Arriving in the classroom the next day, Marin wore his usual grim expression as he unpacked his textbooks.
That was, until he got interrupted by an ominous bell through the speakers, signaling a school-wide announcement.
[Students Marin Ogawa and Nicchi Fukushima are to report to the teacher's room.]
Not only he, but also his class was left surprised.
Although he was quite unknown, with most not even knowing his name, none of them took him for the type to cause any trouble.
Yet one person wasn't surprised at all,
"Hey, isn't Nicchi that girl that was all over him the other day?"
"What, did you two get caught making out on school grounds or something?", the boy with orange hair spewed out, hidden by the crowd of students.
At the mention of any kinds of school drama, the class erupted in laughs and curious faces.
And in the midst of this chaos, the young boy was left petrified.
"I-I never did anything like that.", he muttered, yet his classmates were too rambled up to hear his pleads.
.
All of a sudden, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of his seat.
When he averted his gaze to face the person who did it, his heart sunk into a deep abyss:
"Hey loser, are you too scared to go? Come, let me accompany you.", the boy with orange hair loudly exclaimed, causing his other classmates to also jump alongside.
The occasional comments from his classmates were infuriating, leaving Marin to brood in anger. Yet, on the outside, he couldn't dare say anything.
Inside, the boy knew that anything he could say now, would only twist the situation against his favor. After all, his classmates weren't gonna listen to anything he would say anyways.
"Aaron, come on, let him walk on his own.", a teacher exclaimed, walking up to the two of them.
Grinning, the orange haired boy agreed to let Marin go.
'You useless as shit teacher! Can't you do anything against this?', Marin thought, yet before he could ask for help, the teacher was already submerged in student chatter.
It was ineveitable, that they eventually arrived at the teacher's lounge, where Nicchi was already standing, a teacher by her side.
When she saw Marin, she merely looked away, embarrassed by the crowd.
"Excuse me, students. If you may, this is a private conversation between these two and the teachers.", the teacher standing by Nicchi's side shouted, causing the crowd to dissolve ever so slightly.
However, the derogatory screams and calls of the students prickled down on Nicchi's already aversive mood.
"Oo, where did you guys do it, the restroom?", one exclaimed, followed by another, "Eww, you guys need to go and get a room!"
Until the teacher finally had enough, shouting at the students for how disrespectful they were being.
Until finally, they were escorted inside, where they were now alone.
.
"I'm sorry...", Marin said, looking down at the ground.
Yet inside, he himself wasn't quite sure who that was originally directed at.
In search of a warm smile to reassure him, Marin lifts his gaze, meeting Nicchi's.
But... her gaze wasn't filled with hope and reassurance as he had hoped, her furrowed brow only accentuating her stern eyes.
.
"Alright, you two... We have received notice of your disrespect towards school equipment."
"Obviously, it wasn't anything as serious, we simply called you in to receive some punishment hours, in which you will be sure to lighten the janitors load as much as possible.", the old man added, seemingly sympathetic for the student's situation.
"So, what does that include?", Nicchi asked with an emotionless tone.
Marin knew he was in a tough situation, but he could feel that something was even more wrong with how Nicchi behaved.
He could feel his stomach churn at how seemingly cold Nicchi was, rather than how he usually knew her. He was scared that maybe she was always keeping a front for him.
Perhaps he was the stupid one for dropping his mask in a mask charade.
"We just want you to come in after class one of these days and just do some menial work. We'll check with your teachers to find a fitting time for the both of you to attend."
"I-Is that it?" Marin asked, already begging to be let out.
"That's it. You're free to go, it seems the crowd also cleared up after classes started."
But, lowering his tone, the teacher added, "If you guys need something or require assistance in any way, you can feel free to talk to me."
.
.
Stopping outside of the room, Marin was about to face Nicchi, yet she was in no mood to talk.
She simply stormed out and got back to her class.
.
After that day, time seemed to fly by, with Marin trying to strike up any conversations with Nicchi, yet never finding the opportunity to.
He kept visiting the sports court after school, yet she never came.
He knew he was being stupid. He knew she had probably already given up on him.
Yet... that was also what he thought before, and even then, she came to save him. That day, when she picked him up like that: That was the day he came to believe that with Nicchi, everything was possible.
She was someone he could unconditionally trust, yet now, he was finally left alone by his angel.
...Until the final day of school came.
.
.
"Alright class, I will now call out the names of the people who can come forward to recieve their report."
His grades weren't all that bad, all things considered, yet his mind wasn't focused on his grades.
It was until Aaron turned to Marin, that he was brooding in his own little hell.
"Hey dude, did the two of you break up or anything?", he simply asked, yet Marin could feel a lump form in his chest.
He couldn't believe how angry he had gotten at such a simple question,
"We... We never dated okay. That was just something you made up."
But, Aaron wasn't as teasing as he usually was, instead sliding a single piece of paper across Marin's desk.
"Here, this is Nicchi's phone number. She asked me to give this to you.", he said, before walking away with a longing expression.
'What's up with him? Did he get a bad grade or something?'
Yet the paper remained on his desk, driving his attention towards itself.
.
Scoffing, he picks up the paper, packing his stuff to finally leave these hellish premises, that he had been bound to these past few years.
Today, he had become a free man. Yet, the piece of paper stayed in the back of his mind.
.
"Mom, I'm home.", Marin shouted as soon as he entered the doorstep of his house.
"Marin, I've left some lunch for you on the table. If you need anything, please let me know.", His mother replied from her office on the floor above.
.
As he put the lone plate of cold food in the microwave, he pulled out the piece of paper, that Aaron had given him.
And although he hesitated, he quickly also took out his phone, opening the messenger app...
*tip* *tip* ... *tip*
He couldn't believe it. Maybe Nicchi wanted to apologise for how she abandoned him and how she acted so coldly?
That must have been it, right? Otherwise, why would she have asked Aaron to give me her phone number.
As he opened the chatroom, he could feel his finger tips shaking.
An intense feeling suddenly filled the air, as he debated what he would send her.
...
Interrupting the overworking of his brain, the microwave let out a series of beeps.
As he opened the door to take out his meal, he grabbed the plate, burning his fingers on touch.
Retracting his fingers in pain, he realised that he had accidentally sent the text.
["Hello, Nicchi! Remember me? I'm Marin from school."]
.
.
.
'WHAT A CRINGEY TEXT!'
quickly, he put the plate down and got back to his phone.
And to his horror, within seconds, the message was marked as read, causing him to turn off his phone in shock. He wouldn't dare face this embarrassing situation.
.
He could feel his heart beating and his teeth clenching, yet he tried to hold back as much as he could. He was so curious what she would type, whether she would apologise.
But... in the end, even after he turned on his phone again and checked his messages, Nicchi never responded.
Of course, this was always what Marin had expected, yet it still hurt him.
The fact that even his very own angel had abandoned him.
.
This was followed by a summer break filled with mindless gaming and self-pity.
He couldn't believe how after he had finally sparked some hope in his life, the fire extinguished just as quickly as it started.
He was helpless, with now even less hope for his new school. Until...
A single text notification illuminated his deep dark room, shut out from the light by thick shutters.