Pink bruises - Soudam

Chapter 2

*Beep beep beep beep*

Kazuichi squinted at the light pouring through his window.

*Beep beep beep beep*

He groaned quietly and looked over at his alarm. Sitting up, he turned it off. It was 6:00am, still dark outside. School. Need stuff. Need money for food. Need water. Need clothes. Ok. He pulled himself out from under the duvet and began to gather his things for school. He crept about his room, being carful as to be as quiet as possible. Moving silently was one of the few useful skills Kazuichi had gained from living with his father.

He slipped a note of cash out from his clothes draw and stuffed it into his backpack. It was his money, but he knew that if his dad knew where he kept it, it would no longer be his money. He couldn't risk taking from the fridge, so he always bought food on his way to school or bought food at lunch in the canteen. He thought back to the previous night and shivered. Na, not worth getting breakfast here.

Shoving a few more things into his backpack, Kazuichi quickly checked his appearance in the mirror. The foundation had started to rub off and he could see the bruise on his neck. It had turned a dark pink colour and was pretty obvious. He shoved on the nearest items of clothing, a pair of worn jeans and a very bright green short-sleeved shirt, and pulled the black turtleneck back over his head, covering up the scars on his arms. They weren't self-inflicted, but still looked bad. Well, most weren't self-inflicted, but the few that were were at least a year old or more now.

He quickly sponged the pale makeup over the pink splotch on his neck and replaced the bandaid on his cheek. He'd tell anyone who asked that he'd walked into a tree. No, a wall, that was more like something he'd do. Could walls cut you? I mean if my dad can cut my face with his fist then probably, if I was running.

He ran a brush through his hair a few times as he thought. Last minute he remembered his uniform and switched his casual clothes for his school ones. Finally feeling like he had everything, Kazuichi quietly sneaked into the kitchen, filled his water bottle, and left the house before his father had a chance to get up. He pulled his black beanie down onto his head and started walking, trying to decided where to go for the next few hours.

It was 6:36 am according to his smashed up phone, so he had a couple of hours before school even opened. He decided to go and pick up some breakfast. Lack of an evening meal from the previous night had left him starving in the morning. It was fifteen minuets later when he arrived at the nearest shop he could buy food from.

He walked into the building and glanced around. There weren't many people around, the sun had barely risen, it was still kinda dark, he expected most people were still asleep. He recognised a few people who were also browsing the shelves.

"Heya Mahiru! Hey Hiyoko!" He said loudly.

"Huh? Oh uh... hi Soda!" Mahiru noticed him. She looked awkwardly at the shelf.

"What? Why are you here? Why are you talking to us?" Hiyoko glared at him.

Kazuichi stepped back. "Oh uh, sorry. See you in class I guess!"

"Yeah..." Mahiru put her hand on Hiyoko's shoulder and led her out of the shop.

Kazuichi mentally hit himself. Agh, why did I do that?! I just need to shut up, who cares if I keep up this constantly happy personality, no one talks to me anyway...

He grabbed a sandwich and payed for it as he left. It honestly tasted pretty good for being store-bought, but still, it would've been better if he'd made it himself. When he'd finished eating he checked the time on his phone. 7:07 am, he needed to start walking to school.

Even though it wasn't as early anymore, he was still the first one to arrive at the school building. A few minutes later, more people started turning up.

"Damn Soda, early as hell as always," Fuyuhiko wandered up, arms crossed. Fuyuhiko was the closest thing Kazuichi had to a friend. He didn't hang out with him or go out of his way to spend time with him, but the small boy would often chat to him before school started and if they were in classes together.

Peko Pekoyama followed close behind him, but this was normal. Kazuichi had always thought they were dating until Fuyuhiko had told him she was a lesbian. Most people assumed they were together, but it worked as a kind of cover for Peko so they didn't bother correcting many people.

"Yup, always up early, no matter how late I set my alarm I always wake up before it goes off, heh," Kazuichi lied.

"That's kinda shit, why is that?"

"Body clock I guess."

"Ey, what's that on your face?" Fuyuhiko pointed to the bandaid on Kazuichi's cheek.

"Oh uh, I ran into a wall," he lied again.

"Why you do that, dumbass?" Fuyuhiko's tone wasn't mean, he swore more than you'd think, so Kazuichi knew he wasn't being mean.

"I didn't mean to! Why would anyone mean to run into a wall on purpose?" He tried to laugh it off. Fuyuhiko stared at him for a moment as if he was thinking.

"Soda I'm kinda worried about you," the tiny man finally confessed.

"Wh... why?" Kazuichi laughed awkwardly. "I'm fine."

Fuyuhiko watched him for another moment or so, before shrugging off his comment with a wave of his hand. "Eh, forget it, just don't run into anymore walls, k?"

"Hmmmm I dunno sounds kinda hard," Kaz attempted to joke away the anxiety that had started to settle in his stomach. To his relief, Fuyuhiko laughed. The bell rang loudly and the blond boy gently punched Kazuichi in the arm. Kazuichi gasped quietly but Fuyuhiko didn't seem to notice.

"Cya soon ya bastard, c'mon Peko," he walked away, Peko behind him. Kazuichi clenched his jaw. His arm still hurt.

"I should go," he muttered under his breath. He followed the wave of students who had started to make their way into the school too, rubbing his forearm.

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Gangsta baby at school, what crimes will he commit?

Song: Touch Up by Mother Mother