Eizu walked out of the store as he began to approach the car, however he slowed down a bit as he heard sudden scratching. Huh… Eizu stopped for a second, walking around the hood of the dented car Eizu was met with a bunch of gravel tossed at his face.

“AUGH!!!”

Eizu stumbled back a bit rubbing his eyes as in no time Eizu felt a hand grasp around his neck and followed up with a devastating slam to a lamppost. The impact dented into a somewhat outline of Eizu’s back as Ruzo was throwing haymakers into Eizu’s face. While being pummeled, Eizu raised his guard to cover his face as Ruzo pulls and slammed his knee into Eizu’s stomach.

“GAH!!”

Eizu got the wind knocked out of him as Ruzo tosses Eizu to the ground as he skipped off the gravel street. Ruzo then mounted onto Eizu’s back as he began lashing out, throwing accurate punches at his neck, shoulders, and his head. What is this guy trying to do! Kill me?!?! Eizu thought as he kept his neck and head covered.

A punch connected to Eizu’s shoulder blade as it cracked slightly as Eizu cried out in pain, using his ability to slow down time once again. Eizu slams his hands onto the ground as he slightly pushes Ruzo off his back and crawls out mainly with his right arm.

Eizu opens his eyes to a squint as he could hardly move his left arm, His eyes having a bit of red around the corner of his eyes. How long was it…15…? He looks back at Ruzo, catching a glimpse of their bloodshot eyes. But as soon as he catches the glimpse, he grasps at his chest curling up a bit as time abruptly returns.

He could hear his heartbeat at an abnormal pace as he guards himself from another stomping from Ruzo.

I can’t anymore!

“I give up!!”

Eizu shouted as his arm was moved to the side as Ruzo smashed his cheek with a hard punch, ignoring his surrender.

“Hey! Stop the fight!!”

“Oh Shit! He’s not stopping!!”

“What’s going on there!?! Is he insane or something?!?”

There were muttering in the crowd as Eizu’s group decides to get involved. A taller girl ran up as she knees the side of Ruzos head tossing him off Eizu as the other two grouped around Eizu. Eizu was bleeding from the nose with bruises as The Taller Inazuma girl widened her stance slightly.

“Get him out now, this guy is under red Siphon.”

“Red Siphon?!? I thought that-”

Just as she was going to finish her sentence the girl suddenly points at Ruzo as the taller girl hastily reacts to it, catching Ruzo in a high kick along his neck. The kick flung Ruzo back into the already trashed store as the other two began taking Eizu out. While the Inazuma Girl was fending off, Ruzo’s group also jumped in, tackling Ruzo from behind as they kept him pinned down.

“Ruzo! Ruzo!!!”

“It’s no use! The siphon is still in effect!”

“No shit sherlock! I can see that!!”

“Guys!! Get the staff now!”

Off in the distance Kimura stood with his arms crossed, looking over at Korvos with an obvious “see? I told you so” glare.

***

After some time, the event continues as Inazuma and Silvermend will have a rematch later. Kimura looks off to the distance as he spots Kyoushou Academy, seeing Asuka who was seemingly more distant from her group, sitting alone on a bench.

Kimura can’t help but be intrigued, uncrossing his arms as he begins to walk off on a dirtside path. The others look at him but at this point they’re sort of used to him just wandering around and wandering off.

“Hey, where are you going” Ayameko calls out, not even sparring some time to look at Kimura.

“Just saw someone. I’ll be back.” Kimura halts to respond before walking once more.

“……” She stays silent this time, letting Kimura Walk off.

Kimura walks closer and closer to Kyoushou’s station, three of the four notice Kimura heading their way as one of them gets up and began walking towards Kimura. He stops as the student stood in-front of him, it wasn’t the same group that fought Korvos and the others, rather this man was a foot taller standing at 6ft 2in and was slightly wider as well.

“What’s the Ishimura kid doing here.” He questioned Kimura, his voice having a slight deep pitch with it.

“…I’m here to see someone. I’m not here to cause any kind of trouble.” Kimura replied, looking at a slight upward angle.

“Trouble follows you everywhere you go Ishimura kid.” He taunted and remarked.

Kimura furrowed his brow a bit at that remark, clearly showing his anger towards it. However, he let it fly past him as he leaned a bit to the left, looking past the tall student and glanced over at Asuka. Asuka was sitting there as she fidgeted with a small fidget toy as Kimura stood back straight looking back up at the Kyoushou student.

