Chapter Text
As the duo walked to the big school, a new one... A middle school... Oh god..
As a shy kid, Kaidou was terrified. His hands were shaking, it seemed Touma noticed too, as soon, their hands were intertwined.
"It'll be okay! Just be yourself, or follow me! I'll be the best I can be! I'll be the perfect person for you to be comfortable around. Like a moth! You can be my moth and I'll be your flame, okay? I'll burn bright for you!"
There were those metaphors Kaidou was used too.. It brought him comfort as he took a breath.
"..Yeah.. Yeah! We can do this!"
Kaidou cheered, quietly as Touma let go of his hand.
...Touma swore he saw Kusuo out of the corner of his eye, and his head turned so fast, almost like a toy.
Why did he even care anymore? Kusuo left him. Kusuo left him! Alone! To suffer alone, to die alone, Kusuo hates him! And Touma hates Kusuo!
No one will ever love him like Kusuo did...
No one will ever love him how he loved Kusuo.
Touma took a breath, before nodding and smiling. The two parted ways after walking in, as Kaidou was in the smarter classes, and Touma was in the normal ones. It didn't take long for Touma to be labeled 'weird'. But he didn't care!
Touma was Earthboy. He relied on that mask.. Hard.
Everyone called him that, Asumi was dead to him!
And as Touma left his second class, he was immediately shown how different things were...
People said 'hi' to him! They didn't mind his rambling, even if he was weird! People liked it, maybe even envied his ability to speak so fast and clearly..
They didn't push him.. Well- Some did. But that was okay! That didn't matter. He was dragged over to a table at lunch. At a table with Kaidou.
"So! How was your day, so far, Jet Black Wings? Good? New friends? Bad? Bullies? Tell me everything! I want to hear how everything is for you. My day has been weird, people don't seem to mind me as much- Someone even called me cute, for some reason. But I was pushed around some, and called bad names, but I don't care! I'm Earthboy, after all. And I'm good the way I am!"
Touma asked, then went on to rant.
"My day was... Fine. People find me weird.."
Kaidou answered, a bit sadly.
"Hey! That just means they're jealous. Nothing you can do! I used to have a best friend back in Elementary who protected me and... I want to be him, for you."
Touma responded, his tone a little off again, but he smiled.
"Anywho! Did you know that pigeons can produce milk for their young? I find it weird! Usually, only mammals fit that category, but then there's also Mourning Doves, who do the same thing! At least a dozen bird species can produce..."
Touma continued to ramble, forgetting his food was even there. Leaving Kaidou to carefully take some, to which Touma smiled, but continued to ramble about birds.
After lunch, the day continued. Leaving less to be desired- But, of course..
"Give us your fucking money, you freak!"
Touma was shoved to the ground, he put his hands down before he fell flat on them, the soft skin scraping the ground, leaving small traces of skin on the pavement.
"Yeah! How about you use that loud mouth of yours and tell us where your protective boyfriend went, huh?"
The second classmate mocked, grabbing Touma's hair and looking at him.. Sadly, Touma had learned to keep quiet during times like this.
It took five minutes for him to get back up, hands bloody and his eye swelling up. It was a wonder he didn't get a ruptured blood vessel... Wait, would that happen like that? He would have to look it up..
He quickly made his way home, avoiding the yelling of his dad's new girlfriend through out the house.
Touma was a freak, he knew that he was. There was zero denying it, he was the worst freak at that school.
No one could compare.. And deep inside? It made Touma happy he was getting attention, even if it was negatively impacting himself.
He sat in the bathroom, staring into the mirror, elbows on the porcelain of the sink as he dissected every little imperfection.
Huh, he didn't know he had a small mole underneath his eye! Maybe he could find a way to look better...
And that was when Touma had let his hair grow out, it was messy and everything he could've wanted!
After a little bit, Touma went to his room. Small trinkets lined his bed, almost like a crows nest. But- There was one object he didn't remember putting there?
A small globe ball, it was cold and sleek to the touch.. His heated blanket was on all day, when did that get there? He never had this, all he remembers about it is telling Kusuo that he liked things that resemble the earth and Saturn, because those were his favorite planets. Touma was confused.. How could it have gotten here?
He put it on his dresser, gently toying with it as not to break it. He hummed and smiled as he found it didn't feel half bad on his scraped up hands. Almost like an icepack.
Whatever!
Touma opened his window, putting out some bird food for the crows, he had gotten things in return, maybe the crows had brought the globe! Or his dad! He hasn't gotten a gift from him since the divorce.
...
It took two more months for Kaidou to leave as well, the boy was crying in Touma's room, telling him about it.
"Tou- I don't want to leave! I don't want to leave you, please.. Please! I need you, Tou. Your my best friend, I don't... I can't.. I can't imagine life without you, please.. Don't let me leave!"
Kaidou-- Well, now Shun to Touma, sobbed. Touma stood in front of him, carefully leaning down.
"Shu, I promise. It'll all be okay, remember our promise? We will never not be Earthboy and Jet Black Wings! We'll always be together, one way or another. I don't care how long it takes, I'll find you and I'll be there. I pinky promise."
Touma forces a smile, holding out his pinky, as Shun interlocks it with his own.
"M..mhm.. Us, forever... Earthboy and Jet Black Wings, always. No matter what."
He agreed, letting go and wiping his face off.
It only took another three months for Shun Kaidou to stop writing back.
It also didn't take long for Touma to stop and realize.. He didn't need friends. They all left him anyways.
No one would ever truly understand him, because he's too... Touma. Too everything, too loud, too smart.
It hurt him more than he could say, and that was something he wasn't used too. He felt almost sick at the thought of needing friends again. He had the earth, and that would always be enough for him.
He had never truly seen Kaidou as someone close to him, is what he tells himself when he goes to sleep that night.
He never saw Kusuo as someone close to him..
Yet, he can't start calling him Saiki. It felt too detached for what they had, too distant, too... Unimportant. Like he was a piece of the past that could just be wiped away.
Earthboy would never be wiped away! He refuses to accept that fate!
No matter how many beatings he gets, no matter how many bullies he faces, he refuses.
Touma "Earthboy" Akechi would never be forgotten again.