"Wh-where am... I?"

I couldn't see anything. My body won't move. But I could feel something surround my body. Am I lying on.. grass? I could feel the soft warmth of the sun. The gentle breeze of air. The soothing smell of the field. I didn't want to get up, I wanted to lay there forever. To escape reality and just lay in this peaceful field.

"Hikori."

Someone called. 'That voice' I thought, I remember it like it was yesterday. That sweet, soft voice. I still hear it every now and then. My lips quivered as my tears flowed.

"M-mom?" I stuttered.

"Is that you?"

I opened my eyes slowly. Everything was so hazy and blurry, but it was no mistake. I saw her silhouette. Her head covering the bright sun, leaning over me. I tried to reach up. Slowly, I raise my hand. Then I could hear waves. Everything is starting to feel wet. I can see water rising, taking in my whole body. As the water rises higher, my mom's silhouette starts to dissipate.

"Mom! No!" I started flailing. But it's no use. The water level is too high now. I couldn't breathe. I tried swimming up but I just keep going down. "No... please... not again..." I could hear something banging. I'm beginning to black out. "M-mom...."

**********************************

I woke up drenched in sweat. I looked around me and I was in my room. The banging came from my adoptive mom waking me up.

"Hayden! Get up and get ready!" she yelled from the other side.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I called back.

She banged one more time then she head off. I looked at the clock on the wall and it's five in the morning.

"And wake up your brothers! Don't slack!" she added as I was getting off the bed. I scratched my head trying to figure out my dream. 'What did I dream again?' I thought to myself. I looked at my hand. It was sweaty along with my face.

"I should wash up."

I went out of my room and headed towards the bathroom. I passed my brothers' room and stopped. 'I should probably wake them up first. Wouldn't want her to get angrier.' I knocked on the room.

"Henry! Arnold! Wake up and get ready for school." I called. I waited for a few seconds and there was no response. 'Seriously, these guys.' I opened the door and I saw them both tucked in their bed snoring. 'They look so peaceful just sleeping.' I thought. 'Unfortunately-' I took off both of their blankets. They both groaned.

"Hikori, what are you doing." Arnold said, sitting up while rubbing his eyes.

"I told you not to call me that. At least not yet." I whispered to him. His hair is in a really messy state. The same can be said about Henry, who was still trying to sleep. I took away his pillow which he was using to cover his head.

"Wake up, it's time for school. She's mad for some reason so it's best if we don't push it further." I told them. They both lazily got out of bed and starts fixing it. I went out of their room and headed towards the bathroom. As I opened the door and turned on the lights, the stench filled my nose and I almost passed out.

"Clean the bathroom! Make sure it's squeaky clean once I check later!" she called from the kitchen.

"Ah, I knew it."

I muttered to myself. I picked up the cleaning materials from the cupboard and started scrubbing.

It took me like 30 minutes to completely rid of the smell and clean the whole bathroom. And spent ten minutes taking a bath and preparing myself for breakfast. I put on my school uniform and headed towards the kitchen table. I already saw Arnold and Henry eating their food. I sat next to them. I thanked for the food and started to dig in. The meal today was bacon and egg.

"Only one serving ok? We don't have enough here."

I was a bit sad because I was absolutely starving.

"Ok mama" said Arnold and Henry.

I ate my breakfast in complete silence. I was watching the birds outside the window while munching down my food. Arnold and Henry kept bickering within themselves about who's gonna get more gold stars this day.

Henry is a prodigy in his class. He knows a lot of stuff despite being a grade three student. He even helps Arnold with his grade four lessons sometimes. But Arnold doesn't like to be looked down upon by his own brother so they always compete. I stood up to get some water while ignoring the two who was now boasting about the stars they got yesterday.

Our mom sat herself down on the couch and turned on the TV to watch the news.

"Gooodmorning people of Wilbell city!" The tv blurted.

"What a nice day to just stretch your legs and go for a jog isn't it?"

As she was watching television, I picked up my plate and put it on the sink.

"You two!" mom called.

"Hurry up and finish your meals! You need to leave by 6:30 or you'll be late." she said, then went back to watching.

Arnold and Henry rushed to finish their food and placed their plate on the sink.

"Clean the table!" ordered mom.

They both said okay and proceeded to clean up while I started to wash the dishes. I forgot to wear the apron and almost stained my uniform. Both Arnold and Henry went to the room after cleaning to pack their stuff. I did the same thing too after I finished washing. I picked up all my books and put them inside my bag. Of course I couldn't forget my homeworks, I slept late last night because of it.

