Chapter Text
Her backpack is filled with DVD’s and stickers , new figures that will line her shelves. She takes the exit of the back of the store, the route that leads away from her classmates.
Because she hates them and for some reason they seem to hate her , hate what she likes , and hate the way she dresses.
The air is humid and wet , her boots make a splish-splash each time she takes a step.
She feels a terrible sense of fear all of a sudden.
She feels it , eyes in the back of her head looking at her. Eyeing her practically eating her alive. There’s a man at the end of the alleyway outside the store she just left..
She has to go back home…
But she feels them , feels his eyes . There’s a terrible pain in her throat that’s choking her. Like a thick rope suffocating her and—and—
There’s blood on the ground , droplets of red falling on her boots.
“Chiwa! Get up already , I don’t want you sleeping in all day now!” She hears a woman call , the girl groans rubbing her neck—but the pain isn't there anymore. Most have just been a terrible dream.
Who’s Chiwa?
She stretches her back looking around her room—wait , where did all her stuff go!? Its all gone ! Everything!
Her posters , her book selves lined with comics and manga , her figures , her mini TV , and her secret stash of snacks she hid from her parents have vanished!
“Uh…mom? Where’s all my stuff?” She shouted while checking under her bed , nothing.
“What are you talking about? Your clothes? I hung them up to dry.” That didn’t sound like her mother at all. Now that she’s really awake , this barren room looks nothing like hers.
The bed is small , blankets with patchwork sewn onto them and there’s a pillow that seems like it’s been shoved inside an old shirt.
The door to the room opens , startling her. A woman with long brown hair holding a green bag pokes her head in.
“I’m going to the market, alright? So don’t do anything dumb and don’t hang out with that boy.” She shuts the room , leaving her alone in her not-room.
She hears her ‘mom’ leave the house and she rushes to the bathroom.
Okay that’s not the bathroom!
She checks another door to find a small cramped room with what seemed to be a toilet and sink with a mirror glued to the wall.
She takes a shaky step towards the mirror , until her full face is in front of it.
“Oh my God….”
She touches her face with her fingers , big golden eyes looking back at her.She shakes in her spot , vibrating as she presses her face into the mirror more .
Her heavy breathing creating condensation on the mirror.
“I’ve been totally isekai’ed into an anime!! This is the best day of my life!”
Wait–doesn't this mean she died? She doesn't even really remember being killed or anything.
"I can't believe it…this is a dream come true!" She shouts with glee looking at herself in the mirror. The typical big round eyes and unique styled hair.
Who cares if she died? Her life sucked anyways. Though she is a bit disappointed about all her stuff being gone.
Her parents are probably packing it away by now or selling it on facebook market place.
Her life really did suck though.
She didn't have any friends , her classmates barely talked to her , and her parents were to busy fawning over her brother’s education.
(“Don't you see, *****? Your brother has a good chance of being something great in the future. he isn't wasting away his education!")
She was barely making it through the 8th grade , how was she supposed to make it in high school?
She didn’t even know what she wanted to do in life , her parents were always saying how she was stuck in fantasy and needed to come back to reality.
That she wasn't a kid anymore. Plus , her attendance rate was horrible she was surprised the school was going to let her pass to the 9th grade.
She always knew those looks her family gave , thinking she'd spend the rest of life locked away in her room. Well screw them! She was fine with that.
She’s dead and now alive and reborn! A chance she could only dream of—Chiwa.
Yes , that's her name now. It has a nice ring to it! Chiwa. Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa Chiwa—
She won't ever think or say her old name anymore. This is her new life , a new identity!
That’s who I am now , that’s who I’ll be! I won’t be the shut in girl anymore. I’ll live out my fantasy! She says in her mind. her eyes have yet to look anywhere else but her face.
"Must be some kind of old time-y anime…like a village!" She cheers.
She walks around her new house , it isn't as nice as her old one but she'll make do! Maybe she'll get the chance to meet the protagonist of this series.
She finds the door opening it , breathing in fresh air.
She walks two steps only to see huge piles of trash that smell like shit , and two grown drunken men arguing with each other.
"The fuck…?" She mutters , It's whatever! arguing is totally normal!
The houses are stacked on each other , some not. clothes with patchwork are hanging up and most of the houses look like they are made of scraps.
This is fine…totally fine!
"Morning Chiwa!" A girl wearing a similar white outfit as her waves her hand.
"Uh—morning to you too!" She laughs awkwardly. She's walked around the village for a about a good solid 15 minutes and a least 20 kids have already greeted her.
What luck! She must be pretty popular around these parts! Well with a cute face like this why wouldn't she be?
