Tokuda disregarded the whole incident that had happened right now. He knew he had better things to think about rather than that odd feeling; alongside with the voice that spoke to him.
Afterward, he was still sitting on the same bench he found when arriving at the platform. Watching each train as it passed by, he looked at the MP3 Player he had bought on his fourteenth birthday. He had been still nervous about his first day, moving his leg up and down repeatedly. Essentially, the school was like a trigger to him.
He looked at the MP3 player to see what the time was.
[ 7:30 A.M. < Playing: Kanashimi > 2025.4.5 ]
Damn, I hate even thinking about what happened before.
Niao and those stupid jerks in Junior High. I couldn't believe that all those things on that day led to me locking myself forever in a room.
In Junior High, Tokuda was a third-year student. He had many friends but one was his best friend, Takeshi Niao. They've been the best of friends dating back to when they were both in elementary.
Tokuda and Niao would hang out almost every day. However, a bully who picked on Tokuda would later interfere with their friendship.
A conflict between Tokuda and Niao occurred. It led to a week of silence between them. On his walk home from a long day at school, a group of bullies appeared. They usually tried to take his money during school. But, today was a usual meeting with them. Tokuda knew something was different, he knew they wouldn't suddenly try pestering him after school hours.
Feeling freighted, he didn't know what to do, so he ran away, the most logical thing to do. He ran as fast as he could. Unfortunately, he soon ran out of stamina. This lets the more athletic bullies catch up.
Once Tokuda had found out they found him he tried climbing a fence that was right next to him in the alleyway he hid in.
He kept trying to push himself to go over the fence but it was like every muscle in my body had given up at that moment. His pupils got bigger the more the bullies got closer. Tokuda flopped to the ground out of fear.
The Bullies looked tall from his view as if they were tall standing buildings. He knew he was in deep trouble with these guys but still wouldn't give up trying to escape. As soon as he tried to run, one of the bullies grabbed his school shirt collar and threw him at the fence he tried to climb. The throw was so hard that Tokuda broke some of the fences.
Thoughts within Tokuda's mind were repeats of what he should do. He was panicking and the pain from getting thrown towards the fence was still lingering.
The Bullies shouted at Tokuda asking why he tried escaping. Tokuda had no words, he tried to speak but kept stuttering. They squeezed their hands into a fist shape and started pouncing on Tokuda. Blood splattered everywhere. The sounds of Tokuda caught his best friend Niao's attention.
Niao walked down the alleyway and shouted what was happening. Tokuda looked up and got a glance at Niao and his hopes for getting out of there were going up. He shouted for Niao's help and that they were picking on him for no reason. But, something was off about Niao.
He was very quiet after Tokuda's yelp for help, Niao shouted back responding in a way Tokuda had never imagined.
"I never liked you ever since I've met you."
"I just played along to steal money from you.
"I have these guys retrieve money from you! I knew where you would every day!"
"Did you ever notice that I did nothing to stop them!"
Tokuda's face turned pale after hearing the words that came out of Niao's mouth. For many seconds, Tokuda had lost his train of thought. He couldn't have believed the words that Niao spoke.
He told himself over and over that it was a lie, none of this was real, and that it was just a joke. But, later it snapped into him that none of this was a joke, this was reality.
Niao and the group of bullies started pouncing on Tokuda. He tried his best to defend himself from the various attacks heading his way. Soon enough, they broke his nose and his face looked like a mess.
Throughout the whole tragedy, Tokuda was sobbing the entire time. The tears were the equal of a waterfall, it wouldn't stop going. He kept calling out Niao's name while getting hit, but no response.
Then, the endless attacks had finally come to an end with a spat on Tokuda. At this point, he was a complete mess. His clothes were all dirty from the dirt that was under the shoes that got pounced on by.
He cried all the way home. He expected a welcome, or at least some recognition, from his family. But, that didn't seem like the case. He came home to his sister making a mockery of him.
This marked the breaking point of Tokuda, he locked himself and cried in his room for many days. His room turned into his prison cell. Some days, he would starve because of depression.
Every day, Failure and Disgrace filled his mind. He saw himself as a Failure. He couldn't make a good friendship. He thought he lacked the skills to be a perfect friend. Disgrace came to mind because of the things he couldn't do that his family had expected of him. Instead, his sister did most of it, he was left in the darkness.
After everything had happened, there was one thing that had stayed in his mind other than the two words. The dream of entering a different world is to start fresh and do something right. Something that would make people proud of him and recognize him for it.
Then, little by little, Tokuda learned to go back into the public after he had been locked inside for almost a year.
Today was a special day for him, the day he's been setting his goal.
After a miserable forty-five minutes of running, Tokuda arrived at his new school. He would be attending it from now on.
I finally made it... took some time but after some moments of getting lost, I got here.
Then a loud voice came out of a speaker at the school blasting an announcement for the students to hear.
"The Entrance Ceremony begins in five minutes. Please start making your way to the back of the school."
Tokuda looked at where the sound was coming from and noticed that he needed to go.
Shoot! I should be heading there right now!
As soon as Tokuda started dashing towards the gym, a strange sensation had happened. A sharp pain had stroked a spot in his head, then he had no thought process for a second.
Then, a deep-toned voice had spoken.
"Hey..."
Tokuda had been frightened due to not knowing this new voice. Within a second of blinking, he ended up somewhere else.
"H-huh..."
"Where am I?"
Cold sweats rolled down Tokuda's expressionless face. Most of it had to be from the shock of what had just happened right now.
First, I hear a woman's voice I've never heard before. Then, I hear a deep sinister voice, and now I'm in this place that is filled with darkness and has an unsettling atmosphere.
"Am I high?!"
Tokuda's heartbeat had increased significantly, and he began to panic.
A room filled with emptiness of void had appeared, a monster that had one eye was with
Tokuda. A white skin color and lanky legs would terrify anyone in public.
From the One-Eyed Monster's perspective, Tokuda had been asleep in this room for an eternity...
The one-eyed monster gazed at the Tokuda as he got up from their slumber.
"Hey, you're finally awake... Hiro."
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