I walk into school with my hoodie over my head and my earbuds in my ears. I look at the clock. Only seven-fifty? Time couldn’t go any slower if it tried. I turn up my music to distract myself from all the other kids talking, waiting to go to their lockers. I shuffle my music and it goes to a song that I happen to really like.
“Sumiko!!” I look up in front of me, only to see my best friend in the world, Ishida. I pause my music and take out my earbuds.
“You’re here early, what are you doing here so early? At school?!” I ask him just so astonished he showed up early, usually my one million text messages telling him to get up is his alarm clock, but he was actually here! In front of me, at seven fifty-six am!
“Oh, you know… Just the usual, I mean it’s not like my Mom’s going to let me drop my entire education just because I’m a Neko.” He watches me for a moment. “I mean, she told me to go to extra morning help but who’s going to do that?!”
My jaw dropped, “Wait, did you just say who would do that? As in who would go to extra help before school starts?! You do!---”
He looks at me with a stern look on his face. “No, not anymore. I mean, seriously Sumiko? Just no!” He laughs a bit, which makes me laugh.
His hoodie is up over his head and his phone sticks out of his pocket slightly, the bell rings and it’s time to go to our lockers. “I figure everything is fine then?”
“Nope, but that’s alright. I’m good with it.” He walks off to his class and leaves me standing in the middle of the main building lobby.
“Huh… Alright then.” I mumble to myself. “Ishida! Remember where we need to meet at the end of school, okay?” I turn around and begin to walk up the stairs.
“Alright, I’ll meet you!” I turn around to see Ishida walking backward and watch him disappear into the A-Wing while I disappear into the C-Wing upstairs. I put my earbuds back on and walk to my locker very slowly… I am in no rush to get to my class at all. I slowly unpack all my things and put them in my locker, I take off my hoodie because there’s no point in hiding what I am anymore. Not from the teachers, nor the students, because they all know, and most of them choose to still make fun of Ishida and I. I stuff the sweater in my locker along with my backpack and coat and close it. I get up from off the floor and walk to my class, well, I still have a good five minutes, six minutes till I need to be in class, maybe I could go see Ishida. I decide to try and go see him, I walk down the stairwell and into the A-Wing where I spot him almost immediately. “Ishida! Hey.” I walk over to him, he still has his hoodie on with his ears covered.
“Hi, look we need to figure out what the fuck she is doing, she may not go to our school but she is one of us and we’ve already had a bad encounter with her. You know, where she almost tried to destroy us? Wait, before we get to that, what’s going on with you? You seem… I don’t know, out of it… I guess one could put it.”
“Nah, I’m not out of it, just---” He takes a deep breath before continuing on. “Just, wanna fight everyone I encounter. I mean, seriously. How would you feel if you were in a class with nineteen other high school-aged kids, all making fun of you because the teacher asked you to take off your hoodie because it’s not appropriate and everyone laughing at you because of what’s been revealed from your hoodie…” I pause,
“Wow. That’s uh, that’s pretty--- Oh wait, I go through the same thing dude.” I look at him with an unamused look on my face. “Really, I do the same thing, every day, Ishida? I am fighting the same stupid bastards you are.”
“Yeah, but you’re doing it with a smaller group of people, you’re in the ‘special’ group.”
“Stop it! You know I don’t like the word special. It’s a bad word in my vocabulary. That’s all you need to know about my experiences with school.” I turn away from him.
“Why, c’mon… You’ve never. Not once out of the three years we’ve known each other, you have never told me your past with school, or you’re passed at all.”Ishida looks at me with a determined look on his face.
“You’re not giving up until you get an answer, am I right?” I cock an eyebrow at him. “Ugh, fine. Special is my term of dumb, I have a special education plan, teachers are trying to give me help and I am fighting it, I don’t want help. I don’t need it! They don’t understand that. I have an IEP, Individualized Education Plan, which in my opinion is never a good thing, that’s why I have Building Support and Study Halls. It makes me feel stupid. Happy?” I look at him. I hear the bell ring and I turn back to him. I feel someone's arms wrap around me. “Huh?” I stand there awkwardly until I realize what just happened and decide to hug him back. “Aw, thanks, see you later today?” He bends down to my height, “Haha, very funny, so will I?”
We break apart the hug and look at each other for a second. “Yeah, meet you out front.” He walks into his class and I walk back upstairs and sit down at my seat. “You’re late! Ha!” Boy, she’s probably going to be drawing.” I look up at the clock and look back at Daiki, I give him a quickly pissed off looking glance. “Haha, look at her cat ears! They’re dropping! Be a good little kitty cat today, okay? Okay.”
