Shuichi pov
I woke in a cold sweat, another nightmare I guess.
I've been having nightmares for years on end, they were all different but all focused on one specific topic.
They all had different outcomes but all of them ended with everyone I care about dying in front of me, and then, the me in the nightmares killing themself from the stress.
There were a few deaths in particular that always made my heart shatter to the ground no matter how many times I saw them die, I always felt like crying seeing the different ways they all faced their inevitable deaths.
The deaths of my mother, uncle, Kaede, Rantaro and Kaito. I cared about those people the most, which probably explains why those hurt the most to witness. Kaede, Rantaro, Miu and Kaito were my childhood friends, although I normally spoke mostly to Kaito, Kaede and Rantaro and I still do.
Kaede and Kaito were my friends for the longest so I told them what had happened to me when I was younger and they always supported me, of course they still had troubles of their own but they didn't mind listening to mine, though I feel Kaito's might slowly be corrupting his personality.
Kaito's a nice friend, but ever since he found out he had a younger brother he was separated from at birth he became a bit more aggressive than usual, normally if me or Kaede were bullied he would yell at the persons who did it but after he found out about his brother he started reacting more violently and would punch them instead of just yelling.
I had never met my father, nor did I ever know what happened to him. I think mother said he left but I don't remember what she said his reason was, I think she said either for the memes or for the milk. I always follow my mother to the grocery store just to make sure she doesn't leave like he did.
Truth is, they're not my biological parents, my current mother adopted me after finding my father above my real mom's corpse. I didn't understand at the time but he had killed his own wife in cold blood, and intended to do the same to me if my adoptive mother didn't see the situation and call the police. I had witnessed that incident but I never understood what had happened until I got older.
My biological uncle knew my current mother, he actually was the first person the police had sent me to after my dad was arrested, apparently a year after my father broke out of prison and killed my uncle. That was the second time I almost died but by that time I knew that if he came back I should call the police, so after making a narrow escape from my father I was able to call the police, although they had a hard time understanding me since I was just a child and couldn't speak well but they understand what I was hinting at after I mentioned my father.
Mother adopted me after finding out my father had gotten arrested again and that he attacked me again. He had slashed out my left eye with a knife which caused me to get surgery at a young age to get a replacement eye. Mother paid for it which left her in immense poverty until she got a raise from her job after her boss found out what she had done for me, spending that large sum of money so that I would be able to live like a normal child.
She had grown ill due to an odd illness that started spreading and often would cough up blood. I'm afraid she might not live for long so I always take care of her, especially since she has issues standing due to her age. Surprisingly, she's actually 105 years old, I really wonder how she's lived so long with her illness.
Even though she got my original father arrested and adopted me, I still have a scar from the incident. Before the police arrived, my father had sliced my arm multiple times, just to see my blood drip. He wasn't necessarily kill-happy, he just had an odd obsession with blood which led to a more serious situation. I assume that's probably why I've never liked being too close to sharp objects unless I need to cook.
Ah, I got sidetracked again. I really shouldn't focus on the past, I can't really do anything about that now.
I slowly got off of my bed and wiped my eyes before continuing on to begin my daily routine.
After I fixed myself up for the day and put on my uniform I checked the time. 5:15 am, my school is two hours away by vehicle so normally I leave at 5:50 to get at least 10 minutes to myself at school before the day begins.
I walked over to the kitchen and prepared breakfast. I had already packed my bag and gotten everything ready since last night so all I had to do after eating was fix my hair and leave.
I placed the breakfast I had made on the table and went to get my mother. I walked to her room and lightly tapped her shoulder, she woke up and rubbed her eyes.
"Mom, breakfast is ready" I informed her as I grabbed her hand and helped her off the bed. "Good Morning Shuichi" she greeted me.
"Good Morning Mom" I smiled warmly at her
We walked to the table and I sat her down on the chair before returning to my own and we both began to eat.
