Mizuto was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
“Azu… What the heck happened to you?”
The light flickered and turned off. The closet light was now on. Azu sat on the floor leaning against his bed.
“Dunno. I didn’t even get to see who the killer was.”
“Can you tell me where it happened?” Mizuto asked.
“In my house,” Azu responded.
“Maybe I should start there.”
“Maybe.”
“Why’d you reach out to me? Out of everyone, why me?”
“Like I explained. You’re the only person who can see the dead.”
“Then why can I only see you?”
“Because nobody else wants to talk to you.” Azu snickered.
“Oh shut up.” Mizuto scoffed.
“Thank you, Mizuto.”
“For?”
“You’re the only one who talked to me. You were the only one who hung out with me. I would’ve been lonely forever if it wasn’t for you. I just wanted to thank you for it.”
“No problem.”
Mizuto stood at the bus stop. Ikari was talking about the new God Of War that had just been released. Mizuto just nodded as he stared at Azu’s house across the street.
“I feel like you aren’t even paying attention to me,” Ikari said as he flicked Mizuto’s forehead.
“What? Oh- Sorry.” Mizuto nodded and looked at Ikari.
“You good?” Ikari asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just feeling a little tired.”
“Did you stay up all night playing the new CoD?” Ikari chuckled.
“Uh… Yeah. That’s what I was doing.” Mizuto nodded again.
“Nice. On that grind. Oh, there’s Naru!” Ikari looked behind Mizuto and waved at the incoming Naru.
“Hey, guys!” Naru waved back.
Mizuto turned around and gave her a forced smile.
“Hey, babe. Sleep well?” Mizuto asked.
“Yep. How about you?” Naru responded.
“This idiot stayed up all night playing video games.” Ikari laughed at Mizuto.
“Oh yeah? Why’d you do that?” Naru flicked his forehead just like Ikari did before.
“Because I felt like it.” Mizuto rolled his eyes.
The bus finally stopped in front of them. It picked up the arguing teenagers and took them to school.
“That’s stupid, Ikari. The best Resident Evil is obviously 2. I don’t understand why you can’t understa-”
“Mizuto Orozco.” One of the school guards walked up to him.
“Uh… Yeah?” Mizuto tilted his head.
“You didn’t pass the daily backpack check. Please come with me as we take you to the principal’s office.”
“The heck? Why did I fail?”
“I won’t ask again. Come with me.” The guard said as he started to walk away.
Mizuto looked at Ikari and shrugged then started following the guard. They made their way down the long hallway. Pictures of past principles were hung up on the wall all the way to the main office. The guard opened the door and let Mizuto in. He handed the principal Mizuto’s backpack, then left the room. The principal opened the bag and pulled out the picture of Azu and held it up to show Mizuto.