Her social life was the total opposite back home.
Hmm..she really wants a good slice of life style .
And some romance thrown in there too! She wants to find a nice boy to hang out with and get to know , probably the protagonist!
I mean it's pretty obvious I must be an important character with all these people greeting me…I must be a love interest! She walks around more greeting other teens. they all have pretty generic faces…
She spots a kid sitting on the ground messing with broken items , he has bright white hair and piercing red eyes that stick out like a sore thumb.
Plus he has that air of…..nonchalantness , if that’s a word. None of the other kids she’d seen have colored hair like that so he must be the protagonist!
Time to get this love story started!!
She hustles over to the boy , startling him as she sits herself down next to him.
“Hey! How’s it going , you?” She has no idea what this guy’s name is , he kinda looks like someone who has a mysterious and alluding name!
The boy jolts a bit , big ruby colored eyes stare at hers.
“Chiwa? I haven't seen you all morning…” He stops placing a screwdriver on the ground , Aw crap! So it seems the two of them have a mutual and established relationship already !
This means she should know his name—it’ll look suspicious as hell if she goes all day without calling him by his name. fuuuuck.
Why couldn't she have been reborn with Chiwa's memories?
"Sorry! I guess I slept in a little late today! What cha' making?" She looks down to see him fixing a little lantern. with other objects laid on the ground aswell.
a key chain , shoes , super cute plushies , a radio , and so much more other stuff!
"Just fixing up some of this trash I found , that's all.." He avoided her eyes , something tells her he probably didn't just discover it.
Hmmm…Chiwa should ask him some questions to get to know the kind of person she was supposed to know who he is. "You must really love fixing stuff up , huh? " She gives him a smile.
His face has a faint blush on it. "Well , yeah—I just…feel bad for it , y'know? the rich folks are always throwing away perfectly good things away."
Ah , seems like stuck up rich people still exist here.
So this place must have classes? It must be divided. Does that mean white haired kid is going to fight evil rich people?
Well , the plots like these usually kick off in a few episodes…So she wants to go on a date!
"Hey so…I was wondering—" Chiwa starts before getting cut off.
"Jeez! You guys smell that stench?" All those memories of being bullied back in middle school come back as the boy's tone of voice reaches her ears.
The shame , the embarrassment of being picked on makes her freeze. She soon realizes those words aren't directed towards her but white haired boy.
"Smells like dead rotten meat! hey , Chiwa how's it goin'?" What's this idiot's name? based on this interaction she must be familiar with him.
He stands way too close to her , too much for her liking.
"Excuse me?" She asks typical average bullies to motivate the main character and give them some push , still she really hates this trope but maybe they'll say white haired boys name!
She glances back at him , watching as he lowers his head , hm , must be the kind to try to be the bigger person and ignore the bullying!
"Aren't you worried about the stank you'll catch from Rudo?" She doesn't really know what to do in this situation , usually the insults are being directed to her instead.
So that's his name! good to know . very good to know.
Now it seems this snot nosed kid is trying to get her to join in.
"I'm sure he doesn't smell any different than you boys." She bites back , watching as the kid raises an eyebrow and scoffs.
The two kids behind him share a look while Rudo briefly glances at her before staring back at the ground.
"You're in a bad mood." Asshole kid laughs , the beanie boy kicks the lantern white haired kid was working on . A small crack is formed as it falls to the dirt.
"Hey!" She shouts.
"No one's gonna buy this crap—not after someone like you has touched it." Beanie boy sneers.
Him kicking his lantern reminds her of when kids would knock over her own stuff , breaking it or damaging it beyond repair.
Chiwa kneels down picking up the cracked lantern with carefulness.
"He worked really hard on this , y'know? How would you like it if someone trampled all over your stuff?" She stands up for white haired kid , Rudo , who seems content with just letting the bullies get bored of harassing him.
"..Trample…." She barely hears him whisper from where he's sitting.
"Oh , please Chiwa . We don't get our stuff from the fucking trash! We don't go dumpster diving like animals!"
Damn! All this from dumpster diving? I mean this whole place looks like the inside of a dumpster.
It looks like these bullies aren't going away any time soon.. perhaps she could use her popularity and good looks to use! Ugh , no...that might not work , it really won't work because of her terrible pick up lines.
"It's still a bad idea to hang out with 'em , Chiwa. I mean his dad is a—" The word Ita flashes in her mind as she looks at the groups lead bully , she skips over to him leaning her face close up to his.
"You know , Ita." She says looking up at his eyes. He stumbles back a bit , got off guard by her sudden mood change.
