“Kyuichi.” A boy shouted, running to catch up to the boy whose name he yelled. He caught up as the boy turned, staring at him silently as he waited for his friend to finally stop and catch his breath. The boy stood properly when he finally felt capable of speaking. “Geez you walk fast.”

“No I don’t. You just slept in again, Akio.” Kyuichi turned and continued walking, the other boy giving him a look before stepping quickly to follow beside him. “You’re so unorganized. I don’t know how you manage your life.”

Akio looked over, smiling sheepishly. “Life’s more fun if it’s spontaneous though. Being a worry-wart only makes you stressed.” He lifted a hand and firmly tapped Kyuichi’s back. “I gotta say, you’re damn lucky to have a friend like me. Otherwise you’d go crazy with your constant worrying.”

“You definitely make things more interesting.” Kyuichi glanced sideways, but quickly looked forward again, arching an eyebrow. “Though I wouldn’t count it as luck, since you’d be the cause of any future insanity.”

“Why do you always do that?” Kyuichi flashed him a look, though Akio remained unnerved. He stretched his arms, folding them behind his head. “Sometimes you’re such a stiff. Do you even remember what fun is?”

Kyuichi stopped, the other boy turning to look at him. “I’m not like that. I know how to have fun.” He looked away, his brow pinching from frustration.

Akio looked in the opposite direction, making a face as if to say ‘yikes’. After a few seconds he finally walked over to Kyuichi and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Come on. If you weren’t fun, ya think I’d have been stuck to you all these years.”

Kyuichi brushed the arm away and stepped forward to continue walking. “Whatever.” The other boy smirked before catching up to him once again.

Akio whistled as they walked together towards school. He kept glancing over at Kyuichi who remained watching ahead. “Stop doing that.”

“What?” Akio grinned, turning away from Kyuichi. “Don’t you like the song?”

“I meant your staring. It’s annoying.” Kyuichi spoke firmly, trying not to amuse his friend.

“Aww. Don’t be mad Kyu-chan.” He stepped quickly behind his friend and wrapped his arms around the tiny waist, hoisting Kyuichi a few inches off the ground. “I just can’t help myself.” He laughed loudly.

“What the hell. Put me down Akio.” Kyuichi wriggled about, scared he would be dropped any second. After years of dealing with his best friends random actions, he still wasn’t used to them, much less trusted situations such as the one he was in. “Put me down. You are so going to get it, you jerk.”

Akio gently set Kyuichi down, laughing even more he had to hold his stomach. “You’re so cute when you’re angry.” He faltered as a hand shoved him back, but he quickly caught himself and stood properly.

“I’m not your toy. And stop calling me Kyu-chan. That’s even more annoying.” Kyuichi tried to ignore his friend’s smirk, but knowing it was pointless to try and reason with him, Kyuichi walked away.

Akio followed behind this time, smiling as he watched the slender back. When they reached the gates of their junior high school, Akio finally caught up to Kyuichi, grabbing his shoulder to stop the boy. “Hey. Wait for me after school?”

They sat in separate ends of their classroom and Kyuichi often kept to himself, or more no one but Akio would talk to him, so they mostly were together only outside of school. “Don’t I always.”

“Good. I need to ask you something later. Bye.” Akio waved his hand and dashed off towards some of their classmates, Kyuichi watching before turning to head off alone.

Kyuichi was usually alone and figured that most kids found him unapproachable, which he knew he was, finding everyone else intolerable. Akio was the only one he bothered with, since they had been friends since they were little. Though Kyuichi would avoid him at school, since Akio enjoyed attention and would often find people or attract them, making Kyuichi uncomfortable. However, things weren’t always like this and he could remember when he was somewhat popular and enjoyed having many friends. Back when they entered junior high, Kyuichi was much happier and would often get invites for lunch or after school activities. He even received several love confessions, though he always turned them down. But somewhere along the way, something inside Kyuichi changed and he started having mood swings, keeping to himself, pretty much pushing every living being out of his life. Akio was the exception, since he was too hard to push away, though Kyuichi couldn’t say he never tried to be free of the energetic person that made him even crankier at times.

Kyuichi barely paid attention to the teacher, rambling on about what he thought was pointless information. School just dragged on that day as he sat staring coldly out the window, the classroom fading deeply into the background until it vanished from his mind. Kyuichi wasn’t a bad student, but lately he had more on his mind than some last few lessons before their graduation coming up, so didn’t care if he was missing anything.

His mind went back to one night years ago. The door to his bedroom shut, trying to drown out the voices in the other room. He read over some notes, holding a pencil in his right hand. His concentration kept fading in and out and he eventually cupped his hands over his ears as the voices got louder. Kyuichi was used to this happening nearly every night and tried to void it from his mind as though it was nothing. But that one night felt different. The sound of objects smashing against the floor caught the boy off guard and he stared at his door terrified. A bang radiated from the other room again as the voices sharpened and Kyuichi jumped up, reaching for the door. He froze with a hand on the door knob, hesitant to open the door and look outside his bedroom. The voices were dimmed down and Kyuichi slowly turned the handle and peeked through a crack. He saw nothing, so decided to open the door further, but as the image of his parents were in view, the voices picked up and Kyuichi winced from the sound of them yelling. He swung the door nearly shut as his dad charged by, his mom following. He listened to their harsh words, catching a few phrases regarding him. Every time it was the same. They would complain about every little fault the other had. At first they tried to conceal it from their son, but eventually disregarded that he was even there and would wind up yelling and cursing, throwing objects or anything that showed their lack of affection for one another. But that night Kyuichi never expected to hear the front door slam and find his mother alone in the living room. That night was the last he ever saw his father.

Kyuichi turned from the window as the bell rang and he grabbed his bag, leaving his books on his desk. He walked down the hall, thinking how that night was the turning point in his life that caused it to all go downhill. He and his mother became distant when she tried to put blame on him for the stress she was dealing with and he loathed her for it. The world became a dark, empty shell to him and everyone seemed two-faced, Kyuichi never trusting anyone again. All he wanted to do was run, run far away and never look back. He wanted to go somewhere no one knew him and he could keep to himself. He swung his bag onto his shoulder and walked calmly through the hall as students began scurrying to get back to class as the break was almost over.

Akio stood at the edge of the school yard where he had last spoken to Kyuichi that morning. He smiled and waved at a few of his classmates heading off to have fun. Akio frowned as the crowd thinned out and eventually no one else came out of the school. “He better not have took off on me. What a weasel.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, still staring at the school doors, hoping Kyuichi would come walking out any second. After a few more minutes, Akio realizes his friend had already left, so he turned to head home. He glanced over his shoulder, still hoping Kyuichi was just slow today. He sighed as he turned to look forward. “Where the hell did he go? Skipping class and he wasn’t even in the nurse’s office sick.” His expression softened, as he breathed in deeply. “I really wanted to tell him today.”