My lunchtime brawl

Natsume and Ike walk together as they try to find somewhere to settle down and eat. Natsume isn't looking for anything in particular, just somewhere that looks decent. Ike, with a similar goal in mind, points out a lovely cafe that rests halfway up the stairs from the entrance. To Ike's credit, it didn't look half bad.

The two boys made their orders and sat at a table with their meals. The both of them chatted with each other as they ate: Their past, hopes for their future, and their hobbies. The casual conversation between the two boys was nice. It wasn't often that Natsume got to talk with people like himself. Natsume was also surprised to find out that Ike was actually a rather messy eater. It didn't bother him much though, Ike knew to clean up after himself.

"So, what do you think of our classmates?" Ike asks with his mouth half full, spluttering bits of burger everywhere. Natsume shields his face and food from the chunks flying from Ike's mouth. Natsume didn't completely mind that Ike ate the way he did, so long as none of it got on his own food.

"They're nice, I suppose. I'll need to get to know them more." Natsume answers as he eats one fry at a time. "Kanata seems really strange though." Natsume comments as Ike looks around, making sure that Kanata isn't eavesdropping on the conversation. It was clear to Natsume that he and Kanata would not be getting along any time soon. A big part of Natsume found Kanata to be the most self-absorbed person in the world. Another part of him, however, respected Kanata for having so much self-respect.

"Well, I think they're all very sweet." Ike smiles, finishing off the remains of his burger before licking the grease off of his fingers. It wasn't easy to tell that Ike came from a very wealthy family, he was so messy and informal that you'd think he was lying.

"You said you had glossophobia, right?" Natsume questions Ike as he continues eating his fries. "How long had that been going on? You never struck me as the person who didn't like showing off his stuff."

"What? Glossophobia?" Ike stumbles as he tries to figure out what Natsume's talking about, forgetting what the word Natsume had said meant.
"Oh, right... That... I've been that way since I was little." Ike fidgets with his fingers a little bit, Natsume notices that his fears appear to be a touchy topic for the bushy-haired boy.

"Yeah... I probably wouldn't understand since I'm not in your shoes." Natsume sighs, leaning back into his chair. Natsume was trying his hardest not to make Ike uncomfortable with what they were talking about.
"Although, it sounds like it'll be a tough road for you." Natsume states, causing Ike to flinch.

"Well, it's like you said..." Ike smirks, puffing his chest out. "There will always be workar-" 

BONK!

While Ike was talking a bright red object came falling from the next floor up and struck him in the back of the head before plopping to the floor, rolling around, and stopping to a halt. Ike looks around, confused before turning to see the thing.

"Someone threw an apple at you." Natsume states as he casually points up to three boys who appear to be pointing and laughing at them. The trio were hard to make out from this distance. Clearly not happy with this treatment towards Ike, Natsume slides his chair back quickly, picks up the apple that had stopped just at his feet, and marches upstairs.

As Natsume gets closer to these boys, he can start to make out more distinct features. One boy has grey eyes supported with black hair - just a little longer than Natsume's. Another boy has shorter green hair and bright red eyes. And the last boy, who appeared to be the leader of the bunch, had messy Red hair. All three of them were still howling with laughter by the time Natsume had reached them. The leader was the first to notice that Natsume had made his way to them.

"You got a problem?" The red-haired boy sneered, watching as Natsume continues approaching him, flipping the apple in his hand. The other two boys - finally realising that Natsume was there - stop laughing and replace it with serious expressions.

"You dropped your apple. Thought you might want it back." Natsume replied, tossing the apple towards the boys with an underarm throw. The red-haired boy caught it just barely by the stem. "And quit laughing at Ike while you're at it. You don't even know him." he concludes, turning back around and walking away.

"Hold on a second, you don't get to tell us what to do." The red one shouts, causing Natsume to turn back around. "For the record, you don't know us either. How dare you assume anything about us."

"I was just giving you the apple back."

"Just leave it be, Ryuji..." The green-haired one murmurs, just loud enough for the red one - who appears to be called Ryuji - to hear. "This guy isn't worth the fight..."

