All For a Glance

Here's my Umbrella

As I was walking, the early morning sun hit my face. The pink and red hues of the sky stared at me. I stared back. Maybe today would be a good day. My thoughts were interrupted by the small sprinkles of rain. Great.

Luckily, since I read the weather predictions every day, I had brought my clear umbrella. I had gotten it out just before it had started to downpour.

I made my normal route to school, getting breakfast and coffee, picking up the local newspaper, and stopping to read it at a bench. School didn't start for another couple hours so I was alright.

My eyes were on an article about a young boy who had started his musical career, despite being an athlete.

That's when I heard a boy.

His footsteps were splashing loudly in the rain and his small, soft shivers were audible. He didn't seem to mind. He was humming the tune to 'Rain, Rain, go away,' his gentle voice barely heard over the sound of his feet splashing.

"Rain, rain.. go away.. come again another day.."

I could listen to that voice all day. It sounded soft but loud. Quiet and confident. Unique. It sounded like every beautiful note. Like every beautiful noise. Gentle but firm.

His appearance. It clashed so much with mine. While I had white hair and blue eyes, typically wearing a basic outfit, the boy had purple hair and eyes, with a very.. unique outfit.

I swear I had seen him before. Was he at school? I believe he was. But I just.. couldn't remember.

Then my mind snapped back to reality. He must be freezing cold! I picked up my umbrella and ran over to the boy.

"H-Hey!" I said, a little more loudly than I meant.

"Mm? Oh, hi," he said, not even looking up at me.

"A-Are you cold? Do you want my umbrella? My jacket..?"

"I'm sorry, I don't take things from your kind," the boy said with a shrug.

My kind? "Now what does-"

"Popular. Everyone loves you. Everyone knows you. Kiibo Idabashi. Born October 29th. Smart, analytical, intelligent.."

"Smart, analytical, and intelligent are the same things," I mumbled, ignoring the fact that he knew my name and birthday.

"See? You're painfully boring. You're probably offering me that umbrella to brag to your boring friends. 'I gave my umbrella to the loser boy! Aren't I so kind?'"

"H-Hey! No! That's not- no! I offered it to you.. because.. because you're standing out here in the pouring rain! You must be freezing!" I said, a bit offended at the boys assumption.

He shrugged, "Whatever.." he didn't seem to want to talk, so he went silent, going back to humming his tune.

"Rain, rain, go away.."

I wanted to talk to him. To get to know him. To hear his name. But my legs wouldn't move.

So he did go to my school. That's how he knew me.. right? Was he in my class? No. That can't be. I memorized everybody in all my classes by heart. So who is this mystery boy? Surely, I would've heard about him. A boy with purple hair stands out. A boy so unique stands out.

The boy was also a bit.. handsome. A small, eager face. A bright, shining smile. His big violet eyes.. his big violet hair. Part of me wants to look into those eyes. Part of me wants to touch his hair.

But we just met. Boundaries are set in place for a reason.

Perhaps I had violated his own personal boundaries by talking to him when he was possibly enjoying his time in the rain.

I sighed and watched the boy leave from my vision. I wanted to his voice again. It was.. so.. unique. Soft.. but loud..

Soft.. but loud.

I couldn't help but sing the song the boy was.

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. My friends and I would like to play. Rain, rain, go away."

"Him? Oh, don't bother, he's a freak," said the local gossiper Miu after I had confided in her about my encounter.

"Freak? I don't think so.."

"He told me he runs an organization with 10,000 members. It's stupid, isn't it? Makes you wonder what his home life is like. It doesn't matter, kid probably would've turned out a freak either way."

Miu had pointed out the boy in the crowd at lunch. He sat alone. The only thing he was eating was a cookie. The boy did seem.. very skinny, short, and pale. The dark bags under his eyes were prominate. Sticking out against his ghostly skin.

It seemed like all the tables surrounding him were empty, as if he had a disease and nobody wanted to risk being close to him. But what made him this unlikable? Even if he did lie, that wouldn't warrant this kind of.. harrassment. I haven't even heard of him until now..

I took notes of the boy the rest of the day.

When he went to his locker, everyone would move out of the way.
When he walked down the hall, everyone would move out of his way.

They would act as if the boy (who I learned had the name, 'Kokichi..' a very nice name, might I add) wasn't even there. They acted like he was invisible. A ghost. An inconvenience.

We did have classes together. In fact, most of them. That was so bizarre. I swear I have never seen him before.

The teacher never called on him. He sat in the back of the class and drew pictures of dragons and flames.

I noticed that the teacher didn't pass things out to him.

When the class was over, the teacher handed him his homework seperately.

This was.. confusing. Was he advanced? Or perhaps he needed special help.

I wanted to learn more but every time I tried to strike up a conversation, something would stop me. Whether it was a friend, a random person, or a teacher.

They wouldn't do it intentionally, no. But it still got in the way.

When the day was over, I looked at my umbrella. I could hear Kokichi's voice.. a distant memory of it.

I wish he had taken my umbrella.

I wish we could talk.

I don't know why he was.. such an outcast. So I decided to do my own private research.

On the walk home from school, the rain had cleared up. The sun was happily shining and the air was nice and warm.

I went to the store to buy a notebook.

I was going to find out a few things about Kokichi.

Why is he an outcast?

Why does he hate popular kids?

What is his homelife?

Why do teachers enforce this outcast idea?

Obviously, I had more questions. But this would do for now.

I needed to find out.. about this mystery boy.