My past.

"Ouch! Well, that hurt." I said, sitting on the floor of the male restroom as blood trickled down my nose.

"You bastard, you got some nerves speaking to us that way." Riku said before kicking me again.

“Ow!“

"He's such a bastard. Why do you spend time with him Hiro?" Gojo asked my supposed best friend.

"Well, you know, his little sister is super cute, and he's a real 'friend in need'." He whispered into his ear before grinning widely.

"I thought we were friends?" I asked, trying to sit up.

"Friends? Don't make me laugh. You're just some lame kid with no friends, a cute sister, and some money." Gojo said, laughing as they hit me more.

*He didn't even think of me as a friend, I've been a fool. Thank God I didn't let Shiori meet him.*

"Hey, Izumi, listen. I'm gonna get your little sister, whether you like it or not. Don't worry, I'm gonna make her feel real good.“He said, licking his lips.

"Go to hell, you stupid pervert!" I cursed, trying to stand forcefully as Riku landed a forceful kick on my abdomen, making me cough up blood.

"Izumi, you bastard." Riku said, dragging my hair before throwing punches at me.

“I'm gonna kill you, Hirota! I'll kill you if you go to my sister! I'd rather die than let you get close to her.“

“Then it's probably okay to kill him now.“ Riku said.

"Hey now, come on, Riku. He's my best friend, and he will be my future brother in law." He said with a smirk as Riku let go of my head and spat on me.

"You should be grateful to Hirota. He just saved your ass." Riku said, walking out.

"Hey hey Izumi, what you gonna do now?" Hirota asked, smirking as my vision turned blurry. "Hey... Izumi, Hey...!"

...~~~...

"Hey, Izumi! You should read the next line. It's your turn." Our English teacher said, looking at me sternly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir." I apologized before bowing.

"Was he asleep?" Someone at my back asked before I heard giggles.

"Whoa, that's too crazy. Why should he be sleeping during Mr. Shiros' class?"

*Why do i keep remembering these things?* I thought before reading out my part.

...◇◇◇...

"Hey, let's go for karaoke."

"Yeah, i'm up for it."

It was already school over, and I packed my stuff, ready to leave the class.

It was already the third term of my first year in high school, and I had left middle school behind, although most bad memories still remained.

"Ouch, hey, watch where you are going." I heard someone say as I left the classroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said without looking up at her before walking out.

“Ugh… I think he's just looking for attention.“ Another girl said.

“Just ignore him.“

...◆◆◆...

"Mom, I'm back." I said before walking up to my room.

"Honey, welcome back." She said from the kitchen.

"Hmm, I smell something delicious, and it's coming from the kitchen." Shiori, my little sister, said, walking into the house.

"Welcome back, baby." Mom said.

I threw my bag on the bed and loosened my tie before sitting on my bed. I turned on the television and set the game.

"Time for some gaming." I said before starting a game.

...□□□...

“Big brother, mom said you should come down. The food's ready." Shiori said, standing hands akimbo outside my door.

"Okay, I'll be down in 3 minutes' time." I said, still playing.

"3 minutes? Dad's home already, and he said he's really hungry." She said.

"I said I'll be down, I'll just be done with this.“

"Hey! Quit the damn game and come. Let's go eat." She said, walking inside and trying to grab the console.

"Hey, quit that this is an online match." I said, dragging it with her while trying my best not to push her away forcefully.

We kept struggling for it till she let go and went straight for the switch before turning it off.

"Argh!" I screamed before kneeling on the floor with the console still on my hand.

"You got what you deserved, now come let's go eat." She said.

"You... you... Argh! Damn it." I cursed before throwing the console on my bed.

Immediately I got up, she ran downstairs.

...▪︎▪︎▪︎...

"How was school today, Izumi?" Dad asked.

It was already evening and we were having dinner.

"Oh, school was normal, I guess." I said, isolating the veggies from the other part of the food.

“Eat your veggies, Izumi.“

“Ugh…”

"Oh... you sure? Was school really normal?" Dad asked.

"Mm-hm, why should you even be asking that?" I asked, laughing nervously.

I looked up at him and saw the same look he gave me months ago after seeing bruises on my skin.

"I heard fathers ought to do stuff like that." He said as I sighed.

"Yeah, right." I said, still eating.

“You didn't go to your part-time job today?“

“Nah, the manager told me that I should take the day off. Something about fixing the vehicles.“

“Hmm…?“

Although I'd left middle school and attended some other high school in Chiba, I still couldn't forget what happened to me in middle school. I couldn't tell my parents about it since it'd worry them, and so I couldn't leave Chiba for Osaka where my cousin brother stayed with his mom.

Events from middle school, ranging from the bully to the activities following it, always came back to me like a plague. I decided to isolate myself from others around me to avoid mistakes like that from happening again. Except my family, of course. I wasn't ready for any pervert trying to get close to my sister or anyone bullying me.

I believed that just like that, I'd live a rather stress-free life. Playing games alone, working part-time every day, going and coming back from school alone, keeping my little sister safe, and making my parents proud, aren't those good enough? But I'd like to have a girlfriend...

"Before I forget, a friend from your middle school dropped by. She was really cute. I couldn't believe you were friends with someone like her." Mom said as I choked on my food.

"What's wrong? Here." She said, handing me a glass of water while Shiori looked up at me.

"Thanks." I said, gulping down the water as Dad stared at me.

*Who the hell dropped by my place? Don't they have any better thing to do?* I thought eating hastily.

“What?“ I asked Shiori, who looked away.

“Nothing.“

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