"Maybe you should stop wasting your time on pitching on kids and start fixing your ass ugly hair cut , pussyboy! Stop acting like a dick and maybe a nice girl might actually suck it . " She whispers in his ear.
There's a pause , a look of shock and equal disgust on Ita's face.
"uh..Ita? You good man?" Beanie boy asks as the other boy coughs awkwardly.
Ita slowly turns before walking off , kicking an old can.
"Yo! Ita! Where are you going man!?"
"What did you ...say to him?" Rudo finally speaks up after they had left.
"Oh nothing really! Just a mutual agreement for him to go away for now!' She winks at him , making him turn his head back to the ground.
"You've always been pretty good with people…" Rudo mumbles , she raises an eyebrow.
"It just comes naturally to me! That's all . anyway guys like them only need a few suck up complaints to get on their good side." That was a lie , in fact she was pretty shitty at talking with people her age but now with this new body and face it feels like she's a duck in water. Or that's how the saying goes , she thinks.
"Do you….like Ita?" Rudo was almost afraid to ask , like she'd ever say yes to that.
"Do I like him? Ha! No way!" She quickly responded , easing Rudo's worries. She can see him discreetly let out a breath of relief. hehehehehe…..
"Don't worry , that was just pretend. I just wanted him and his goobers to go away and leave us alone." Rudo nods his head.
She stares at the puppy , maybe Rudo will give it too her…? " Oh! that plushie is sooo cute! Is he for sale?" Chiwa asks kneeling down to look at it better.
Rudo pulls the plushie into his hands , giving it a good look over. "It's not for sale, um…actually." Aw that's too bad.
But Rudo turns away from her holding up the plushie up to her. "Its…for you. I saw it and I thought it was somethin' you might like. Even though he was trash—he'd be happier with …you." Every word he spoke sounded like a struggle the boy couldn't even look her in the eye!
She takes it—or him into her hand. The puppy is very soft and she can tell where a small tear had been that's covered by a little scarf. It totally fits her aesthetic!
She gives the plush a good hug. "I love it ! Thank you so much Rudo ! I promise to take real good care of him."
Rudo looks at her in awe , lip trembling.
"ah….AHHHHHHHHHH!" he screams—the fuck?
"Whoa! What's wrong ?!" She stares at her , he covers his face with his oversized gloves , letting out a mumbled scream.
"I gotta go! Sorry—!" And he runs away faster the Flash himself.
"See you…." She mutters. Hm , what an odd boy. At least he's cute so it's good enough for her.
She’d never seen so many stars in her life before.
She lived in a city , where the lights were so bright not a single star could be seen . Not even at night. In the distance she could hear the sound of barking dogs and crickets. Not much different from home. Except for the fact she’s on a floating city.
After Rudo had ran away from her , she managed to track down where he lived with her awesome people skills. A man with dark blue hair and a messy bread had opened the door.
The first thought that went through her head was that he didn't look anything like Rudo. But most protagonists don't usually compare well to their parents. Like Saiki K!
"Uh…is Rudo home?" She had said awkwardly. had she meet the man—she has no idea. She gambled that the two were at least a little familiar with each other.
"Oh ho! Well if it isn't little Chiwa? Good to see you again . kid!" He pats her on the head gently. Well he didn't seem so bad .
"Oh Rudooooo! A very special person is here to see youuuuu!" So he's the kind of teasing dad , better than a shitty one.
She spotted Rudo coming out a corner of the room rubbing his eyes with an annoyed look. "What is it—Chiwa?!"
She wanted to ask Rudo to hang out with her , not only just to get closer to him but to get a better understanding of the world she was just born into not even a few hours ago.
Rudo's dad had butted in with a cheeky smile , convincing the two of them to go stargazing tonight on top of their roof while Rudo had yelled at him to 'shut up' and called him a 'shit face'.
So by nightfall she snuck away from her house back to Rudo's , waiting on the roof of the house.
She turns to see Rudo climbing on top of the roof.
“I’m here.” He manages with ease , he must have that kind of natural strength most male protagonists have no matter how skinny or small they appear to be.
He’s holding a box wrapped in cloth , he sets it down as he awkwardly scooches next to her.
“I–um , my old man said it wouldn’t be nice to come empty handed so I brought some food..” He opened the tin box , cloth shoved into his pocket , filled with little snacks.
“Hm! That looks really good! Did Regto make it all by himself?” Chiwa asked , taking a piece of the food as she shoved it into her mouth. Sweet honey and nutty.
“I helped! ….I mean….me and Regto both made the snacks together. Couldn’t make ‘em do all the work.” She giggled . Rudo was a total tsundere!