Without saying a word, Kimura decided to walk around him but as he took a step the Kyoushou student placed his palm on Kimura’s shoulder. Clearly Kimura was unwanted there, but despite the warning Kimura shoved past him, his shoulder pushing the students hand off as he walked towards Asuka.

The Student looked onward at Kimura with a slight anger in his eyes but decides to also let it go past him as he goes back to watching the event. Kimura walks over towards Asuka who hears his footsteps, looking up to see him.

“Kimura…?” She seemed a bit surprised.

“Care for a walk?” He raises an eyebrow at her.

She smiled with a slight blush as she was getting ready to say something, but she suddenly stopped herself as her happy open mouth suddenly turned into somber disappointment. “N-Nah, I’m okay here.” Asuka said while placing her hand on her wrist, putting on a soft smile.

“Hm…” Kimura scoffs a bit.

His eyes lowered to her hand, wondering about the weird placement but brushed it off as he sat down beside her, Asuka scoots a bit nervously as she sat at the edge. She felt a little shy again, turning away from him as she also postured herself away from Kimura.

“Something on your mind Asuka?” Kimura asks her still facing forward.

“H-Huh…?” Asuka piques turning her head to look at Kimura.

Kimura was leaning forward a bit as he had his forearms sitting on his legs with his fingers interlocked. “You seem a bit distracted today, somethings clearly on your mind.” Kimura remarks as he looks at her and stands back up, lending a hand to her.

“C’mon, No one’s stopping us from taking a stroll.”

Kimura extends his hand to her as Asuka looks at it, looking at his hand and then back at him. She moves her hand away from her wrist as Asuka softly takes his hand. Kimura helps her up onto her feet as they head out and take a different path, one path behind the Kyoushou station that led into the forest.

During their stroll through the mystical forest of the dimension, the sound of crickets began to appear as they hopped over fallen logs and kept walking on the dirt path. “You wanna tell me what’s on your mind Asuka?” Kimura questioned her, she walks a bit softly and slowly as Kimura was ahead by a small margin. “I…” She pauses, conflicted if she should tell him.

Kimura slows down for Asuka to catch up beside her as she keeps her hand on her wrist as she looks down at it conflicted.

“I…really like h-having someone who could l-listen to me…” Asuka spoke softly.

“Well…It’s not like I have much to say now do I?” Kimura responded.

“I guess not.” Asuka lightly chuckled, her smile quickly fading back to a somber frown.

Something’s clearly wrong with her… Kimura thought while they walked, he had a hunch, but he didn’t want to believe it. While they walked deeper and deeper into the forest, Kimura noticed small changes in Asuka’s behavior.

Asuka grew more and more quiet, their talks began to simmer into short formed small talk as Asuka was also smiling less and less, her skin was peachy to a slight pale as they walked deeper. Kimura looked at her with concern, the first time he’s been seriously concerned about someone in a while.

“Asuka are you sure you’re not sick? You’re pale and you don’t look well.”

“I-I’m fine…” She muttered.

“Asuka, are you sure you-”

“Kimura…I-I really liked our talks…even if we barely knew each other…” Asuka suddenly cut off Kimura’s sentence.

“What? What are you talking about??” He expressed his confusion. “You’ve been acting off since we’ve started walking in the forest Asuka.” He explained.

“…H-Have I…now…?” Asuka began to take slightly deeper and labored breaths as she cracked a soft smile.

Without a warning she collapsed behind him, Kimura turned as she hit the floor. “Asuka?!?” He shouted, kneeling and shaking her shoulder. She was unresponsive as he noticed a spot on her hoodie, a red splattered spot on her hoodie where her wrist was. He grabs her wrist and moves her hoodie, his eyes widened to see multiple cut marks along her wrist, each one being shallow with one being deeper than the others.

“Oh shit…!”

Kimura finally pieced it together as he picked up and carried the bleeding out Asuka in his arms and began running the way they came back. “Shit Shit Shit!!!” he shouted to himself as he ran as fast as he could, knowing he’s running out and low on time. “Hang on! Just hang on Asuka!!” he shouted as he kept running.

***

Why was I even here…

Asuka stood as she watched a coffin slowly being lowered, wearing funeral attire and having her eldest brother carry a picture of her father. Her mother was crying as she fell to her knees, her second oldest sister comforting her mother. The question remained in her mind as she imagined herself back in her room as she sat on the ground hearing her mother scolding her second oldest sister.

