Chapter Text
Kaidou was tired.
Morning heat seeped through the windows, warming his fluffy sky hair. He stared blurry eyed at the pages of homework strewn across his desk. His mother hadn’t been happy when she discovered the stack of pages shoved in a forgotten drawer, some dated over multiple months ago, all unfinished. She practically hovered over his back his entire week long break from school to make sure he finished the work, snapping if he so much as tried to take a break. He didn't even have any free time to spend with his friends. He could swear he heard their voices at his door a few times, but whenever he asked who was there, mama snapped at him to get back to work.
He managed to finish the majority of his work with varying quality before heading back to school, but the longer he stared, the less quadratics made sense. He tentatively wrote down an answer, sighed and moved to the next question. Class would start in five minutes, he still had a dozen more worksheets. He sighed, hunched over his desk. He twisted his arms over his stomach, trying to ignore the familiar gnawing anxiety that settled in his stomach. He spent the past week in a constant state of stress, sick aches chased him with each missed deadline.
A hand smacked into his desk, Kaidou looked up.
“Hey Shun” dark velvet hair fell neatly above his respectable glasses.
“Oh, hi Aren! Did you have a good break?”
“Eh, it was uneventful. What about you though? You know, we came by a few times but your mom kept insisting you were busy.”
Kaidou's heart sank, so that was them.
“Er- yeah, I had to catch up on homework.” He bit his nail sheepishly. If i’d just done the assignments when they were due, I could've had a fun break. He sighed. I guess this is my own fault.
“Damn dude, that's rough. We could've helped you out then spent break together!”
yeah right, maybe if mom- He pinched himself.
“W-well that would've been nice.”
“How much work did you have anyways? You look really tired.”
“Uh..” Kaidou coughed, pulling a hefty stack out of his bag. He winced at the loud thump of it hitting his desk. Kuboyasu’s jaw was practically on the floor.
“What the hell dude this is like three, four months of work!” he took one from the bottom of the stack. “This is from the start of the year!”
Kaidou sighed, a new knot in his stomach. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him lately, he could barely focus in class and finishing so much homework was suddenly lost to him. He did it though, a whole week of nonstop work. On top of that he had to dedicate time for studying as well, he really couldn't let his grades drop. He still felt uneasy around her. He didn't want to face her as a failure.
“Yeah well, I got most of it done in the end.” he chuckled.
“You mean that's not all of it? I can't believe you did all that in a week, dude. When did you even sleep?”
“Ehh..” Kaidou groaned, he hadn't ended up sleeping much with all the work. He thought he had probably slept five hours at a time at most, and he had pulled multiple all-nighters.
“Shun! Did you even sleep last night!?”
“Uh, Maybee?” The last few days were a blur of work and stolen naps, but he was pretty sure he got a few hours last night.
“Dude..”
They both looked up at the sound of the bell, in the door stood their teacher.
“All right, class, settle down.”
Kuboyasu went to his seat, sending one last glance at Kaidou.
“..I know it's the first day back after a long break but that doesn't mean you can slack off.” her voice faded to white noise as Kaidou stared hollowly at the chair in front of him. His mind wandered, he just couldn't seem to focus on her words. Maybe he was a bad student.
He yawned. Was it him or were the lights extra fluorescent today? His face felt warm, his eyes were heavy, and the stomachache was turning into nausea. He sank low, dropping his head into his arms. Quiet, darkness, peace. He wondered how much longer this class would be. He squeezed his eyes tight, stinging at first, then comfort.
Kaidou jumped awake at a harsh tap on his shoulder.
“No napping in class.” He scowled as the teacher walked past him. He hadn't even noticed that he dozed off. He yawned, choking as he was lurched forward. Sudden warmth enveloped him, arms clasped around his front and another head rested on his own.
“Guess who.”
“Santa?”
“Nope,” Kuboyasu pulled away and leaned on Kaidou’s desk. “We’re doing a group project. I recruited Nendou and Saiki already.”
“Oh. what's it on?”
“Historical figures. We have a week to put together a presentation. Shouldn't be too hard, honestly we’ll probably finish in a day or two.”
“Sounds easy enough..”
“We should probably get started- oh there you are!”