As soon as I packed all my school stuff, I picked up my green hoodie and my baseball cap... "My... baseball cap..." I held it in front of me. It was a red baseball cap of a team from my old city called 'The Kagoshima Leviathans'. My mom was a really big fan of them. We used to go out with my brothers to watch their games when I was younger.

The names we use right now aren't actually our real names. Ever since we got adopted by this woman, she decided to give us Uniman names.

My real name is Hikori Kinusetsu. And my brothers' names used to be Akio and Haru. I still hold my real name dear to me since my mom chose that name herself. Only my friends and brothers know about my real name. And I feel comfortable when they use it. But if our adoptive mom hears that we are using our old names, she'll definitely get mad.

I thought about how she used to call me gently by my name. Followed by her soft laugh and reassuring smile. I clutched my cap close to my chest as the pain starts to sink in. Come to think of it, it's been five years since she's gone. But I still haven't gotten over it. I remember everything. How she used to tuck us in our beds. How she would happily take us to lots of different places. How we would cheer on her favorite baseball team. I remember all of it like it was yesterday.

She was a strong woman. Even when dad left us, she still manages to smile. She always makes time for us even when she's busy. I took a deep breath and recollected myself.

"Better hide this from her." I told myself.

"She doesn't like it if we have these kinds of stuff". I stuffed my cap in my bag and prepared to leave.

The wind outside was cold. It was a really cloudy Tuesday morning. We went outside of the apartment and a bunch of people waved at us as they were doing their morning jog. I smiled and waved back at them. I grabbed my brothers' hands and went off to the direction of our school.

As we were walking, we passed by the park. As per usual, we'd see a yoga session taking place. People feeding ducks by the pond. Haru pointed at a duck who bit a guy's hand and stole the loaf of bread.

"Hikori!" Akio said. 'Im a little sad they don't call me big bro or something. It's like they don't respect me' I thought to myself wearily.

"yeah?" I replied.

"Can we stop by the park after school?" he said.

"We can't Akio. She'll get mad if we go home late."

He began to beg.

"Pleaassee, please, please" he continued.

"No." I replied. I am afraid of our adoptive mother. She gets angry so easily. Just a small mistake and she'll literally blow up. I always end up doing all the house chores. But of course my brothers aren't spared. If she sees a small mistake, she'll have us do it all over again.

She also doesn't like stuff from our homeland. If she sees any items that are from Ninho, she quickly steals it from us and throws it away. She always says Ninhonai are trash and stupid people. I kind of get offended at first because I myself am a Ninhonai. But eventually I got used to it. And I think I also understand where her hate came from. Her boyfriend was a Ninhonai, and he cheated on her. So her anger probably came from that person. But it's still not an excuse to be a racist.

"We're almost there" I told my brothers. We were about to cross the road when something grabbed my arm. I got startled at first but when I looked to see what it was, it was an old lady.

"Sweet boy, can I hold on to your arm while we cross the road? I seem to have some quite a bit of trouble." She told me. I calmed down and said no problem. As we crossed the road, the woman thanked us and gave us candies. I smiled and said thank you as we head towards the school gates.

"We're here" I said. Students are beginning to flood the gates. I held on to Haru's and Akio's hands and entered the gates. I looked up at the big letters above the entrance.

"CREEKSWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL"

The school halls were noisy. Lots of kids were running and being loud. I can see some teachers ushering kids not to run and walk slowly. I found Haru's room and dropped him off there. A few rooms beside was Akio's. Once I said goodbye, I went up the stairs and headed for my room.

I walked down the corridor to my room. I looked outside the window to see a fancy car pull up in front of the gate.

"Ah." I said.

"That's probably Eliza."

Eliza is the rich, popular girl in our class. She always complains about small stuff. Not to mention, she has OCD. She literally wears gloves when writing. I continued walking as soon as I saw her come out of the car. There were a few students in this corridor. Either they are late, or already in their rooms.

I turned right and I was in front of my room. I could hear some hushed chuckling from the other side. I instantly knew something was up. I even have an idea on who it is. I opened the door and I was right. A blackboard eraser came falling from above. I did a quick sidestep and swatted it aside. The eraser hit a guy's face and immediately turned his brown skin to snow white.

"I told you Toby." said a guy behind him.

"You can't fool Hikori, you're literally way too obvious." I laughed as I set down my bag on my desk.

"You literally tried to pull that trick three times now, Toby. And you even failed on the first try!" I said.

"Also, good morning Scott. Toby." Scott, the guy with glasses, smiled at me while Toby was still spitting out chalk.

"Yeah, about that, my bad." I playfully slapped Toby and most chalk came off. He now looks like he just has a terrible make up.