"Yusuke's right. Calm down for a second, it isn't that big of a deal." The dark-haired one agrees with his green friend - named Yusuke. "Just apologise and we'll be cool." He continues, grabbing onto Ryuji's arm to stop him from doing anything hasty. It was lucky that the other two were there because Natsume was now fully aware that Ryuji had an extremely short temper compared to his friends.

Ike finally catches up with Natsume, very out of breath. He places an arm on Natsume's shoulder as he takes deep breaths. As Ike recovers from his dash to Natsume. The boys who stand before them begin laughing again. Natsume puts his arm around Ike, holding him up as if he was about to faint on the spot.

"This is the dweeb you're defending?" Ryuji chortles, pointing at Ike as Natsume helps him. "He can barely do anything for himself. That pompous asshole."

"A little rude." Ike huffs, standing up straight and taking one final deep breath. Natsume looks over to Ike, who appears a lot more confident in taking care of himself now. The boy marches up to Ryuji, grabbing him by the collar. "How about you shut your mouth before you get what's coming to you." He smirks. It was clear his overconfidence was going to be the end of him, Natsume couldn't help but watch.

"Oh yeah? Are you going to fight by yourself or is your friend here going to help you?"

"Natsume's going to help me! Right Natsu-" Ike almost replies, before turning around to see Natsume walking away from Ike, with a hand raised in the air. "-me..." Ike finishes, before turning back to the other three boys who are now approaching him.

"It isn't too late to just talk this out, Is it?" Ike stammers while he backs away from the gang. As he backpedals, Ike trips over a rogue cable forcing him onto his backside. The confidence that Ike once had appeared to have drained out of his face. Ike was now just nothing more than a quivering wreck.

"Yusuke, Kentaro... Help me teach this guy a lesson." Ryuji grins an evil grin as he towers over Ike, cracking his knuckles and looming over the boy like a boogeyman in the night. Ryuji pulls his leg back, readying a powerful kick to Ike. A hand grabs his shoe, pulling him back and causing him to fall to the floor head-first.

"I can't let you do that." Natsume sighs as Ryuji turns, looking up at Natsume in confusion. The light from the windows behind him cast a large shadow over Ryuji. Wiping blood from his nose and mouth. Ryuji, still dripping with blood points at Natsume and begins shouting for his friends to help him... but they don't. Natsume eyes the remaining ones as they back away from Ryuji and Ike.

"Where do you two think you're going!" Ryuji shouts, begging them to return to his aid. However - ignoring Ryuji's calls - Yusuke and Kentaro flee, leaving just Natsume, Ike, and himself. "H-hey! What's the big deal tough guy? I thought you just wanted to return my apple! That was all!" Ryuji quivers, his hands shaking as he tries to get up again.

Natsume lifts Ryuji by the collar of his shirt, hoisting him off the ground and plopping him safely back down onto the floor. He then reaches into his pocket, pulling out a single paper tissue.

Natsume brings the tissue to below Ryuji's nose, where it had been bleeding, and wipes the remaining blood away. Natsume then grabs Ryuji's hand, forcing him to grab the tissue himself.

Disorientated, Ryuji looks at him. Natsume's actions confused him so much that he couldn't be angry. While Ryuji was recovering, Natsume helped Ike up off the ground. Ike - just as confused as Ryuji - looks around, trying to figure out what just happened within the span of a minute.

"Go to the nurse, get your nose checked out." Natsume glares at Ryuji, who is still stunned by what happened just moments ago. Ryuji returns Natsume a slow nod with a thousand-yard stare, before turning away and walking past Ike as if nothing happened. "And you better lie about what happened, they won't like what you tried to pull against Ike." he concludes, sending Ryuji away.

Ike finally approaches Natsume, placing a hand on his shoulder and letting out a sigh of relief. "What was that! I thought you just left me there!" Ike exclaimed wiping the sweat from his brow. Natsume shrugs in response, there wasn't much that he wanted to say to Ike after what happened. "That was incredible though! I didn't know you could fight!"

"I can't fight. I used gravity." Natsume shakes his head. It was the truth, if Natsume had ever gotten into a fight he would have relied on his wits instead of his brute strength. The best resource Natsume had in a fight was his intimidating aura, it was one of the few benefits of being completely expressionless.