Kaidou turned in his chair as Saiki and Nendou walked over. Kuboyasu set down a paper on Kaidou’s desk.
“Alright, so I'm thinking..” Kuboyasu’s voice faded as Kaidou added another project to his pile. He bit his fingernail. He still had some assignments that he hadn't finished over break. This should probably take priority though, since it's a group project. His mother had been pretty adamant that he get his old assignments done as soon as humanly possible though. Considering her, even inhumanly possible.. She would already be upset that he hadn't finished everything before he had gone back to school. Any attempts of saying he finished, or simply throwing out the worksheet out of exasperation were futile. She would literally go to the school to make sure he had done everything. She had probably gone as far as to count the worksheets too.
Alright, he would finish the last stretch of assignments throughout the week.. And he could do his part in the presentation Thursday night. Eh.. better make it Friday morning. That should work out. Maybe. He felt sick again.
“Oh, you good runt? You don't look too hot.” Nendou broke Kaidou’s thoughts. What were they doing again? Oh right, group project. He thought he might throw up. He shrank into himself, why were they all looking at him?”
“You do look pale, Shun. Do you feel alright?”
“Huh? Y-yeah of course, just give me a minute..”
Kaidou stumbled down the hall, arms wrapped around his stomach. The boys bathroom wasn't the cleanest thing in the school, but it was thankfully empty. He closed himself in one of the stalls, slumping down against the wall and hugging his knees to his chest. Anxiety twisted knots in his stomach, Nausea sat as bile in his throat. He hated feeling like this. He wanted to go home. He never wanted to step foot there again. He wished he could run away. If he had to work out one more damn worksheet or sit quietly as his mother berated him he might.. Well, he didn't really know, and not knowing left a bleak hollowness in his mind.
Was this just his life? Tedious work and constantly tiptoeing around his own mother? He sniffed, ignoring the choke in his throat and the welling in his eyes. Sometimes he felt as if it would all be better if he were- Kaidou pinched himself.
He brushed his hand over his knuckle. It had been stinging all morning, he’d been doing his best to ignore it. Usually he wore bandages to enable his hero persona, but lately he’d been using them to hide the little pockmarks and scratches that currently freckled his knuckles and wrists.
He didn't mean to do it, really. It was just that his anxiety often came out through his nails. He'd scratch at his skin, sometimes not realizing he was hurt until after. He knew there must be something wrong with him, but the pain just helped him feel normal. He nudged one of the bandages away, absently poking and tugging at the scabs. He supposed it was a pretty gruesome cycle, and kind of gross too. It also ended up hurting a lot.. Hiding them all the time was exasperating, but he couldn't just let people see. He was used to it but honestly if he took a step back, his hands looked mangled. He didn't want his friends to think of him like that.
Kaidou dropped his head on his knees, wishing he could just feel normal. He should probably go back. He wouldn't feel better whether he was in pain in class or the bathroom. He could just work through it, like he always did. All right, he would get up then. Any minute. He stared at the grody tiles and sighed. The time creeped up on him as he fiddled with his sleeves. Kaidou glanced up at the steady rap of knocking.
‘Are you sick?’ that sounded like Saiki.
“whatt.. no..” he mumbled sickly.
‘You’ve been in there a while. Go to the nurse.’
He forced himself to his feet. He shook his head, waiting for the dizziness from standing too fast to pass. He opened the stall door to face Saiki.
“I don't need to.” he said, fein confident. “The Jet black wings don't get sick.”
Saiki looked unconvinced. Kaidou pushed past him, turning on the sink.
‘You’re going to wash your hands with the bandages on?’
Kaidou laughed.
“Oh, sweet Saiki. If I were to take off my bandages even for such menial tasks it would be detrimental. My powers could destroy the whole bathroom!” Saiki raised an eyebrow.
“Now, to uh.. Wash my hands!” he laughed nervously. Don't react!
He threw his hands under the water, flinching anyways when it ran over the raw scratches. God, why did it have to hurt so much? Why did Saiki have to be watching?
‘Are your hands hurt?’
“W-what? Of course not!”
‘You’re bleeding.’ Kaidou whipped his head down, quickly pulling his hands back. A thin trail of copper trickled from under his bandage and down his fingers.
