'A series of traumatic events either build up a person for life or destroy him.' - Sun Tzu probably.
As an Asian boy unfortunate enough to be 5'5 in 2023, it was apparent Kazuto was pulling no girls. As it was stated by Isaac Newton that opposites attract but what he failed to mention was that for short people it repels.
He was born to an abusive drunkard father and an oddly submissive mother. The father, John married his wife Susan at the age of 25 when she was 13, claiming to have only preferred pre-ordered items.
Despite him being a horrible father and husband, Susan held on strong for her son....either that or her IQ was just concerning. Some may say it was love but with a few examples, I will prove not.
Sometimes, John would come home drunk, feeling the need to beat the nearest thing to him.
"Mom! Look, I drew a Kite. Is it beautiful?" Kazuto tapped his legs with a bright smile on his face as he awaited his answer.
"Of course it i-" Susan was going to praise him until she saw John getting up from his seat and walking to Kazuto. A tear nearly left her eye as she saw her husband going to give their son praise.
"BOY! DID I CATCH YOU TRYING TO DO SHIT?" John yelled, slapping his 6-year-old son, sending him flying across the kitchen.
"No! My baby!!" Susan cried.
Sometimes, it did not take a lot to trigger John.
"Mom! Look, I solved an engineering question which could land me in University even though I am 7! I want to be an engineer!" Kazuto kicked his legs, with a smile on his face as he awaited his answer.
"Oh wo-" Before she could praise him, a tear nearly left her eye as she saw her husband walking over to praise their son.
"BOY! DID I JUST CATCH YOU TRYING TO BE SHIT!" John yelled, slapping the 7-year-old Kazuto, sending him flying across the kitchen.
"No! My baby!" Susan cried.
After a year, Kazuto had closed himself to his father. Doing nothing around him to not provoke him.
"Kazuto can you help- " Before Susan could request aid from Kazuto, a tear nearly left her eye as she saw her husband approaching their son for the first time in months.
"BOY! DID I JUST CATCH YOU CASUALLY CONSUMING OUR OXYGEN SUPPLY?" John yelled as he slapped Kazuto, sending him flying across the kitchen.
"No! My baby!" Susan cried.
It did not take a lot or in some cases nothing at all to anger John.
Around the age of 12, he was diagnosed as colour-blind due to his view of the world from birth which was black and white. This world was unfair, it gave to less than half of the population and left the rest to fend for themselves. At birth, your life is decided. Either you are blessed with friends, a lover, confidence or beauty; or you become neglected by fate, unloved, poor, no love and ugly.
From making only a couple of friends, and maintaining his virginity which was stronger than the house wifi; Kazuto was now 18, regretting not doing more with his life.
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"I cannot mention my whole life story, so I'll skip the parts about me being harassed daily by a dog or the realization that apples have a higher chance of being picked by people than orphans do." Kazuto bowed as walked to his seat.
"...."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The class was stunned. His only job was to introduce himself before the class which entailed his name, age and hobbies. But now, they knew his life better than their president.
It was his first day in class for the new semester, so class ended after introductions. Leaving Kazuto to wander the school hallways alone.
"Kazuto! My man! How was your first class?" A bald student wrapped his arms around him.
"Nothing shocking just introductions."
"Are there cute girls in your class?" Another boy in glasses and a scrawny build joined in.
"They were all mid."
" That's a shame, my class has the legendary Gawk Gawk 6000 machine." Another boy with long hair joined.
"What?"
"The gawk gaw... What?"
"Machine?"
Seeing his friends swamped in confusion, he decided to specify.
"Remember Izzy from middle school? She is here!"
"Ohhhh. She was the girl with the motto, 'My throat is an orphanage, no baby gets left behind'." The bald one recalled.
"Wait, it is her? That girl could suck a dick like it was scripted." The one with glasses spoke with excitement.
"Stop objectifying the girl, you disgusting bastards." Kazuto slapped each of them.
They were all in shock, only an eunuch would have this reaction but it was understandable. They all grew up together in the same area and only now could they finally all attend high school together. He had never seen the girl before due to him being the only one in the friend group going to another middle school.
" Well never mind. There is a dating event in the gym and I came to call you Kazuto. This is our moment to shine!" The three had their eyes shining as they all nodded together.
Seeing this, a cold sweat dropped from the boy's face. He was shy in front of girls and knowing his friends, they were going to drag him there if they had to.
"But first!" The bald boy, known as Larry removed a rock from his pocket with words written by a marker on it.
[ First to get a girlfriend gets hit by this rock]
Swinging his arms back in forth, Larry launched the rock through the window into the sky. Unexpectedly, a skirt of wind was created as it broke the sound barrier.
"As expected of someone who jerks off 4 times a day." The one with the glasses called Eddy smirked. However, what he did not anticipate was to receive a slap from Larry on the cheek.
