Through the Years (NDRV3)

1:|| Here We Are:

He hated it so much. Naturally, he made sure his mother knew how much he didn't want to be here. But the woman didn't listen to him, because she hardly cared. She was dropping her son off at this place so she could finally be rid of the brat. It was really such a selfish reason, but she was a selfish woman who really didn't care about her son all that much. 

"Have a good day, or... don't, it  doesn't matter to me," she told him at the door, crouching down to be at eye level with her son. 

He refused to look at her. There were tears of resentment glittering on his naturally long eyelashes. His cheeks were a warm shade of pink and puffed up in anger. 

The boy's mother sighed and wiped his face. "Shuichi, honey, you can't go in there crying, it won't be a good first impression on the other kids! You want to be popular and well like, don't you? Go make friends, I guess."

She rose to her feet and walked away without another word to her son. Shuichi raised a shaky hand to the doorbell and tentatively pressed it in. Moments later, the door was opened by a tall man with white-ish hair, a baby blue shirt, gray pants, and black sneakers. Started, Shuichi fell on his backside and started crying again. 

His mother said not to. But even though the words weren't his exact thoughts... Screw first impressions. He was crying. 

"Oh, no... Oh, no, don't cry, buddy!" the man said gently, kneeling down close beside him. "Hug?"

Shuichi shook his head firmly, but would not speak. He rarely spoke in the first place. The boy was very shy and hated being taken out in public where there were people that would no doubt try to talk to him. 

"That's all right. What's your name, little guy? Well, you can call me Komaeda, but I would like to know what I can call you."

The little boy sniffed, wiping his eyes. "Sh... Shu... Shuichi."

Komaeda rose to his feet and held his hand out for the younger boy to take it. He was so kind and gentle with everything he did that Shuichi slowly began to trust him. 

"Let's go meet the other kids, but I'll make sure they don't overwhelm you. Don't ask why one of them is in the corner... Actually, he bites, so there."

Shuichi tilted his head. "Who...?"

Komaeda rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Kokichi, the clown of the group. I would watch out for him if I were you, bud."

By the sounds of him, Kokichi was most likely not somebody Shuichi would want to be friends with. Or was he? What did he know? All he had to go off of was the fact that the other kid bit people and was a bit of a silly billy. 

Komaeda held the door open and gave Shuichi a gentle push inside. He looked around to see fourteen other kids, all minding their own business and playing with each other. Except for a boy sitting against a wall, hugging his knees. Shuichi knew it was rude, but he pointed to the boy and glanced expectantly up at Komaeda. 

"Oh... That's Korekiyo," the man replied, his voice laced with pity. "Maybe you can go talk to him... He needs somebody to talk to. He seems so lonely and sad all the time."

Shuichi tentatively walked forward, glancing all about at the other kids. There was a girl at a little piano and a boy with green hair beside her, three girls were chasing each other in a circle around another girl who was just sleeping, a boy with a very interesting haircut was talking to this girl with very dark brown hair... Then there was a very small boy gazing out a window, a strawberry blonde girl poking a white haired boy, and finally, there was this boy with black and violet hair standing in the corner, his head against the wall. So that was Kokichi... 

It didn't matter, because Shuichi wasn't sure he'd ever get to know any of them, anyway. There were too many kids and they all seemed to full of energy that Shuichi was too intimidated to speak to them. He really was only going to talk to Korekiyo to ask what was wrong. The boy seemed upset, and Shuichi was curious as to why. 

"Oh. You're new." The soft words fell from Korekiyo's lips. He watched as Shuichi sat down beside him. 

"Are you okay?" Shuichi asked, his voice almost a whisper. 

"No."

"Why not?"

"Nobody wants me around, they think I'm weird and creepy..."

Shuichi shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Thanks... Hey, what's your name?"

"Sh... Shuichi."

Korekiyo pursed his lips and rested his chin on his knees. "You can call me Kiyo."

"Okay... Nice to meet you, Kiyo. You're a lot calmer than all the others."

"Of course."

Shuichi cleared his throat, thinking for a moment before speaking again. "Later, I suppose... I'll look around..."

A humored glint shone in Kiyo's eyes. "Good luck."

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Here it is! A random idea I had and I hope people like it. :3 First chapter of this! Love the idea. Thanks for reading, folks. 

(word count: 836)