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𝟑 || 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐒 ||

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    Takemichi trembled at the sight before him, an all too familiar dread boiling at the pit of his stomach.

Takemichi was once again face to face with his greatest opponent. An entity who has never failed to overpower him, a vicious creature who preys on the minds of innocent children and their insufferable cries of fear. A mischievous foe that always, somehow, had the upper hand against Takemichi for as long as he could remember. Takemichi still hasn't succeeded in breaking the chains that bound himself to his worst enemy, so it was only a matter of time before he was forced to return to the malicious beast.

He could still escape—he still had time to run—to be free!-

"Hey! Where do you think you're going, Michi?" Takemichi winced at the familiar voice and reluctantly stopped in his tracks. A part of his mind was screaming at him to book it for the streets, away from the final boss that's haunted his dreams for YEARS—yet the other part of his mind was too scared to leave his mother alone.

And so—with every fiber of his body begging to run away—he turned back around and walked back to his mother who, for some reason, was staring down at him with a frown on her face. She reached out to grab Takemichi's hand—giving his smaller hand a gentle squeeze. It was oddly comforting.

"Don't you dare run off on me, got it?" She ordered, her voice stern but laced with something else that made Takemichi nervous. There was no telling what his mother would have done if Takemichi had chosen to flee and leave her behind.

Takemichi squeezed her hand back, his blue eyes casted down to the concrete in guilt.

"Yeah...sorry..." Takemichi murmured.

He heard a sigh from above him, most likely belonging to his mother. "We both have to show up—that's how it works Takemichi," his mom reasoned, but he could still pick out the dread that was hidden away in her voice.

She's been like this all morning; frustrated and on edge. Takemichi silently cursed the beast in his mind, upset about how his worst enemy managed to reduce his mother to such a state.

The beast was greedy, demanding that both of them show up in nice clothes and bright smiles. It was weird for Takemichi to see his mother dressed up in nice clothes opposed to the revealing dresses she wore when she was called in for work. Her black curly hair, that she normally never messed with, was tied back in a loose ponytail with a couple of fringes falling over her forehead.

Takemichi no longer had to wear the suffocating bandages all over his face; his injuries were healed enough to throw the material away, leaving only a few purple bruises in its wake. Takemichi was forced to dress nicely as well—a white plain t-shirt with overalls (he actually didn't mind the clothes his mother picked out, he just preferred wearing baggy clothes like his mom's band t-shirts).

It took awhile for Takemichi to notice that he was being led once again by his mother to the place he hated the most.

"Stop dragging your feet, Michi—it's just a meeting."

With that final remark displayed in the air, the two continued on their way to meet the beast of so many people's nightmares.

His new school...

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    Takemichi hid behind his mother's leg every time a teacher walked up to them, greeting his mom with a smile and trying to strike up a conversation with Takemichi. It was getting really repetitive and, well, exhausting.

Why were these teachers acting like they actually care about him? Asking for his name, his hobbies, complimenting his outfit, and worrying over his bruised face—it was a little too overwhelming. Frustratingly enough, Some of the teachers even tried reaching over to pat his head. They never got to—of course; his mother made sure of that by pulling Takemichi close to her body every time the staff's hands got too close.

While some of the teachers welcomed the pair to the new school, the others were more inclined to eyeing the two with a strained smile. It was all too familiar to Takemichi, reminding him of one thing he had hoped wouldn't come true.

He wasn't welcomed by all and will forever be looked down on by the people around him. The realization didn't hurt as much as it should've for some reason. Maybe he was already expecting this to happen. He knew moving to another town wasn't gonna magically make everything better, but he had hoped...

"Ms.Hanagaki? The principal is ready to see you two."

Takemichi raised his head at the unfamiliar figure standing outside the door of what the young boy could only assume to be the principal's office. His mother was the first to stand up from her spot on the chair next to Takemichi's.

Was she really just gonna let this stranger lead them straight into the face of danger?!

Before Takemichi could protest, he felt his mother's hand wrap around his wrist—gently but firmly pulling him off the chair he sat on. He gawked up at his mother who only smiled reassuringly at her son.

"Cmon baby, let's get this over with so we can eat lunch together, ok?" She reaches down to ruffle up his hair playfully, achieving in getting the smaller boy to loosen up as he tries swatting her hand away. Despite feeling a little better than he did before, Takemichi didn't answer verbally. Instead, he nodded his head, which seemed to be more than enough to get his mother to guide him to where the stranger stood outside the opened door.

As the pair passed the lady, holding open the door, Takemichi barely caught the look of disbelief that crossed the stranger's face when they eyed his mother. He peered up at his mom to try and catch her reaction to the lady's perplexed expression, but was distracted by the slam of the door behind them.

Why do people always give his mom strange looks?

This wasn't the first time someone had looked at his mother weirdly and she has yet to explain to the young boy why people ogle her the way that they do.

Takemichi was snapped out of his thoughts when someone in the office clears their throat, catching the attention of the curly haired boy and his mother. Looking over to the source of the sound, he was greeted by an older woman sitting behind an expensive looking desk.

