" No, stop! Please, just stop!" the boy shouted
He was on the ground, all beaten up, with his body bruised and his face covered in blood. And he hated blood.
" Or what? You are going to beat me up?" a brown haired girl laughed, looking down at him.
The boy was in his first year at Akademi High School at that time. And there were 6 girls, all older than him that loved to see him suffer. The brown haired girl's name was Chiyo, and she was in the 2nd year.
" Come on, Umeji! Get up! I want to see you try!" she screamed and kicked his chest over and over again.
" Please, just stop!" he cried out.
The girl laughed as she lifted him from his collar. Umeji was too scared to fight back.
" You are a nothing. Don't you see that? You'll never be anything more than a weak fool" Chiyo yelled at him, as her friends behind her all laughed.
" I - I am -" Umeji tried to say through his tears.
" Shut up, idiot!" she slapped him.
" You are a waste of space and nothing more than that! Why do you even exist? No one needs you here!"
Umeji thought about this for a moment. I am nothing.....
" Or do you think your mommy is going to protect you, huh? ".
This time, she lifted his head up by pulling his hair. Umeji's eyes filled with horror as they met hers.
" That dirty slut, who doesn't even have enough money to buy clothes!!!" she screamed and smashed his face on a desk. Umeji fell on the ground, holding his bleeding face.
" Don't you understand it would be better for her if you just die, Umeji?"
His bullies laughed at him once again, and left, leaving him all alone in classroom 1 - 1.
They.... They are right. I am.... A looser.
I always let people down.
And mum......
I am sorry.
He got out of the school heading to his home, when he bumped into someone.
" Ouchie. Watch were you going" said a the girl he had bumped into.
" S - sorry" he replied quietly.
" Hey, what happened to you?"
Umeji started panicking.
" Uh.... It's nothing! I just..... Fell down. That's all" he said, covering his bleeding shoulder with his shirt.
" If you say so" the girl answered, and snapped a photo of him, without Umeji even realizing it.
Umeji walked quickly past her, and out of the school.
" Poor thing" she whispered.
" This photo is enough evidence for the Counselor"
The truth is, that the girl, Kiowa Chosida, was a member of the photography club and had noticed that Umeji was being bullied.
The Counselor always said that she needed evidence to take action, and that's why she had snapped a photo of him all beaten up.
But unfortunately, the Counselor said that it could just had been an accident and didn't accept the picture as proof. Kiowa was frustrated, but like every other student in the school, she didn't care quite enough to help him, and pretended to not know about the bullying.
Umeji returned home, with blood splattered all over his face and body. Once he walked in, he saw his mother sitting on the sofa.
" Hello, Umeji - kun -"
She gasped once she saw her son like this, and ran near him.
" Umeji - kun! What happened to you?"
" It's - it's nothing"
He had said that a lot of times before to her. His body ached so bad, but not like his soul. There was so much pain inside him, so much weakness, so much torture than anyone could ever imagine.
But he deserved it. That's what his bullies were telling him, and that what he was telling himself.
He deserved it, because he was a nothing. He was a mistake, he should have never been born.
" No! You are going to tell me this time! It's the 3rd time this month! Please, Umeji, just tell me who is doing this to you"
Umeji felt relief, he really felt his mother could help him. He felt there was hope.
He told her everything, and she promised that she would take care of everything. And so she did.
She went to have a talk with Chiyo's mother. Umeji actually believed that this was where his suffer would end, that everything would be OK again.
Once his mother returned home, he ran over to her, and was about to thank her and hug her.
But he stopped.
His mother was smiling at him, and telling him that she talked with Chiyo's mum and everything was fine now.
But Umeji was staring at her ear, where her earing was supposed to be.
It....
It was ripped off?!?
He caught up staring at her, ignoring all what his mother was telling him.
Chiyo's mother had done that.
No....
This.... This is my fault....
My mother is working so hard for me...
And I did this to her.....
She doesn't deserve that...
She doesn't deserve to suffer for me....
From that day, he decided not to tell her again about anything that happened to him. He would just smile and say he was alright.
The bullying continued though. The same beat up, the same insults from Chiyo, nothing really changed.
He promised himself to be strong, to be strong like his mother was when she argued with Chiyo's mum.
But the problem was, that she had ended up being hurt.....
The year that went by was very painful, and Umeji was already very depressed. No matter how hard he was trying to stay strong, he just couldn't.
He had convinced himself that things could only get better from now on, like everyone was saying.
But things only got worse.
