Windborne wanderers / kazuscara

1

"fucking hell, the sun's too bright..." kunikuzushi groaned, as he slowly slid off of his bed.

navy locks of hair so messy that it looked like a bird's nest stared back at him from his mirror. when was the last time he had slept so well?

"whatever...", he sighed, and made his way to the bathroom sluggishly.

he took a quick shower, changed, and of course, put his makeup on. you can never go wrong with red eyeliner.

honestly, this morning was one of the best he had. not because he was happy or whatever, but because he managed to get out of bed AND get ready for school properly.

he dragged his bag off the coffee table by his couch and made his way to the door. just mundane every day school life.

it's worse that he's a year away from graduating, the most stressful year of it all.

——

"kunikuzushi! wake up!"

a bang from afar was heard, and it was the result of the teacher hitting her desk with a book.

"...mm." he rose from his seat, visibly unwillingly.

"i know that you are smart, okay? but i still want you to at least pretend to be paying attention in class, because your participation grade is almost beyond salvaging at this rate."

"...alright..."

alas, the teacher's scolding was in vain as he drifted off back to sleep.

the teacher just sighed and continued teaching.

——

"kaedehara! what's up?"

"oh, thoma! hello."

a deafening din could be heard from all corners of the hallway, irritating kunikuzushi to his core.

"oh, kamisato! how are you doing?"

"quite well, actually! heh!"

"hah... can't tell if that conversation was sincere or not. never heard such terrible conversation in a while." kunikuzushi laughed to himself, in his thoughts, of course. "small talk's never sincere."

"...?"

"???"

what, what was happening? why was kunikuzushi being stared down by that group...

"uh, kamisato, thoma, i'm gonna... see you later? i have something to do."

"alright..."

"see ya!"

weird, kunikuzushi thought. whatever. he walked down the hallway as if nothing happened to get to his locker.

well, he tried.

"hello, curious fellow!"

what? what the hell?

"uh... hi??"

"i... uh... noticed you were staring me down quite fiercely earlier. whatever is the issue?"

huh? kunikuzushi? staring at someone? psh, as if anyone was worth that kind of attention—

"no, you were staring me down, red streak."

yeah, that came out right. please get out of my face, he thinks. i don't have the energy to build more useless relationships, he adds to his thoughts.

"eh...?"

now that's just confusing. was he really staring at some random guy for no particular reason at all? or was he being gaslit by those innocent eyes?

"...you know what, nevermind. let's just forget about this. bye."

with that, kunikuzushi walks away, headphones on and all.

"...huh, what an interesting individual..."

they both part ways, one party seemingly having wiped that interaction from his memory completely and the other just gradually forgot about it.

——

4 months later

——

"darn, that exam was tough..."

"figures! the sciences are never easy courses to take, that's why i chose literature!"

"nah, japanese literature sounds like pure torture."

"...hm, is that so?"

the conversation got abruptly interrupted by the school bell.

"oh, that's my cue to leave! see you tomorrow, heizou."

"mm, see ya."

the person who took literature was none other than kaedehara kazuha.

almost every day after school, he wanders around inazuma city and sometimes far beyond to relax his mind a bit.

travelling has been a long-lasting hobby of his. ever since his family fell apart, he took the leisure of wandering far away to isolate himself from his familial issues. he was too young and busy to deal with whatever was going on anyways. but even as things settled, he kept the hobby. maybe it was a force of habit, or him just wanting to escape reality, even if for a bit.

today, he walked to chinju forest. it's a place not too far away from inazuma city, and a place he frequents often. though most say that the place has an unsettling and eerie vibe, kazuha thinks of it as nothing short of comforting. it was quiet, albeit a bit dark, but still quite soothing to the mind and soul.

as per usual, when he is feeling less adventurous, he finds a comfy corner or rock to settle on and listen to music as he naps for a bit.

but just as he was about to drift off, he heard footsteps.

footsteps that sounded unfamiliar.

kazuha sensed something weird.