Shinji woke up to the smell of disinfectant and cold air biting at his face.
Everything was white. The ceiling. The walls. The stiff blanket. For a second, he thought maybe he'd died and gone to some weird afterlife where nurses wore budget uniforms.
Then—
"You're finally up, Sleeping Beauty."
Kaito's voice.
Shinji flinched. His body tensed like someone had plugged him into a battery.
"Hey, chill," Kaito said, raising his hands like Shinji was some wild animal. "You're not dead, thsi is school Infarmary."
Shinji blinked. His hands were bandaged. His ribs ached. But…he was alive.
Then, he noticed the two figures standing behind Kaito.
Rika stood with her arms crossed, eyes scanning him like a suspicious detective. Akira leaned back in a chair with a tablet in his lap, munching on dry seaweed snacks.
"What happened, Shinji?" Rika asked, her voice half-gentle, half-scolding. "You were soaked in blood when we found you. Even Kaito didn't say anything!"
"AAAH!" Kaito groaned, flopping back in a chair. "Can you stop interrogating him already? He just woke up!"
"You—!" Rika yelled, then smack—punched him on the arm.
Kaito winced dramatically. "Ow. This punch's like a light tap haha. Try harder next time."
"Want me to aim for the face?"
"Oh please be Quite!" Akira said, pushing up his glasses with a sigh. "There's a patient here. Save your fight for later."
Shinji sat there, silent, watching the three bicker. For the first time, he didn't feel like an outsider. It was…warm. Weirdly loud. But warm.
"Anyway," Kaito said, leaning forward. "I dragged your body back to school Infarmary. You're heavier than you look, man. But seriously—the way you destroyed those seniors? Damn. Even I wouldn't go that far."
Shinji flinched, the memory flashing in his head.
Blood. Chains. Laughter. Then rage.
He jerked up suddenly, eyes darting around the room. "My…chain," he whispered. "Where's my chain?!"
Akira stood up and pulled something from his jacket pocket.
"I fixed it," he said, handing over the silver chain. "It was tricky, but hey, not for me"
Shinji stared at the chain in his hand.
Then, without warning, tears rolled down his cheeks. He gripped it near his chest.
"Th-thank you. Really… thank you so much."
Kaito scratched his head, looking weirdly uncomfortable. "Hey, man… it's no big deal. But, uh… why'd you go that far to protect it?"
Shinji held up the locket on the chain. Inside was an old photo—him and an elderly woman, smiling together.
"It was the last thing my grandma gave me," he said softly. "My parents died in a car crash when I was little. No one wanted to take me in. I was alone, scared… until Grandma take me in"
He gripped the locket tighter.
"She raised me. Alone. But she never let me feel like I didn't have a parents. She made everything feel warm again. And before she passed, she gave me this. Said it would always keep her close."
Even Rika's face softened.
Kaito nodded. "That's deep, man."
"But still," Kaito added, "if you're that strong, why didn't you stand up for yourself before?"
Shinji said, "I was never really into fighting... not until middle school. One day, I got into an argument with a classmate, and it suddenly turned into a fight. I don't know why, but something just snapped. It felt like something inside me was crawling out... and I started enjoying it. The violence. The chaos. I couldn't stop myself. I kept hitting them... harder and harder… until someone pulled me back."
He looked down, voice trembling.
"When I came to my senses, I saw what I'd done. My classmates were messed up—faces swollen, bruised, barely recognizable. The teacher scolded me, but that wasn't the worst part."
Akira raised an eyebrow. "So you've got a monster inside. Neat."
Shinji gave a half-hearted laugh.
Shinji paused.
"For the first time… I saw my grandma cry. Not out of anger. Just... sadness. She didn't yell. She just held me and said it was okay. And that's when I swore—no matter what, I'd never make her sad like that again."
Kaito leaned back, nodding thoughtfully.
"Damn. So you're basically a hidden boss character."
Shinji chuckled softly.
"But wait," Kaito said, smirking. "Didn't you get expelled from your last school?"
Shinji said, "Something similar happened at my last school… I lost control again, just like today. Ended up getting expelled…"
He sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen now."
Kaito leaned back and laughed. "Pfft, relax. This school doesn't care unless you actually murder someone. Seriously, teachers here just sip coffee and mind their business"
Kaito waved it off. " You could probably suplex the principal and just get detention. You'll be fine."
That actually made Shinji laugh.
Then, he blinked. "Oh! I, uh… I never asked your names."
The three of them blinked.
Then all burst out laughing.
"Wow, you're slow," Kaito said, grinning. "Name's Kaito Han. Resident troublemaker."
"Rika Saotome," she said, flashing a tiny peace sign. "Don't mess with me"
"And I'm Akira Renzu," the bespectacled genius added. "brain cell of this group."
Shinji smiled.
And just like that, they become friends.
———
Flashback Ends
Kaito sat up from his nap, blinking at the ceiling.
He hadn't thought about Shinji in a while.
After School ended, Shinji had moved to Aomi Bay City to help out at his uncle's store near the ocean.
It'd been years since they last saw each other.
Just then—
"You forgot your lunch. Again."
Rika tossed a box at Kaito's chest.
"Oof!" he grunted. "Man, I'm getting old…"
"Old? You're 22."
"I feel 40."
Rika sighed, flopping beside him. "In this weather, I just wanna go to the beach and lie in the sun."
Kaito's eyes lit up. "YES. That's it!"
Rika and Akira, who just walked in, exchanged confused glances.
"What's it?" Akira asked.
Kaito stood up, fists in the air. "Let's go to Aomi Bay! We can hit the beach and visit Shinji!"
Hearing that, Akira and Rika lit up.
"That's actually a great idea!" Akira said.
Rika tilted her head. "Wait, when are we going?"
Kaito stretched his arms and grinned. "Let's head out next week. Gives us time to get ready."
Rika's eyes sparkled. "Perfect! I'm going home to pack—and maybe buy a new swimsuit!"
Akira sighed with a smile. "Well, I need some fresh air anyway. A little trip sounds nice… especially to the beach."
With that, the three of them parted ways, each heading home with a spark of excitement in their steps. A beach trip, a reunion, and probably chaos—yup, things were about to get interesting.