TW: Language, mentions of self-harm / sui*ide, blood.

Akihiko drifted through the rest of his classes, making sure to be on time picking up Amada from school. She ran up to him excitedly,

"You're here on time!" She said, "I was worried you might have work after school again, or something."

"I made sure to make it on time today", he responded, "And I may have found a job for this weekend."

"Will you be gone the entire time?" She said sadly as they walked home.

"Not the entire time, but...most of it." He admitted.

She sighed, "I understand, I just hope dad isn't home. Do you think I could go with you? I won't make any trouble." She promised.

"I'm sorry, but not this time."

Her face dropped, "I understand..." She said, trying not to argue. "Will we make dinner again tonight?" She looked up at him, her eyes pleading.

"Actually, look what I have." He pulled out the bento Nomi made for him and her face lit up.

"Who made you this bento!" She grabbed it from his hands and quickly removed the elastic. "It's so pretty."

The rice balls were made into various fancy shapes, decorated neatly to look like they have faces. The vegetables were cut precisely into flowers and the meat was nestled in between the two, stacked neatly.

"I mean, I guess it is." He said, just as surprised as she was.

They went inside together, and he grabbed two pairs of chopsticks, they sat at the table and enjoyed the bento between them.

"Seriously, who made this for you, it's soooooo good!" Amada said, stuffing another piece of the meat in her mouth. It had been a while since they had any good food made for dinnertime, the best they were getting was whatever was served at school. Not that it wasn't up to standards, it just lacked flavor.

"It's alright." Akihiko said, thinking of the other day with Yuki and his dish. "Nomi made it."

"It's not as good as moms, but this is definitely better than you or I could have done." She admitted, popping one of the smaller vegetables in her mouth. "Nomi was always so nice to you."

"Tch..." He scoffed, "I guess that's true." He felt a newfound guilt forming for always blowing her off. He'd known Nomi since middle school, they were closer until she dated Issei last year, throwing a wrench into the relationship they all shared.

Amada finished the last piece of the bento and smiled, "Make sure you tell Nomi thank you from me too." She said, "Will you help me with my homework?"

Akihiko sighed but reluctantly agreed, he sat at the table for several hours, helping her study all manner of things.

That night, while getting ready for bed he heard a loud crash and Kota started to bark. He ran down the stairs to see his father, lying in the middle of the floor, a bottle of sake clutched tightly between his fingers. He groaned, pushing his foot into his fathers side,

"Wake up." He said, "I said wake the FUCK up." He yelled and Amada made her way down the stairs,

"What's happening?" She said sleepily. "Just go back to bed." Akihiko said, attempting to roll their father over.

"He makes me sick." Amada said under her breath as she headed back upstairs.

Suddenly Akihiko heard his father whispering under his breath, he leaned in closer,

"A-Ayana...."

His stomach dropped,

Don't you dare say her name.

He got up, filling a cup up with cold water and throwing it down on his body, he jolted awake.

"Ayana!" He yelled. "Oh...it's you." he mumbled.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Don't say her name." Akihiko said under his breath. "You have no right after what you did."

His father sat up but was unable to stand, "After w-what I did." He stammered, drunkenly,

"Yes, after you BEAT her, after you gambled all our money away, after you drove her to-"

"To WHAT?!" His father said, standing with a slight sway. "To kill herself?!" He shouted.

Akihiko felt tears well up in the corner of his eyes but he swallowed hard, keeping his composure.

"She killed herself." He said, slightly wobbling, "No one forced her."

"Keep telling yourself that." Akihiko said,

"Get back here, I wasn't done talking to you." His father protested, but he went up to Amadas door, locking her inside, and them himself. His father never came up the stairs, whether he couldn't or chose not to Akihiko wasn't sure. But it took him hours to finally fall asleep, only to drift off into the same nightmare he had every night.

"Aki."

His mothers weak voice called out to him. He cracked open the door slightly, the expected creak he'd grown to detest haunting him. The bathroom was empty, he walked up to the tub and ran it, the familiar crimson liquid filled it up. He watched, terrified as his mothers body apparated in the tub as it filled. Her arm, slit vertically hung over the edge and it spilled the metallic smelling liquid onto the tile, she whispered his name indistinctly as he frantically searched for anything to stop the bleeding. Hot tears streamed down his face as he ripped a small hand towel from the rack and desperately held it against her wrist. No sound could be heard, only silence, even as he screamed for help. He watched the light slip from her eyes, her last words echoed in the silence,

"I'm sorry."

