HOTD: A New Dawn

Everyone evacuated the classroom. Saya looked at Takashi, who was still in a mindless daze. "I don't know… I feel like I'm losing her." He said. "It feels like she's distanced herself."

And now she was the one sighing. But, she decided to push her reservations aside and treat this a little more seriously. She'd always hated when Rei's name came out of Takashi's lips, but now she felt more pity than irritation. She wondered why.

"What did she say?" She asked, sitting across from him. He looked a bit lost. It had always been common among people his age, particularly those who weren't sure where life was taking them. Rei could've only worsened that sensation for him.

Not Saya though. Despite being a young teenager, she saw her life going through very clear markers. She knew how things would end up.

"Nothing... she didn't say anything." Takashi explained, a scowl on his face. "I tried talking to her earlier, but I think I've only made it worse."

Saya tapped her foot impatiently.

Takashi continued, not meeting Saya's eyes. "I don't know what's changed, but it's like she's barely paying attention to me. Or, like, she's being more secretive and withdrawn, you know? It feels weird, like we've been disconnected somehow, and I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do." He slumped in his seat and put his face in his hands.

Saya stopped her foot-tapping, sighing once again. "You're a fool, Takashi. Why don't you come out and tell her how you feel? I don't understand, what's so complicated about this to you? You have a crush on the girl. At the very least, make an attempt, unless you're too much of a coward."

He seemed to ponder what he wanted to say. His face twitched, and Saya was hopeful that her words had struck a chord within her friend, and he'd finally man up enough to at least fix the damn situationship with Rei. But Takashi rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes veering towards the window. "I don't know..."

"..."

"Rei doesn't seem to be fond of being around me. Not to mention that she's been hanging by Hisashi's arm more often. I'm sure there's something going on between those two. I-I mean, it looks that way... to me." He finally turned to look at her.

"Now listen here..." She was struggling to hold back her frustration and anger towards him. "You have a problem, and you need to stop running away. Sitting here and brooding isn't going to do any good. Not in the short or long run. You can't always sit by the window and mop around whenever life demands you to actually make some goddamn effort. Perhaps you truly deserve to lose Rei to actually grow a spine."

Takashi's eyes grew wide open at Saya's remark. She didn't know if he was going to reply, for she had already gathered her things and stormed out of the empty classroom. 

She traversed the winding corridor with short but quick striders, cursing under her breath. Damn Takashi. Damn Rei. And damn Hisashi too—for third-wheeling himself between those two. Love was truly awful, it made someone so weak and vulnerable. 

Why had she been a victim of this intangible, non-solvable curse as well? Wasn't she a genius? The worst of all was the lack of self-awareness people carried when the emotion in question affected their sense of judgment. 

'I swear I'll never, ever, fall for someone else again—'

Her train of thoughts was abruptly interrupted when she hit a wall, except that it was a bit too fleshy to be concrete. And walls didn't grow hands that stopped you from falling down either. 

It didn't take a genius to understand she had run into someone and not an actual wall, but none of her schoolmates were this unnecessarily big.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Saya blinked blearily when Tysone's familiar voice resounded. "Y-You…" She backstepped and pointed a finger at him. "What are you doing here?"

He frowned, slightly. "Is that accusation I hear in your voice, little missus?" Now it was her turn to frown, not that it stopped him from continuing talking. "I sent you a few messages, but you didn't even look at them, did you?"

She snapped her eyes towards her phone. 

"I don't like to be ignored, you know?" Tysone said, airily. "Especially if it's to talk to some other guy." He stared at her—no, not at her, behind her. 

She whipped around, just in time to watch Takashi walk out of the classroom with an unreadable expression on his face. Tysone and Takashi looked at each other, and Saya was caught right between them. 

Now, this was not a shoujo manga—Saya knew it, but it still didn't stop her from thinking that she was the protagonist of some cheap love triangle. 