“Shit..” he quickly glanced back at Saiki. “I-I mean um, yes! I remember now,” He tentatively unwrapped the bandages on his knuckles, revealing a mess of scratch marks and broken scabs.
“This morning, I was attacked by an assassin from Dark Reunion! I barely made it out alive. Heh, what am I talking about? He didn't stand a chance! I guess he did manage to mess up my hands pretty bad though..” please, please dont question it..
‘Why were you trying to hide it?’
“Obviously i didnt wanna worry you guys.”
Saiki just stared at him.
Kaidou sighed, suddenly tired.
“It didn't seem like a big deal, okay?” he discarded the half soaked bandages in the sink to his right. Hopefully they would dry a bit. He properly washed his hands, trying not to hiss in pain before pressing a paper towel to the bleeding scab. He glanced to the right as Saiki walked up, picking up the discarded bandages.
“What are you..”
Saiki looked over, meeting his eyes. Kaidou quickly looked away.
‘An assassin seems like a pretty big deal to me.’ Kaidou felt his face warm, suddenly feeling childish.
“Yeah, well…” Saiki turned, gesturing for Kaidou's hand. Unconsciously he let him take it. Saiki took the bandages under his arm. Kaidou cringed at the prospect of the wet fabric touching his hands. Saiki pulled them gently on his wrist, and Kaidou glanced down pleasantly surprised.
“Oh.. they're dry? That was quick..” They're warm, too. It feels nice. “I guess it is pretty hot out today.”
‘You still want to go back to class?’ Kaidou frowned. Who would?
“Obviously, dude. Don't want to fall behind.” as if your grades aren't shit..
Saiki sighed. The two left the bathroom and made their way back to class.
“Oh good, you two are back.” Kuboyasu glanced up. “We have to decide who we’re going to do the project on..”
Kaidou sank into his desk with a sigh. The room was just as overstimulating as before. He looked down at the blank paper in front of him. Maybe he shouldn't have gone back to class.. No, he couldn't be lazy! Just focus!
“You good, Shun? You were gone for a while, you look a little sick.” Kuboyasu paused. “And I mean in a sick way, not a cool way.”
“Wow, you’re so mean to me.” Kaidou crossed his arms behind his head. “And I'm good.”
“I don't know, maybe you should go to the nurse”
“I’ll be fine, dude. Really, I'm not sick.” he spat the word.
“Well if you’re sure..” he definitely was not sure, he didn't want to cause a scene though. He leaned forward, hunched over his desk. He tried to ignore the feeling of being watched for a few seconds before glancing up. Was he imagining it, or did Saiki look mad? Nah, that's how he normally looks, he assured himself.
About twenty minutes later, Kaidou was fried.
“Are you sure you’re okay, dude? You’ve been staring at that paper with a blank stare for like five minutes.” Kuboyasu hooked an arm around him.
“Yeh ‘m fine.” Kaido muttered, distant.
“C’mon dude, just go to the nurse. We’ll make sure you don't miss anything.” Kaidou shook himself out of a trance.
“I don't need to go- oofh” the air escaped his lungs as he was lifted into the air. Nendou had tossed him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“C’mon little buddy let us take you there!”
“Nendou you big lug, PUT ME DOWN!” he struggled, flailing uselessly as he was carried out of the room and down the hall. He attempted to squirm out of his grasp, but gave up by the time they were at the nurse.
“You can drop the tough guy act, Shun. No shame in asking for help.” Kaidou glared at Kuboyasu while Nendou practically flung him onto one of the cots. Easy for him to say. Of course there was, it's practically a humiliation ritual. He supposed he couldn't be too mad, this room was miles better than the classroom already. It was quiet at least. It would certainly be nicer if it wasn't so bright. As if on command, the lights flicked off. He looked around confused, had someone been by the lightswitch? Kaidou shrugged. At least it was peaceful now, he already felt less sick.
“You guys don't need to stay here.”
‘You two can go back, I'll stay here for now.’ Saiki stated.
“Alright buddies! We can get ramen later.”
With that Kuboyasu and Nendou left. Saiki went to sit on a chair at the foot of his cot. Kaidou wondered in the back of his head why he had stayed, but he supposed he didn't mind the company.