She was also looking at his mom weirdly.

Takemichi gulped.

A smile began spreading across her face as she interlocked her hands together on the desk. "Hello! It's a pleasure to meet you two. Please, take a seat," the older woman gestured to the two chairs seated in front of the desk. Takemichi was once again pulled in the direction of the chairs by his mother.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too ma'am," his mom greeted back while helping Takemichi climb onto his chair. He grumbled at the action and pouted at his mother (Takemichi could do this himself, yknow?).

After the pair got situated in their new spots, the older lady began conversing with his mother about the school and what they can learn to expect if his mother decided to get Takemichi enrolled, whatever the heck that meant.

The so-called 'meeting' was nothing like he had expected—it was actually pretty boring for Takemichi. He was only asked questions about what his home life was like (which was kinda weird), and that was that.

The only thing that amused Takemichi about the whole ordeal was his mother's well mannered attitude. Back in their own town, she never tried being remotely nice or polite to any of the teachers and staff. To see his mom act so...what was the word...kind? (That's probably not the right word, but whatever.) Well, let's just say it was strange for the young boy to watch his mother smile and make conversation with someone she's just met, a principal nonetheless.

Strange, but nice.

Maybe things were gonna be different this time around. From the small bits and pieces Takemichi managed to pick up from their conversation, the school appeared to be a place where the young boy could learn without the threat of scissors being thrown at his arm.

Could this too be a place where Takemichi could feel safe? He really hoped so. After meeting Baji, Takemichi started gaining back the hope and determination he had once lost when his days were filled with rowdy bullies and broken bones.

Maybe he could try making friends again! Or try a sport! Sports were never really Takemichi's thing, but he'd be willing to give them another shot.

Just as Takemichi began imagining himself kicking a soccer ball around, he was brought out of his thoughts when a packet of papers was given to his mother by the principal.

The older lady's smile didn't vanish from her face as she gestured to the papers she had handed out. The principal then turned to Takemichi with a bright smile. "Hopefully we'll be able to see more of each other when you've enrolled, Hanagaki-chan!" Takemichi felt a certain warmth blossom inside his chest at the woman's friendly nature and found himself smiling back shyly.

"Y-Yeah..." Takemichi muttered back with the feeling of hope slowly growing within himself.

Perhaps school wasn't as much of a monster as Takemichi perceived it to be. How could it be so dangerous when the school had such a welcoming woman who managed to bring a smile to his mother's face? Surely she must have come to the same conclusion!

The principal then turned back to face his mother with the same smile.

"Takemichi will be able to start attending once those papers are signed and handed into the front office," the older lady explained happily from behind her desk.

"Awesome! Thank you so much ma'am," his mother said while observing the cover of the packet. Right as his mother began flipping through the pages of the packet, the principal spoke up again.

"Oh—and make sure his parents are the ones who sign and turn in the papers."

Huh? Takemichi looked at the woman behind the desk like she grew a second head. Did the principal not realize she was already talking to his mother?

The principal continued with a sheepish look on her face. "We've had problems in the past with misinformation about certain students because their older siblings were the ones who filled out the packet."

Older siblings? Takemichi doesn't even have any siblings...

Takemichi looked over at his mother and instantly felt the dread from before rising in his stomach. Her smile was gone and she was looking at the older lady with an unreadable expression—her face carefully blank.

"I hope you understa—"

"I am his parent."

The principal suddenly stopped talking. Takemichi watched as the weird look from before returned to her face. The atmosphere began to feel tense and heavy, making Takemichi curl into himself on the chair he was sitting in. He was no longer comfortable.

What just happened?

"...what? But I thought-"

"Well you thought wrong," his mother interrupted, putting her arm on the back of Takemichi's chair. "Takemichi's my child and I'm his mother. Still confused?" His mom mocked with a scrunched up face. The well mannered mother from before was no longer present.

The principal's smile dropped from her face as she gawked at his mother.

"There's no way you're his mother! You're too—too-"

"Stunning?" His mom tried to finish with a smirk. The principal's brow started to furrow in disbelief.

"Young!" The older lady corrected, making his mother roll her eyes.

"Same thing," she countered back. She looked over at Takemichi and winked playfully. The younger boy was too nervous to play along.

The sound of a keyboard being typed on caught the attention of both Takemichi and his mother. The principal was typing away on a computer with a frown on her face—her fingers danced along the multiple keys and buttons.

Takemichi heard his mother sigh tiredly, her hand moving from the back of the boy's chair to play with his curly black hair. Takemichi leaned into her touch, trying to get rid of the nerves that were bubbling in his chest.

"Look me up all you want ma'am. It won't change a thing." Takemichi tilted his head, confused out of his mind.

Why was the principal looking her mom up? Did she do something illegal? Something bad? SOMETHING HORRENDOUS?!

DID THEY SOMEHOW FIND OUT HIS MOTHER CLOCKED AN OLD MAN FOR LOOKING UP HER SKIRT ON THE SUBWAY THERE?!

Takemichi began chewing on his nails nervously; the anticipation was doing too much to his racing heart.

