𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐩 . various / take

EPISODE 2

E P I S O D E  0 2 [√]
p a g e  t w o  :  M I S F O R T U N E

he was crying on his way to his house. crying like a baby and had to stop and hide behind a wall to calm himself down. he's so sensitive. but it was a different kind of pain when you hear your so-called friends talking about you and not in a pleasant way.

he was crying. he always do. over the smallest things.

but betrayal is not a small thing though.

it's happening all over again.

like that one time he was blindfolded, pulled into the woods, and was secretly left along after putting him in the middle of nowhere. he doesn't know what to feel at first. where did they go? is this a game? a joke? are they playing with him?

or did they leave him for real?

but ... he shouldn't be surprised that things had come to this. he was oblivious but not to that point that he never noticed the looks they gave to each other, the glances, the way they would force themselves to keep on talking so the conversation he had started wouldn't fall into pure silence and awkwardness.

people in their right mind would have left those kind of friends but he didn't. he wanted friends. he didn't want to be alone all over again. he didn't want to eat alone in the cafeteria. he didn't want to go home by himself.

he knows how good it is having a friend by your side. having someone to eat lunch and snacks with. having someone to walk home with.

or perhaps it's because of his self that people wanted to get away.

"takemichi?"

he didn't even notice that it's raining. he was drenched even after taking the branches of the tree as his shelter. he looked up and immediately dreaded doing it. "it's raining out here — wait. are you crying??"

a small black hoop around the helix and two black dots ear-piercings on the lobe. an undercut. and bowl-cut blonde hair on top of it.

chifuyu held up the transparent umbrella above his form and takemichi's crouched form. "what happened to you??" he sounded worried.

don't be fooled, takemichi.

takemichi shot up instantly, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "nothing! 'just cried cause i forgot to bring my umbrella with me."

that seemed to work. chifuyu looked convinced. "ah. i'll walk you home then. we're literally neighbors and i was on my way home too." the undercut headed boy laughed slightly, turning half around and beckoning the bright yellow haired boy to go with him. "let's go."

takemichi uncomfortably shifts, nodding timidly before they walked. the neighborhood wasn't that far from where he stopped earlier. it should be fine.

none of them said a word. it just confirmed that chifuyu does find him annoying when he talks.

under any normal circumstances he'd start the conversation like he always do. he'd talk about his day or how he ended up under the tree that belonged to the owner living behind the wall he was leaning his back on.

but now that he knows chifuyu would appreciate it much more if he say nothing — he kept his mouth shut until they were 10 steps away from the townhouse.

"why were you crying back there?" chifuyu asked, turning his head to him in anticipation for an answer.

"i already told you. i forgot my umbrella at home." takemichi laughed sheepishly, his lips shaking as he rub his arms to warm himself up under the suddenly cold weather. "speaking of home, there it is! i'll head in now! i'll see you tomorrow at school." he said, running towards the gate and stopping right under the gate's shed.

he thought for a second if he should just head in or at least say goodbye to chifuyu before going so he wouldn't look suspicious.

but the rain and the freezing cold air that comes along it should be a good explanation enough for him to run inside without giving a glance behind.

as soon as he heard the front door closed shut, chifuyu hand dropped to his side after giving the blonde a wave goodbye. which was unreciprocated and left unnoticed.

he didn't pay much mind to it and jogged towards the gate of his own house; which was right next to takemichi's.

❁

he dries his hair with a small towel as he walks down the stairs, meeting his grandmother working in the kitchen. he made sure to wrap himself warmly; wearing long sleeves under his hoodie and thick pajama pants.

"don't run in the rain again. you'll get a fever." chiyo scolded right after the young boy entered the kitchen, even though takemichi barely made a sound. but the old woman seemed to have an extra sense that detects where and what takemichi is doing. "i made soup while you were taking a shower. eat it."

"wonder why it suddenly rained. it was really sunny earlier when i went out." the blond babbles, taking a seat and pulling the bowl of soup by the edge of it and taking a spoon from the stainless container on the center of the table.

"'don't know. 'can't understand the weather sometimes." chiyo turned around while wiping her wet hands with a dry cloth, looking at her grandson with no emotion shown in her face that fooled many people into thinking she was in her early thirties.

when she's already 53 years old.

well, she had takemichi's mother at 18. and takemichi's mother had him at the exact same age too.

long story short, takemichi's father left his mother after knowing her pregnancy. and because his mother's an obsessed little fuck, she left him in her mother's care and eloped with her ex boyfriend (takemichi's father).

how was that even possible? well it is possible considering he's still alive and eating soup under his grandmother's roof.

chiyo hated her daughter for this. "wash the bowl after. i'll just take in the hung clothes." she said before walking upstairs, leaving the boy alone.

takemichi nodded his head simply. he's used to it anyway; seeing the only emotion in his grandmother's eyes whenever she looks at him. disinterest. it offended him at first when chiyo was drunk and angry at her daughter for leaving yet again another responsibility in her hands, which resulted into her lashing out at a 10 year old takemichi and telling him things that a 10 year old kid shouldn't gain the knowledge about.

such as burden.

a responsibility.

in short, she never saw him as a grandson but a misfortune.

S O Y A
ᵗᵒ ᵇᵉ ᶜᵒⁿᵗⁱⁿᵘᵉᵈ