Tenhimi: Before The Game

Chapter One

I felt a weight on top of me when I woke up, and just now I'm realizing what it is. It smells like alcohol and the couch beneath me is ratty and scratching my skin. The man on top of me is dead asleep, so I'm able to maneuver out from under him quite easily.

I immediately feel grimy and disgusting. 

"I've gotta get clean..." I mutter to myself. I run as fast as possible to the bathroom while keeping quiet and step into the shower. I crank the faucet, hoping for it's cold jets to hit me, but instead only a little trickle comes out. He must have forgotten to pay the water bill again.

I can shower at school. That works. I step into the mirror's reflection. What greets me back I don't recognize, I never will recognize. Pale skin. Bloodshot maroon eyes. Shoulder length tangled red hair. I painfully brush out my hair with my fingers and put on my school uniform- a long grey sweater and a blue skirt with knee high white socks. I can't find the red ribbon that goes around the collar, so I decide to I can pick one up at school instead.

I sneak into the kitchen and look through the pantry and fridge: only condiments and a few stale saltines. You've gotta go shopping today, Himiko. I eat the crackers, leaving a few for the man on the couch. 

I grab my backpack and my house keys and leave, locking the door behind me. It's freezing outside, and there's a heavy fog that has set over everything. I look up at the sky and I can't see any blue. Even the sun itself is dulled.

As I swallow the last of my crackers, suddenly I'm reminded of what happened last night and am overcome with nausea. 

"Shit..." I mumble, swaying and hitting the side of someone's house. Before I know what's happening, I'm throwing up my crackers and everything I had eaten and drunken the night before, which wasn't much so I'm left heaving up nothing for half a minute. Everything sways before me. I feel disgusting. I feel so dirty. I have to wash all this dirt away. And for that to happen, I have to get to school.

So I keep walking. I pull out a book from my backpack with shaky hands- my favorite book of all time. "The mysteries of magic and the occult" By Aito Asahi. I've read it probably 20 times- I think I may have the entire book memorized at this point.

There's something wonderful about not knowing something, about something being magic. Something unexplainable. Even if it's not for long, I love escaping into the world of magic and occult. Whenever something bad is happening to me, I just imagine myself as a strong and powerful mage from another era. It distracts me.

A shadow is casted over my book. It's my school, Sakura High School. It was named after the woman from the first danganronpa game that died.

I head over to the gym quickly and put my stuff in my locker. I glance around to make sure no one is in the locker room with me, and then take off my clothes quickly and run into the shower.  I pull the curtains shut as tight as possible.

I turn on the faucet and let the hot torrents of water slowly remove the grime and dirt I had felt on my body. I let out a minuscule sigh of pleasure and wash myself thoroughly, before wiping myself down with a towel and exiting the shower stall with the towel tied around my chest. 

I'm about to grab my clothes from my locker when I hear a gasp.

"What- what the hell are you doing here?! There's another hour before school starts!" Someone shouts behind me. I clutch my towel closer to my body and spin around, eyes wide. Oh no. This isn't good.

It's Kaede Akamatsu. Anyone who goes to Sakura high school knows to fear and respect her, otherwise you're dead meat.

She has chin length blonde hair with two longer pieces in the front. She has purplish eyes that are always narrowed. Usually she wears the school's sailor uniform, except her's is cut so her skirt is much shorter. She's incredibly cute. She's chubby and has adorable freckles- but her personality is so vicious and sharp you could cut with it. She's also wearing just a towel, same as me.