"I'll get ya next time." promised Toby while wiping off the remaining chalk. I sat down the chair and grabbed my cap from my bag. Brushed it off a little and put it on.

"Oh Hikori, by the way-" Scott was about to say something when someone hugged me from behind that almost made me lose my balance.

"Goodmorning Hikori!" said a high-pitched voice. I turned to see who it was but her cheek was in the way. It was Christy. She was always clingy around me for some reason, and I don't quite know why.

"Oi, oi, oi! Don't you get too clingy with him!" said another female voice from the door. This one sounded bossy, so I also knew who it was. I looked at the doorway and saw Eliza crossing her arms pouting. She has long, black flowing hair reaching her back. She has neatly cut bangs that were probably cut from the best parlor.

"Seriously, you're all too close with him. Good grief." she added. Christy gave her a smug look.

"What? You jealous?" She said with a grin. Eliza's face turned so red she looked like a tomato. She formed fists with her hand and stomped on the ground.

"W-whatt? What are you saying?! Me? Jealous? Not in a lifetime! That's impossible!" she kept on rambling while Christy kept teasing her with a sadistic expression. She can be scary sometimes.

She released me from the hug then she proceeded to sit on top of my desk.

"Hey watch it. You're gonna break the desk." I told her. She pouted at me,

"How rude. I am NOT that heavy." she said. Christy is the most hyperactive in our group along with Toby. She has golden brown neck-length hair. She doesn't usually tie it and just let it flow. Lots of girls avoid her for being weird at times so she decided to spend her time with us.

Eliza finally calmed down and organized her stuff on her desk.

"So, Hikori" said Eliza while fixing her notebooks.

"What's your plan for your birthday two days from now?"

"I was about to ask that! When suddenly Christy appeared out of nowhere." said Scott.

"My bad, my bad." Christy chuckled. They continue to bicker in the background. I fell silent for a moment. She's right, I'm turning thirteen in two days. I doubt it will be special though.

"I don't think there's gonna be much. A simple celebration would be a miracle to be honest." I replied. Eliza gave me a bewildered look.

"But.. But it's a birthday! It's a really special occasion that needs to be celebrated!" said Eliza.

"No it's not really-" As I was about to make my point, Eliza whipped out her phone and started calling someone.

"Chronus? Prepare the ballroom this Friday for a birthday party-" I swiftly grabbed her hand.

"That's... not really necessary." I told her. She blushed furiously and cancelled the plan.

"So what do you suggest we do then?" asked Toby, sitting on his chair with his feet on the table.

"I don't actually know. We could literally do anything and I'd be still happy with it."

"Awww, don't be like that Hikori! You're just confusing things more!" said Christy, swinging her legs.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! AHHH!!" Exclaimed Toby, almost falling out of his chair from excitement.

"So-" he started "-my big brother and his friends went past by an actual abandoned house yesterday. They went inside and he said it was haunted! But he can't fool me, I know he's just trying to scare me and stuff." Toby's eyes were so wide while saying this.

"So what are you implying?" asked Scott.

"Let's go!" he blurted out.

"YEAH!" said Christy.

"NO" exclaimed Scott.

"You guys definitely know how I don't do well with scary stuff!" he said. But the most who was in disagreement was Eliza.

"NO WAY! It's too dirty! There would be cobwebs and dust everywhere! I would probably die there! Absolutely not!" she kept on rambling on how dirty and how she would die in every way there.

"I mean, I'll try to make it for you guys." I said.

"Okay fine, but just this once! I'll go with you guys." seems like Eliza changed her mind.

"But I can't make promises!! You know how she is." I told them. They all fell silent and nodded.

"Okay class, straighten up. Class is about to begin." said the teacher that just came in.

"Let's continue this later." I said. They all said alright and returned to their seats.

**********************************************

Classes went on smoothly. Surprisingly, the teacher seems to be in a good mood. Most of the morning, she gave us a lot of free time. She told us that there would be a substitute teacher this afternoon after lunch and that we should behave. As soon as the bell rang, I tidied up my stuff and head towards the cafeteria.

The school wasn't that big. The cafeteria was just below our room. We can sometimes hear students rambling below if our teacher decides to hold us hostage. As usual, the cafeteria was swarming with students when I arrived. I joined the line to get food. I checked my wallet for how much I have. Only a dollar and fifty cents. I've been saving for a week and this is all I have.

