Chapter Text
It is three past seven. Friday evening.
The last bell rang across the campus, signalling the end of the day. Along the pathway leading towards the main gate, students could be seen making their way back home.
The boy with wavy blond hair looks up from his book in the library, staring up at the clock from afar for a while before shoving his laptop and books into his bag in a hurry. The library closes at this time and one or two students could been seen making their way out of the library. The boy panicked as he zipped up his bag hurriedly after before fumbling out of the door as well.
The boy’s name was Nanaki Kazuaki, a first year in Hatoful University, majoring in Literature. He had been working on a report in the library ever since his last class of the day ended at two.
As Kazuaki walked along the corridors, he turned towards the windows, looking out towards the orange sky in a daze, as if trying to remember something. He jumped a bit as he remembered, making his way towards the staircase leading up to the roof.
He had forgotten to take a photo of the sunset as suggested by his therapist, a sign that he had made through the day.
Pushing the metal door open in a hurry to take a photo before the sky gets dark, he noticed a silhouette sitting dangerously on top of relatively short fence ahead. Kazuaki stopped and considers his options carefully. He could either try to stop the person from a possible suicide, or head back down quietly and pretend that he hasn’t seen anything. After all, it was better to not get too involved in situations like this, especially since he had his own issues to deal with.
He stared at the figure for a few moments, seeing them move their legs back and forth, as if to increase the chances of falling. His heart clenched tightly in his chest as he thought of what would happen if they did plunge down towards the hard cold ground below. He stepped closer towards the fence, letting his conscience take over him completely.
“P-Please don’t kill yourself!!” Kazuaki spoke out loudly, clasping his hands together nervously.
Kazuaki looked up towards the figure as their legs stopped moving and they turned their head around to glance at whoever was there behind them. It was a boy with shoulder length brown hair, sporting red rimmed glasses. He looked about the same age as Kazuaki.
Kazuaki froze at that moment, what if he had the wrong assumption? It would make him look like an idiot and they would probably make fun of him. He watched as the boy ahead quietly made his way down from the fence, walking a few steps until he was right in front of Kazuaki.
Now that the boy is standing in front of him, Kazuaki noticed that the boy was about two inches shorter than him, his dull lavender eyes staring right at him through red, half-rimmed glasses.
“Y-You are a first year too right? Why are you trying to-” Kazuaki started.
“No I wasn’t.” His voice was cold and flat.
This is it, Kazuaki you idiot… that is exactly why you should’ve just minded your own business… An inner voice rang in his head as Kazuaki stood there, frozen in place, unsure of what he should say or do next.
“However, I do appreciate your concern for a stranger such as me.”
Breaking away from his thoughts, Kazuaki blinked and asked “Why were you up on the fence like this? It’s dangerous...”
The boy side-glanced at the fence for a moment before answering “I was just feeling the wind.” His black trench coat fluttering in the wind as he spoke.
“I-I see… it’s still dangerous so uhh… maybe you could consider other less uhh.. dangerous ways of doing this perhaps?” Kazuaki stammered nervously as he looked down at the floor, afraid of potentially being yelled or laughed at.
“Probably, yes.”
Kazuaki looked up a little at the reply, the boy stared back at him, his expression unchanging.
“W-What’s your name?” Kazuaki spluttered out, in an attempt to change the topic. “My name is Nanaki Kazuaki, a first year, I-I major in Literature!”
Staring at Kazuaki for a moment, the boy muttered in a low voice “Isa Souma. Second year. Majoring in Biochemistry.”
“Ahh… So you’re a second year…” Kazuaki started nervously.
“It’s fine, I get that a lot.”
“B-But wow! You’re majoring in Biochem, you must be really smart!! While I...could only write...” Kazuaki said, twiddling his thumbs nervously.
“I believe that there are various definitions of ‘smart’ and you shouldn’t confine yourself to just one definition.” Souma mumbled before asking “Anyway, what business did you have on the rooftop before seeing me?”
“A-Ah yes! The photo!!” Kazuaki exclaimed as he took out his phone, only to realised that the sun had already long set. What was left is a dark blue sky, mocking his existence. “Oh no… the sun has already set… bummer...” His shoulders sank in defeat.
“I see. I apologise for making you miss the timing then.”
