That Wasn’t Poop

The apartment I lived in was still white today.

I used to hate white. Not because I'm edgy and hate the absence of color. No, I hated it because of those useless white crayons that sat in every crayon box after the vultures in my class snatched up all the good colors. What was I supposed to do with white crayons? Draw snowmen on white paper?

But moving to Gafuno, Tokyo changed things. Now I like white. Or rather, I like the lack of green or red. In this corporate warzone where every surface screamed either Lacus green or Sinus red, white or literally any other color meant freedom. The moment your walls get tagged by either Lacus or Sinus, you might as well hand over your deed and firstborn child.

***

My phone read 6:25.

Crap. How'd I sleep through my alarm?!

My stomach growled as I bolted to the kitchen. It was fine, though. Leftover soba noodles were waiting for me in the fridge. Except when I yanked open the fridge door, I found nothing but empty containers.

You serious? That's when I noticed the crime scene: chopsticks in the sink and sauce stains on the counter. Dammit, Gramp's late night munchies must've struck again. That old man preached about saving money on meals like it was his religion, but apparently midnight soba was worth breaking his own commandments.

I slammed the fridge shut. The clock now read 6:32, and my stomach was still growling. Only one option left: Jasmine & Budgies down the street. Satou-san usually has day-old pastries on discount anyway, so Gramps can't lecture me about wasteful spending.

I threw on my uniform, barely bothering to straighten the collar, and grabbed my school bag. The morning sun hit my face as I stepped outside, and I took a moment to appreciate our plain, beautiful, gloriously white walls again. No corporate colors here. No sir. Just good old-fashioned paint that said 'we're too poor to be worth bothering with' and that's exactly how I liked it.

***

I picked up my pace, letting out a relieved sigh at the sight of more unpainted buildings. The corps hadn't claimed this block yet, thank everything.

My phone now read 6:43. Ok, maybe I'd need to sprint.

Left turn here, then straight to-

Red. Bright, eye-scorching Sinus red splashed across Jasmine & Budgies' entrance.

You've got to be kidding me.

"Ah, Ichinose-san." Satou-san emerged from around the corner, shoulders slumped.

"When the hell did this happen?"

"Last night." He ran a hand through his graying hair. "Right as I was closing up shop."

"Those Sinus bastards couldn't even wait until morning?"

"They don't care about people's time anymore. Sinus has been getting desperate, you know? They're just marking everything they see since Lacus keeps nabbing the good spots."

"Bunch of corporate bastards. At least the bread's still good, right? Got any day-olds?"

"About that... Unless you're with Sinus now, prices are triple for regular folks."

"Triple?" My stomach and wallet cried in unison.

"Could be worse." He attempted a weak laugh. "Lacus customers pay ten times more."

I glared at the red paint. "Yeah well, I didn't exactly budget for extortion prices."

Satou-san sighed. "Figured as much."

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. Then buzzed again. And again.

I pulled it out to find a barrage of messages from Coco:

--WHERE R U

--did u die??

--wait did u get kidnapped by those corporate paint ninjas

--PAINT NINJAS

--wait that'd be kinda cool actually

--can u get kidnapped by paint ninjas and tell me what their secret base looks like

--also can you bring me something with matcha in it

Coco… how do I explain her? She wasn't really my friend, more like an overly attached study partner who helped keep me from failing classes. Sweet girl, but getting close to her would be pointless since I planned to bail this hellhole after graduation. No sense leading her on, you know?

I switched the phone off and shoved it back in my pocket. "Sorry Satou-san, I've got to run to class. Literally."

"It's alright. Go on, before you're late." He waved me off with a weary smile.

I took off down the street, my legs finding their rhythm. Running was the one thing I could do well, not that I'd ever brag about it to anyone.

My silver hair whipped across my face as I ran. I yanked the tie off my wrist and pulled it all into a quick, messy ponytail, letting the morning breeze hit my neck. The skirt was next. I lifted it up and stuffed the extra fabric into the waistband. Gramps would have an aneurysm if he saw me running like this. But hey, I needed the aerodynamics.

I might actually make it early at this rate...

That's when my stomach let out a growl.

Shut up. We're broke remember?

Another growl.

I scanned the street ahead. Every shop front burned with Sinus red. Their prices would probably be worse than Satou-san's. That's when I spotted a piece of bread perched on top of an overflowing trash can, still in its wrapper.

No. Absolutely not. I have standards.

My stomach growled again.

...Had standards.

I snatched it mid-stride, tore open the wrapper, and shoved the bread in my mouth. Look, I'm not proud of it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And in my defense, at least it was on top of the trash, not in it.

***

The stark white walls of Gafuno High loomed ahead. Thank everything it's still just plain old concrete and glass. Which makes sense. What corp would waste paint on a school full of broke teenagers? We weren't exactly extortion material.

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!"

I blew past three different teachers, their shouts fading behind me. I get it, safety first and all that. But you know what's really unsafe? Getting detention for being tardy and having to explain to Gramps why I was late coming home.

My hand slammed against classroom 2-C's door just as the bell started ringing. I burst in, chest heaving.

"Cutting it rather close there, Ichinose-san." Koizumi-sensei raised an eyebrow.

"Haha… Lucky me..."

I shuffled to my desk, very aware of the death glare burning into the side of my head. Coco sat two seats over, her usually messy black hair even more disheveled than usual. Probably from playing with it while waiting for my texts.

She'll get over it. I thought as I slid into my chair.

Halfway through our English lesson, my stomach decided to remind me that eating breakfast from the trash was, in fact, a terrible life choice.

Dammit, not now.

Another gurgle, this one loud enough to make the guy in front of me turn around.

Dear stomach: I'm sorry for feeding you trash. But can you wait until break to kill me?

From two desks over, Coco's eyes locked onto me. She mouthed exaggerated words: ARE. YOU. OK?

I waved her off. Nothing to see here, just focus on class.

But Coco, being Coco, chose violence.

"Sensei!" Her hand shot up. "Urumi-chan looks really sick!"

I whipped around to give her my best 'What the hell' glare, but Coco just responded with that insufferable cat face of hers. You know the one. The :3 face that makes you want to smash that face in.

"Ichinose-san?" Koizumi-sensei peered at me over his glasses.

"I'm fi-" But another gurgle cut me off.

"Please go to the nurse's office if you're unwell."

UGH. I stood up, my face burning hotter than Sinus red. "Excuse me."

I made a beeline for the door, not looking at anyone, and practically sprinted down the hall. I decided to make a detour into the girls' bathroom, where I was met with silence. Good. Just me, alone with my questionable life choices.

I barely made it into one of the stalls before Mount Fuji erupted from my lower half.

Ahhh~

I'm not usually someone who makes dramatic declarations, but this? This was beyond any mortal understanding of relief. This was what poets wrote epics about. This was better than- well, I wouldn't know about that, but I'm pretty sure this topped it.

That's when something cold and slimy attached itself to my behind.

Oh god. Did... did it splash back?

I reached down to check and-

That wasn't poop.

That was a leech.

A very large, very attached leech.

Well.