He woke up on his bed yawning pretty loudly. He had slept quite unusually comfortably, he hasn't been able to do this for quite some time. Why? Because he always sleeps late.
And he knows why, he just doesn't want to admit it. It's more like he can't.
During the day, he does a lot of stuff. House chores, like a whole lot of it, from cleaning the house, cooking breakfast, taking care of their dogs, and a whole lot more. Then by 12 noon, he'd prepare to go to his campus which is quite a ride from their house.
From outside his house, he'd take a bus to go to the central train station, and then he'd ride that train for roughly 20 minutes because he lives somewhere in the outskirts of Metropolitan Tokyo.
In the train, people were just there doing their usual boring stuff. The cold AC blasting on everybody's face in the butt fuck of October, yes in the middle of the cold and dry Autumn.
He looked at his phone to read a Webnovel he's been hung up on since last year, it wasn't all just to pass the time and escape the monotonous reality, he really likes this novel because of the uniqueness of the main character. Dont get it wrong, he's still a hero, a bubbly "Dattebayo" typa one.
But that isn't what makes him unique, in fact that's what the author did to shroud the main character's real persona.
He felt a connection to this main character, because on the outside the main character looks so happy, but inside he's nihilistic. And yet somehow he manages to keep going to beat every single enemy in his path.
He felt that he's the opposite of this main character, that he looks bored on the outside, like he's tired of this world. But inside he's a "Dattebayo" type. He believes that he's this person, and yet why can't he find any evidence that he's this type of person.
"Maybe I'm just in the wrong world"
He mutters under his breath as he commented the same on one of the lines in the chapter he's reading, the line saying "sometimes I hope that I was in a world where no magic exists, a world where nobody has access to powers realms above those who don't possess it".
After 20 minutes, he arrived in the campus by 1:00 PM and he'd be there in Todai for literally 9 hours. He doesn't know why he didn't just try his best finding a cheap and approximate place from his school, but what's done is done.
Entering the University, he was greeted by the usual clean-cut look of the buildings and landscape. Of course this was the most prestigious University in Japan we're talking about.
The leaves were golds and crisp browns, and they were everywhere, mid air, the floor and even on his head as he walked.
Everything was so beautiful, stable, and...boring. This was the sickness of Japan, everything is way too clinically symmetrical and polished. The rules, the manners, the buildings, and then the way the people behave.
It is a sickness since this makes everyone vulnerable to what people call as Zoochosis, the supposed unnatural behavior by animals trapped in an enclosure away from the supposed wilds.
But what about him? What does he think of this? Well he is aware of this phenomenon, but he doesn't think it's exactly the case here for Japan. In truth he likes it, he likes the stability. But sometimes it is a bit too boring but he's way too lazy to do something about that boredom so he just goes along with the flow.
Besides, he believes that humans aren't just animals, we're more than that. He believes that these conditions are what humans have done to themselves for the sake of both comfort and survival.
Humans are nothing without comfort, it is what makes us humans, and excessive comfort is just comfort. He doesn't think that excessive comfort exists. That means, comfort+survival=stability.
Then what about the animals that humans have surrounded themselves with? Are they also humans since they live in the comfort of humans? No.
The domesticated animals that we have surrounded ourselves with are themselves never really comfortable of humans. In short, Humans gained comfort by making everything around them uncomfortable.
But what's really comfortable? What makes a situation one? Well for humans it's stability, while for animals is survivability. Animals don't need the Human Comfort, they're not human. What they need is Animal comfort, which is just survival.
He thought to himself as he settled down for a seat in the back of the class. Yes, he has entered the building and has maneuvered himself into his classroom all this time.
But then he was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice.
--1st POV--
"Aru! Toru Aru! Are you here?"
The teacher called for attendance with an annoyed tone.
Well because I was hung up on my thoughts again. I can't help it since this is the consequences of monotony.
"I'm here Ma'am, sorry"
I said with a bored voice.
And then there we go again, the class filled with nothing but stuff that I already know. It was a physics class.
"Ugh I'm just here for the credentials anyways, after this class I'm gonna go to Airi-chan's class"
--3rd POV--
After the boring classes, he commutes back towards their house at nighttime. And then by 10 pm he was supposed to arrive at home after a gruelling commute.