“W-Wait! If I take a photo of you instead, it could probably count as a day I’ve made through too!” Kazuaki concluded, unlocking his phone. “C-Could I take a photo of you please? I-Isa-kun?”
“W-What was that… Well, go on then, I guess.” Souma responded.
“Thank you so much!” Kazuaki exclaimed happily, clicking on the camera app on his phone and focusing it on Souma “S-Smile!”
Souma stared at the camera blankly, expression unchanging.
“W-Well, this will do I guess...” Kazuaki decided before taking a photo, checking it for a while before exiting the app, turning his head back towards Souma.
“Since you’re done, I should get going then.” Souma muttered, walking past Kazuaki and towards the door leading down.
Turning around as well, Kazuaki asked “W-Will we ever meet again?”
“Perhaps you’ll see me around the campus again, who knows really.” Souma replied before making his way downstairs.
“I-I’ll look forward to it then, Isa-kun!” Kazuaki said as he made his way down as well.
Once they’re downstairs, Souma mumbled “I still have a few things I need to finish in the lab so you can go ahead first.”
“I-I see… I understand, I’ll see you around then, it was nice meeting you!” Kazuaki said with a bow before heading off towards the main gate.
Souma stared in the distance as Kazuaki’s figure got smaller and smaller. “...the same goes for you.” he muttered in a voice as soft as a whisper.
It was nine when Kazuaki finally reached the apartment that he lived together with his parents. Once he unlocked the door and opened it, a woman with long and wavy blond hair turned around. Her blue eyes shone with worry as she ran over to Kazuaki.
“Kazu! Where have you been, mummy has been so worried!” She exclaimed.
“I-I’m sorry, mum… I had a report that I had to finish and Hitori-kun said that I’ll never get it done if I do it at home…” Kazuaki explained, his voice getting softer and softer as he goes on, looking down to the floor nervously.
“I-It’s fine really, Kazu… I’m sorry for yelling at you…” Kazuaki's mother apologised, patting Kazuaki softly. “Come on in… I’ll reheat dinner for you”
Nodding slowly, Kazuaki walked in, locking the door behind him after. He sighed softly, he really hated himself for getting startled so easily like this. Hitori-kun has always told me to work on that too… He thought softly to himself as he made his way towards the kitchen.
Sitting down at the table, he watched as his mother heated up dinner. He is actually really grateful for his parents being fully supportive of him so far, from when he got diagnosed with depression to when he decided to major in literature.
“Ah Kazu, working hard till late in school aren’t you” A voice said from behind Kazuaki.
Kazuaki turned around to see his father, a fairly tall man with short blond hair and hazel brown eyes. Kazuaki nodded in response.
“It’s good to see you work hard and all but don’t forget to take breaks every once in a while okay?” Kazuaki’s father said, holding out a thumbs-up sign with a smile.
“I will, Thank you, dad!” Kazuaki nodded with a smile.
Just then, Kazuaki’s mother came back, placing a plate of hamberg steak in front of Kazuaki, along with a bowl of miso soup.
“Ahh! Thank you, mum!” Kazuaki said happily as he picked up his knife and fork gleefully. “Itadakimasu!”
The food was really good, as expected from his parents.
As Kazuaki ate, he remembered that he has an appointment tomorrow.
“Ohh! I see that you have taken lots of pretty photos there, Nanaki-kun!” The man with messy blue hair beamed happily as he spun his chair around.
“Yes, they’ve been a great help! Thank you, Kawara-sensei!” Kazuaki chimed happily in reply.
That man is Doctor Kawara Ryuuji, Kazuaki’s therapist.
“But there’s something I’ve been wondering however” Ryuuji noted before flipping to the photo with Souma in it. “Was this photo misplaced?”
“A-Ahh.. that… Y-You see, I was going to take a photo of the sunset but because I saw him sitting on the fence, I thought that he was going to kill himself and so I… a-anyway, long story short, the sun had long set after I’ve cleared things up with him and so I took a photo of him instead...” Kazuaki explained, twiddling his thumbs nervously.
“Hmm.. I see, I see...” Ryuuji nodded, an understanding smile on his face. “I see that you’ve really gotten better than before, keep up the good work!”
“E-Ehhh… really? I’m glad then… It’s all thanks to you, Kawara-sensei!” Kazuaki said with a smile.