"How did you even get behind them! You left in the other direction!"

"The halls go around in a circle." Natsume shrugs, pointing behind him to the now-closed doors that he came from. Ike nods with a smile, finally making sense of the situation, Natsume clearly knew the school better than him. "Anyway, we should head back to class. We're going to be late."

Ikes eyes widen while Natsume points to a clock hanging on the wall next to them. He then grabs Natsume's arm as they both run along the corridor, and up the stairs. The Ike that became quickly exhausted earlier no longer existed. Ike's focus was now completely on not being late, he didn't have time to be tired. Natsume, however, was just along for the ride. He didn't mind appearing a little bit late but Ike wanted them to show up at the same time so Natsume went along with him.

The two reach the classroom and barrel through the door, toppling onto the floor in front of everyone. Natsume and Ike get up off the floor, making their way to the desks they were sitting at previously.

"Sorry we're late Sir!" Ike sighs as he and Natsume both dust themselves off before sitting down. Aoi chuckles at the boys' antics, dismissing their apology.

"It's alright, it's easy to lose track of time." Aoi states, getting up from his seat and writing something on the board. He takes a step back revealing that he had written 'Basic Theory' on the board. Natsume looks around the room, checking to see who's actually interested in relearning basic theory, and to his surprise many are.

however, this wasn't what shocked Natsume the most. As he was turning back to the front of the classroom, the door slowly opened as the three boys from earlier - Ryuji, Yusuke, and Kentaro - walk into the classroom, the two boys helping Ryuji through the door and guiding him to his seat. Natsume and Ryuji lock eyes for a brief second before the Red-haired boy's eyes quickly dart away, embarrassed that he's even in the same class as Natsume.

"Jeez, what happened to you?" Kanata speaks up, Ryuji turning back to him. Trying not to look scared, Ryuji hesitates while thinking of an excuse to tell Kanata. With Natsume near him, the excuse had to be extremely believable.

"I just tripped and hit my nose. It's no big deal really." Ryuji assured Kanata, trying his hardest not to look back at Natsume. Neither of them wanted to get in trouble, especially not on the first day. "Besides, the nurse said nothing was broken."

"But that's a head injury! You should go home and rest!"

"I'll be fine."

"Bu-"

"I SAID I'LL BE FINE! OKAY?" Ryuji shouts, slamming his desk and slipping out of his seat making everybody jump. Ryuji quickly calms down, sitting back down, folding his arms and laying in them to rest. This causes Aoi - for the first time - to lose the smile on his face, but he doesn't let this affect him for long as he goes back to teaching as if nothing had happened.

Natsume was surprised at how seriously Kanata took the situation. It really appeared that he and Ryuji were good friends, either that or Kanata just didn't want anyone getting hurt around him. Natsume started to consider that Ryuji and Kanata could have been in the same classes last year as well.

Aoi starts writing on the chalkboard and Natsume pulls a pen and a sketchbook out of his bag and begins doodling on a bit of paper. He was still listening to what was going on in the background, however, to pass the time he wanted to put some of what he was hearing to practice.

As he doodles, he begins to see a scene before him: Buildings, Trees, and People. Each of which corresponds to what Aoi has been talking about. But eventually, another image flashes before Natsume's eyes. Natsume begins to move his pen, this time not on the paper, but on his flesh. Something within his gut told him that he had to do it. It wasn't some deity, but his mind told him it had to be done.

On the palm of his hand, he drew two arrows. The head of them pointed to the tail of the other, creating a loop. Nothing prompted this simple drawing other than he had to do it. Natsume wasn't entirely sure if it was urgent or not.

"Whatchu drawing?" Ike nudges Natsume, causing him to flinch. Natsume slides the piece of paper over to Ike, moving his hand carefully so that he doesn't see the drawing on his palm. Ike takes the piece of paper off the desk, and a sweet smile spreads across his face like he was just given a present on his birthday.

"It's nice. I like it." Ike gleams, placing the drawing back onto Natsume's desk and sliding it closer to him. It was kind of him to take an interest in Natsume's work, it made him feel special - even if he couldn't express it correctly.