Takashi was about to talk, but Tysone was faster. He grabbed Saya's wrist, gently but firmly, and dragged her away. Takashi didn't even try to chase after them, not that she genuinely expected him to.

And so, Saya found her back against a wall. She blinked in surprise. "What the…"

A few students passed by, giving them a weird look. Saya felt her cheeks burn. 

Tysone, on the other hand, looked completely calm and unbothered. 

"You surprised me…" Saya sighed, holding her hand, though it was not like it hurt. 

"Right back at you. So, what's up with that guy?" Tysone tilted his head.

"That was Takashi, just a friend." She felt the importance of emphasizing the word 'friend', for some reason. 

There was an odd glint in Tysone's eyes, that was gone as soon as he blinked. "He looks unremarkable." Average stature. Average looks. Didn't seem particularly bright or confident either. If anime had taught Tysone anything, it was how not to be like them. 

"Well, he's stupid, just like you." Saya mumbled. 

"And here I was trying to make conversation. Maybe it's the language barrier after all?" He rubbed his chin and made a long contemplative sigh, slowly pacing up and down like the smart, devious, scheming character he was.

As he jokingly paced back and forth, Saya caught a whiff of his scent.

She was not ashamed to admit that she initially thought black men didn't smell particularly good, but only because all the related content she was exposed to were of starving children and tribes of desperate folks seeking international aid. The juxtaposition between these images, the overall negativity behind a color, and a pleasant, deep musk were extremely disconnected and at odds with each other.

After all, Tysone stood there, perfectly shaved, his hair trimmed, dressed in casual but well-thought out clothes, and actually smelling good.

Saya didn't know what to think anymore.

The world was ending.

"Saya, stop zoning out and blushing." Tysone said, suddenly. "Since I'm here, I guess there's no need for you to read my messages. I'll make it brief—"

"—I-I'm not blushing!" Saya snapped.

Tysone continued, unfazed. "—It's about the Rage Room, Saya. The location. I talked to you about it, didn't I?"

"Oh… Rage Room. Talked about it. Right." She cleared her throat. "So, what about it? Did you find something good?"

He nodded, smiling. "It doesn't look good right now, but it has potential. You're done with school for the day, haven't you? Come with me."

For the second time that day, Saya found her tiny wrist engulfed in Tysone's much larger hand. 

…

Saya followed Tysone in a subdued mood. She kept staring at her wrist, squeezed gently between his longer, thicker fingers. His stride was long and fast, but not so much that she couldn't keep up.

It was kind of weird.

And kind of nice. 

He weaved through the throng of pedestrians like a knife through butter. Or maybe his intimidating size and skin color made him some type of repellant. 

Before Saya knew it, the two of them stood in front of an abandoned-looking store. There was an old, weathered sign that said something or another, but it was written in Japanese kanji and therefore lost on Tysone. A note was pasted to the dirty, glass windows that read, simply: 'For Sale.'

And a contact number below.

"Beautiful, right? Right?"

Tysone was uncharacteristically enthusiastic. Saya was merely skeptical about it.

She took a step forward and peered through the windows.

The interior was coated in dust, cobwebs, and grime. At a certain point of darkness, a fixture of what had probably been a ceiling fan dangled precariously. And if that wasn't alarming enough, then she also saw a large roach scurrying towards safety behind a sink.

A shiver went up Saya's spine. She covered her mouth with a hand, clearly appalled by everything she was witnessing. "B-Beauti— How in the world is this beauty! Just take a look at that horrid thing—" Saya stammered, pointing at a filthy counter next to the cash register. She turned around and was appalled to see how positively beaming he was.

She finally stepped up to him, reaching mid-waist on the guy, and kicked him hard in the ankle.

"Hey! Why do you have to be so violent?"

"It's because you're a massive idiot. Seriously? You couldn't find any better?!"

Tysone fucking knew she'd raise a storm the moment she saw it.

Author Note: More chapters on [email protected]/LordCampione.