Wisteria

1 - The Optimistic Idiot

His name was Yasuo.

And he had a curse. My dear friend Yasuo had a curse of optimism. Everything he knew could go wrong, he always saw with a positive outlook. Was it stupid? Yes, especially in a world like this.

Ever since the blue lilies were eradicated from the face of the earth, all leaders in the world were replaced by one person. Well, not specifically one person, but rather managed and puppeteered by the one and only Muzan Kibutsuji. Now, since Muzan was in the world's power, he had expanded his empire across the globe, creating demons and havoc among civilisation. Unfortunately, it was either to accept or perish the question "Do you want to become a demon?". So, around 52% of humanity found themselves becoming Muzan's subjects. The other 48% of humanity found themselves becoming slaves to the New King's empire. I mean, you can't have a great empire without slaves. How would have Ancient Egypt thrived if it weren't for the slaves? Who would have built those beautiful pyramids? Exactly!

So Muzan had created a new society running off ancient class systems. He was at the top while the filth known as humans resonated at the bottom, merely mindless, tortured slaves. And you'd assume someone so optimistic to be at the top of that hierarchy.

You'd never expect someone like our optimistic idiot here to be so optimistic, especially in a situation and lifestyle like now. Yet, here was Yasuo, slaying the day away and remaining hopeful as ever.

The blaring alarms in his apartment building caused him to jolt awake from his sleep. Shit! He thought to himself, rushing to change into his uniform. There was no time for snacks or he could end up becoming one! No, not for the ladies. He would never become a snack for them, no matter how much he wished for that.

He was a young man, only in his late teenage years. Despite this, he looked no older than someone in his late twenties. His eyes were a soft chocolate brown, similar to a dog's and his hair was a short, black, matted mess he desperately tried to fix by slicking it back. He was a weedy fella, being blessed with height but not muscle. The nutrients were a product of that, or rather, a lack of nutrients. His uniform consisted of denim pants and a thin, oversized out-worn shirt. For some reason, people taller than him existed. If he had gotten a few piercings, and worn a belt and a leather jacket, he would have looked like those fuckboys on the internet. Or a male manipulator. One suffering from malnutrition.

Despite his whole self being a 2, Yasuo quickly ran his bony fingers through his hair as he ran down the stairs, joining the rest of humanity in his district. As he walked with the bustling crowd, he kept a keen eye on his friends. He liked to think of them as his friends, but if you were to interview every single one of them, they might have called him an acquaintance, or a colleague, a confrère, if you felt fancy enough. However, Yasuo impatiently waited for his friends, greeting them by draping his hands over their shoulders and pulling them in.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Yasuo exclaimed happily, nudging them. "How's my Takao and Yoshiro going?" 

"Don't ever say that again." Takao spat, refusing to make eye-contact with Yasuo. Yoshiro was no different, simply keeping an unimpressed look on his face. Yasuo rolled his eyes and grinned.

"No fun, huh? Did your mother die or something?" Yasuo teased. Yoshiro glared at Yasuo. Not the greatest joke to make when your mother died a month ago.

"Shut the fuck up," Takao hissed. "You're such a fucking f-" Before Takao could finish his sentence, the muffled announcement from the speakers rang through the building.

"A board meeting will be held tonight after work. All construction workers please make their way to the auditorium at 9:00 PM. This announcement will be repeated at 8:30 PM. Anyone outside the auditorium will be locked out and you will become fresh food blah blah blah..." The announcer trailed off, listing the generic safety warnings all workers had to bear through. Yasuo shrugged it off. It was probably bingo night.