【Ａｔｅｌｏ】(Ishimondo)

The Distraction

Who would have guessed that Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Moral Compass, had a secret? Not that secret, another one. One that honestly wouldn't be that big of a deal for most people, but for him it could ruin everything he was working so hard for. A journal. That's all it was. A place to log his imperfections, irrational emotions, and intrusive thoughts when he needed to. It wasn't that big of a deal, right..?

Ishimaru climbed onto the school bus, his watch ticking at 7:06 am. He shivered, searching for an empty seat. Sliding into a vacant spot, he rubbed his arms. The tips of his ears and the point of his nose were red, his body not being able to keep up with the cruel temperatures of winter. Taka had always been sensitive to the cold. He looked out of the window, wiping some of the condensation away for a clearer view of the passing mounds of flaky snow and neighborhood houses.

Arriving at the next and final stop before the school, the bus was pretty much filled. He wasn't paying much attention, he didn't mind if somebody wanted to sit next to him. He only looked over when he heard a groan and some incoherent mumbling. There stood a tall man with a very unique hairstyle. He wasn't unfamiliar with this man. No, not at all. Standing next to him was the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, Mondo Owada. Ishimaru knew him as a troublemaker, and as his peer who'd doze off every day during class. Mondo wasn't somebody he wanted to be associated with, but he'd rather not cause a scene. He just gave him a small nod and looked back to the window, scooting closer to the side of the bus to make room.

They faced away from each other the entire ride, an odd, silent tension building up between them. Mondo occasionally mumbled something to himself, but Taka tried to pay no mind to him. They weren't friends.

Arriving at Hope's Peak Academy, the students began to file out of the bus. Following Mondo out, Ishimaru entered the prestigious school. The heat of the building was enough to make his morning. Most people would chat and trade homework answers before school began. He couldn't say the same for himself. There was nobody he was that close with, but he tried not to let that bother him. He didn't want people to trade homework with answers anyways, that directly went against what he believed in.

After stopping at his locker to put away his coat and scarf, as well as a few textbooks he wouldn't be needing until after lunch, he headed straight to class. Taka took his seat, straightening his posture and preparing his brain to learn. Whatever that meant. He watched the rest of his classmates enter. After he came in, it was always the same exact order every day. Aoi, Chihiro, Hiro, Celestia, Leon, and finally, Mondo. The others typically arrived earlier than Taka. Well, they did now that he had to take the bus. He couldn't stand to walk to school during the winter. The last thing he needed was to catch a cold and, god forbid, miss a day of school.

The class began shortly and progressed as usual, Mondo fell asleep, staying that way for the duration of the class. Taka watched him disapprovingly, his eyes shifting from the lesson back to him constantly throughout the class. He wasn't sure why it consumed his mind like that. He knew he needed to focus on more important things, but he couldn't help it. Ishimaru was frustrated, with not only Mondo, but himself.

Just before bed that night, Taka pulled a journal out of his backpack, which rested against the side of his bed. He pulled out a pen before propping up his pillows and crossing his legs, flipping to the next open page of his journal. The previous time he logged something, exactly two weeks ago, was about his poor communication skills. He skimmed over it, writing the date at the top of the next page. All Ishimaru wrote was a quick paragraph:

"At school today, Owada dozed off during class. Instead of ignoring it like I always do, I kept looking over at him. He was distracting me. I can't get distracted from my studies by such meaningless things. I need to transfer the frustration I feel from him into energy to study and do my best in school.

Don't let this happen again. Don't get distracted."

Sighing, he read the last two lines over and over again, trying to get it into his skull. This journal was supposed to help him fix every little imperfection about him, and to do it without the world knowing. Not even his closest family. He understood. It'd be embarrassing to share his flaws anyways. This was his own journey.

Setting the journal back in his backpack, he got prepared for bed. Falling asleep that night, he hoped that was a one time thing. That something had just gotten into him that day. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Day after day, Mondo Owada found some way to creep into Ishimaru's mind. Whether he was sleeping in class, slacking in gym, or getting his things from his locker at the end of the day, he'd distract him. The worst part of it all was that there was no particular reason why. No pattern, no anything he could use to make sense of this. He figured that his behavior was simply bothersome, even if he had been easy to ignore up until recently. Maybe he was only noticing it now. Mondo Owada's presence simply bothered him.

One particular Wednesday, the two of them were attending gym class. They had both changed and lined up on their side of the gym, coincidently right next to each other. They ended up on opposite teams for a game of soccer, a sport that neither one of them were big fans of. Still, Kiyotaka put his best foot forward and held his weight. That was until he noticed Mondo wasn't even bothering to participate. Barely, if at all. He was just standing there, talking to one of his friends. They were still in class, they still had to put their best effort in! Not that he ever bothered to try in the first place.

During the brief period Ishimaru was staring in frustration, the soccer ball crashed into his face, knocking him over. The hit was dead on. He felt a pulsing in his face for a brief moment, his pain setting in. His face reddened, more specifically where he was hit. As another classmate came over to help him up, there were the sounds of a few, quiet chuckles from other students. Taka wiped a hand across his nose after taking his hand and pulling himself up. Once the initial dizziness wore off, he realized that his nose was bleeding heavily, shown by the streak of blood across the back of his hand, trailing off at his forearm.

"You okay, man? That thing looked like it hit you pretty bad. Like right in the face," his red-haired classmate said to him as he pulled him up.

"Uh, yeah, I think so. My nose is bleeding, though.. I think I should go to the nurse's office," Taka responded, his embarrassment beginning to set in.

"Totally. Can you take care of that yourself? I'll come with you if you're feeling a little dizzy or something. Wouldn't want my favorite hall monitor passing out or anything. Hah...," Leon said, cracking a smile.

Ending their short conversation, he responded, "I got it. Thanks, Leon."

With that, the Ultimate Moral Compass walked across the side of the gym to go and ask the teacher for permission to go to the nurses' office. He hung his head low, his face heating up with embarrassment. How could he do that? He made himself look like an idiot in front of all of his classmates. How was anybody going to take him seriously if a bunch of high schoolers couldn't? Ishimaru decided to blame this on Mondo. He distracted him by being so careless. Perhaps if he actually participated in class, this incident wouldn't have happened.

As he thought these things, he passed the man himself. Looking up at him, they made brief eye contact. Now wasn't the time to say anything to him, quickly turning away. He simply moved up ahead.

"May I please be excused to the nurse's office?"

"Go ahead."

Walking to the office, Taka came to the conclusion that he was just about done with Mondo and whatever he was doing to him. It was beginning to ruin his reputation. He wanted to be taken seriously, he didn't want to be a laughing stock. He had to do better, and the first step to that was getting this Mondo issue out of the way.

How? That was something Ishimaru tried to figure out after school that day. After thinking over what about Mondo made him so upset, most things pointed to him being a bad student. Mondo was a rule breaker, troublemaker, and a total slacker. The complete opposite of him. That's why his presence alone bothered him. In the end, Taka made a final decision on what he was going to do to solve this. His plan was unrealistic and he knew it, but he truly believed that it would work.

He was going to make Mondo a good, hardworking student.