Ours

VII

"Hey, Shun! Do you want to see who could climb to the top of the tree the fastest?"

It was an innocent question, or at least it was meant to be. A stupid bet between kids who didn't know any better.

Shun and I had always done things like this: climbing trees, racing in parks, skipping rocks. We were always competing to see who was the best at trivial and meaningless things.

It was supposed to be like that. I did not mean any harm by it.

So, we climbed and climbed for what felt like hours.

"Hey (nickname), that's enough. It's dangerous if we go any farther."

I should have listened, I had known halfway through that we had climbed dangerously high, that the fall would probably result in more than just a simple scraped knee.

I knew.

I knew, yet I continued to climb anyways.

I called him a baby, a scaredy-cat. I wanted to get to the top, hoping that it would somehow wash away all the pain from today if I could just reach the top and look at the setting sun in the horizon.

I just wanted to forget. I was supposed to be fun.

Then a crack is heard.

I remember that day like it was yesterday, I remember how the world seemed to move in slow motion as I watched the fall. I remember feeling pain and scared before feeling nothing at all. I think I screamed but I'm not too sure anymore but I remember the smell of iron and the red that seemed to dye the sand beneath us.

I remember it all, so painfully vivid like I was watching a scene from a movie.

I wake up with haste, my body drenched in sweat as I pant, trying to get as much breath into my lungs as possible. It was night, I could tell from the way darkness painted my room as my eyes tried to adjust to it.

I sit there, my heart hammering against my ribcage so hard that I can feel it in my ears. I must've made noise or screamed since I notice that Ares has come to my side, fully alert and making his way onto my lap like he was trained to do in this type of situation.

Calm down, take a deep breath.

Five seconds in through the nose, five-second hold, and five-second exhale through the mouth.

When I am sure that my heart rate has decreased, I let out a sigh and rub my fingers against Ares' head.

"Sorry Ares, I'm having these attacks more often these days."

I can't help but think about my last interaction with Toritsuka. Thankfully we were interrupted before I was asked about details, but my mind keeps wandering to it from time to time and I can't seem to get it out of my head.

My mind is too awake to even think about going back to bed so I decided that I might as well get prepared to go to school early and wait it out there. I check my phone, the sudden light blinding me for a moment before telling me that the time is 6 pm.

I make sure that Ares has his automatic food dispenser on before doing my morning routine and taking a cream cheese bagel, with that I head into the darkness and towards the school.

The sun has already started to rise by the time I reach the gates of the school and the campus is quiet though the field is already filled with sports club members doing their morning routine.