Scarred - Chapter 1
Title: Scarred
Author: Me
Pairing: Takaki Yuya X OC
Genre: Romance. Slice of Life. Slight Angst.
Paper planes fall.
Leaves wither.
Sun sets.
Stars disappear.
People get wounded.
Wounds turn to scars.
With his eyes focused on the road in front of him, Takaki Yuya quicken the speed of his bicycle. He closed his eyes for a moment to feel the cold wind blowing hard against his face, letting all his thoughts go away with it. He sighed in contentment.
As soon as he opened his eyes, loud curses and a shout went out of his mouth. “What the hell?!”
Abruptly, he directed the bicycle toward his right to move away from a fast-paced motorcycle. He managed to dodge the vehicle. But he didn’t manage to stop himself from falling down the low hill he was oblivious to.
As soon as he stopped from tumbling down, he groaned in pain. “Can you at least be more careful on driving next time?!” He shouted, hoping that the motorcycle driver will hear him. He breathed fast, his heart thumping hard against his chest. He looked at his side and found his bicycle together with his notebooks scattered around. He remembered his misfortune and hissed.
“Very lucky,” he muttered sarcasm to himself.
He pushed himself up, not minding the pain in his arms. He pressed his lips tightly as he irritably brushed away the grass clinging on his white uniform and on his hair.
He stopped cleaning himself when he heard something moving. He turned around and saw a girl picking up one of his notebooks. Not knowing what to say or what to do, he stared at the girl. He clearly recognized her uniform. She’s from the same school as him.
Feeling a bit embarrassed for spacing out and letting someone pick up his things, he bent down and picked them up on his own.
“Here.”
He shot his head up as soon as he heard the girl’s gentle voice. He took his notebooks from her and placed those inside his bag. He stood up straight and faced the girl. “Thanks.” His voice sounded distant. But it’s normal for him. He isn’t friendly. Or more like, he used to be friendly.
The girl nodded and smiled. The wind blew and he watched her chestnut brown hair moved with it. Using her slender fingers she tugged her hair behind her ear and walked away.
He faced his bike and made it stand up. He checked its wheels and when he saw nothing is wrong, he sighed. He placed his black body bag in the basket in front of it and walked with it since he couldn’t ride on it while going uphill.
“I’m home,” he called out as he walked toward the kitchen where his mother is cooking their dinner.
As soon as his mother saw him, her eyes widened. “What happened?” she asked.
“I..” He scratched the back of his head, not sure on what to say. “I fell down the hill?”
She furrowed her brows. “You should be more careful. What if you broke some of your bones earlier? No one will see you. No one will bring you to the hospital. You’ll cry there in pain. You can’t help yourself. Then you’ll wait until you faint. Then the next morning--”
“Mom.” The side of his lips went up a bit. He found it funny when his mother talks about the worst case scenarios with a surprisingly calm voice. He knew she’s always calm and reserved but that attitude of her is really funny. “I’m okay.”
She pointed his small wounds on his arms. “Does that look okay?”
“It’s not deadly,” he said. “So, it’s probably okay.”
His mother turned to face the dish she’s cooking and sighed. “Alright. Come back here when you have already cleaned yourself.”
He was heading toward the doorway when his mother called again. “Yuya?”
He turned his head. “Yeah?”
“Next time, take care of yourself okay?”
He nodded and felt a soft ache in his chest when he noticed a hint of worry in his mother’s voice. “I will. Sorry.”
The cool morning breeze welcomed Yuya as he passed by the empty road above the small hill. Though he had an accident there yesterday, he still chose to close his eyes and feel the wind as it touches his skin. ‘It’s safe, anyway. No vehicles are around early this morning.’
“Hey, watch out!”
He shot his eyes open. And immediately, he stopped the bike. In front of him was a blonde guy, with the same uniform as him, looking at him sharply which didn’t affect him even the slightest bit.
“Are you crazy?” The guy asked. “Why are you riding a bike with your eyes closed? What if you hit us? Be careful!”
He raised a brow. He got irritated with the tone of the guy’s voice. He was about to talk back when someone spoke.
“Hayate, chill.” He heard a gentle chuckle. “You look ugly when you’re mad.”
He looked at the side and saw a familiar girl, tapping the shoulder of the guy named Hayate with a smile. He looked at her for a while and realized that she was the same girl with the chestnut brown hair yesterday.
“He almost hit us!” Hayate gestured toward him.
He shot Hayate a look, remembering that he’s irritated. “It was an accident.” His voice showed a little hint of irritation.
“He’s right, Hayate.” The girl nodded. “That was an accident. So don’t be a furious blonde guy now.”
Hayate was about to say something again when the girl held the guy’s hand. “Oh come on! Let’s go. We’ll be late.”
He watched as the two walk with their hands together. He tilted his head when he noticed something. There’s a black wristwatch on the girl’s left hand, that was holding Hayate’s right hand, which has a black wristwatch too. “Couples?” He shook his head. “She’s too kind for you, stupid.”
He started pedaling again. When he was halfway toward the school, he realized, he didn’t say sorry. He slowed his pace but shrugged the thought off. The guy did something wrong to him too. So that should be fair.
He parked his bike on the nearest space and walked toward the school’s building. He was welcomed by the gray-colored lockers and the noise coming from both sides of the corridor. Girls chatting happily about different topics and boys noisily fooling around.
He went to his locker and changed his shoes. And after that, he went up the stairs. He walked pass the students leaning on the familiar white-colored walls and walking on the dirty white tiles, and headed toward his classroom. When he arrived, he went to his seat and sat down. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at his classmates who don’t seem to care about anything except for their own circles.
He doesn’t find them interesting. But he finds them less boring than staring at the big windows, the colorful flowers on the teacher’s desk or at the empty board.
“Hey Yuya,” a guy called from behind.
He turned a bit and saw their class president, Taiki.“Yeah?” he asked.
“What is something that you like?” Taiki asked bluntly. “I mean, what’s your hobby? Or what peaks your interest?”
He narrowed his eyes a bit, not sure why he became their president’s interest. “Why are you asking?” He didn’t mean it to sound rude but his tone made it sound mean.
Taiki changed the hand where his chin is resting awkwardly. “Nothing. I just... I don’t know. You haven’t been talking that much and I don’t see you being with someone.”
“I don’t have friends,” he admitted. ‘Not that I want having any.’
“Your neither a nerd nor a freak.” Taiki eyed him curiously. “So.. why?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m better alone.”
He heard his classmates settling down so he turned his back and faced the front. After a while, their class adviser entered the room. They stood up and greeted their teacher.
‘Because when I’m alone, I don’t need to worry about being attached to people who will soon leave me. And I’d rather be alone from the start than be left alone in the end.’