“Well, I can only help so much, in the end, it still counts on your own efforts in getting better so you should give yourself some credit too okay~?” Ryuuji mused with a wink.
“I-I guess I should...” Kazuaki nodded, face flushed red in embarrassment. “For now, I’m just hoping that I’ll meet him again someday… I think he seemed a bit… lonely?”
“Well, if you’re fated to meet again, then you’ll see him again soon!” Ryuuji said with a smile.
“Okay! I do hope we meet again soon!” Kazuaki nodded with a smile as Ryuuji handed his phone back to him.
“It’ll be great for Nanaki-kun to make a new friend as well~” Ryuuji agreed with a nod. “Maybe you could tell me more about him in your next visit!”
“Yes I will!” Kazuaki said happily as he unlocked his phone screen to look at Souma in the photo once again.
“It really does seem that you’re interested in him, Nanaki-kun~” Ryuuji mused.
“N-No it’s not like that but yes, I do hope that we could be friends…” Kazuaki sighed dreamily for a while before gesturing his arms wildly after, letting his phone drop to his lap “T-This is embarrassing…” He picked up his phone once again.
“It’s totally fine, Nanaki-kun! Making new friends is always a great thing! And it would help you in the long run too, so don’t worry about it~” Ryuuji said cheerfully, patting Kazuaki on the head, ruffling his hair a little.
“T-Thank you, Kawara-sensei!” Kazuaki said with a smile.
“It’s no problem~ I’m happy to see that you’re doing better now compared to your last visit!” Ryuuji noted with a smile.
“A-Ah.. yes… I’m sorry about that...” Kazuaki apologised.
“Oh no no, don’t apologise for that, it’s what I’m here for after all, you don’t have to worry~” Ryuuji nodded.
Kazuaki nodded slowly, still slightly embarrassed.
After the therapy session, Kazuaki walked out of the room just to see a boy with short black hair in a red scarf waiting for him on the bench. It was Uzune Hitori, his neighbour and best friend.
“Ahh! Hitori-kun!! Did you wait long?” Kazuaki asked.
“A little, but that is to be expected after all, I’ve got your medication too in the meantime!” Hitori said with a smile, holding up a bag in his hands
“I see, Thank you, Hitori-kun~” Kazuaki chimed with a smile as he takes the bag.
Hitori smiled and stood up from the bench “Let’s get back home then, or perhaps we can stop by a café or something if you want?”
“Waaa a café sounds good yes! I wonder what kinds of new parfaits they have now~” Kazuaki went on happily “Maybe we should’ve brought Nageki-kun along~”
“I… wanted to but…” Hitori looks down with a sigh “Somehow, Nageki is always busy with something… we used to be closer but…”
“Ehhh… Maybe Nageki-kun just wanted space to himself? I mean, he did mention that a lo-”
“What did he tell you!!!”
“Uwehhh Hitori-kun, you’re scaring me!!” Kazuaki backed off in shock, tears forming in his eyes.
“R-Right, sorry about that… I’m just afraid that Nageki did end up hating me…” Hitori sighed.
“I-It’s okay! N-Nageki-kun doesn’t hate you really, in fact, he really looks up to Hitori-kun!! You can trust me on this!” Kazuaki said confidently.
“I see, that makes me feel a bit more relieved, thank you...” Hitori said, smiling a little.
Kazuaki nodded and takes Hitori’s hand “Let’s get going then, to the café!”
Once they were seated in the cafe and Kazuaki was eating a giant strawberry marshmallow parfait happily, Hitori spoke out “So, how did it go? What did Kawara-sensei say?”
“Ahh! He said that it would help me if I try making friends with Isa-kun!” Kazuaki said happily.
“I see… that boy you met on the rooftop huh…” Hitori nodded slowly “So, how do you plan to do that? Go right to the Biochem class and ask for him?”
At this, Kazuaki shook his head immediately “N-No! I’m not going to do something so embarrassing, I will die most likely!!”
“But what other options are there? I mean, Hatoful University doesn’t consist of just three students” Hitori noted.
“Y-You’re right… But I guess, I’ll still choose to wait… it’s the most I can do I guess…” Kazuaki decided as he popped a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.
“That’s just like you, I guess” Hitori nodded.