EPISODE 5

Next morning he woke up soon and got ready for school. He was very hungry as he did not ate dinner last night. His "mother" though while commenting foul words gave him breakfast. He went to school after finishing the food. He knew almost all the way around the school by now. He went to his class and attended the first hour. On his way to his next class he saw Mie with her friends. He wanted to go and say 'hi' to her, but yesterday's threat had him on his way. Just a few steps ahead of mie's group, he saw kaede standing in the hallway with his gang. They made eye contact for a second when Yuki passed near them. Yuki had a lot of unwanted thoughts in his mind but soon forgot about it later. He attended all the classes by avoiding both mie and kaede till lunch. During lunch mie spotted Yuki at the cafeteria and called out to him "Yuki!! Hey come sit with us" she said. There, Yuki was trying his best to merge with the crowd to avoid her gaze. Still failed, he started thinking for a pleasant excuse to refuse her offer. "Uhh.. actually mie... I'm with my friends here.." he pointed at a random group of friends to show her. Of course he hadn't made any friends other than her. "They are waiting for me.. so I have to go.. I'm sorry.. " he finished. Mie looked at his 'group' for a second and turned back to him. "Alright then .. i guess.. let me know when you are free, let's hang out together sometime!" She said. "Ah.. yes.. I'll tell you.. " he replied back timidly. She then parted and went with her friends, while he stood there, no one to turn back to, feeling the loss of the only friend he had. He ate lunch alone. The lunch was over soon and the next hour had started, he avoided mie as much as he could in all the intervals and made it till the end of the day feeling lonlier than yesterday. On the other hand, Kaede neither talked to him again nor looked at him. They would make occasional eye contacts, which Yuki would end before anything could happen. He tried talking to the kids in his class but none of them would mind him. It was already half the semester and everyone had their own friend groups to hang with. None of them invited him for lunch or for anything else. They would talk about him in their circle, ask him for homeworks and notes and some even made him do their works. Yuki bieng himself would do it for them no matter the load. His house wasn't also a good place to stay in. He would always get scolded for nothing and sometimes beaten. Still he tried his best to keep up with his academic scores. He was living like an unwanted dog for week since his first day at school.

One day, when he was having lunch alone in the cafeteria, Ben and his friends approached him. Ben was the infamous bully of the school. Everyone was scared of him except people like kaede, who had power. "Hey shithead! Whatcha doin' here all alone ? You know it ain't safe for shits like you to be alone??? Huhh??" He teased. His friends laughed, in which momo's voice was the loudest. Momo had joined Ben's gang after that day but she still liked kaede. Yuki just ignored them, trying his best to keep his cool. "Hey are you damned deaf???" One of Ben's friends asked him. "Wait, I know how to make him scream" momo finished when she raised her lunch plate upwards and slammed it down to Yuki's head. Everyone in the hall looked in their direction. Ben's gang roared with laughter. Many of the kids sitting beside his table started snickering. It was funny to everyone except yuki. His uniform was drenched in curry, and his hair was a mess. Ketchup dripped from his face and almost spilled in his eyes. He was on his verge to breakdown. He stood up quickly and tried to move his legs. To move from this position, that had become a humourous thing for people to laugh. His lips were quivering his eyes were filled with tears, he finally managed to run towards the bathroom. Though his trail never leaving people eyes and their laughs.

He was taking deep breaths after reaching the washroom, he slid down the wall and sat on the floor, tears flooding the eye and he started crying. No one was there to comfort him, just himself. The bell for the next hour rang, lunch was over, but he couldn't stop his tears. He thought of just staying in the washroom for the class. He sat there, having hiccups after crying for so long. He thought to himself ".. how could I be so weak? Why am I crying so much... ? Why am I such a loser..? Always.. getting beaten and scolded and made fun of... I.. I have never done anything like these to anyone.. then why are they doing this to me... Why do I have no one who loves me... Ahh... It was... Me. I was the one who pushed away people who cared for me... like I did to mie... Maybe I do deserve this... "

The final bell rang. School was over, everyone was going home. Yuki woke up from his daze. He stood up, washed his face and hair. Cleaned his uniform with water. He got out of the washroom, many kids stared at him while some pointed him out to others. Everybody saw, the whole school knew. His life here was going to be difficult. He thought. He ignored all the passerby kids, he grabbed his bag from the class and started walking towards the exit. Just then a high pitched sweet voice called out his name. "Yukiii!!!" He turned around. Mie was behind him. He had a mixed feelings about the situation but ignored it all when mie came closer to him. "Yuki...! Are you alright..!!?? Oh my... Your shirt is stained... I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. Let's go to my house, let me help you, come!" Mie said. Yuki was stunned to see her care for him, even though he ignored her for weeks. "I-its alright mie... I'm okay... I-i have to go home early. Thanks for caring :)" he replied. "No! No I'm not letting you go, what happened to you?? You weren't like this on the first day?? Do you not like me now? Tell me, what's wrong..?" Mie finished.. Yuki felt guilty when he got to know that mie was thinking it was all her fault. "It's.. not like that mie... You didn't do anything wrong. It's just... just..." He couldn't bring the words saying the truth out of his mouth. "Just tell me... Yuki listen.. calm down" mie said placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright okay.." she continued. Yuki thought for a moment and finally decided to do it. "A few weeks ago... K-kaede.. told me to... N-not talk to you..h-he said... If I d-did...He would... He would ...." No words were coming from his mouth anymore.. he was struggling to breath. Mie noticed his uncomfort and hugged him. "It's alright okay... He will never say things like this to you again. I promise..." She assured him. "I-i don't hate you.. I was scared.. of him... Please... Don't hate me... You are the only friend I have here...." Yuki managed to say. Mie, still comforting him thought of many things. Things that happened during the lunch...

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