"Do not insult me."
Tears began to swell up as Eddy was slapped by one of his best friends, the same friend he eats with, the same friend he walks with, the same friend he plays with. His voice croaked as he mustered up the power to apologize through his tears, thinking he had taken this joke too far.
"Those are rookie numbers."
"Huh?" Eddy was confused.
"4? I pump those numbers in an hour. I masturbate at least 6 times a morning for a warm-up then get to the main 5. And in the afternoon, I do an easy 4 before hitting a 5 for nigh-." Larry explained but soon received a slap from Eddy.
He touched his face only to realize it was now swollen with tears welling up in his eyes.
"Do not slap me again you dumb shit." Eddy scoffed as he walked off to the gym dragging along Kazuto.
The school only had four floors, which were long enough to take a whole 10 minutes to get through. Arriving at the gym, the boys were both disappointed and pleased.
Yes, there were booths with girls inside for dating so one had to simply choose. But what they did not account for was the depravity of men. The room was brimming with men to the point that it was like a boy's locker room.
"What do we do now? The long-haired boy named Alex asked.
"There is still the mysterious booth?" Eddy pointed to.
" No! Only God knows what could be in there. What if it's one of those ladyboys from Thailand?" The two other boys yelled but Eddy was oblivious to their concerns as he adjusted his glasses.
"It's a leap of faith. That's all it is." He flared his arms as he walked to the mysterious booth with the exaggerated swagger of an Indian teen.
They watched as he entered the booth alone. Even Kazuto was worried about what trials he may face. It is called the mysterious booth for a reason. Meaning, that the girl inside does not want to be known.
They waited for a second, then a minute before realizing that maybe it was all right.
"Alright, let's look for another- "
"UNHAND ME YOU BEAST! GUYS HELP! YOU WERE RIGHT!" Eddy attempted to flee the booth but was pulled back before they could see what the girl looked like.
They stared in shock, contemplating whether to get involved.
"No, I am not sucking it! WAIT, no it won't fit. No, NO, NOOO!" Followed by Eddy's horrified pleas, blood soon flooded the booth floor slowly seeping into the open leaving the boys and a few others in astonishment.
Eddy was then seen being dragged out by a goth girl easily weighing enough to be around 300 pounds. He was no longer conscious and from what they could see, all the blood was leaking from his butt.
It was a horrid sight as they concluded what happened. With sweat drowning their faces, no one dared stop the goth girl as she left the gym with Eddy. Signifying she was ready to take the relationship to the next step.
"Umm, anyway a booth just opened." Kazuto nervously laughed as he pointed to a booth with a man leaving angrily. Trying his best to refuse accountability for his friend's fading life, he ran to the booth.
"I should've got firs- oh shit. That is Izzy's booth." Alex yelled but was sadly, ignored by Kazuto's desperate attempt to avoid the situation.
Without knocking, Kazuto barged into the booth as he sat down wiping beads of sweat from his face. To increase his attractiveness he had been working out to have an aesthetic physique and in other words, no cardio.
While the boy recovered from his stamina being used up for a ten-second run, the girl stared at him blankly.
"Remove your pants for a blowie or get out." She said as she continued to press buttons on her phone.
"Being with you is way....better than out there. " Kazuto quickly answered while trying to catch his breath.
"Oh. What happened?" Izzy smiled whine being intrigued.
"My friend just got taken hostage by"
Leaving his sentence unfinished, Kazuto tilted his head to the side which Izzy copied.
"You....a girl!" Kazuto let out his inward thoughts.
"Indeed, I am. If you are gay then I am sure you can find one out there. I'm pretty sure everyone in the gym is straight." She said as she began to walk out. Due to her reputation, she doubted whether dating was a good idea.
"Wait!" He pulled her arm, causing her to fall on his lap.
He was not yet ready to back to the boys he abandoned or an angry Eddy..if he was alive. It was then, that a pleasant scent entered his nose.
"Her hair is pretty." Kazuto mistakenly let his thoughts out again. This was a habit he had developed by being an introvert.
Hearing this, Izzy twirled her hair as she blushed from the compliment. With eyes locked onto Kazuto, she slowly drew closer until her lips intertwined with his. Their tongues swirling against each other.
"No one has said about it hair before. Usually, guys just say how slutty the colour looks." She said as soon as their lips parted.
However, Kazuto was in no state to reply. His worries, fear, and anxiety were all gone.
He had experienced something lacking in his life. It did not matter if she had slept around with a lot of guys or had a promiscuous life. He was finally feeling an emotion, an experience he lacked....an emotion he yearned for. And in this moment, he could care less if the earth was drowned in a sea of flames or if water was attempting to flood the land. At this moment, Izzy was the only one he could see.
At this realization, tears dropped from his eyes.
"Do you want to go on a date?"