After eating I brought her to her room and fixed up my hair before grabbing my stuff. "Mom, I'm leaving now" I called out, knowing she could hear me.
I looked over at the clock, the time 5:45 displayed clearly by the hands. I guess I'll just leave early then.
I walked out of the house and hopped into the car, starting it up before beginning to drive to school. Mother hasn't had a job since she had retired after I was the legal age to get a job so I had to get one, thankfully I'm 17 so I'm old enough, I've been working at a Detective Agency for 2 years.
After I arrived at school I grabbed my stuff and hopped out of the car before closing the car door and locking it. I walked into the school, I had recently changed schools since apparently there are some suspicions that the principal might be involved in illegal activity.
I walked to my locker and put away my stuff before going to my classroom and placing down a book. I enjoy music, it's a fascinating topic to me so whenever I have freetime before school I write song lyrics and sing them while playing my guitar whenever both school and my job are over for the day. I used to do it all the time at my old school.
I took out a pen from my pocket and started writing, not really putting much thought into it and just writing whatever my heart told me to write.
Once I finished I put both my book and pen away and grabbed an actual school book and pen before waiting in my classroom once again.
This was my first day since I enrolled here to investigate, so I didn't really know what to really do to pass the time, so I just sat there waiting until the classroom filled up with students and the teacher arrived.
I glanced around at my fellow classmates, the person to my right was a girl with flowy white hair in low pigtails rested in front of her and she was wearing a large yellow cardigan over her uniform. Glancing over to my left, there was a short girl with short red hair and a witch hat resting on her head, although she was wearing the uniform it looked like it was put on very sloppily as if she was half asleep when getting ready. The student in front of me had short green hair. There was a person sitting beside her that for some reason looked like a..robot? The person on the other side of her had long flowing dark green hair and a green and red hat rested on their head. If they weren't wearing the boys uniform I would've thought they were a girl.
I continued glancing around the room and I saw..The worker I had seen the other day that was working at the maid Café, they were wearing the boys school uniform. Rantaro, Kaito, Kaede and Miu are in the class downstairs so I guess it makes sense Miu and Rantaro wouldn't know the worker was from this school.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when the teacher called my name, I gave a quick response and stated that I was present before returning to my thoughts.
After the registration was over, the teacher left and another arrived before beginning to teach us. Even though I was listening to the teacher, I couldn't take my eyes off of the person I had seen the other day.
He had black hair fading into a dark purple, along with gorgeous purple eyes to match and light, soft-looking skin. He was beautiful in every way but I would never have the courage to tell him that, I mean, I've had a crush on Rantaro ever since I met him and I still haven't told him how I feel. I never really spoke much to the mysterious boy but I feel like I love him like I love Rantaro but..how would that Relationship even work If we did end up dating? Wouldn't that count as cheating if I dated both of them? But what if we were all okay with it? An ample amount of questions lingered through my thoughts as I thought about the boy and Rantaro.
Sometimes I wonder why I still haven't told Kaede or Kaito how I feel about him. They would probably try to help me in any way they could so that I could finally get it off of my chest.
I should tell them, or at least tell Kaede so that I don't just keep it to myself for the rest of my life. I want Rantaro to know how I feel but..I don't want to ruin things, I'm already enough of an emotional mess on a daily basis and I wouldn't want to know what would happen if he didn't feel the same. I want him to know but I'm afraid to tell him, and I don't want someone else to tell him for me.
I wish I could build up more confidence but..that'll probably take a while before I even start.
Another detail I noticed about the mysterious boy was that he was incredibly skinny, but it didn't look as if he were just born that way, it seems as if he's unhealthy. His skin also looks a bit too pale, he almost looks like he's a dead person with how pale he is. It worries me, I hope he's okay but just the state he's in really concerns me.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by the loud ringing sound of the bell, indicating I had already spent two full classes just thinking about crushes until it had become lunchtime, jeez I really need to get my life together.
I got up and walked out of the classroom to purchase my lunch, thankfully the teacher I had before lunch wasn't one of those annoying teachers that dismissed at their own time instead of following the entire purpose of having a school bell.