Was supposed to, because he still wasn't home by 10. In fact he didn't even come home at all even when it was already 11. His parents were weirded out but waited anyways since it's probably traffic.
--2nd POV--
"Traffic? Why would there be traffic on the train?"
Mrs. Toru asked her husband, wondering if he'd gone senile at such a prime age.
"Honey, he also boards a bus after the train going home. Maybe he's still at the terminal"
Mr. Toru reassured his wife he hadn't gone senile and that their son is okay.
"Oh yeah, maybe so, let's just sleep in then, I'm tired"
Mrs. Toru said yawning.
--3rd POV--
Actually, even after sleeping, she'll never get rest after this night, she'll always feel restless from now on, starting tomorrow.
As for Mr. Toru, he's not wrong, but he's not right either. Since he didn't even board the train at all, let alone leave the school premises.
--1st POV--
"Airi?"
"Where is she? Didn't she tell me she wanted to meet up by the pool? And boy it's getting late I need to be on the train before 8"
I was wondering why she was still not here after texting me that she wanted to say something to me. And so I just waited there at the edge of the Olympic sized pool, dipping my legs and swaying them in the water.
Well I'm not stupid, I already knew what she wanted to do, it was to confess. I mean I get it I look pretty cute, and handsome. But I'm such a bad choice of a crush for her since I just wanted her to be my friend.
I've never really gotten along with guys, wait no, I've had guy friends, but I meant the conventionally-behaving boys my age.
The only guy friends I've had were always quite similar to me, quite reserved, but definitely has a lot of aura. But for some reason, most of them were always way more handsome than me so I always get left behind in experiences.
And then suddenly I'll just encounter them again, now talking and acting like one of those boys I don't want to befriend.
Why don't I like them? Well it's not just as simple as them being too vanilla for me.
When I was in highschool, I didn't really get bullied, thankful for that. Since I would probably have never gone to school at all after one bullying situation and I would've never gotten to college.
But back to the main topic, during those days when I was a bit too insecure of myself, I wanted to be one of them. The cool guys who gets girlfriends and does a lot of "normal" boy stuff.
You see, I was always surrounded by girls even before that, especially in elementary and kindergarten. But that was only because I was popular with girls. And then whenever I tried befriending the boys in my class back then, I was always shunned away from their circles since they thought that I was arrogant for having a lot girl friends.
And so the behavior of befriending just girls and almost always never boys was just reinforced in me after that.
But what reinforced it more was the one in highschool. Back to the highschool years, in the desperation of wanting to "fit in" I went along with these band of boys in the back like.
I hung out with them, tried to do stuff with them like even smoking, which I never really liked even after trying. But what made me fit in more with them was my popularity with girls.
Realizing that I was a girls' boy, they used my status to get themselves girls, when I myself didn't even get girlfriends since I've always viewed girls as just friends.
I was fine with it, them using me like a matchmaker or a wingman or whatever. But then something drastic happened. And as it turns out, one of those guys got homo-curious with me. Yes, I became an object of homosexual cutiosity.
Normal teenage boys becoming curious with so many societal-taboo stuff.
At first that guy started to get touchy with me in a subtle way, like smacking my butt while laughing or making jokes about kissing me. But then he actually started doing some of those things in a bolder fashion, like sliding his hands under my uniform, and one time even suddenly cupping my crotch with his hands to supposedly feel out my size.
I was traumatized. I kept telling him to stop, and even told the other guys about it to tell him off.
But what made it worse was that in that circle, what he started became a trend. Most of the other guys started doing those same stuff to me. Mind you, I was in a phase where I thought these little demons were my friends.
At first I fought back with actual threats, but then they started getting more aggressive like one time one of them actually french-kissing me for 30 seconds in a bathroom stall to the point that I puked so hard afterwards.
And so one day, I just decided to stop approaching them and avoided them like the plague, choosing to hang out with my friends that are alike to my real self. But then a rumor started circulating in the school that I was basically the "call-boy" of that group of boys at my class. And then all my friends started avoiding me.
As for their girlfriends and ex girlfriends who were once my friends, those bitches started backstabbing me and they were the ones who started those rumors.
All since they became jealous of me being at the center of so many guys, when I'm also a guy! I was just being harassed
And then the worst came. One day, they tricked me into coming to an isolated empty classroom in the guise of a teacher needing me there.
