It was yet another morning in the city and a boy with spiky blue hair was running by the side of the road, carrying a school bag.
" I should hurry up and get to the hospital, or else I'm gonna be late again." He thought.
He had squinted brown eyes, a curved nose that was slightly pointed downwards, thin pink lips, a fair white skin complexion, and was about one hundred and seventy-four centimeters tall.
When he got to the hospital, he was met by a nurse just as he crossed the gate.
" Kondou, how are you doing today?" She asked, walking towards him.
" a lot better than I did yesterday, say hi to him for me," he said, running straight through the gate while waving his hands at her, " I'll come to visit in the evening!."
He kept on running as fast as he could and just when his legs were about to give up on him, he stopped running and started jogging.
A car suddenly stopped right by his side and he was able to recognize it instantly, the car window whined down revealing a woman with long pink hair.
" Good morning teacher." He greeted.
" Why don't hop in and I'll give you a ride, to school." She offered, pointing to the front next to her.
" Thanks for the offer, but aren't you running late to school?"
She looked at her wristwatch, then she turned back to him and replied, " I've still got fifteen minutes, but you'll be late while on those legs."
With no further objections, he entered the car and they immediately zoomed off.
When they both arrived at the school, he quickly got out of the car and ran straight inside the school building.
When he came to the locker he slowly opened it and just as he was doing so, three girls walked past him.
" Hey the guys, the Manga boy's barely early to school today." One of the girls said, giggling.
" I know, it's so highly unusual."
The three burst into laughter as they walked past him leaving Kondou gazing blankly in at his almost empty locker.
He took off his slippers and put on a pair of white canvas he had inside his locker, which was the only thing inside there aside from a few textbooks.
He then went to his classroom which contained only forty students and yet was still the most populated class in the whole school.
The moment he stepped foot inside the classroom, everyone immediately turned towards him, and a loud noise of chatter and murmuring immediately filled the room.
" I wouldn't normally bother myself with other people's problems but it's a huge surprise to see him come to school this early." One of the girls whispered to a boy sitting next to her.
" I don't know either, for some reason he refuses to tell anyone about his problems." He replied, still focused on Kondou.
Completely ignoring everyone he walked straight to his desk that was at the very back of the classroom and after he sat down, he dropped his school bag pack right by his seat and brought out a textbook from inside it.
It wasn't long after he began reading it, that the same woman he had met earlier on his way came into the class, wearing a gray suit and a gray skirt.
The room was instantly filled with pressure and every single student in the classroom stopped whatever they were doing and focused on the lady standing in front of them.
" Now I believe you all know what today is." She said, dropping the large pile of paper she had with her and immediately turned her gaze towards Kondou.
The boy sitting next to him immediately placed his right palm by the side of his lips and asked, "Hey bro, I don't mean to pry, but what's going on between you and Miss Shinobu I mean with the way she's looking at you and all?"
" What are you even talking about, there's nothing between us I swear." He whispered.
" Hiro Kondou, would you be so kind as to help me share these answer sheets, I'll share the question papers myself once we're done."
Without hesitation, he stood up and walked straight towards her desk, he was handed a total of about twenty of the pile of paper she was with.
He walked around the class, distributing the sheets of paper to everyone in the class and after he was left with only one, he went to his desk with it.
The question papers were quickly distributed among them as well and it wasn't long before their test was about to begin.
" Now, before we begin, I would like to warn you that anyone caught cheating will have their points deducted and even stand the risk of a suspension." She warned, taking her seat, " You may begin."
They all instantly flipped over their question papers and began writing although it was only a few that were actually writing.
" Most of the English tests are pretty tough, but this one is kinda too much of a head scratch." Kondou thought, scratching his head with his right hand.
After about thirty minutes later everyone had submitted their papers on the teacher's desk and she immediately left with them.
Kondou immediately left the classroom and went straight to the rooftop of the building, he sat on a chair which he saw there, and stared blankly at the sky.
" Is it always like this for everybody else, I always knew this was a cruel world, but does it really have to be that cruel." He thought, tears slowly filling his eyes.
" I had my whole life planned out, I thought I could see my dreams to the end, but no, this stupid world came and took all that hope from me." He sobbed, clenching both of his fists, " Why does it always have to be like this?"
He tried his best to hold in his tears and held his head down so that he was now facing the floor, he sniffled a few times before finally cleaning off his tears with his right arm.
It was a long day but the school day had finally come to an end and everyone in the Kondou's class had left except for him.
He was done packing a few things in his backpack and just as he was about to approach the door, it slowly opened and the teacher walked in.
" I saw you crying on the rooftop this morning, I hope your dad's getting better." She said, walking towards him.
" I didn't mean to make you worry about me, I was running late today so I didn't have time to check up on him this morning." He replied.
" How about you come with me, there's a place I want to take you to, we'll talk along the way."
Not long after their short conversation, Kondou was sitting alone on a backbench inside a park, staring blankly at the ground.
" This place show brings back some good old memories." The teacher said, approaching him with two cone-filled ice creams in her hand.
She handed one of the ice creams to him and after sitting right next to him said, " I know things must be very hard for you, but just know this Hiro, no matter what happens, you'll never be alone."
He slowly took a lick of the ice cream and with his gaze still focused on the ground said, "Even if everything were to suddenly get better for me, I highly doubt it would still be the same for me as it used to be."
" If you're feeling so down, we could play for a while."
" Merely looking at the grass is enough to make me remember all the sour experiences I had in the past, although it brings a few joyful ones the sour ones are far too significant, I just can't get them off my mind."
A man with white hair slowly approached them with his hands in his pockets and the moment the teacher's gaze met with his, she stood up and walked towards him.
" Wait for me Hiro, I'll be back in a minute." She said, standing up.
" Fuyoukawa, what brings you here?" She asked, walking towards him.
" I know it's quite unusual for me to pay you visits like these," he said turning his gaze to the, " but I'm afraid I've reached my limits."
She gasped immediately after hearing that and with her eyes widened and staring right at his, she asked, " he's... He's still alive, right?"
" For now at least, but I highly doubt it will be for long."