He sat up, gasping for breath. Akihiko clutched his chest, his heartbeat rapidly as he was forced to relive that horrible memory every night. After a few moments he finally found the strength to stand up and he walked over to his mirror, examining himself. Dark spots decorated his under eyes, his hair was a mess and he was once again drenched in sweat.

When will it stop.

He changed into a fresh uniform, preparing for school. Unable to face the bathroom, he doused his face in the kitchen sink before preparing what little breakfast he could.

After dropping Amada off at school he caught up with Issei in their normal spot, panting.

"Man you look like shit." He said suddenly and Akihiko shot him a look of daggers.

"Thanks, I slept like shit." He admitted.

Issei laughed and pulled out his smokes, soon the familiar smell filled the air. They sat near the edge of the gates, passing the cigarette between one another until they were suddenly interrupted,

"Akari." Yuki said, waving him down,

"O-oh, Shimada." He said, waving the smoke away. "What is it?"

"Are you free for a lesson today?" He said and Issei looked over at him curiously,

"Yes, umm...I have to pick up my sister after school can I meet you after?"

"Well...the school may be closed." He said, "Could I come over?"

Akihiko swallowed nervously, thoughts of his father coming home early made him second guess his answer, but he finally replied, "Uhhh...sure, yeah that's fine."

"Great, I'll see you then. Bye." He waved, nervously and left.

"What the hell was that about?" Issei said, taking another drag.

"It's nothing he's teaching me how to cook."

"How to COOK?" He exclaimed, "Can't you just buy pre-made food until you get into college, that's what most of us do."

"Yeah well, most of us can work for ourselves and don't have a 12-year-old to look after."

"Fair enough." Issei said, tossing the cigarette out.

"Let's go, we're probably late.

They walked to homeroom together and Nomi excitedly ran up to him, another bento in her hand. "Aki!" She said, "how did you like the bento?"

"It was fine, Nomi." He said, "Amada says thank you by the way."

"Oh, you didn't have any?" She said, somewhat sadly.

"No, we shared it."

"Well, I made you another one. If I knew you were going to share I would have packed more..."

This time he smiled at her and her face immediately went pink, she handed it to him with her head bowed again.

"Thank you, Nomi." He said, sitting at his desk.

She hurried to her own class, with the other 2nd years.

Issei shot him a look of confusion; he just shrugged his shoulders.

At lunch he confronted him about it.

"So what's going on with Nomi."

"Nothing." Akihiko said sharply. "She made me a bento."

"Yeah I can see that, you're not even going to eat it?"

"I'm going to share it with Amada." He admitted.

Issei scoffed, "I get it, but where does she get off. We just broke up before this semester and now she wants you?"

Akihiko shrugged again, "Who knows what she wants."

He picked at his school food as usual, "I'm so tired, I seriously might go take a nap."

"I wouldn't blame you, you look like you need it." Issei said, slurping up his noodles.

He got up from the table and walked in the direction of his homeroom, he saw Shimada coming out of the counseling office again, he looked just as tired as he did.

He waved him down, but it's as if he didn't notice.

"Shimada?" He said, but he just kept walking. "Hello, are you okay?"

He tapped him on the shoulder, and he finally turned around, tears streaming down his face.

"U-u-uhmm I'm sorry I didn't know what was happening." He stammered, nervously.

Suddenly he fell into his arms, Akihiko froze for a moment confused as he sobbed into his chest.

"Shi...mada?" He gently patted his back a few times, swallowing hard.

Without saying a word he broke away, hiding his embarrassment. He finally responded, "I'm sorry..."

"Are you okay?" Akihiko said, leaning against the locker next to him.

"No..." He admitted.

"What's wrong?"

And he froze, just as he once had, standing there in silence. His arms crossed uncomfortably when suddenly the bell cut through the tension again.

"I'll...tell you later." He said, walking towards his own class. He stopped, keeping his back turned to Akihiko and said, "Thank you..." Before disappearing down the hallway, leaving him standing there confused, and concerned.