"Thanks, I just wanted to put what I knew to use I suppose." Natsume replies, folding the paper and slipping it into his pocket. The two boys face the front of the room, eyes now on the board as Aoi continues talking.

"You're pretty talented. You know that, Natsume?" Ike compliments Natsume, still facing the front of the class. Natsume gives Ike a thumbs up and a nod, It wasn't the best way of expressing himself, but it was the best he could come up with on the spot.

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

After a short while, a gentle hum can be heard from the front of the classroom followed by loud heavy metal music. Aoi puts the chalk down on the desk and picks up his phone - the source of the music - and answers the call.

"Hello." He begins, leaving the class in silence. Aoi doesn't take the call outside, instead, he stands there, motionless other than his head nodding. Occasionally he will respond to the person on the other side. Natsume found that was unusually rude for Aoi, wouldn't it have been better for him to take the call outside of the classroom? "I'll be there in a second." Aoi finally concludes, hanging up the phone and placing it in his pocket.

"Alright, everybody! I need to step out for a few minutes, but I'll be back soon! If you want to doodle then there's paper at the front of the room." Aoi announces, shimmying towards the door and slipping out.

For a few moments, everyone looks at each other, attempting to figure out what's going on. Although everything goes back to normal after a brief moment. The majority of the classroom gets up to grab a piece of paper. Natsume stays seated though, watching as everyone flocks over to the bundle of paper. Natsume was completely done with drawing for now, he instead looked around the classroom, watching everyone else draw.

Ike begins doodling, drawing out a scene of a mountainscape. With the lack of colours that he had available to him at that moment, it was impressive what he had created. In just a few minutes Ike had made a mountainside scene with a log cabin and a family to live in it.

"You're pretty good at drawing too." Natsume responds as Ike jumps at the realisation that he had been watching him the entire time. Ike quickly places his hand over the bit of paper, covering the wonderful art he had made and smudging the ink slightly.

"Oh! Yeah, thanks!" Ike smiles, uncovering the piece of work he had made. Ike continues doodling as if the Ink had never been disturbed at all and after a few minutes, he finally completed it. Writing his signature on it and showing it to Natsume.

"So? What'd ya think!" Ike grins enthusiastically, waiting for Natsume's response. Natsume in return gives Ike a nod of approval - it's at times like these that Natsume wishes he could smile. Natsume was scared that Ike would think that he was just being sarcastic, that he didn't really care. When in reality, he loved the piece of art he had created.

"It's incredible." Natsume managed to say. Thankfully Ike understood that Natsume was being truthful about how he felt. It was nice to finally have a friend that understood, Natsume hadn't really had a good past with his classmates from his last school. Maybe that's why he and Ike clicked so quickly. Natsume feared that their friendship wouldn't last long, but that was likely just his mind telling him the worst was going to happen.

Aoi finally returns to the classroom after what felt like hours. He looked exhausted, as though he had been chasing someone or something throughout the halls. Despite this, he still has the wide smile that Natsume had come to know him for... That eerie, cheek-to-cheek smile.

Aoi walks back to his desk and slumps back in his chair, kicking his legs up onto the desk. He clicks his phone on to check the time and his smile shrinks a little bit. Maybe he actually was gone for hours. Natsume couldn't tell, he wasn't paying attention to the time.

"Alright! I'm sorry I had to leave so suddenly, I had a very important meeting to attend to." Aoi announces. He gets up off of his chair and walks around the classroom, looking at everyone's pieces, complementing their efforts. "That's about all we had time for today... I'm sorry we didn't get much done, but I hope you were all happy getting to know each other today." Aoi concludes, sitting back at his desk.

"You're all free to go now." Aoi announces, dismissing the entire class. And without missing a beat everyone in the room got up, out of their chairs, and all piled out of the room at once leaving only Natsume, Ike, and Aoi in the room.

"Alright, Natsume! We better not be late for our bus, let's go!" Ike smiled, bouncing up and down excitedly. Natsume nodded in response before leaving the room together.

The school halls were bustling with people just as it was at the start of the day. People were chatting about what they had done during their class time, but Natsume had no interest in any of it. He just wanted to kick his feet up and watch some TV. The quicker he got to the bus, the quicker he could relax for the rest of the day.

