MEMORY LOSS AU - Gone

• twenty •

(just remember Harada is his LAST name. His first name is what Hinata calls him in the flashback; Hiyashi. Same with Saji, Arima is what they call him in the flashbacks)

Haradas POV
"When I first met Shouyo, we were only in grade school. Back then he was quieter than he is now, but he was always fun to be around"

"Hey Hiyashi! I bet I can beat you to the store round back!"

"That again? You know you're never going to beat me, I'm way faster than you!"

"But I'm feeling it today! I'm definitely going to win!"

"Back the he could never beat me in a race, or anything for that manner. He'd challenge me everyday though, it was like routine.

He didn't resent me for it; he thought of me as a good rival and a challenge for him.

Saji never ran with us, he said it was a waste of energy. But despite all of our differences we were pretty much inseparable.

I was only young back then; I didn't see what was right in front of me.

The first time I saw him cry was our last year of grade school."

"Shouyo! Shouyo where are you?!"

I told him to meet me here an hour ago.

We'd always meet up with Arima at the graffiti wall and do something so I could get away from home.

Damned parents are always telling me to man up and stop acting like a child.

Arima went the other way. He figured if we split up we'd find him quicker.

"Shouyo! Come on this isn't funny-"

My attention turned to the rustling bushes and the sound of sniffles.

I followed the sound and peered down

"Shouyo is that you?"

He was sitting down and crying, covering his face and telling me to go away.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Of course being a child I didn't have a hint of empathy.

I was just confused and curious"

When he lifted his head up it was clear that he'd been crying for awhile.

His cheek was bruised and had a hint of blood on it.

"What, did you fall over or something?" I said, wiping his tears with my t-shirt "It's ok, we all do that sometimes"

I picked him up but his expression hadn't changed.

He hadn't said a word either.

"Come on, let's go get ice-cream!" I tell him with a big grin.

His lips curled into a small smile and he nodded his head.

Arima was always prepared for our antics; he already had a bandaid on him.

"We hung out all day that day. I remember constantly looking out for him.

I guess I subconsciously knew something was wrong.

When we were just about to split up and go home however, he started to freak out."

"I don't want to go back!" he cried as he grabbed my arm.

"Come on Shouyo, stop being a baby! We'll meet again same place tomorrow, promise"

"But I don't-"

"Same place tomorrow. It'll be fine. See you then"

I gently pushed him off me and me and Arima walked home since our house was in the same direction.

He was acting kind strange that day.
I wondered why.

"I started paying attention to him a lot after that.

He'd have different bruises everyday. Even if they were only small as time went by had had more and more. Sometimes he was even cut

It wasn't until my second year in middle school that I really started to worry.

That's when that incident in gym happened"

Shouyos been really out of it today.
We didn't even run this morning since he looked so sick.

I saw him holding his head and wobbling as he walked.

"You know you can take a break if you need to" I whispered to him "You should get some water"

He put on an obviously fake smile and said, "I'm fine, silly! Don't even worry about me!"

He obviously wasn't fine.

We got told that we were doing laps around the gym today since someone from our year level had spray painted the bathrooms.

"It was me.

I guess it was around that time that I started to rebel against my strict parents and I got into a lot of bad company.

Some of the people I got involved with were high school dropouts.

That's part of the reason him and I had such a bad falling out.

Anyways, back to gym"

"Another lap!"

"Yessir!"

With each lap I noticed Shouyo starting to lose more and more balance.

I watched as his raspy breaths shortened as he started having to lean against the wall for support.

He needed help.
It pissed me off that he wasn't asking for it.

We were allowed a 15 minutes break when I finally asked him about it.

"Back then my temper was short and I didn't exactly know how to handle the situation"

"Shouyo!" I shouted loudly. It made him jump like a lot of things did.

Ever since middle school he was always a jumpy person.

He looked at me.

His eyes were red and his face was bruised. How long was he planning to convince us he was fine?

"Take a break! You look like shit!"

He stepped back a little.

He tried to scream, but he was far too tired to.
"I told you I'm fine!"

I could see him twitching his eyes trying desperately to keep them open.

"You're not fine!" I screamed even louder "Come on! I'm taking you home!"

I tried to grab his collar but in an instant he was gone.

He had... jumped over my hand?

It looked like he didn't mean to but seeing me swing my arm at him... he almost looked terrified.

It was like an instinct

He realised what he was doing when he was still in midair and passed out even before he hit the floor.

"Shouyo!" I said picking him up.

"I took him to the nurses office and the school called his dad to come pick him up

I stayed with him until he woke up and only left for only a moment to get him some water

When I came back his dad was in the room
That's when I saw something I was probably never supposed to see..."

TO BE CONTINUED...