Crimson

I see them too

Keisuke turned to look at the owner of the voice, there she was standing in front of him with an expressionless face. Her head wasn't even lowered to look at him but held high while her eyes looked down at him. He felt the feeling one would feel when they have done something and are being judged but the difference was he had not done anything. 

Kiyoko shifted her gaze from Keisuke to the thing that was still waving outside.  Looking back at the man sitting down with his arms over his head in a state of frenzy she could feel that he was petrified beyond death. Any normal person would be, to see a headless man waving at you, it indeed would be scary. For her it was nowhere near scary, it was as if she had been so used to it that it didn't even scare her anymore.

"I can see them too" 

Upon hearing those words, time for Keisuke stopped. 'She can see them too?' he thought. He had never thought another person beside him could witness such horrible and petrifying things. He had always thought that he was cursed ever since he was born, which made him re think his life all over again. He remembered how he had seen a lady with black eyes in his room. His mother when found out about this incident didn't believe him as kids his age tend to have wide imagination.

That was when he realized that no one can see what he can and nobody would believe him since they can't see what he can. It was a terrifying and sad revelation for him as a kid, knowing he had to live like this forever. Any child of his age would have cried and thrown a tantrum until the adults took them to some sort of shaman or a doctor but he didn't.

And here she was claiming that she could see those creatures too.

Keisuke raised his head and locked eyes with Kiyoko who was already looking at him but this time her eyes and facial expression were gentle. Gentle enough to make someone think she was pitying him, but she wasn't. He could feel the sinking in his heart when he realized what state she had found him in. He never thought someone would see him in a state of frenzy where he was ready to cry at any time. Every time he had seen something he would try to ignore it, especially around others. He didn't want them to find out that he can see creatures that no one can, the fear of being called a monster and being an outcast was bigger than anything.

"It's okay, it isn't there anymore" Her voice was ever so gentle. She leaned forwards lending a hand to Keisuke gesturing him to hold onto her and stand up to see for himself.

Keisuke stared at her hand for a good few seconds and then gave in. He stood up and immediately turned around to have a look at that creature. She was right, it wasn't there anymore. 

"Aren't you supposed to be in the class?" Keisuke questioned

"This was more important" Kiyoko replied.

That was a very odd reply, knowing that she would get detention for following him out of the class and yet she came. He could not comprehend why she had followed him, was it out of curiosity as to how he would respond around her in this situation, or was it to just amuse herself with his reaction? Either way understanding her came with way too many complications.

"You do realize that we both are getting detention right?" Keisuke asked her and she just hummed in response. Keisuke's eyes wandered around the ground and noticed that the kids were leaving for their houses and then it struck him that the period has ended and a siren went off in his mind. His homeroom teacher must have been furious when he left. Panic took over him and he jolted towards his classroom followed by Kiyoko who had a confused expression on her face.

"Why are we running?" Her voice was breathy because of running as if she was trying to catch up to him. "Mr. Kei is gonna kill both of us" he replied.

Both of them stopped in front of their class, panting their lungs out. 

"So both of you finally felt the need to attend my class huh? Wasn't expected of you Ms. Mitsubishu" There was a slight disappointment in Mr. Kei's voice and his eyes shifted from Keisuke to Kiyoko. No child on their first day would want to get a detention.

"Both of you go to the class and stay there for an hour" The teacher spoke.

A sigh of relief left Keisuke as he had expected something more harsh but to his surprise they just had to stay in the class for an hour. Pretty decent one could say, maybe it was because of Kiyoko, maybe he didn't want to be as harsh as he is since she just joined. Keisuke thanked Kiyoko in his mind as he made his way into the class followed by the girl who looked like a lost puppy.

"Since when have you been seeing them?" The question caught Keisuke by surprise. He knew she would ask him out of curiosity but in the back of his mind he thought she would know since she saw them too. He pulled out a chair and sat down thinking if he should be even talking to her, he was happy enough to know that there were people out there who saw the same things as he did but to engage with one was the last thing he wanted to do.

Kiyoko gave him chills in a weird way. It wasn't a bad feeling but it wasn't a good one too. Like why would she follow him out and comfort him when she could have just stayed in the class and avoided detention? He was not willing to even interact with her but no matter what he felt like he couldn't avoid her even if he wanted to. It was very strange.

"Ever since I was a child"