1 The Ember Within Reality

1.

Outside the corridors of this classroom, lies a world engulfed in impurity. Kota Suzuki knew this, which is why he strived to become better than "the world". In fact, that was his only goal in his futile life. Kota Suzuki reposed his head onto his hand as he stared out into the wilderness which was enclosed by a window. Currently, Kota was in his first-period class, which is also the class he resented the most.

Before him, a room lathered in desks and chairs lined up perfectly. Each row had approximately 5 desks, and there were roughly 4 rows altogether. All in all, there were 20 students in his class. Though, that didn't matter to him as he pretty much despised everyone in the class. He pinned terms to most of the students in his first period, he called them things like "overly active babies" or things of that nature. However, one person in class he didn't regard as that, despite her being the one who annoys him the most.

Asuka Chihiro is a girl who sits right by Kota Suzuki, and she's also the class repetitive. Her hair is silky smooth and shines a beautiful gold when under a glow. Asuka's hair goes down to nearly her waist, however, she decides to style it into twin ponytails with a few bangs covering her forehead. Despite her feminine hair length, her eyes are quite sharp, not as sharp as a man, however, sharp enough to make her seem threatening.

The teacher stood in the front of the classroom, blabbering on about some theory. Kota didn't pay much attention in this class, so today wasn't any different. Suddenly, Asuka Chihiro thrashed her arm forward, throwing a note directly into Kota's cheek. Kota tilted his head out of the window's peripheral, then he'd glance at the note. It read, "Pay attention or else…", Kota stared at the note for a few moments, then swiftly glanced up at Asuka. For a moment, silence fell over the two, her eyes gleamed a mint green as she stared into his soul. Then laughter brewed up from Kota, which shocked Asuka.

"Today's gonna be no different Asuka, you know I hate this class," Kota whispered, glancing at the teacher ever so often.

Asuka's eyes sharpened so much that her eyes were like blades stabbing into Kota's heart. Then she whispered back, "This is important, it's gonna be on the test this week."

Kota sighed, it wasn't like he got good grades anyways. Kota wasn't dumb at all, instead, he was just lazy, extremely lazy. He didn't care for such feeble things as schoolwork, although he could do it if he tried. "Nah I think I'll do fine."

"Whatever, I tried."

"Indeed you did, indeed you-" Suddenly, a plump shadow cast before him. Mr. Ameno stood roughly at 6'4, yet he weighed roughly 400 pounds. Making him quite the menacing figure.

Mr. Ameno's short black hair was swooshed to the side, blanketing his forehead. "Mr. Kota, why're you not paying attention to my lesson?"

Kota gulped silently, then his eyes widened and his ears furled. "I'm sorry…?" Kota said awkwardly, trying his best to seem sincere.

Asuka simply stared as the situation escalated, from a conversation to Kota getting detention. And just like that, Kota's day was beginning to fall into ruin.

Time slipped by, and just like that 4 periods went by. And it was now lunchtime, Kota's favorite. Yet for some reason, the school seemed more provoked than usual. As if something big was going on. Kota slithered past crowds of people in the hall, then he slinked his way down the stairs and into the cafeteria. Hundreds of students sat on the benches or stood up conversing as Kota made his way into the line.

To his surprise, Kota's best friend Yami Agamatsu also stood in line. The reason why Kota was shocked was that Yami typically brought his lunch.

"Hm? Surprised, today I decided I'd try out this school lunch you're so fond of." Yami said snarkily.

Kota sighed, "Why're you talking like that? And I'm certainly not fond of this lunch."

Yami smirked, "I'm getting prepared for my role in the upcoming school play, anyway, you should definitely join it."

Kota chuckled, believing it was a joke, then he realized Yami was totally serious. "Huh?! No way, you know I don't indulge in anything after school related."

Yami smiles cheekily, "Well, the prince role is open, and the prince's love interest is Asuka Chihiro, I know you like her. I can tell by the way you stare at her."

Kota wanted to puke, despite him not hating her that didn't mean he liked her, so he certainly wouldn't be into her romantically. "Yeah, no."

Yami's smile quickly turned upside down, then he spoke. "Well, I guess someone else will have to be her love interest, and you know lots of guys are trying out. Shoot maybe I will, Asuka is quite the charmer."

Kota couldn't even fathom Asuka going out on a date with Yami, after all, Yami was quite the short fella. Yami stood roughly at 5'3 and his doctor said he wouldn't get much taller. Quite the sad fate if you asked Kota.

The two of them quickly received their lunches and fled to the outside area of the cafeteria. "Yeah sure, I think she'd quit the role if you became the prince." Kota chuckled.

Yami simply smiled at the comment, then played with his fluffy blonde hair. "Probably, but she'd most likely do that to everyone, except you."

"I'm not doing it, there's no way you can convince me."

"Whatever," Yami said promptly, then he took a massive chomp out of his hamburger. Grease oozed out from the hamburger patty as his teeth engraved themselves into it. Cheese wrapped itself around Yami's teeth as he leaned away from the burger in pure disgust. The taste had a pungent dry taste, he could nearly feel the dryness slinking down his throat and coating his heart.

Kota stared at Yami as he nearly broke into tremendous laughter. "How is it?" Kota replied.

Suddenly, a girl with short purple hair and tanned skin walked over to the two. "Yami is eating school lunch? That's a shocker." She said before another girl emerged from her shadow. The other girl's hair was long and black. The girl with purple hair is Lucinda Foster, and the girl with black hair is Rema Kagano. Lucinda was known for being a transfer student just like Kota, in fact, they transferred the same week, however, it's been two months since then.

