Walking out of the toilet, Hotaro was dripping wet. He walked through the hallway with his shoulders slouched and his face had no expression on it. He grabbed his bag harder and kept his head down ignoring the remarks he was getting from people around him. How many days has it been? Fifty? Hundred? He doesn't remember. All that he knew was that the end of all this won't come any sooner.
The dirty toilet water was dripping from his hair and he himself didn't like how he was smelling right now. He would normally just pinch his nose with disgust but it won't help. His hands also smelt the same. Somehow, he got out of the school but not before taking out all the pins put in his shoes and running back home. Tears threatening to drop down from his eyes as he ran and ran and ran. He was breathing heavily but he did not feel like stopping.
He jumped traffic lights, almost crashed into a truck but still, he did not stop. While running, he bumped into someone and fell down on his back while the other person just looked down towards him.
"Ugh…what is this dude? You stink," they said covering their nose.
When their eyes fell on Hotaro who was just staring down and not moving, their eyes widened and they ran over to him picking.
"This is what I meant when I said that they would go too far," they said to him helping him up.
Both their houses were not too far away so the person picked him up on their back and walked back home. Hotaro did not resist and just let things go the way they were. The person who picked him up went for the bag and took out their phone typing a message on it and sending the message to someone.
"Seriously, you should really transfer to our school, idiot. I can at least be there to help you," they said but Hotaro did not move.
He just put his head on their back and tears started falling down his eyes. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't apologize now dumbass. It is not your fault," the person said and they both finally reached his house.
Hotaro got off their back and opened the door. He looked back and saw the person ready to enter his house.
"Don't you need to head back home, Hinami?" he asked her. She flicked his head in response.
"Like hell, I am leaving you on your own like this. Now get in, chop, chop," she said pushing him. "Go take a god damn bath. You reek of toilet water. Because of you, even I can tell how that smells now and I am not proud of it."
Hotaro entered his house and picked up his clothes before heading to the bathroom. While taking a shower, he let the bathtub fill up. Hinami got a fresh pair of clothes from her mother who came at the door and head inside to take a bath in the other bathroom. She also reeked a lot by now.
Once he was done taking a shower while wincing in pain because of all the bruises he had on his body, Hotaro looked at the bathtub and it was filled completely. He went inside with some water flowing out due to his volume. Staring at the ceiling, he submerged himself underwater for some time. The sound of the water moving was heard more clearly in his ears and he closed his eyes and relaxed his body. Some more tears fell down from his eyes but one could not tell since he was underwater.
When he was at his limit, he plopped his head out and then looked at the wall but his eyes were just staring at it for no real reason. After some time, his eyes felt drowsy and the warm water did not help him to keep him away. His eyes closed and his consciousness left his body.
While he was sleeping in the bathtub, Hinami was already out of the bath and was drying her hair with the towel in her hand. She looked around the house for Hotaro but he was nowhere to be seen. She went over to the bathroom and knocked on the door but there was no response. She knocked again, no response. This happened for some time when she finally decided to enter and found him sleeping in the bathtub. She quickly held his head and slapped him across his face waking him up.
"Ugh…ouch…wh- h- what are you doing here Hinami?" he said looking at her and she had an annoyed look on her face.
"And what do you think you were doing idiot? People die like this you know," she said smacking him on his head.
"Hmm…that doesn't sound that bad, you know?" he said receiving another hit on his head.
He held his head in pain and looked at Hinami who stood before him with arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. Hotaro knew if he said anything which will annoy her now, he is as good as dead. While all this happened, he completely forgot that he was naked in the bathtub and Hinami was looking at him in that state. Upon realizing that, he instantly covered himself with his hands.
"What are you doing? Stop acting so shy," she said to him.
"Yeah, I forgot that you are into girls. But still, it is weird seeing a girl looking at me naked so can you please go out?" he asked.
"Okay, by the way. You sure have grown."
She left him with that remark and it took some time for the information to set in his brain and when it did, he let out an annoying scream. Hinami on the other hand laughed and sat down on the couch.
Hotaro quickly got out of his bath and got into his clothes putting his clothes in the washing machine to be cleaned. He had an angry pout on his face while Hinami just kept on laughing seeing him acting like this. She pats his back to cheer him up but he looked back at her really annoyed.
"Okay, I said I am sorry. I couldn't help but notice that. Now get ready to have something stuffed in your stomach. Mom made pizza," she said to him standing up but he did not move. "You are coming or should I strap you up in the restrain belts?"
Hotaro quickly jumped out of his couch looking at her with a baffled look on his face.
"Why have you brought a restraining belt along with you?" he asked her.
"Oh, were you not mad at me for looking at your junior?" she said putting the pizza to heat up.
"I think that this is a more concerning matter. Please do this SM play with your girlfriend and keep me out of it," he said walking next to her.
Hinami had been into girls and she realized it in the second year of middle school when she found a manga covering that topic. She only told Hotaro about this because he was her best friend, she and trusted him a lot. When he got to know that, he showed no surprise. He kind of expected it. How? No one knows the answer to that except for the person in question.
