole body towards him. I moved, pulling the chair in front of his desk to sit on it. I was sitting with my side facing him, and arm resting on the back of the chair.
"The rumors are right. I haven't lost a fight. And I did put someone in a coma when I was 12. It's how I earned the name Shinigami." I leaned closer so that the other students lingering in the room wouldn't overhear, "I almost killed him and I would have if my friend at the time hadn't stopped me. I'm not a nice person. So, don't fool yourself into thinking that I am. Just eat the food. Study. Get into a good high school. That's all you have to do."
To my surprise, he grinned at me, "No. I think you are a nice person underneath it all."
"..." I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Had I made a mistake offering this guy my lunch everyday? I looked away, in a hushed tone, "They were going to rape her."
"What?"
"The guys that day. I beat the shit out of their leader before they could do anything to her. Just a bunch of teenagers. I saw them ripping the girl's shirt as she cried. I lost my shit. All I could see was red." I looked back at him, "I wanted to kill him."
His blood was everywhere as I kept punching his face in. It was a weird sight. I had pushed another guy so hard he fell back and hit his head, knocking him unconscious. The last guy could only watch in fear as I was brutalizing his friend. The girl had run off after I had saved her.
Sorano, my childhood friend, had stopped me by pulling me back as she cried and hugged me from behind. She got me out of there before the police came. Twelve years old and I had almost killed someone that was about four years older than me.
Baji remained silent.
"Listen," I started, moving back and speaking normally again, "I give you food because it is something I want to do. I am not doing it to be kind or for anything back. I just do what I want." I stood up and put the chair back, "If you are done studying to ask me stupid questions like that, why don't you come with me to eat with me, my friend, and his girl?"