She looked back at the night sky , millions upon millions of stars bright and shining in the dark. It’s a piece of art work , really.
She can even see a few constellations if see squints but she’s not nerdy enough in astronomy to know the exact names or placement . Perhaps she’s staring at the big dipper or the Lynx.
The most notable of the night is the moon , big and bright it stands out from the speckles of burning light.
She glances at Rudo who fidgets with his gloves . She smiles , he’s just too adorable.
“The moon sure is lovely tonight , isn’t it?” Rudo stares at the moon , nodding.
“Yeah , it feels like one of the few things us tribesfolk can enjoy to the fullest…”
Tribesfolk , she keeps hearing that name being tossed around . It is like a citizen title? Obviously it doesn't mean anything good.
She snacks on a small piece of bread before asking Rudo a question. "Do you know anything about the constellations, Rudo ?"
Rudo perks up . "Actually I do! Regto taught me everything I know 'bout the stars and constellations from his books. I uh—could teach you some stuff…if you want."
Chiwa nods her head. “Totally ! Tell me everything!” She shouts in his face a bit too much.
“Space!” He screamed, almost falling off the edge of the roof.
“Space…?”
“Is uh—Is a vast and infinite cosmos…. There’s millions and millions of stars. The brightest star is called the Sirius , or sometimes the dog star. See?” Rudo points to the sky a light much more illuminated than the other far north.
“Wow, I see it!” She steals a glance at Rudo , a soft expression on his face. She really doesn’t know anyone could bully a kid like him , but that’s lots of protagonist tropes.
“And that one over there is Orion’s belt , the three aligned stars over….there!”
Watching Rudo talk about a subject with such excitement—made her feel like she was looking in a mirror. She always likes to talk about her favorite things like anime , art , movies , or video games.
But no one was there to lend an ear for her. So she’ll always lead an ear to Rudo.
“—I have this huge book with pictures on them, some of them are damaged but me and Regto have been trying to fix ‘em up.”
“Oh! And that one right there is the Big Dipper—!” She suddenly feels Rudo grab at her hand, leathery fabric touches her skin , guiding it to trace along the connecting stars. “It’s actually one of my favorites because…I…”
He goes quietly all of a sudden , from excitedly babbling about the stars to a strange pause.
“Rudo—?”
He rips his hand away for hers like she had burned him, she feels oddly cold now . Rudo has a mortified face.
“I’m—I’m sorry , I didn’t—I didn't mean to touch you. To , grab you like that!” Before Rudo can panic any more she tries to move closer to him only for him to back further like a scared cat.
“Hey! It’s okay really! Honesty , I was more focused on you talking. You just looked so happy to talk about that stuff.” Chiwa calms him down , after a while he settles down breathing before sitting down next to her. Not as close as he used to sit.
“Still…I’m sorry .” Rudo whispers , bringing his knees to his chest. Now it just feels awkward. Why did he react that way? She can tell the differences between embarrassment and pure panic.
And that was panic.
“Hm , let’s meet up tomorrow , okay? It’s getting pretty late and my mom would kill me if she found my room empty this late!” She tries to lifted up his mood , he peaks at her , nodding slowly before standing up.
“Good night , Chiwa.” She climbs down the ladder.
“Night , Rudo!’
A masked man watches the two with curiosity.
She goes to sleep , snuggling into her rough blankets with a smile on her face. Sure this place is kinda shitty , but she'll make do with what she has!
When Chiwa wakes up something feels off. Not in the way where she knows she gonna have a bad day and spend the rest of school in the nurses offices , but the feeling something terrible is going to happen.
It's probably nothing…
She thinks , clipping on her bra and under cami top before putting the rest of her clothes on.
I want to see Rudo today! I bet he'll be excited to see me.
She places the puppy on her bed before walking out the door , she knows she slept in today because her mom is long gone. At least this one is nicer than her other mom.
It's weirdly slient today…Chiwa hasn't seen a single person yet on an afternoon walk or anything. she checks Rudo's fixing spot. His set up isn't there so he must be fixing trash some other place.
"Chiwa!" She hears someone call out her name , It's a girl with long black hair tied with a yellow rag.
"Oh heyy there….! person I totally know…" She mutters before putting on a perfect smile. The girl has a sour look on her face. A really sour look….does this hoe want to start something!?
"Where have you been all day?" She tilts her head , rubbing the back of her head.
"Oh! sorry! I slept in a little today…" The girl looks even more nervous.
"So you haven't heard , huh?" Eh?
She raises an eyebrow , the terrible feeling Chiwa was having earlier comes back tenfold.
"Rudo's being executed for murder."