The next year, the bullying continued. But he wasn't the only victim. There were four more boys, that were bullied, just because they were hanging out with him.
He was always blaming himself for their suffer and was trying to protect them in any way possible.
That only led him to being even more hurt by the bullies, more than the rest.
Once, he had attempted to protect one of his friends, Gaku, after the bullies had broken his arm. What ended up happening was Gaku getting away, but Umeji was insulted harshly again, about his friends, his mother, his family, the way he was.
The next weeks, were the darkest for all of them.
Umeji was in the point to collapse. What he would see now, was graffiti on his desk.
Chiyo and her friends were also putting ropes on his desk and dared him to hung himself. Other times, they would point out the roof and tell him to jump off.
He was so used to it, that it actually became a good idea for him.
I am worthless.....
I am a mistake, I shouldn't have been born. The world will be a better place without me.
(*Sob)
I.... I am hurting....
I am hurting the ones I love.
I was always hurting Mum, Dad, my only friends.....
So what's the reason to keep fighting?
I can't do this anymore.
It hurts so bad that I can't breathe.
I've tried so hard, but it's not going to stop. I can't be strong anymore.
I can't.
I... I just want this to end.
I can't keep going.
I know that for sure.
I'm so useless....
Days passed by, and his condition was only getting worse. He was cutting his wrists with the razor, hoping to put an and on his suffering. The world would be a better place with him dead. He knew that no one would miss him. All he had ever done was, making the ones he loves ache.
He shouldn't exist....
His friends wanted the same thing. Even though they hadn't suffered as much as he did throughout his entire life, they wanted to put an end too.
All five of them just wanted to put an end.
They were considered a suicide pact. And they would have succeed, if she hadn't arrived.
Osoro Shidesu.
They witnessed her fighting with almost 20 students and winning all of them. At that moment, something changed inside of them.
More specifically, the idea of a single person handling so many others, is what inspired them. They wanted to be like her.
They idolized her, worshipped her like a Godess. Osoro told them that the only solution to their problems was violence.
So they started behaving like her, talking like her and even look like her, by dying their hair blonde and creating fearsome appearances.
That gave them strength to continue living, to turn their pain into something completely different.
It gave Umeji a reason to keep on fighting. And for the rest of that year, he was referred to as "Delinquent".
The bullying obviously stopped, but at a cost. The other students feared them and didn't go near them.
And now, Umeji was in his 3rd year at High School. The school year had started at the early Autumn, as always.
His reputation hadn't changed at all. He was still feared. Chiyo was no longer in the school, and Osoro got expelled at the beginning of the month, for unknown reasons.
She was gone for 8 weeks straight, but now she had returned. And she was again with them.
Flashback
"Hey, Osoro - Chan"
Umeji shyly asked, his fingers going through his light pink hair.
They were walking together home, after they had gone at Shisuta Town with the rest.
" Yeah?"
" Have you ever loved someone?". He wasn't very sure why he was asking her this, he just wanted to know if someone like her could feel love.
" No, not really" she replied and placed her hands behind her head.
" Why are you asking?"
" N-no reason, really. It just crossed my mind"
" Are you sure? You seem kind of upset to me"
" It's nothing. Really" he said, nervously hiding his hands.
Osoro stopped walking. Umeji was about to ask her why she had stopped, but she grabbed his arm and pulled his sleeve.
Underneath it, his wrist full of scars could be seen, along with a new cut on it. Umeji tried to look away, as he felt his eyes filling with tears.
" Again? Why do you keep doing that" she yelled.
" I - I am sorry, I didn't mean to -"
" Don't apologize to me! Why are you keep trying to kill yourself!?!"
" I-it's because my mother is s-suffering because of me and -"
" You dumass! The last thing your mother wants, is see you on the floor, with your wrists bleeding!"
She was right....
He understood how wrong all that was.....
Umeji couldn't held his tears back anymore.
" I'm sorry! I don't know why I keep trying to die! I don't want that. I don't want that anymore! "
Osoro put her hand on his hip.
" You can only succeed that by being intimidating. That way, no one will mess with you ever again"
At that moment, he didn't really believe that she had understood what kind of pain he was talking about. But it didn't matter.
Violence was what would help him get out of this.
And I am guessing, you know how things ended up......
Umeji's Pov
Dammit.
Why am I even doing this?
I was walking within the Shisuta Town, right after I had finished school, at Tuesday.
In case you are wondering, I saw Izumi all beaten up yesterday.
The little bitch didn't even bother to show up to school today.