I feel out of place…Like I wasn’t supposed to be here…

Asuka suddenly imagined herself looking down as she stood outside of the principals’ office, staring down at her bloody knuckles. They caused the fight…they got what they had coming… she heard the door open as she looked over, but instead of an embracing hug, she was slapped across the face by her mom.

It stunned her so suddenly as her mom grabbed her arm roughly as her mother dragged her out of the hallway.

“M-Mom…you’re hurting my arm…”

“I haven’t even hurt you in the slightest Asuka! When we get home, we’re going to have a serious talk!”

“M-Mom…! It really hurts!!”

“Like I said you’re not-”

“MOM YOU’RE CRUSHING MY ARM!!”

Her mother lets go of her arm as a hand mark was a deep red color as Asuka held her arm in tears, the pain was unbearable, much worse than her bloody knuckles that were aching. Tears dropped as she looked up at her mom, instead of a somber expression all she got was a stone-cold stare.

Maybe I was born too early…

Asuka is suddenly slapped by her mom across the face again, leaving a much redder mark as she bore the Kyoushou Academy jacket attire. Her mom looks at Asuka with disgust as she doesn’t bother to look back, the light in her eyes faded long ago as she looked down, seeing some clothes, some of her pillows, and her journal tossed onto the ground in front of her in a poorly packed suitcase.

“I want you to leave as far away as you can. You disgust me wearing that attire…”

“……”

Asuka kneeled to properly pack her stuff as her mom slammed the door shut in front of her. This was her breaking point as she began to tear up, plopping her head onto her clothes in the suitcase as she began to cry silently into her clothes.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse…Life decided to drag me deeper into the pits of hell…

Out of nowhere Asuka is slammed into a wall, her back smashing into it as she plops to the ground aching in pain as she coughs. A couple of other students laugh at her as one kicks her on the head as an unnecessary extra hit. She blinks after a while, waking up still on the ground her dim eyes didn’t shine with the setting sun as she struggled to get up. Asuka felt a sharp pain in her leg as she cried out in pain.

“AAH!!”

She held her thigh feeling it aching in pain as she took deep and labored breaths, her hand clenching into a fist. Asuka felt the pain stinging throughout her entire right leg as she tried to put pressure onto her right leg, feeling another surge of pain come from it.

Crying out from the pain again, she flopped onto the ground gritting her teeth taking deep breaths as she slowly burst into tears. Asuka covers her eyes with her forearms as she crys her aching heart out, the worst was always coming her way no matter how hard she tried to change the tides. She was growing more and more tired with every passing bad omen.

With the night sky starting to arise, Asuka just lies on the ground where she’s been struggling to get up from, laying on her side as she just stares off at the nearby trees.

What’s the fucking point of it…

Asuka deeply sighs as she knows she must do something, even if she wants to just lay down and die for some reason her soul is just telling her to resist giving up. With another struggle to get up Asuka tries one last time, putting pressure onto her right leg as she feels the soring pain surge through once again. However, Asuka ignores her pain this time, pushing herself up back onto her feet where she stumbles and leans against the building wall.

Why Am I continuing to resist giving up…? She thought to herself as she leaned against the wall, slowly she used the wall as support, leaning against it as she limped around the academy’s main building towards the front. Once she reached the front she saw her bag on the floor, her notebooks she worked on for her test gone, her drawings ripped to pieces and her wallet on the floor.

Asuka limps over to pick up her wallet and opens it to see her hard-earned cash gone, Another bad omen after another. Instead of sulking she closes her wallet and begins packing her ripped drawings, soaked notebooks and soaked homework into her bag. Upon sitting in her bag, water soaks through the bag and begins dripping through the bottom of the bag as Asuka was just tired of it today. She slung the bag on her shoulder as water drips beside her, limping away towards the nearby motel.

She pushes the memory to the side as she stares down into the murky water she stood upon. The more she stared the more she saw her younger and optimistic self-staring back at her. Water ripples began to appear as it began to rain, her mind simulating rain inside her own consciousness. Happy…Optimistic I was back then… She muttered, looking up from the murky waters and looking ahead.

In front of Asuka stood herself, slightly shorter with a bright smile across her face. “Well? Aren’t you going to say hi to your friends?” her younger self questioned. Asuka just gazed at her, knowing full well this is herself trying to cope and give her an excuse to continue living.

“No…Why would I…” Asuka responded.

“Well, your friends are gonna be sad, You have to let them know you’re okay!”

