Chapter Text
1 YEAR LATER
The ringing of his alarm awoke him in an instant. He turned over and sloppily hit the blaring reminder of the hell that was to await him today.
A feeling of dread began to envelop his body, and his heart sunk to the bottom of his chest as he let out a shaky breath.
It was his first day of high-school, and he was as nervous as anyone else. However, he felt so out of place still. Like he wasn’t meant to be here. He hadn’t earned it far as much as they all had.
He was the youngest in his class due to him skipping a grade, and yet he felt so far behind.
Albeit his emotions, he had to trek on.
He pushed himself up out of his bed and put his clothes he had laid out the night before on.
He wore a simple black turtleneck adorned with casual jeans, and combed his hair back perfectly into a neat ponytail.
Everything about his appearance screamed that he was put together, that he was a respectable person.
He would not let this facade he wore falter.
Not today.
The most vital things to him were to impress his teachers, and to impress his fellow students with extreme academic achievement. Friendships were frivolous! Education and discipline were the two pillars that held his life up. It made his soul an impenetrable fortress, and friendships had no place within this fortress he has carefully crafted for himself his whole life.
Of course he couldn’t deny in the back of his head that the reason he lacked friendships was he was not cut out for it. He was unlike the rest, he always felt inside of him he was no one’s person.
But it’ll all work out in his favor, as everything will.
He had learned the standards he vitalized in his life from his parents. From his father’s words that he looked up to so dearly. From his mother who had assured him he would do great so as he didn’t let anything get in the way of what he desired.
And so he would show obedience. He would discipline himself as they wanted. It was all he had to show for himself, it always had been.
He grabbed his glasses off of the side table, slipping them onto his face and double checking his appearance in the mirror. As long as he looked tidied up and neat, he was okay.
He walked downstairs to the living room, where his father and mother were awaiting his arrival.
”Good morning Doppo,” his mother beamed to him. “You look so put together!” She said, patting his shoulder.
The humid air downstairs drove him insane, and his mother’s words annoyed him more than they should have.
”Good morning,” He replied hastily. “I have to leave now.” He snagged his backpack off of a hanger propped above a young photo of him. He seemed unrecognizable.
He was jealous of himself.
A blissfully unaware version of himself who didn’t know all so much how different he was deep down inside.
How he had standards no one else could reach. How he would allow nothing to come in his way. How no one knew him at all.
He jerked his head away in an instant after the thoughts flooded in, washing away any positive emotions that may have remained in his mind.
He turned and waved towards his mother as he turned on his heel out the door.
A bitter chill he hadn’t felt in so long embraced him as he walked towards his new school. He walked with shaking hands, and a mindset he forced itself to be positive.
But he knew it was a flimsy facade that was destined to falter.
The bell ringing almost gave him a headache as is, and the obnoxious chatter of the students in the hallway allowed for no leeway of his mind.
It all felt too crowded.
It felt as if every emotion in his head was racing each other.
And of course in first place currently was complete and utter fear.
That fear only worsened as Kunikida’s name came closer and closer in the roll call.
An amalgamation of names began to get called out into the void of Kunikida’s mind.
“Tayama Katai.” The teacher called, surveying the classroom for who spoke out.
“Here.” A quiet, familiar voice called.
Ugh. That boy is in my class…
“Doppo Kunikida.”
”Here.” He replied, straightening his back and raising his hand.
Maybe that was a little too extra…
The rest of names all didn’t ring a bell in his mind.
Great! The only person he knew in this hell of a science class was someone that hated him!
The teacher shuffled to her desk as she put her attendance sheet down. She then mumbled something that went in one ear and out the other and put something on her smart board screen.
Kunikida adjusted his glasses just as the horror hit his eyes—A seating chart…
Oh.
And if this wasn’t already his lucky day, he was sat next to Katai.
The class began to move around and various groans filled the air.
Kunikida sat down, Katai following shortly after.
Katai awkwardly sat down in his chair, but didn’t speak a word to Kunikida.
He needed no words.
His body language told Kunikida all he needed to know.
Every word the teacher spoke fell on deaf ears as kunikida shoved his face down into his desk and suppressed a sob.
Highschool was going amazing already…