"You're late!"
I watched Pandora puff up her cheeks in angst, grabbing my hand before staring up at me.
"Sorry, I couldn't really sleep last night," I yawned out, closing the door behind me before we made our way to school.
"Nightmares again then?" she asked, and I nodded, yawning again, covering my mouth with my free hand.
"I see…" She trailed off as she bit her lip slightly, looking down at the ground.
"Anyway, enough about me, what do you wanna do today?" I asked, and she looked up at me, frowning.
"Whatever you wanna do."
I let out a sigh before frowning, remembering Eros' words. "That isn't very helpful you know."
"But it's the guy's job to take charge, isn't it?" She asked, looking up at me with an expectant look in her eyes.
I exhaled sharply through my nose instead of my normal sigh, scratching my hair. "Well, I wanna see them then…"
"See who?"
"The people in my club. It's been so long since I've been there, since I've devoted most of my time to you." I glanced over at her, and she was pouting at my words. "Not that that's a bad thing, I just think a change of pace would be nice…"
She looked up at the trees, all but barren now, before nodding to herself. "Alright, let's do it then."
Eh? "Wait, really? You'll let me go?"
"Who said anything about you going alone? Of course I'm going with you," she said, a dazzling smile reaching my eyes.
"Oh, I guess I should've expected that one," I said, frowning to myself, and I got a swift kick in the leg.
"Don't look so disappointed! It's times like these that you're supposed to show off your cute girlfriend, so that way everyone gets jealous!"
I feel as if she just missed my entire reason for going, I thought, letting loose a small smile.
"Ah," Pandora let out, and we both stopped in front of the school gate, already at our destination.
She hesitated, looking down at our interlocked hands before looking up at me.
"It'll be alright," I said, attempting to slip out of her grasp. But before I could, she grabbed onto the tips of my fingers, her regal purple eyes looking at me.
"We'll meet up for lunch, okay?"
I nodded.
"I'll come to you so we can go to your club together, okay?"
I nodded once more.
"I'll, I'll…"
I gave her a smile, nodding for the third and final time.
"It's okay to let go," I said, finally slipping out of her grasp.
"Your Fault."
I winced slightly as the burden that she relieved me of came roaring back, with all of it's YOURFAULT'S, laughter, and the never-ending voices that always haunted me.
She walked backwards, looking at me carefully, and I just gave her a small wave.
"YOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULT," I said, and she nodded before running into the school, leaving me alone underneath a grey sky.
I sighed before gritting my teeth, YOURFAULT of YOURFAULT coming back to me YOURFAULTYOURFAULT, as I failed to push the hair away from my face.
I've grown used to this routine in the YOURFAULT weeks since I've remembered everything, and it surprisingly didn't YOURFAULT affect me as much as I thought it would. I guess it's true that people really can adapt to things easily, no matter how awful.
I readjusted my backpack before heading into the school. Over the course of these two YOURFAULT's, I've found that it gets worse whenever I think about certain people or things, along with being around certain people as well. And by certain people, I mean YOURFAULT, YOURFAULT, YOURFAULT, YOURFAULT, YOURFAULT, and YOURFAULT. I met up with them shortly after everything occurred, but I couldn't hear anything YOURFAULTYOURFAULT telling me. In the end, I haven't seen YOURFAULT since, and I still haven't figured out if that's truly a blessing or not.
I opened the door to the classroom, noticing Hiro already in his seat, staring out the window with a serious look in his eyes.
"Is something the matter?" I asked, and he rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb, removing the look he once had.
"Nah, I'm good. Just thinking about some stuff is all," He said, stretching his limbs out in his chair before letting out a loud yawn.
"If it makes you feel any better, I plan on going to the club today," I said, taking my seat in front of him.
"Wait, seriously!?" he yelled out, nearly causing me to jump out of my seat. "So, Pandora's coming with you then?"
"Yeah, she is," I said, turning around to him.
"I see, trying to show off YOURFAULTYOURFAULT, huh? I see how it is. I didn't think you were YOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULT person."
I frowned, trying to piece what he just said together. "Um, it was Pandora's idea actually."
"Nah, darling would never concoct such a menacing plan. I blame you."
"I seriously don't get the joke with that," I said, and Hiro let out a laugh.
"It's because she's my darling Pandy, and I'm her Honey Hiro."
"Isn't normally the other way around though?" I thought aloud, and Hiro shrugged.
"We break norms here, what can I say."
I couldn't help but chuckle a little before turning forward in my seat.