Uniman dollars' currency is really high compared to other nations. One dollar would be about two hundred fifty Yens in my old hometown. I picked out five cents just enough to buy a NutriBar. As I was putting my wallet back, some rascals were shoving each other behind me and accidentally bumped me. That led to me bumping a teacher in front of me. I dropped my wallet and the contents are spilling out.

"Ah, crap!" I muttered to myself. I bent down and picked up my money. Luckily, nothing was lost. I counted it and it still amounted to a dollar and fifty. I stood up and faced the teacher in front of me.

"I'm really sorry about that, sir" I apologized. He was a stubby old man with close shaved beard and wore a flat cap. I knew he was a teacher since he was wearing a teacher's uniform under his jacket. He smiled at me

"Nah kid, it's no big deal." He told me. He looked at my hand and saw that I was holding a five cents coin.

"Pardon me if I was to ask, are you currently in a diet?" he asked.

"Um, no sir. I don't have that much on me so I can only spare for a NutriBar."

"Oh, I see" he said scratching his beard.

"What's your name if I may ask?" as he was saying that, the lady on the counter was signalling for the next in line.

"Oh um... I'm Hikori Kinusetsu- Ah, I mean-" I replied. There was a moment of hesitation on the guy's face. He only snapped back to reality when the lady called him out.

"Tell you what lad. I'll treat you for lunch, hmm?" He told me.

"Oh, sir. That wouldn't be-" He cut me off with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry Hikori, It's my treat." He said, winking at me. I smiled brightly as I accepted his offer.

'Gosh I didn't expect him to treat me this much' I thought to myself as I was carrying my tray through the crowd-filled cafeteria. The contents of my tray was nuggets with a ketchup dip, some pudding, beans, sandwiches, a juice box, and finally a NutriBar. It was easily a fifty cent meal, which for me is already a lot.

'Finally, I can eat to my heart's content.' I found the table where my friends were at. They made space for me to sit on when they saw me. I set my tray down and looked at them. They had quite a surprised expression.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" I asked. I touched my face to check if something really was wrong.

"No, it's not that. It's just that, you usually just buy a NutriBar for lunch." said Toby.

"Oh, yeah. About that-" I started.

"A teacher kinda treated me." I said. This instantly peaked their attention.

"So who was it? Was it Mrs. Brenda? Nah, she's was too grumpy to actually do that. She does have a liking to you though." Toby continued to pester me with questions that I didn't have a chance to explain.

"I'm feeling in a good mood today, Hikori. So be grateful I bought you some lu-.... What?!" said a voice behind me. I turned around to see Eliza. She was holding her tray and a guy behind her that's also carrying a tray appeared. It was the school janitor.

"You already have a tray of food? But, but, I was supposed to buy you lunch!" she exclaimed. I told that a teacher treated me and she started pouting. In the end, she decided to give the extra tray of food to the janitor. She sat down next to Christy and Scott and pulled out her handkerchief. She placed it on her chest as she started to dig in.

I also began to eat my food. The nuggets are delicious! It's actually been a while since I tasted them. The lunch break passed by with me and my friends discussing about the plan for the haunted trip which I most likely won't be able to join in. Of course I keep that to myself so that it wouldn't destroy the mood.

********************************************

Now that lunch is over, everyone is returning to their classroom for the classes. Everyone in my class were very quiet. Our teacher Ms. Burnes said that a substitute teacher will take her place this afternoon. So everyone is anxious on who this person is. When the door opened, everyone held their breath. Meanwhile I was shocked at the person who entered.

It was the same teacher that treated me earlier. The chubby guy with close shaved beard and a flat cap. He also spotted me and smiled.

"Good afternoon students. My name is Mr. Osura and I will be your substitute adviser for the next week." He said as he's putting down his stuff. He took off his flat cap to reveal a crew cut hairdo. One of my classmates raised his hand to ask a question.

"Yes?" Mr. Osura pointed him out.

"Are you from Ninho, sir?" he asked.

"Well, lad. You are right on that one." he said. He grunted as he sat down.

"Ah back pain still gets me." he mumbled to himself.

"Ms. Burnes is currently on a vacation with her family for a week so she left me with a list on what activities you were supposed to have." he announced.

"Well then, let's get started shall we? Lemme just get my list." He opened a book that didn't really look like a school book (probably a novel) and pulled out a long piece of paper.

"He's using Ms. Burnes's list as a bookmark." whispered Toby beside as he cackled.

"Okay, so let's start with Science." Mr. Osura said, folding the paper and putting it back on the book. He grunted again as he stood up. He did a quick stretch and began writing on the board.

"The circulatory system-" Mr. Osura continued to discuss while the class listened to the lesson.... Well, some.

