Prologue

It was a beautiful night outside tonight. The moon was out, the temperature was pleasant, and the streets were quiet. A beautiful night, yet it didn’t really seem all that unusual when you live in the countryside.

Speaking of the moon, it was one of those rare occasions that come only about once a month- a full moon. Tonight, the circular mass of space rock gleamed in the night, its transient light passing through the window and illuminating my surroundings. In contrast to the beautiful night with its moderate temperature, quiet atmosphere and magnificent moon, the familiar room I was currently in could be described as its opposite. A room of embittered emotions and depressing surroundings. A place that could be best described as ugly.

Droplets of red splattered haphazardly across the room. The crimson red- the blood that once flowed through my veins, painted the classroom, giving it a somewhat foreign look. A scenery so alien in fact that it made me question whether or not this was reality.

Of course, the throbbing pain in the pit of my stomach quickly blew away any hopes of this being a dream.

“Ah...w-why?” Those sparse words escaped my horse throat. Much like how breathing had become a desperate effort, I forcibly moved my rather heavy eyes and glanced solemnly at the sole figure in front of me.

“Why you ask?” He replied back with a casual wave of his arm. The stained knife in his hand splattering a streak of blood onto my face in the process.

I reflexively winced, but just as quickly, I turned back around to glare at the guy some more. A beaming smile greeted me. I recognized that smile, in fact, I often see that smile on a daily basis. It was just unthinkable to see that smile on this particular person during such a particular situation.

“It’s because I was bored y’know.” He finally responded with a high pitched giggle. “Aren’t you tired too? I mean, of all this,” He thrusted his arms out into the room, splattering the surrounding desks with red droplets. The knife in his hand gleamed faintly in the dim moon light.

“Studying all the time, flashing fake expressions, greeting the same irritating, stupid, idiotic people day in and day out. The repetitive, monotonous, all so annoying process that I have to go through everyday. Having to put up this damn facade---!”

His voice noticeably grew louder as he continued,seemingly getting more and more emotional with each word that escaped from his cracked lips. Just as his voice reached a new octave, he finally noticed his gushing emotions and quickly restrained himself. He took a long and deep breath, forcibly calming himself down as he shot a glance towards my direction.. “I mean, it’s all just so tiring… but most importantly, it’s all just so boring.”

Hearing those words brought an ugly grimace to my face. “You… you….!”

‘You’re just a fucking psycho! Why the hell did you stab me!’

I wanted to scream those words out, but already, just keeping myself from toppling into my own pool of blood took up the majority of my energy.

“Well… truth be told, I didn’t really want to kill you.” He continued, ignoring the mental anguish I was going through. “I mean, we’re friends after all, aren’t we ------ ? Best friends infact...”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

That’s right.

This piece of shit guy who wore a deranged smile on his blood stained face was my best friend. A guy I’ve been stuck with for the majority of my life, something close to a childhood friend. The guy who I went to school with, did homework with, complained with, oogled at girls with- the type of happy go lucky guy you’d least expect to suddenly stab you in the stomach.

“Really, honest, I never meant for you to be my first victim. I mean, I’ve been planning this for a long time now, y’know- what was it called, a school massacre. I had it all meticulously planned out, I’d wait here, in the classroom, until mornin’ and just as everybody rolls in like cattle to a butcher’s market- well, y’know the rest.

It’s just that, it was a serious miscalculation. Why’d ya have ta come here now of all times? Seriously man, your timing’s the worst!”

He spoke in an irritatingly casual tone, as if the act of murder was something completely normal. It pissed me off, it pissed me off but there was nothing I could do. I didn’t know since when, but I was now on the floor. I could barely maintain a sidelong glance while my chest violently heaved up and down. I could feel my face paling while my eyes began to glaze over.

I knew that with certainty, I was dying.

Of course, being a guy in the prime of his youth, I had many regrets, but strangely enough, in the heat of the moment, I couldn’t recall any of them. The only thing going through my mind right now was… it was a shame. That’s right, it was indeed a shame.

It’s a shame that the last thing I would see in this life is this shameless bastard’s face.

As if in response, the man in question once again turned towards me. “Ara? -----, you don’t look so good man, I wonder what could be happening... ah! Don’t tell me, you’re dying? You’re dying aren’t you? Man, pfft- You’re seriously dying! Hahaha, how hilarious is that!”

‘Shut up, damn it.’ I wanted to say it, but I couldn’t.

My eyes, which were growing dimmer and dimmer by the second, unconsciously moved over towards a sole desk near the center of the room, as if maneuvering on the primal instinct that I seriously didn’t want to see this guy’s face anymore. On the desk, barely visible in the dim moon lit light, was a certain textbook that was haphazardly opened. It was a bit of shame that a fair bit of blood got onto its pages.

Locking my eyes on that collection of paper, I inwardly groaned.

‘Why couldn’t I wait until tomorrow…’

With these receding thoughts, I stopped breathing. My vision was wholly black at this point, but the still dimming noise was still distinctly audible. I could hear the sound of a regretful sigh accompanied by the clopping of approaching footsteps.

In the gates of death, my best friend’s voice once again resounded close to my ear, giving me no comfort whatsoever.

“Ah, well, g’night -----. Although I was the one who killed you, at the very least, I hope you reincarnate into something interesting in your next life.”