But let's just say that my gut told me to pass by her place and check on her. I know that I was being a dickhead some weeks ago, and burst all my anger on her, but I didn't care. I can find an excuse good enough by the time I get there.
I assume she doesn't even want to see me, but I have to make sure that she..... Has not changed after that.
In the bad way.
Like I did.
I found a house that I assumed was hers. I took a deep breath, trying to look chill as always.
" Here goes nothing" I said out loud, as I knocked the door.
I heard footsteps from the inside, coming closer and closer. The door slightly opened, probably for her to see who it was. I looked down, as the door opened up completely.
I raised my eyes and saw Izumi staring at me, with a calm look on her face. Kinda odd for her.
She had bandages wrapped all around her left shoulder, the part under her right eye was all bruised up and her forehead and cheeks were full of scratches. Yup, I was right.
" What do YOU want?" she said with a monotone voice, and not her usual aggressive one.
" You didn't show up to school today, and I saw that you were all beaten up yesterd-" I replied, probably kinda nervously.
" And may I ask why you care?"
Good question.
But I don't really got an answer.
" It's probably my gut feeling again"
I finally said.
" Your gut feeling? Was it your gut too that told you to suddenly burst out on me?"
Shit.
She was right. What I did to her back then wasn't something I could really explain.
" My mind kinda snapped" I said under my teeth, and broke eye contact with her.
Seriously, that's the worst excuse ever. And well, it's not even an excuse.
That's what quite happened.
I am such an idiot -
" Well, I guess I can buy that" she finally said, interrupting me from my thoughts.
She can buy that? Like, for real?
" And I'll be honest, if it wasn't you, I wouldn't have even open the door" she continued, pointing out her injuries and cracking me a smile.
I felt my cheeks heating up a little bit, as I stared at her smile.
So.... She trusted me, more than her weeb friends?
" S-so um...." I tried to say.
" I just passed by to -"
" Make sure I was OK?" she interrupted me.
" To check on you"
She leaned against the door and crossed her arms.
" And your boss allows you to check on people she doesn't likes?" she asked, with a soft smile still on her face.
" I don't need her permission!"
" Really? Cause it seemed to me that you really like her"
" I don't like her! She is my boss!"
" OK, ok, calm down, Mr. Toughy"
I sighed and looked away. She seemed fine, but.... You can never be sure.
She can just pretending to be her usual self. Like I used to do.
" Do you want to come in?" she asked.
" No, no, I just passed by. Maybe some other time"
She looked disappointed by my answer. And then angry.
" Sure. Whenever you want" she finally said, smiling with the fakest smile I had ever seen.
I didn't want her to think that I passed by just to make fun of her or something like that, so I decided to make it up for her.
" Do you want me pick you up for school tomorrow?" I told her, rubbing my head.
Perfect.
I did it again. I can't be more awkward than that. Well done dude.
10/10.
" S-sure" she replied, with her cheeks turning pink and her eyes looking away from mine.
" But don't be TOO late, like you are used to" she added.
" Yeah, yeah, don't worry"
And with that, I left her house and headed towards mine.
What the hell am I even thinking?
Why do I even care about her?
I have no idea, but I am glad I do.
She's a good company.
And the last thing I want, is see her going through everything I had.
I wasn't able to protect my only friends back then, but I will protect her now.
We are the same.
Mei's Pov
We are so different.
But damn, I am glad he came.
Does that mean that he actually cared?
I guess we'll never know.
But the point is, what did he mean when he said that his mind snapped? I mean, I can surely relate to that
(as you already know), but really?
That's how he snapps?
" Heh"
At least I know he doesn't hates me. And that's everything.
It's a good thing that he didn't agree to get in here. I assumed that he wouldn't, but hey, a little risk never hurt anyone.
I walked inside the living room. I pick up all the bandages I had used to wrap my wounds up, along with my syringe.
You see, Info-Chan had asked me to do a small favor for her. Find drugs, insert them to a syringe, bring them to her.
How could I decline such a thing?
Right before Umeji knocks on the door, I was filling the syringe up. Yesterday, around 2:00 a.m., I had stolen the drugs, under the cover of the darkness. She needed the drugs, for that other client of hers, apparently.
I had to give her the syringe tomorrow. But that didn't matter anymore. My heart was beating so loud, at the thought that Umeji had come. So he doesn't really dislikes me.
And tomorrow, we would spend time together again.
I blushed while thinking that.
It feels warm around him....
And it's better than.......
Than feeling empty......