The principal's eyes suddenly bulge out of their sockets when staring at her computer screen. She switched her gaze from the monitor to his mother, then back to the computer screen.

"Y-You're twenty?!"

"Correct."

"B-But your son is seven!"

"Also correct—look, are you gonna keep asking us questions all day or are we allowed to leave?" Takemichi could practically feel the frustration radiating off his mother—that and the grip in his hair was starting to get pretty tight...

Thankfully, the principal appeared tired and exhausted, probably from the new information that recently came to light. "I—look, we'll talk more about this when you hand in those papers," she compromised while placing a hand over her forehead like the conversation was giving her a mind-numbing headache.

His mother didn't need to be told twice. Once those words fell from the principal's mouth, Takemichi's mother was tugging him out of his chair by his hand and already guiding him to the exit of the office.

Before leaving the office, his mother looks back with a mischievous smirk lacing her glossed lips.

"I look forward to that conversation ma'am. Ta-ta!"

The principal didn't get the chance to retort back as the pair left the office, letting the door slam shut on their way out.

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    "We almost there Baji?"

"Y-Yeah—we would've—huff—gotten there earlier if—huff—your fatass wasn't on—huff—my back!!!"

"My bad."

Keisuke grinded his teeth at the blonde boy's nonchalance to his own well-being and continued his way to their designated playground.

That's Manjiro for you...

That afternoon when the two boys left their school, Manjiro had insisted that Keisuke give him a piggyback ride. Of course, Keisuke would've rocked anyone who asked him to be their new transportation, but this was Manjiro and Manjiro was an exception.

"Eh? Why?!" Keisuke had asked as he looked down at the blonde boy who continued to chew on the lollipop he stole from the teacher's cabinet.

"Because I'm tired." Keisuke stared down at his friend with an incredulous look.

"Seriously? That's all?"

Pitch black hues stared right back at him, as if daring him to refuse.

"Yep—now take your backpack off, it's in the way."

In the end, Keisuke had no choice but to give into his best friend's antics. He put his backpack on backwards so Manjiro had room to drape his body over Keisuke's and proceeded to carry him down the street.

...leading to the predicament Keisuke was in now.

He could barely place one foot in front of the other and his arms ached from holding Manjiros legs up to keep him from falling. He also made the mistake of wearing a black shirt on a sunny day and suffered the consequences of it; his shirt sticking to his body thanks to the sweat that built up over time.

Oh, and Manjiro? He was still draped over his back breathing softly into his ear while Keisuke busted his ass to carry his tired body to the playground.

"Hm...you're slowing down Baji. Hurry up." Keisuke could practically feel the vein forming on his forehead. Instead of throwing the blonde off his back, he strained his neck to somehow try and glare at Manjiro.

"How bout—huff— you carry me Manjiro?!"

"No thanks," Manjiro easily replied, unconsciously tightening his arms around Keisuke's neck.

"C-Can't—huff—BREATHE!!"

"Oh. Whoops." His grip lessened up enough for Keisuke to gulp in the air.

If Keisuke keeps this up, he's gonna pass out on the burning sidewalk, suffocate from lack of oxygen, melt and turn into goo on the steaming concrete, and disintegrate into the grou-

"Baji look— Someone's getting their ass beat."

"H—Huh?"

Taking his gaze away from the smoldering ground that threatened to turn his shoes into ashes, Keisuke followed his friend's finger that was being pointed at their local playground. Sure enough, there were three older kids ganging up on a boy about Keisuke and Manjiro's age. He didn't seem to be holding up well from the way the older boys kept repeatedly knocking him down to the ground.

Keisuke's eyes narrow in frustration after recognizing the older kids—his grip around Manjiros legs tightened.

"It's those middle—huff—middle schoolers from a week—huff— ago," Keisuke observed tiredly, his strength slowly crawling back into his muscles at the sight of the annoying middle schoolers.

"Thought we got rid of them," Manjiro remarks coldly and Keisuke smirks at the blonde's tone of voice. Looks like they're both aggravated by the older kids presence...

"Guess we'll have—huff—to remind them who—huff—the playground belongs t-SHIT!" Keisuke nearly stumbled over a rock and lost his grip on Manjiro. Keisuke quickly caught Manjiro before he could fall and hoisted him up higher on his back.

This damn kid...

Manjiro was completely unfazed by Keisuke's mishap and placed his chin on top of Keisuke's head.

"Hm...guess so," Manjiro hums. "I feel kinda bad for that kid over there." Keisuke rolled his eyes at his friend's remark as he eyed the smaller boy still getting shoved around roughly by his attackers.

"...but he keeps getting back up." Keisuke scoffs at Manjiro.

"Tsk, not our fault he doesn't know how to fight! I mean seriously, what a dumbass—" Keisuke's voice got caught in his throat when the smaller boy's face finally came into view.

Curly black hair, big blue eyes, that familiar glint of determination, the inability to back down, that oversized shirt—

"OH SHIT, I KNOW THAT DUMBASS!!!"

"Wait, what—" before Manjiro could even finish his sentence, Keisuke tightened his grip around his friend's legs and started running