Chiwa runs to the spot Rudo told her about , There's no way the worlds gonna kill off the main character! No way , no way!
She rushes past people walking toward the execution stand. "Outta my way!"
Fuck! This can't be happening right now !
The crowd of people keep chanting and chanting—words like 'send the filth to the Pit' and screaming 'murderer' but that's not right—Rudo's not a murderer , he's the main character! The fucking protagonist!
She rushes through the crowd pushes people out of her way—the last sight of Rudo she sees is his hanging blood covered body falling down as the sound of snapping rope echoes through her ears.
"Rudo!"
Her heart drops when she sees a masked man stare straight into her soul within the crowd , almost as if her presence is wrong.
Ah, so that must be the main villain. She thinks dumbly.
She stalks Rudo's house , she sees Regto's body being shoved into a bag and Apostles blocking the area. There's a buzzing noise in her ear.
"…I mean what did we expect? That Regto guy never should have taken him in…"
"I know! At least it's over now…"
"Maybe now the richfolks will give us the time of day now that he's gone."
The adults here really have no decorum. The buzzing in her ear is louder , she weakly walks back home.
When she gets there her mom is nowhere to be seen , and she is almost grateful for that.
She tosses herself on her rigid bed .Chiwa screams into her pillow, tossing it across the room . “I bet you think this is sooo funny , don’t you? Making me suffer like this—it's not fair!” Was the universe just condemning her to a life of constant pain and humiliation?
“This was supposed to be my chance! My fucking chance at my dream come true!” She races to the bathroom staring at her reflection.
Big golden eyes and pretty face. Not covered in acne or scares or eye bags from looking at a screen all day.
“What’s the point….? Of me being here? Am I really just a…just a background character?” How was she going to continue living here?
When everything that was supposed to happen is happening in some infinite dark pit?
“It's not fair…” She mutters pathetically gripping the sink with her hands tight enough that it makes her skin go white. “It’s not fair.” She shakes.
She sees Chiwa’s face stare back at her in the mirror. No , it’s not her face . It’s Chiwa’s face.
She bites her lips until she tastes iron , she can’t stand to look at her face. She pulls back her fist before smashing it through the mirror. A crack too small to leave any damage .
she punches it again , and again , and again , and again , and again until her fist is covered in blood and the mirror is shattered with cracks and dripping blood.
There are sharp pieces of the mirror lodged into the skin of her knuckles , some more deeper than others.
“Yikes. I went overboard this time.” She needs to find a medkit.
“Hmmmm…” She hums to herself as she rips out each piece of glass from her fist not caring when it makes the wounds even bigger . leaving her arm coated in dark red blood.
This place sucks , Rudo is gone , but not dead because she’s certain he’s the main protagonist.
The people here are just as miserable as she was and the kids here would all ‘I told you so’ to her till the day she died of old age.
“Rudo….” She mutters , his dad is dead. She saw the cops take his body into a bag before disappearing to the other side.
But then…who killed him? The person must still be in the city , right? Or maybe…they’ve gone to the Pit too.
Because if the main villain really is that guy , there's no way their leaving Rudo alone down there.
Her hand is wrapped in gauze, sore but fine.
She looks at the puppy plush Rudo had given her the other day. She takes it in her hand. His cute little button eyes stare at her. It reminded her of all the keychains she hung on her bags.
Probably tossed away by now.
"I'm not staying here in this dump!" She shouts , she just needed to vent out her anger that's all! She's going to find Rudo—hopefully his breathing and alive body and save him from the Pit!
She grabs a pouch bag pack , white with golden patterns. She filled it with her med kit , snacks , the puppy , and a small blanket.
She's going down to the Pit , she refuses to stay on the sidelines forever . Fuck the canon ! And fuck this storyline too. Action packed and drama is so boring anyways!
She's getting her romantic ending if the universe likes it or not.
"eat my ASS!" She screams running out the door , she flies past Apostles still patrolling the area and other kids.
She sprint down the stairs spotting Ita walking in her way.
"Move asshole!" She yells as he slams to the ground.
"What the hell?!" He screams back at her , Chiwa ignores him as she turns from left to right.
Finally she finds the edge of the city a little bit away from the execution zone.
"Oh boy….that looks…deep." Chiwa gulps , breathing in and out. I'll be fiiiiine.
“Okay…I’ve got this! Don’t you worry Rudo, I'm coming to save you!” She yells confidently , holding onto the straps of her backpack ready to launch herself off the City.
She leaps off the edge of the ground , air whisking on her face.
“Geronimoooooo!!”
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Chiwa fucking dies because she’s a side character.