But the good thing was that I realize that it was suspicious early on, I knew that that classroom was supposed to be empty that day since I had a friend there who said that they were going on a field trip that day.
And so when I went to the classroom, I immediately stopped at the door outside and hid beside it to eavesdrop inside. And thats when I heard it, their voices, instructing each other the most vilest things that they wanted to do to me that they watched and learned from a Gay Porn site.
They were telling each other all of this while also assuring each other that they weren't the Gay one, I was going to be the gay one since I was the one that'll get penetrated.
I immediately ran away after hearing those and went home pale-faced, shivering like I've been a r**e victim. My parents was so worried and kept asking me until I gave out and told them everything.
After that, my parents went to war inside the school against the parents of these boys, and my reputation started crumbling more with the news of my parents doing this. The parents of the boys started denying everythjng I said as claims and that I was a narcissistic homo for expecting their sons to think of me like that.
Of course I didn't have any evidence or any recording of what they said.
Realizing that everything was a lost cause, my parents just decided to transfer me to another highschool to preserve my dignity.
With all of these thoughts inside my head, I was so focused looking at my reflection in the water that I didn't realize that there was a person behind me.
And that's when I felt the powerful force of a push, forcing me into the water.
"What the f- Bllllrgh bllrghlr"
I was submerged into the water, but I knew how to swim, and so putting everything together, I chose to dive deep and swim away from the edge of the pool to see who pushed me.
"You fucker! Stay the fuck away from my girl!"
As I surfaced, I heard a shout, a guy's voice. I looked to see, but his face was shrouded by the dark.
"What?! Who the fuck are you man?"
I asked, dumbfounded as I floated in the middle of the pool.
"Fuck you Toru Aru! Get away from Airi-chan!"
The voice yelled out in absolute rage.
"Oh so it's like that?"
I realized inwardly.
It's one of those big admirers of my friend Airi, she's a really popular girl in this university for guys, like I am with girls.
"The fuck? Dude she's just my friend! What are you gonna do if I tell her that you did this to me? you'll lose your chance- wait in fact you just lost it. I'll never let a guy like you near her"
I said smirkingly as I swam to the opposite side of the pool.
"Oh yeah?! Will you really be able to tell her?"
His tone changed, as if he was going to do something bad to me, well I'm far away so how exactly-
"Ugk"
I then felt a huge pulling force from under my feet in the deeper parts of the pool. I looked down and saw that the drain was no longer there, it opened up, and a huge whirlpool underneath me, pulling me in even as I try to swim away.
"Wait there should be a safety measure-"
That's when I saw that the second and third safety anti-entrapment drains underneath the main one was gone.
"Wait, he took it out, which means that he's probably the one managing this pool. Wait till I get out of here you fucker, I've found you out!"
I said inwardly with confidence and self-efficacy.
And that's when I suddenly heard a loud beep sound. It was the fucking pool cover, it was slowly covering the pool, he wants me to stay in the pool as it gets sucked out.
With all my strength, I swam hard to the edge, but then I see him there standing, he managed to get there in time to try and drown me.
"Fuck, I'll go the other way then!"
The water level was slowly decreasing and the pull was getting stronger, but I shifted my direction to the other side.
And that's when I see the pool cover encroaching. With all my swimming training, I sucked in a huge breath and went with huge arm strokes to get to the edge faster than ever.
"My body hurts, fuck I don't need a foot cramp right now!"
After 10 seconds my hands finally hit something solid and I immediately grabbed on to the tiled edge.
And when I poked my head out of the water, I saw him there, now I could see his face unshrouded, he was grinning like a madman committing murder. He was holding a bat.
"I'm going to get murdered here?"
With a swing, he hit my head which immediately weakened my hold on the edge and got immediately submerged.
As for my consciousness, it slowly faded away as I started sinking faster and deeper, getting pulled by the suction force of the drain. I then faintly see his silhouette standing there, as the pool cover finally caught up to me and slowly covered the surface of the pool like a cloud over the bright sky, my vision went black.
--3rd POV--
And to answer the question at the beginning, he knew that the reason why he was slowly killing himself with the all-nighters was that deep inside his psyche, he wanted to get out of this world. This monotonous world.