A Sea In Him

Good Morning

    Kouji is woken by his alarm at 6:30 in the morning. As he gets dressed, he looks in the mirror and sees black figures behind him. As he turns to see the figures behind him, he is greeted with nothing. 

    See, these "hallucinations" have been happening to Kouji for some time now. As far as he can tell, no one else can see them and he is too afraid to bring up the concept to anyone else. So, he keeps it in his head.

    Kouji and his mother live alone. His father left some time ago. This may seem sad to most, but to Kouji, it was far from a suprise as his father has always been a distant and cold man.

"Goodmorning, mom." says Kouji as he enters the kitchen, where his mother is preparing both her and Kouji's lunches. 

"Goodmorning Ji! How did you sleep?" she responds.

    Kouji grumbles, "Same as always. I can't seem to get the dark circles under my eyes to go away. Everyone at school thinks I'm scary."

    Kouji's mother turns to face him with a pitiful look. "I am sure that is just all in your fuzzy little head. You are a smart boy, Kouji. You deserve friends smart enough to know you are not scary."

    She hands Kouji a little bento box with him name written on it with permanent marker. They exchange goodbyes before Kouji sets off for school. 

    He pulls his bicycle out of the shed, places his book bag in the basket, and mounts it before leaving his house. Along his way to school, Kouji enjoys the sunrise over the hills and dreads the school day ahead.

     30 minutes later, Kouji arrives at Kaden High School. He locks his bike to the bike dividers, and walks inside. As he is changing his shoes and placing his personal ones in his locker, his ears are flooded with an obnoxious voice.

"KOUUUUUJIIIIII!" screaches a grossly familiar voice. 

    He silently groans as he turns to face his childhood friend, Lydia. Lydia is much different from the other girls at our school. Her skin is much paler and she has blonde hair, instead of the common browns and blacks. 

"Goodmorning, Lydia. How are doing this morning?" replies Kouji.

"I'm just fine! How are you?" she pauses "Gross, you look like a raccoon. How much sleep are you getting?"

"And that's why I never approach you first" 

    Lydia frowns and follows Kouji after he slams his locker and starts heading up the stairs so he doesn't miss his first class. 

    The bimbo of a high school student clings to Kouji's side and whines about how he doesn't have to act so distant and cold. He brushes her off as he slides open the door to his first class, English. 

     Lydia follows suit and sits in her seat as Kouji travels to the other side of the classroom, where his assigned seat is located.

   It takes another fifteen minutes before class starts. This is Kouji's least favorite class. There are too many distractions. It gets too loud, there are too many things to look at, and there tends to be more hallucinations in this class.

    Mr. Yakisada begins to take roll call. Kouji grumbles to himself. Roll call is one of his least favorite things since he already hates calling out.

"Riku Takahashi?"

"Here!"

'Takahashi is a prick. He's too petty and tries too hard to prove himself.' Kouji thinks to himself.

"Mei Gogatsu?"

"Present!"

'Cocky bastard.'

     Roll call continues and about half way through, Kouji's name is called allowed. Kouji struggles to let the teacher know he is present. He quickly debates in his head if it's even important if the teacher knows he is here. 

"He's here." a voice says not too far from behind Kouji. He turns and is greeted with the most genuine, angelic smile he thinks he has ever seen. 

"Thank you, Tama. Now I know you are here as well. Kouji, you need to learn to advocate for yourself. You can't be here and not be here at the same time." Mr. Yakisada says.

    Kouji nods and puts his head down. For the rest of class, everything that is said goes in one ear and out the other but only one though sticks, 'Should I thank Tama?'

The bell rings twice, signaling that it is lunch time.. Most students prefer to eat in the cafeteria or on the roof, but Kouji prefers the peacefulness of the community garden on the side of the school. 

    Kouji uses the restroom and walks outside to his in school haven. Immediately, Kouji is greeted with the warmth of the sun and aroma of the assorted flowers. He smiles to himself as he walks to the gazebo and situates himself. 

    Not many people pass by the garden at lunch time, besides some janitors bringing heaps of trash to the dumpster because it is easiest to gather the trash from the classrooms during lunch.

    Koujis hadn't even finished his onigiri before everything in his field of vision is engulfed in shadows. He panics but doesn't shout for help. As far as he is aware, he is the only one who can see these things. 

    A large inky monster towers over the school, threatening to swallow it whole. Kouji just watches and preys for this vision to go away. He looks at his surroundings one more. The grass had turned to a pale grey and all of the flowers have decayed. 

    He notices the door to the school open, and he sees his classmate, Tama, step out. 

"You look pale. It's okay, I see them too." says Tama.