********************************************

"Hikori! Look! It's the same duck!!" said Akio as we passed by the park again. School was over and I already said goodbye to my friends. I hid my cap inside my bag as Christy gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, which made Eliza erupt like a volcano. The two were bickering at each other when I left to pick up Akio and Haru. Akio tugged my shirt.

"Come on Hikori!! Can't we just get a few minutes in the park?" he pleaded. Haru was starting to like the idea too.

"As I said, it's a no. She will definitely get angry." I told them. They both fell silent and looked sad. I actually wanted them to enjoy the park too. It seems rather peaceful and light there.

"Maybe soon. I promise." They both lit up when I said that.

"You do?!" they both said in unison. I chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. So be quiet ok?" they both nodded vigorously. When we got home, we weren't greeted. Our mom was just there in the sofa on the phone with her friend.

"Come on! Come on! Let's count it!" said Akio as both of my brothers rushed to their room to probably count the stars they got today. I looked at the time and it's three thirty in the afternoon. I went to my room silently so that I wouldn't draw the attention of that woman. As I entered my room, I set down my bag and sat on my bed. I let out a sigh.

"Today was just another normal day in my life." I told myself.

"Ha! I have two stars more than you!"

"No! That's not that big of a gap!"

I can hear the two argue amongst themselves in the next room. I bent over to reach for my bag and pulled out my cap. I brushed it off a bit and hid it in a cupboard under my bed. I stood up and took off my uniform.

"It's so hot. I should probably take a bath." I told myself. I headed off to the bathroom to take a nice, relaxing bath. The cold water really hit the spot there. 'Sometimes, a cold shower really does help' I thought to myself.

I didn't realize that I was taking long until I heard a knock on the door and Haru's voice saying he wants to pee. I quickly finished up and got out of the bathroom. When I got into my room, I got dressed and jumped onto my relaxing bed. Well, fairly relaxing. I picked up the book I was currently reading.

I just borrowed this book from our school library. I'm supposed to bring it back two days from now. As I was about to open the book and read the first few words, I heard a call from outside.

"Hayden!!! Get over here and sweep the floor! Do your tasks!" I quickly jumped out of bed and head outside to my endless suffering.

A few hours have passed and I spent most of my time doing chores rather than spending my leisure time on the book. 'Looks like I'll continue reading that book at the library.' I thought to myself. I was about to return to my room when mom suddenly called us for dinner. Akio and Haru were also just finished cooking dinner with mom. She is now on her room and I can hear her talking with someone again.

My two brothers were now setting up the table. I decided to help them. Haru and Akio were currently watching tv when they got told to work. Haru's favorite show just came on and he was watching while carrying the plates. He accidentally stubbed his toe on the table and dropped the plates, causing everything to break.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" the shout came from you-know-who. I quickly pushed Haru aside and started brushing the broken pieces. The mom came rushing out and was bewildered at what she saw.

"You broke them??!!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry..." I apologized.

"You insolent son of a bitch! How stupid can you be?! You were watching tv weren't you? You sick shit! Do you think we have enough money to buy those plates back???" she started cussing at me.

"GET IN THE ROOM!" she exclaimed, storming off into her room to prepare the belt. I followed suit and closed the door. I caught a glimpse of Haru and Akio's worried faces as the door closed shut. As soon as I turned I saw a black flash appear at the side of my face. I took the belt lash point blank in my cheek. I can feel it mark on my skin.

"You useless crap!" she said as she brings down another lash on my arm.

"Why can't you be better?!" another lash on my sides.

"You're just bullcrap! Just like the rest of your race!" she repeatedly lashed at me. My body writhed in pain as I scream to every lash. She stopped the lashing and proceeded to slap me.

"Do you think we're rich people that can buy those amount of plates?" She gave me another slap.

"I'm taking away your savings, you useless piece of crap." I tried to cover my face before she gave me another slap.

"Take your hands off" she tried to peel my hand off.

"Oh so you wouldn't take it off huh? Then cover all you want!!!" she began to continue and giving me lashes over my body. She relentlessly kept bringing down the belt. The pain was too much that my legs gave out. I was thrashing in the floor as each lash hits my body. The suffering lasted for about thirty minutes....

After the punishment, I was forced to give all my saving to her and headed to my room quietly with all my bruises. I ignored the two on my way and just shut my door close. I feel so weak. My body is burning and aching from the pain. I buried my face in my pillow as I can feel tears welling up. I suddenly had visions of my real mom.

"Mom.... I... I just wanted to be.. with you again... If there really is an afterlife... I hope I can see you there..."

Today was just another normal day in my life.....