Hinami had shoulder-length black hair, blue eyes, a pretty face, and a muscular body. While her father was Asian, her mother was British. She got her eyes from her. She usually wears boyish clothes as casuals as she found them really comfortable. At first, her mother was against the idea but soon gave up because of Hinami's stubborn personality. She went to the same middle school as Hotaro and always hanged out with him and some people had often mistaken them for a couple. Both of them opted for the same school during high school selections, but Hinami's score was not good enough for it and she could not join Hotaro's school.
Hotaro on the other hand had a slim build but above average looks. Maybe even better if he actually cared about them. He had blackish-purple hair. The purple hair was more properly distinguished at the tips of his bangs where one bang fell down his forehead in the middle and the others were set at the side. He had dark purple eyes and long eyelashes. Being good at studies, Hotaro used to be the top student in his year but after getting into high school and with all the bullying starts, he could not study with a clear mind hurting his grades.
"You should get a girlfriend," Hinami suggested out of nowhere.
"Huh? Where did that come from?"
"Think about it," she started and wrapped her hand around his neck. "You, your girlfriend, I and my girlfriend meet each other. Then we can go on double dates together. When the chance is right, all of us with our partner will get on a very big bed an- "
"Woah, stop there woman. Come back to earth," Hotaro said interrupting her and getting out of her neck lock.
"Aww, you should have stopped me before, not right when I was getting to the good part," she said jokingly and Hotaro had a blush on his face since he was quite innocent for his age.
The 'ding' voice of the microwave was heard interrupting the banter between the two. Hotaro quickly walked over to the former war equipment and took out the pizza. Hinami's mother was a really good cook and a lovely person. Whenever Hotaro got sick, she would always come and take care of him. She always said to him that he was like her own kid and just leaves it there without any further explanation. Her loving personality could catch any person's heart and her sweet voice was almost as of a professional singer.
"That is a lot of meat and cheese," Hotaro muttered seeing the heavily meat-loaded dish with the cheese covering the entire thing. He knew how unhealthy that thing was but it was also his favorite thing to have for lunch or stress eating. Right now, it was for both.
"Look, mom even made your favorite one. Now let's eat this thing before it gets cold. I hate cold pizza," Hinami said picking it up and placing it on the table.
Hotaro went to the fridge and got out a cola for Hinami and a strawberry milkshake for himself. He had a really bad case of sweet tooth and all of his "private stuff" is just lots and lots of candies, chocolates, and other sweet things to eat.
They both sat down at the table and joined their hands before they start to devour the pizza. What was a pizza ten minutes ago was now only an empty plate. Both of them leaned back in their places putting their hands on their stomach.
"Man, mom makes the best food in the world," Hinami said drinking the left-over cola.
"She sure does," Hotaro said drinking his drink.
They silently sipped their drinks and once it was over, silence took over and both of them said nothing. They looked at each other for some time not saying anything. Hinami had a sad expression on her face while Hotaro was thinking about what to make for dinner.
"Hotaro," she called him out and he raised his eyebrow. "You should really join my school. At least I can make sure no one bullies you. That is what I learned martial arts for."
Hinami actually was a Dan rank in karate and judo. She was a lot stronger than normal people and many delinquents who were unlucky enough to approach her or hit on her were sent to the hospital for almost a week at minimum.
"Wasn't it because you wanted to defeat a lion bare-handed?" Hotaro asked.
"I was in middle school back then asshole. Don't bring up those memories or I will break your jaw so you cannot speak for a long time," she said to him cracking her knuckles.
"Even you know it is not possible. How many times have I told you?" Hotaro said and Hinami understood what he meant. "That would have things to do with those people and do you think they will mind? Sometimes I wonder why they even gave birth to me if they were to leave me when I was really young. I was just a little kid and they expect me to live on my own."
Hotaro was referring to his parents. He does not know where they are right now in this world. His parents never really cared much about him and left him to live on his own here. They would just do the bare minimum so that he would not die and give him money to survive off every month. He didn't really hate his parents but nor did he love them. He just never cared about them because they never cared about him.
He just wanted no other kid to have a life like this. Seeing others happily spending time with their parents made him sad sometimes, hoping that if things had not turned out like this, he could have experienced those things too. He always wanted to go to an amusement park with them when he was small. He wanted to have a nice family dinner but just gets money in hand and a place he can go to.
The doorbell rang attracting both of their attention. It was weird that someone would come at this hour of the day. Hotaro stood up and went over to the door. The doorbell kept ringing again and again to the point that it got really annoying. He walked over to the door and opened it.
"Who is i- "
He was interrupted by the sound of a car that drove away from his entrance. He tilted his head in confusion and then his eyes fell down at the person standing before him. There was a little girl standing before him. She had black hair, purple eyes, and a really adorable face. Her eyes were like beads and her appearance could be mistaken for that of a doll. She tried to say something to him but could not get his words out.
Hotaro crouched down and faced her. He smiled at her in a friendly manner and he was encountered with a question he never thought would be asked to him.
"Are you my Onii-chan?" she asked in a sweet voice that could make any person's heart melt.
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