I am ready to pull my hair out when I realize, I can just scratch him. I disappear from the table while we are waiting for our teacher to come back from the copier room. I appear right in front of him and he shrieks a bit. “Oh, sorry, did I scare you?” I whip out my claws and scratch his arm. It makes a somewhat deep cut, but not too deep. I quickly reappear at my seat before the teacher comes back. After what seemed like an eternity, the teacher comes back with math sheets and I tune out at the word ‘math’. The period ends and I walk out of class and meet Ishida downstairs, “I’m done with this shit, I never want to go to school again.”
“Cool, wanna go now?” He looks at me as we walk down the hallway.
“You know what, for once I do. Meet me at my locker.” I walk upstairs and get to my locker, I put in the combination and the lock pops open, I take out my backpack and put in my school bag and transfer all the books from one to the other. “BOO!”
“Gah!” I shriek and turn around to see Ishida, “Fuck you.” We both laugh and I close my locker. “Ready?”
“Yeah, why do you think I’m here?” We walk out of the wing and downstairs.
“We should take the back way to make sure the hall monitor doesn’t see us.” I look at him and we scan the bottom floor, before walking downstairs blindly. “Okay, she’s not here, I think we can go.” I put my hoodie up and Ishida copies me. We both walk downstairs and push open the two doors, walking through the ‘quiet quad’ we walk past the gym and to the high school.
We make a quick turn and disappear out of the quad. “Okay, I’m not okay. I am not the nerd anymore and I am not the push-over anymore--”
“Ishida, we can’t just change what we are or who we are, you know that. Kids in this school are always going to think of us as the kids with the freaky cat-like ears and tail and that also have claws.”
“What if I don’t want to be remembered or even known like that?” He looks at me, wow this conversation just got deep. I never thought of Ishida being the person to get into a deep conversation, especially with something as personal as this, although I guess with me I’d understand because I can relate, I guess.
“Well, I don’t know, I just know that’s how people are going to see us. That’s all I know.” I close my eyes for a brief second and we enter the mini forest that takes us to the Main Street of the town. “Where are we meeting Noriko?”
“The woods….” I look at him. We walk down Main Street and onto another road, the road leading to the woods. We walk until we finally come to the edge of the woods.
“We’re here….” We glance at each other for a brief moment before continuing on into the forest.
“Okay, here’s what you’re going to do… When she comes out you need to just straight up fight her, like bash her in the face. Use your Neko powers, remember Sumiko your powers, don’t always have to be a curse.” We walk deeper into the forest. “Ah! Sumiko?! Help! Something’s got my foot!”
“Nice try dude, aren’t going to get me this time.” He grabs my foot.
“No, no I’m not kidding Sumiko! Something really has my foot! Help me!” I turn around and look at Ishida’s foot, sure enough, something has it, and it’s dragging him back!
“Ishida, hang on!” I run to where his foot is caught, “Hang on, this might hurt a little, I pull out my claws and scratch wildly at the thing that has grabbed hold of Ishida.
“OWW! Sumiko, that’s only hurting me!” I look back at him, tears are welling up in his eyes.
“I’ll get you out of here, hang on!” I look around desperately trying to find the source of what’s to drag him back, but with little to no success, I run back over to the front of him. “Okay, give me your hands! HURRY!” I grab hold of his hands and try to yank him forward. “Woah!” I feel his grip slipping out of mine. Sumiko!! Help! I’m slipping!”
“Just hang on! I tell him through gritted teeth, I pull back harder, I feel his grip slip, his hands slip out of mine and I hear a hard, loud thud. I watch as my friend is dragged back behind the bushes, “Ishida! Ishida?!”
“Oww, no, wait, stop! Sumiko? Help!” I can’t see him but I hear him. I lunge forward in the bushes “Ow! What the fuck?!” I look down and I am tangled up in thorns. I sit there, tangled in the thorns.
“Ishida! Where--- ISHIDA?! Please… Please keep talking to me! ISHIDA!” Tears form in my eyes, I can’t believe I just watched my best friend get dragged back behind thorny bushes, “Wha---” I didn’t even try to help him, I could’ve gotten him! I could’ve! Damn it!! “Ishida?!!” I walk around where he was dragged back, Omigosh, I--- Ishida, I--- I’m so sorry! Woah?!” I feel something grab a hold of my leg. “Wh--- Oh no! Get off of me! I kick at my leg but I only kick myself. I fall to the ground. "Fuck!" My shoulder lands on a big and hard rock. I take a deep breath, the pain in my shoulder grows more immense. I feel myself being dragged back further. "Ah, wait no! GET OFF OF ME! Woah, ah!” I try to grab hold of the ground but I’m only grabbing dirt. I pull out my claws and desperately grip on to anything in sight. I am finally pulled up from the dirt and placed in the air, “Ah, no, please! Stop it!! Something hard and rough hits my head, everything begins to go fuzzy. I shake my head, I cannot concentrate well but I manage somehow… “ISHIDA! Where---” Another hard and bumpy object hits my face. Everything reverts back to being fuzzy, I can’t see anything, I close my eyes... And surrender to the pitch blackness.