I stood and waited in the lunch line, my mind lingering back to the two boys before I mentally slapped myself. Focus Shuichi, you can't spend your whole life thinking about them and not at least telling someone how you feel about them.
After a while I reached the front of the line and ordered, waiting a while before finally receiving my food. I walked out to the lunch area where I usually sat to eat with Kaede, Kaito, Miu and Rantaro.
I think I remember Kaito telling me about a girl with long brown hair tied into two Low pigtails with red eyes and red hair clips tying her pigtails. Miu also mentioned the robot boy that I saw in class. To be honest I'm concerned for him. Miu normally only said vulgar things about anyone she decided to tell us about, and the robot boy was no exception. I think she said the robot's name was K1-b0 but he was referred to as Keebo by everyone else.
Kaede and Kaito sat next to me at the table I decided to sit at, it was a table for 5, so everyone would be able to have a seat. I should tell them before Rantaro comes, since his class sadly has one of those weird teachers that are dismissed at their own time so he often comes late.
"Hey Kaito, Hey Kaede!" I greeted them as they sat down.
"Hey Shuichi!" They both said simultaneously.
"Uh, can I tell you guys something?" I had asked them, pulling down my hat to not make eye contact.
"Yeah sure but shouldn't you wait for the others?" Kaede asked and Kaito nodded as if to say he also wanted to ask that.
"I-It's actually about one of the others," I informed them.
"Oh, It's nothing bad though, right?" Kaede asked.
"Of course not!" I Assured.
"Then what is it?" Kaito questioned me.
"I-I uh..I actually l-like one of the others" I stuttered.
"Don't we all like each other though?" Kaito asked.
"Not the friend kind of like Kaito, I mean like I have a crush on them" I muttered.
"Ohh! Who is it!" He questioned, clearly intrigued to know that I finally liked someone like that.
"Yeah! who is it, Shuichi?" Kaede asked as she leaned over and lifted my hat to not cover my eyes.
"U-um it's.." I trailed off, should I really be telling them this?
Well I already told them I liked someone so I might as well just tell them who it is.
"I-It's Rantaro" I mumbled in a low tone so students at nearby desks wouldn't hear.
They both gasped, quite loudly actually, they were starting to attract attention.
"Really!?" Kaede boomed, I could tell she was overjoyed with the information.
"Y-yeah" I gave her a quick response.
"That's great man! You should totally tell him!" Kaito claimed.
"Kaito, you know it's not gonna be that easy! Shuichi gets really nervous around people and it'll probably be hard for him to find the courage to just tell him!" Kaede scolded him.
"Courage to tell him what? Who is this 'he'?" A familiar voice asked us as they sat beside me.
My cheeks heated up, it was Rantaro! Did he hear what I said? But he was asking who as if he didn't know who we meant. Oh gosh..This is embarrassing.
"Oh, it's nothing Rantaro!" Kaede smiled reassuringly.
"Shuichi? Are you sick? Your face is red," Even though he asked if I was sick, I can't help but think he knows the reason.
"A-Ah n-no I'm fine, Rantaro" I Assured, but I could feel my face turning fully red from the blush dusted across my cheeks.
I pulled down my hat to cover my face. I could've sworn I saw a smirk spread across Rantaro's lips.
"Your face looks like a tomato, Shu" I heard him whisper in my ear.
Oh god I can't handle this, he knows doesn't he? I can feel my heart beating faster than ever, I've never been the kind of person who can handle teasing like this.
"I-I um u-uh.." I stuttered, not knowing what to say.
"H-Hey Rantaro I think you broke him" Kaede mumbled.
"Ah, Sorry" He glanced over to me "Shuichi are you Alright?" He asked me.
I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. My heart was beating faster than it ever has. My vision blurred before finally turning pitch black as I slipped out of consciousness, I didn't even hear the thud from my body falling out of the chair and landing on the ground.