"Anyway, I won't tell anyone that you or your girlfriend is coming, got that?"
I nodded, gritting my teeth as the voices grew louder.
"I'll never leave you."
"You already have everything you need…"
"We came here to save you Depra, no, KING!"
"In the end, there was nothing I could do…"
"BRING THEM BACK YOU USELESS BASTARD!!!"
I took a deep breath, the voices dying down into their normal lull just beneath the surface, and I stared out the window, looking at the grey sky once more.
"I really should've left it alone," I murmured, the bell starting another long day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You know, I like eating with two hands sometimes Pandora," I said, glancing down at our interlocked hands.
It was lunchtime, and we were sitting outside in one of the school's courtyards alone, it being relatively warmer today than normal.
She gasped, covering her mouth with her free hand. "You don't wanna hold hands with me? The girl you're dating? I'm hurt."
"… You're ridiculous sometimes, you know that?" I grumbled, taking a bite out of my sandwich.
She uncovered her mouth, a small smile on her face. "Yep, it's what you like about me so much!"
Well, she's not wrong about that, I thought as she took a bite out of my sandwich. Although, even I find it rather strange, how I came to like her as much as I do now…
"Now that I think about it, what do you even like about me?" I asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich. "I'm just a big ol' pain in the ass, especially with how I am now."
"Hmm, I guess it would be, your hair?"
"Be serious," I growled out, taking a swig of water, and she giggled to herself.
"No, it's true! I've always liked that unkempt black hair of yours," she said, nodding to herself. "Yeah, that's probably what I like most about you!"
"Hey, that's a problem if that's what you like the most about me," I said, and she laughed.
"That last part was a joke you negative bunny," she said, poking me in the side. "I do like your hair, but it's not what I like the most about you. Probably a close second though."
"The fact you said that so seriously worries me," I murmured, and she let out another laugh.
"Well, compared to my own hair, I like yours a lot better."
"I like yours better than my own though," I said, glancing at her hair, which was purple underneath the dark grey clouds. "Honestly, I would like to have your hair color instead of mine."
"Oh, then we better switch hair colors one day then!" She said, grinning at me.
"How does that even work?" I asked myself, glancing at her hair before shaking my head. "No wait, seriously, what is the thing you like about me the most then?"
And without skipping a beat, she told me with the utmost seriousness, shocking me so much that I dropped my sandwich, which she promptly caught.
"H-huh?" It was all I could let out at her words, and she nodded, looking me directly in the eye.
"Yeah, that really is what I like the most about you. Oh, if you don't like that answer, we can always go with I like everything about you."
"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" I yelled out, causing her to flinch back. "Like hell that's true, there's no way in hell that's true, so stop fucking around already!"
"Who said I was joking?" It was my turn to flinch, as I was caught off guard by the stiffness in her voice, her eyes conveying not an ounce of insincerity.
"That's just, just…" I trailed off, my hand moving its way out of the hold it had placed itself in.
Impossible. Absolutely Impossible.
"It's just, I, you must be crazy to think that! Who the hell would like that out of all damn things!? I won't, no, I can't believe such lunacy!"
"Is it so wrong, to like that part of you too?" She asked, her hand gripping on to keep the hold intact.
"OF COURSE IT IS!" I roared out, ripping my hand out of the hold, shooting to my feet before stumbling backwards.
"YOUR FAULT!"
I let out a cry of pain as it came back to me, roaring in at full force, all the laughter, the YOURFAULT'S, and most especially-!
"Really? I never liked my hair much, but if you like it, then I like it too!"
"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
"If I'm a murderer, then that means it doesn't matter what the hell I do to you, right?"
"Don't give up, you hear me!? I won't forgive you if you do!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE GODDAMNIT!" I roared out, clutching my head as YOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOUFAU-!
"SHUT UP AND JUST-!" I gasped, realizing what I had done, and everything around and within me silenced itself.
I gripped my shirt, unable to catch my breath. "No, NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo! Not again, no, please, wait, I'm sorry, please, I-!"
I felt warmth envelop me, and a soft face rubbed itself against mine.
"I'll never leave you."
I watched the purple hair cascade down my shoulders, as I let out a brief laugh, before the tears that would never fall filled my eyes filled them.
"I'll say it as many times as I'll have too, okay?"
"I'm here, because you need me."
"So, you don't have to worry, okay?"
"Never forget that Depra, never forget that."
I didn't deserve it, I never deserved it, not since that day, but maybe…
In the end, I left the thought be, tossing it into which they confined me in…