Masaru ran to school quickly, eating a fried egg on toast as he went.
I'm gonna be late!
He rounded a corner quickly and skidded, nearly tripping. Then he quickly crossed the road, his mother's flower shop and… ooh that new manga was probably out by now! Maybe he could… His phone buzzed.
[DONT BE LATE] his phone flashed. [5 MINUTES UNTIL THE BELL]
Crap! Never mind that manga! If I'm lucky they'll still have a copy when I get out of school!
Masaru bolted toward the school at lightning speed, and accidentally squashed a flower, and almost hit a woman with a baby.
Yikes!
He dodged as many obstacles as he could until he met his match: an uneven part of the sidewalk that was for some reason higher than the rest.
Aaaa!
Masaru fell face first onto the concrete with a bam! It scraped and burned his skin and he felt a tiny bit like crying. But of course he wouldn't. Until he got up, painfully, and realized the PE teacher, Sensei Mako, was right in front of him! He immediately felt his eyes water, and his muscles ached in pain and defeat.
"Haha… what *huff* brings *huff* you here?" He said, in a futile attempt to make light of the situation. T
"Apparently I'm here to punish you." Sensei Mako frowned, her thin brows knitted together in dissapointment. She looked up suddenly. "I guess this kid too!" She smiled wryly.
"Ahhh… crap late again." Said an uncaring voice from behind Masaru.
Masaru looked behind him to see a short, feminine looking boy with silver hair, and bangs that covered most of his dark colored eyes.
"Hibiki-chan! Did you get it?" Masaru said excitedly. Seeing Hibiki made him beam and light up like the sun.
With a gleam in his eye and a smirk, Hibiki was able to tell Masaru without saying anything.
Masaru grinned. "After school, my house ok?" The corners of his eyes were upturned, and the sheer delight on his face was almost too much.
Hibiki nodded. He didn't smile as broadly, but he was clearly brimming with excitement as well.
"Did you boys forget I was even here?" Sensei Mako said ominously. Her eyes were narrowed, eyebrows curved downward.
Hibiki and Masaru: "…"
. . .
Hibiki and Masaru laid down in the sandy dirt in front of the school, sweat dripping off of their red faces.
"I'm gonna die… you can leave me here… Masaru-kun." Hibiki spoke through labored breaths.
" I can't leave you here! We have finally defeated our challenge, you can't let this be the end!" Tears wetted his cheeks.
"No… leave me. And live."
"Hic… Sob… You were a real one Hibiki-chan." Masaru got up, and turned his back.
"I'll tell them all your story, Hibiki-chan the Great!"
Hibiki shot up. "Hey! You bastard! you're gonna call me Hibiki-chan?! In front of all the reporters and stuff?!"
"Hehe. Yup! They probably will think you were a girl! Hibiki~chan!
"You little-" Hibiki growled and ran over to Masaru, putting him in a headlock. "Take it back!"
"Nu-uhhhh!"*blehhh*
"You guys are so childish"
"Chiba Senpai!" The two whipped around.
Chiba had her hands on her hips, long slow flowing in the wind. She was fairly, and looked average, but if you would look closer you would notice her defined muscles and also how stupidly tall she was! Standing at 190 cm, or 6"2, Chiba was infamously known as the "most dangerous girl in school". She was also the third of their friend group, who kept both the boys in check (Someone's gotta do it!).
"Sensei Kaneki asked me to check on you and tell you you can stop doing laps now"
"Yeah we did as many as Sensei Mako said- 30 laps" Masaru frowned. It was a load of bullshit! Why should they get punished so harshly just for being a teeeny bit late?!
"Pouting are we?" Chiba snickered. "Just wake up earlier!"
"It's not my fault… listen. I had to negotiate with people from another world so they wouldn't take me. It was a lot of trouble. They wanted me to be their "hero" or something." He waved his hands around randomly, as if that would prove his point.
"Funny. But the only other world that exists is the one in your brain, and manga!" She stuck her tounge out. "You're so stupid and silly Masaru-kun!!"
Masaru growled. "Well at least I can think of an excuse! Hibiki-chan's brains are about the same as his muscles" he looked at Hibiki and chuckled "Nonexistent!"
"You-! I had nothing to do with you being late!"
"You were the one texting me at 1am to cry about how your waifu was killed off in Chainsaw boy! Honestly I'm not surprised by their deaths anymore… I think we know what Author-San is like at this point.."
"Ugh.." Chiba cracked her knuckles, which she often did when she was frustrated.
Hibiki and Masaru: "!!!"
Suddenly shivering, the two spoke at the same time " We should get back to class…"
The clocked ticked in it's monotonous way. Masaru wondered if the clock was as bored as him, just sitting here. The teacher was lecturing about something he didn't care about, and couldn't be bothered to listen. He was usually a good kid, and struggled but mangaged to pay attention in class. Right now, though, he felt an aching hollowness, distracting him from anything else.
"I wasn't mistaken. There was a strange sound Choco made this morning. It was a hacking noise, but it sounded forced and…" Masaru clicked his pen rapidly. "I mean… I guess he has gotten pretty old."
Masaru had joked yesterday about Choco "kicking the bucket", but Masaru felt a tightness when he seriously thought about Choco dying. That cat had been with him for so long, he hardly remembered a day without him. "So when he's gone, then what?"
Masaru bit his lip. His hand trembled a bit.
"…ura-kun! Nakamura! Daydreaming in class again?!"
"Eh?!"
"Don't 'Eh?!' Me Nakamura-kun! Read the passage!"
"Wha- oh." Masaru flipped through his book to find the page they were on. He stood and spoke stiffly,"The princess's hair shined in the sun…" (in English)
"That's the wrong page! Meet me after class Nakamura!" The teacher's face twisted a bit with irritation.
"Yes Sensei…"
"See you Hibiki-Chan! Chiba Senpai!" Masaru bud his friends farewell, as the bell rang. Then he turned and walked toward his English teacher's room.
"You wanted to see me Mr. Yoshida?"
Yoshida leaned on the chalkboard. His eyes looked to the floor. "Nakamura. Is there something bothering you?" His voice was steady and seemed sure of some suspicion.
Masaru's eyelashes trembled, and his eyebrows knitted together subtly. "There's nothing. Is what I'll say regardless of whether there is something or not."
"You sure are honest." Yoshida's shoulders raised, then fell with a sigh. "I'm going to send you home with some extra work, since you seem to have fallen behind. Your grades have been suffering."
Yoshida offered some papers to Masaru, and Masaru reached out to grab them, but Yoshida swiped them away. "If there really is something. I suggest you work it out. Seriously. I've been through my fair share of issues, and I know what it's like at this age. Something about a girl maybe?"
Masaru looked at the ceiling. "Nothing like that."
"Hrm. Well I hope things work out for you. Now about this work I'm giving you.."
BUZZ. BUZZ.
"Go ahead, look at it. It's an emergency text, right?" Yoshida's lips pressed together, worried.
Masaru grabbed his phone out of his front pant pocket, and the illuminated screen lit up the relatively dark room, which was only lit by the dying rays of sunset. The noticification flashed on the screen.
Masaru saw the words, and his heart dropped. "I-I need to go."
"Take the papers at least-"
Masaru dashed out of the room, nearly bashing into the door frame. He ran with recklessness and urgency.