"Well... that was pretty lame." Ike sighs, shaking his head. "We didn't really do much today, the most interesting thing to happen was you fighting Ryuji." Ike looks around to make sure that Ryuji isn't listening to their conversation.

"Maybe the next few days will be more interesting." Natsume responds as they both walk out the front doors and into the courtyard. The sun beamed down onto their skin yet again. It wasn't late either, only around four in the afternoon.

"At some point, we should check out the city. I hear there's a lot to do around here." Ike suggests, nudging Natsume's shoulder. Natsume shrugs in response, as much as he'd like to hang out more with Ike, he also wanted to go home.

"Maybe. We'll see what there is to do." Natsume finishes, reaching the bus stop and on cue, the bus arrives. The doors open and the boys get in, taking the seats they had sat in at the beginning of the day. The bus rumbles as it begins moving again, It wouldn't be long until Natsume reached his house.

"Ugh... I'll be honest with you Natsume, I'm exhausted." Ike groans, slouching in his seat. Ike's feet reach the row in front of them. Luckily nobody was sitting there, so it wasn't like he was disturbing anybody.

"Yeah, same. I'll probably just be going to sleep once I get back." Natsume sighs, also slouching down to Ike's level briefly. Quickly becoming uncomfortable, Natsume sits up straight again leaving Ike.

Eventually, the bus stops and the two boys get off. Ike holds up his fist to Natsume and the two of them share a fist bump. Natsume was glad he spent the day with Ike, it was nice getting to know him. Though, Natsume thought about his other classmates whom he didn't get along with as well.

Minori, Kanata, Ryuji: Natsume thought of how things would have changed if he had just talked with them more. Natsume felt guilty for sleeping through Minori's presentation, maybe he'd make up for it in the morning. Natsume was also extremely hesitant to even consider Ryuji, he had been a real jerk to Ike that he didn't even want to be anywhere near him.

"I'll see you later, 'kay Natsume?" Ike waved as he walked away from him.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow." Natsume waved back, walking in the opposite direction. His house wasn't far from the bus stop - in fact, it was just a little down the road - but Natsume rushed home as if his life depended on it kicking up dust as he did so.

Natsume entered his house, relocked the door, ran to his room, and threw himself on the bed with a loud groan. Natsume pulled his phone out of his pocket, setting his alarm for the next morning. As he did this, he realised that he had forgotten to ask Ike for his number.

Natsume shrugged this off as something he could do in the morning too. The dark-haired boy put his phone on charge, leaving it on the bedside table and shut his eyes attempting to drift off to sleep.

After what feels like mere minutes, Natsume twists and turns in his bed, his eyes twitching. He can't be still... Why was he so uncomfortable in his bed? Without opening his eyes, Natsume fluffs up his pillow... but his hands never connect with it. The softness that was beneath his head moments ago is gone.

What the hell is this? Natsume thought to himself, reaching once again for his pillow to no avail. This had to be a dream, Natsume thought he was still awake when in reality his body just wasn't responding.

Natsume opened his eyes... or at least he was sure he did. Around him was still the darkness, as though his eyes were still closed. Was this a dream? Surely Natsume would have seen something by now: A building, A tree, a-

A person... A person showed up before him. The person wore a robe with a massive hood that hid their face from anyone who faced them. Natsume froze in terror... This was a nightmare, it had to be. Natsume would wake up any moment now.

Natsume Ando, I've met at last.
Although I wish to make this fast.

The figure spoke slowly, in an almost whisp-like fashion. The rhymes didn't help either... Natsume was frightened...

Who the hell are you! What do you want from me! Natsume tried to shout, but his mouth wouldn't move either. He was frozen in place, unable to talk, unable to see anything other than the creepy figure that stood before him.

Natsume has been caught in a maze.
Return here, he will always.

Natsume froze, his mind couldn't comprehend what was going on. A maze? What the heck did that even mean? And he sure as hell didn't want to return to... wherever the hell this place was ever again.

Until next time.
You'll hear my chime...

And just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished. Leaving Natsume alone yet again. The darkness enveloped him, the silence becoming his suffering...

Unfortunately, his mobile phone had other plans.