Try Again, Kuro!

10/21/24

(TW: Mentions of bl00d, and the implication of SH.)

It's the 21st of October that Kuro Morales wakes up at 4:32 AM. He rubs his eyes, his arms stinging. Damnit, he thinks. Of course, it happened again. The bl00d had seeped through the cheap bandages he had.  He shuffles out of bed reluctantly, quietly opening the door of his room and leaving for the restroom. He pulls out the box of bandaids, replacing the ones already on his wrists. It always hurts, yet he KEEPS DOING IT. It's so addicting. He'll stop soon, that's what he keeps telling himself. He has to. He needs to.

After brushing his hair, he puts the box back into the cabinet, going back to his room and changing his clothes. His parents would wake up soon enough to take him to school- well, one of them at least. He puts on a black long-sleeve shirt and some dark gray leggings that fortunately have pockets. He huffs, unplugging his laptop from its charger and shoving it in his backpack. 
Kuro yawned, scratching slightly at the bandages under his sleeves before throwing on a hoodie. Thank god it was a cold October.

----

The drive to school was the same as usual, him scrolling on his phone in the backseat as his younger sibling Killian pestered him with non-stop questions and random stuff like.. "Kuro, if you swallow fruit seeds will it grow in your stomach?" "Kuro, why are you always on your phone?" "Kuro, why--"

 FINALLY, he got out of the car, shutting the door and entering his school. His hands rested in his pockets as he walked over to where his friend group always sat in the mornings. He would talk with them, show them things on his phone, and occasionally glance over to the school entrance where his crush's friend group hung out. His cheeks would flush a light red before he looked back over to his friends.

As the morning bell rang for them to go to first period, Kuro sighed, saying bye to his best friend and standing around just for a second to stare at his crush. He shook his head, rolling his eyes as he walked to first period. 

The whole day, he couldn't bear to pay attention to any of his classes- instead, he daydreamed. Thinking about his crush and gushing over him in his head. Lunch came before Kuro even knew it- he was glad that his entire grade had the same lunchtime instead of how it was last grade, where half had classes and the others had lunch. He sat at his usual table, just pulling out his sketchbook as his friends sat with him, talking about their prior classes or whatever. Kuro occasionally glanced over to where his crush sat, admiring the other boy's looks and how he interacted with his own friends. 

Kuro's cheeks flushed a deep red and he shook his head once again. Oh shit, wasn't there homework he forgot to do for his seventh period? Yeah, there was. Was he even going to try to do it at this point? No, of course not. His grade was already bad anyway. He didn't even like the teacher that taught that class. 
Kuro grinned as his friends made dumb jokes. "Shut up already, you idiots." He said, no real bitterness in his tone. 

Kuro wasn't much of a talker, only really answering things when he needed to or really wanted to, like with his friends. He hated getting called on in classes, especially when he wasn't even raising his hand. Like, how hard is it for a teacher to just pick from the over-eager students that are already raising their hands? Why do they always target the kids who clearly either don't know the answer or just don't want to talk? It was a mystery to him.

..

So when his seventh-period teacher called on him randomly for an answer he clearly didn't know, he mumbled under his breath.
"God damnit,"

As his teacher asked him to repeat because she couldn't hear, Kuro was so glad he had a friend sitting next to him.

"He said waning crescent, miss." Nolan said, grinning at him. Kuro grinned back, nudging his friend appreciatively. Though on the inside, Kuro knew he was stupid for not even knowing a simple moon phase. He shrugged it off for now, but it lingered in the back of his head. He fidgeted with the strings of his hoodie, then scratching at the bandages under his sleeves again. He raised his hand and was soon excused to the restroom.

(tw: bl00d and a raz0r.) ‼⚠

"Fuck," Kuro muttered. "shit, shit shit.." 

He glanced at the bl00d on his arms and in the sink, washing it off quickly with glossy eyes. He dried his arms with paper towels, a quiet whimper escaping his mouth as he slid his back down the wall, trembling as he sat on the floor. His shaky hands couldn't even apply the bandages, his ears ringing. Tears fell down his face- he tried to stop, he really tried. 

His eyes widened as the bathroom door opened, and he looked up-- 

Kuro tried to wipe his tears and roll down his sleeves, but the boy in front of him had already seen.

God damnit, Kuro thought.

He really hates Mondays.