Rema Kagano was always by Lucinda despite the fact it should be the other way around. "And it's the hamburger…" Rema said shyly.

Kota nearly burst into laughter again, "Yeah the hamburgers will kill ya, anyway y'all wanna go get something to eat outside campus? Trust me no one will spot us."

The three of them nodded quickly, then the group set off of the campus. The campus was beautiful, trees were covered in snow causing snowflakes to cloud their vision as they embarked on their journey. Once they left the campus, they took a left into a cafe called Sprints Coffee.

"Trust me, the food here is superb," Kota smirked.

Yami glanced around, the outside of the cafe was atrocious, vines seeped down from the roof and some bricks were missing. Despite that, the inside was much better. The group quickly sat down into a booth and waited for a waiter.

"So from what I heard you got detention today, what happened this time?" Lucinda questioned Kota like she usually did.

Kota scratched at his spiky red hair, "Erm… If I tell you, you're just gonna get mad."

"Just tell me, it's not like I bite or anything" Lucinda responded, but she was certainly lying. Several times she chomped at Kota's fingers for making her worry.

Kota sighed one more, "Alright, I wasn't paying attention in class. Weird right? Why would a teacher give me detention for something that minuscule." He said hesitantly.

Steam erupted from Lucinda's ears, and her face then swiveled into a sinister red. She tried to contain her anger, but the anger began to swell up. "You promised me we'd go to the winter carnival today, remember?!" Lucinda roared.

Lucinda was one of the only people Kota feared, her anger was nearly incomparable and her strength was one of a thousand warriors. At times, he believed she had to be supernatural. "I- 'm sorry! I'll take you tomorrow?" Kota responded calmly, trying to de-escalate the situation.

Lucinda released a furrow of air from her nostrils, then she promptly sat in her seat. "Whatever, just make sure you take me during this week."

Kota exhaled in relief, then he glanced at the cafe door creak open, revealing someone he knew. "Shoot!" He screamed as Asuka entered the cafe and stared them all down.

Asuka stood there for a moment, then she stormed forward. Her feet smashed into the ground as she trudged towards them. Kota gulped loudly, then Lucinda quickly turned her head to Asuka.

"How'd she-? You told us we weren't gonna get caught, remember that?" Lucinda asked promptly, then flashed a smile at Asuka.

Asuka's blonde hair looked a shade of red as her eyes slanted, making them sharper than usual. "Why're you all off campus, you know that's against the rules." Despite trying to act kind, she still came off as stern and furious.

"Well, we erm… We all lost something here and decided to go look for it!" Kota blatantly lied.

Asuka glanced at the four, "Then why are you all sitting down?"

Yami protested, "We lost it here, in this booth!"

Rema squirmed and hid right behind Lucinda. "Yeah what he said," Rema whispered.

"Then what did you lose?" Asuka questioned.

Kota began sweating profusely, so much so his underwear was drenched in it. "We… uh. Our phones! We lost our phones."

"I know you're lying, just come with me. Or else…" Asuka said slyly, then the four of them followed her out of the cafe. And just like that, their lunch was wasted.

After Asuka brought them back to campus grounds, she scolded them, but mainly Kota. Due to their lunch being wasted, none of them were able to eat. This angered Kota, for once he was genuinely mad at the class rep for what she had done, but he also blamed himself.

Kota still had two more periods to go, but he decided to go to his skipping spot, which was the roof. Kota creaked open the roof's door and walked over to his spot. But to his surprise, someone else was sitting there.

The person seemed to be a girl, however, her hair was quite short. Her eyes were wide and gleamed an azure color, Kota was surprised he wasn't totally immersed in them. She slowly raised her head to meet Kota's eyes, and that's when her beauty struck him. Her skin was as white as snow, yet her hair was a shade of sepia. A furrow of perfectly cut bangs covered her forehead as she flashed Kota an elegant smile.

"You're Kota, aren't you?" She pondered, her words flowed out of her lips like wine as she spoke.

The sun's rays lathered onto her face, she was truly an angel as the breeze brushed against her blouse.

Kota glanced at her, then at the ever-growing horizon. "Yeah, I am, wassup?"

"I'm Minori Kimura, nice to meet you" She introduced herself.

Kota couldn't help himself but smile, for some odd reason, her smile shattered into his soul and allowed light to seep into it. "Nice to meet you too, erm, do you need something from me?"

"Not necessarily"

"Then why are you here?"

"Just to meet you, you're pretty special after all."

"Me? Special?"

"Yes you, silly."

"Nah you're joking, who set you up for this?"

"Perhaps you can save me…" She whispered, then the sun's raise perished from her face as she rose off the bench.

Both of their eyes meet each other, one side was filled with confusion, whilst the other side was filled with wonder. "What'd you say?" He asked, clearly confused.

Her eyes departed from his majestically, then she began walking away. With each step his heart began beating more, who was this girl, what did she want from him, those thoughts fluttered around his mind. But before she left, she spoke. "You really are something, you know that?" Minori's words struck his heart, for some reason, she sounded as if she needed him, no, longed for him.

Minori's hands clasped onto the door handle and pushed it open, and just like that she had left. The air suddenly flushed cold and tight, the clouds began to swarm around each other and white flakes drizzled from the sky. It appeared to be snowing. For a while, Kota stood there, allowing the snow to coat his crimson hair.

Time began to pass silently, the rest of the day felt like a slug for Kota, as one thought chastised his mind. Who was Minori Kimura, and what did she desire from him?

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