To the Other Side || RB Battles S3 AU

3.5 - On My Mind

POV - TanqR

I tossed and turned in my bed, distracted by basically every little detail I noticed. Why can't I fall asleep? Maybe it was because of earlier. Something about that person... was off. It wasn't the fact that he kept insulting me, but something else. I don't know, I can't really think right now. I guess I'll try to fall asleep...

- In the morning -

My eyes opened to some light, which signaled that it was daytime. How lovely, another miserable day to live through. You'd think when you die, it would be all peaceful and that. But no, my "life" is just stupid and boring. It's sort of why I cause mischief all the time, because it's the one thing that's actually fun.

Anyways, I headed to breakfast after doing all the regular stuff, like brushing my teeth. I was immediately greeted with the sight of what looked like a game of tag and many plain pieces of toast. They weren't even toasted that well, just sort of dull. Think of the color of sand, except darker and grayish..?

While trying to grab one of the sad-looking slices of toast, someone who was running bumped into me and I stumbled onto the floor.

"Hey! Look where you're going!" I yelled at them, before a hand reached down to help me, and I look up to see whose it was. It belonged to Denis. I took it, and he pulled me up.

"Don't take any of their shenanigans too seriously, they're just being silly," he said once I dusted myself off.

"You're talking to me like I just got here. And you've known me for ages!" I complained.

"I'm just messing with you!" Denis started laughing, but my reaction was only a sigh and an eye roll.

"Anyways, what's with the food today? It's kind of... low quality."

"I have no idea, but it seems like that it was a last-minute thing. You can see how rushed it was, in the arrangement of the plates," he pointed to the zig-zag made of them.

"Good point. How about everyone who's running, though?"

Looking closer, I realized that the group of people was made up of Ominous, Flamingo, and Megan. It wasn't so surprising, especially since they were the most childish (and chaotic) out of all of us. Of course they would be playing tag out of all things.. sheesh. Oh wait, I'm getting distracted.

Denis started talking again, which startled me. "They just randomly decided to do it. Seems like they're having fun, though- wait, are you ok? You just... shook."

"Oh- yeah, I'm fine. Just got lost in thought, that's all," I smiled sheepishly.

"Okay then!" His demeanor quickly changed. "I'm going to try to find Think now, so see you later!"

"See ya." And with that, Denis walked away and I was left all alone. Again. I guess I could just think about more stuff. After all, there is a lot on my mind—for example, yesterday. Like, what in the world was that encounter?

I had gone to go investigate the border room (and put my mask on for safety), since its door was open. The next thing I knew, I was asleep! Then suddenly, this random guy wakes me up. He seemed nice, and we even had a nice talk before he started ROASTING me.

Okay, I'll admit, I did kind of start it, but still! What was I even supposed to expect from some guy whose name was "PinkLeaf," like that's just stupid. Although, I swear he fumbled on his words at some point, like when I joked about coming over here. What could that mean? I kind of want to learn more... wait, what am I saying?

My thoughts were interrupted once again, but this time it was Ominous who did it. And it scared the bloody hell out of me. "Hey, whatcha doing staring off into space?"

"W-W-What!! You- so suddenly- HUH???" I yelped.

"Oops, I scared you, didn't I? I'm sorry~ I'll be more careful next time!" he smirked, clearly not meaning anything he said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I turned around to look at him angrily. "And to answer your question, I'm just thinking about stuff! What's your deal?"

"Well, you say I'm a "child," right? Y'know, kids are pretty curious and..." Ominous simply smiled at me, but looked to the side and muttered something about turning 20.

"I've only ever said that you were LIKE a child! Do you need to get your ears checked or what?"

"I'm sorry, what!? ...Nevermind. You know what, I'm out of here."

He trudged away with a frown on his face, but I didn't feel bad. You annoy me, and I'll annoy you back. Pretty fair, right?

After all of that, I suddenly didn't want breakfast anymore, so I went for a walk. Even though there's not much to see, they say that walks can clear your mind.

That did not work for me. It just gave me more time to think about everything, everyone... y'know. All of that stuff. The thing is, I tend to overthink—which is probably why I'm like this today. Look, I'm just a curious guy, OK? Come on, you can't blame me. It's natural.

It just doesn't go away, though. Yesterday was too memorable. I mean, I broke one of the biggest rules we have! Yes. Me, TanqR worrying about rules. But this is HELL, not just some dumb school! I know that I said that this place wasn't too bad earlier, but the punishments are still bad... I'm not going to even go into detail. Let's just say it involves a lot of screaming- don't ask how I know that. And no, I did not go through one, if that's what you're thinking.

I don't know anymore. Maybe tomorrow my mind will be cleared up, but I just hope I can get through this day without seeming too suspicious. I might as well go play a prank on Bandites right now. I've been planning it for ages! Also, it seems like my hunger came back.

Time to have a "normal" day, I guess.

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word count: 989 words

A/N: I don't really like how this chapter turned out, but maybe I'll redeem myself in future ones. I swear, TanqR's personality will show more later. In this chapter, he's affected by the distractions and overthinking.

also apparently, em dashes (the long ones) work on wattpad very well. so if there's this little dash between words, that's what it's supposed to be 😕