“…No…”

“Stop being-”

“I’m done trying…I’ve tried too hard just to get the worst of it…I’m tired…You’re tired…Why can’t we just agree we don’t want to be here anymore.”

“…You haven’t been seeing the good that’s happened to you.”

“Good?” She scoffs, “What good is there in life? The only good thing was my mother kicking me out…Mom…never saw me as her child…”

“Mom saw us as her child!”

“Did she now?!? Well, where was that Motherly Love when I needed it huh!?! Where was that Motherly Guidance when I needed it!! Nowhere! WE WERE NEVER LOVED! I WAS NEVER LOVED BY MOM!! I WAS……I was……” She simmered down a bit.

“I was…just an obstacle for mom…” Asuka tears up, “Just a stupid thing, a living breathing obstacle she had to take care of while dad was dead…”

Asuka fell to her knees, looking down at the water with tears as her younger self kneels beside her, patting her on the back. Asuka presses her head against the watery surface, never breaching the water as her tears rolled from her eyes to her nose and fell into the water.

“Asuka, why’d you bring me out here in the night?” Kimuras voice suddenly came through.

She opened her eyes suddenly as she lifted her head from the murky water, looking down as the cloudy water circulated around her, showing her a different memory.

***

“Well…I…I wanted to talk to you…I-If you had time…” She stuttered.

“Oh, well It’s fine, what do you have in mind?” Kimura questioned her.

“I…Uhm…W-Well…”

Asuka stuttered more; she couldn’t find the footing to thank him. However, Kimura notices her stutters as he couldn’t help but let out a small snickering laugh. She looks at him suddenly as she frowns a little.

“Huh? Asuka I wasn’t laughing to make fun.” Kimura reassures her.

“Then…what w-were you l-laughing about…” She softly spoke back.

“Well, nothing really, I couldn’t help myself but to let out a chuckle.” He smiles at her.

Asuka’s frown slowly went away as she took a deep breath. “T-Thank you for helping me back there.” Asuka shouts so suddenly at Kimura. This caught him off guard as Kimura suddenly jumps a bit.

Asuka kept her head bowed as she waited for a response, however that response never came as she slowly opened her eyes and slightly lifted her head. Kimura was squatting down looking at her as she jumped back a bit from him being so close to her face so suddenly.

“AAUH!!” She jumped.

“Sorry, I was wondering when you were done bowing Asuka.” He lightly chuckles.

“I-I…” Asuka felt embarrassed as her cheeks and the top of her ears slowly reddened from embarrassment.

Kimura suddenly got close again as she took a step back, looking at him. She got a good look at his eye that wasn’t covered, a dark ashy gray color as his eyes glimmered, her eyes slowly began to regain curiosity about Kimura, the light in her eyes that disappeared from bad omens began to come back with curiosity. She couldn’t stop staring at his eye as she locked eyes with him for a split second.

“Are you okay?” He asked her.

Kimura’s sudden voice broke her out of it as she blinked twice as her face flustered with a deeper red this time. “Y-Yeah! S-Sorry I got c-c-carried away…” She stuttered more this time. Kimura stands firmly back up straight as he puts his hands in his pockets tilting his head a bit.

“So, is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“I…U-Uhm…uhh…” She stuttered off again.

Kimura didn’t move from his spot as she suddenly felt her aching heart start to beat, but instead of pain and the pain ringing in her ears, she heard her heartbeat clearly. W-What’s going on with me…I can’t…really be liking him right now…right…? She looks over at Kimura, even looking at him for a second, her eyes dart away, she can’t even look at him directly now.

Asuka subtly shifts her body as Kimura spots the sudden shift, but he can’t really make out what her plan is. He stays there waiting for a little while longer as Asuka is internally having a crisis.

“If that’s it…then I’m just gonna head back.” He points directly behind him as he turns around.

I-Is he leaving…! She looked at the exact same time he turned around, suddenly the world around her began to move in slow motion for her, as he takes his first steps her mind is shooting ideas around rapidly to keep him where he’s at for a second longer.

However, her ideas go out the window as her body moves on her own, lunging towards him as Kimura felt himself thrown forward a bit as he catches himself. He looks back to see her hugging him from behind.

“C…Can…Can I stay here with y-you…a little longer…” She stuttered, her mind already reeling at the constant rejections.

“Sure, you seem lonely as you are right now.” Kimura tells her.

Her eyes widen a bit, but her hair covers her expression as she buries her teary face into his back, Kimura smiles a bit as he just stands there for her, both standing underneath a lamppost.