The Hideout

Night started to fall, with crickets singing and the cold starting to pick up.

The half-moon was shining brightly in the sky.

Kazuhiko opened the door to his rather small house.

It had one floor, with paint peeling off the walls. And the roof was slightly rusting.

Kazuhiko opened the door, letting out a couple of fake laughs.

"Well? What do you think?"

Yamikuro scratched the back of his head.

"...It's nice, I guess."

Kazuhiko messed up Yamikuro's fluffy brown hair.

"That's my boy! I knew you'd like it."

Yamikuro chuckled, touching his hair.

"Haha, yeah..."

They took off their shoes, and the creaky floors beneath their feet led them to the living room.

On the left of it was a small kitchen, just big enough to fit a desk, kitchen cabinets, a fridge, and a couple of chairs.

"You can sleep on the couch," Kazuhiko said.

The couch looked uncomfortable, but it was better than nothing. After all, Kazuhiko was probably the only person to take him in like that.

Kazuhiko looked at Yamikuro, noticing him staring at the couch.

"I know that it's not much, but tomorrow you'll sleep in your own dorm room."

Yamikuro shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I'm grateful you let me stay here, actually."

"Alright, I'll go get you your stuff."

Kazuhiko left the room, leaving Yamikuro to eye around.

The first thing he saw was a bunch of figurines on top of shelves, next to medals that were hung on the wall.

There was also a TV in front of the couch, but Yamikuro didn't feel like using it.

Not too long after getting familiar with some stuff in the living room, Kazuhiko marched in.

He was carrying a pillow, a blanket, a sheet, a school bag, and a uniform all in one go.

"Alright, got your stuff." His voice was muffled behind the stuff he carried while talking.

He dropped everything on the couch.

Kazuhiko let out a sigh.

"You know, this reminds me of when Kaminari first came here."

"Kaminari?"

"He'll be your classmate. You two are in similar situations... Somewhat, and he also slept on this same couch."

"If he really is similar to me, then I can't wait to meet him."

Kazuhiko laughed.

"Oh no. You two, personality-wise, are more like opposites, but his parents are also dead, and he was forced to join The Hideout."

"So he's outgoing?"

"Extremely outgoing."

"Well, anyway, I think it's about time we call it a night. What do you say?"

"Fine by me. I could pass out at any moment."

"Good night, then. I'll be in my bedroom if you need anything, just wake me up."

"Night."

The lights were off, and Yamikuro lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.

The Hideout, the place where people he saved now live, was far from what he dreamed of.

Instead of being welcomed with open arms, he's now accused of yet another thing.

First, it was his parents' murder, which he didn't commit. The killer had to be somewhere out there still.

Whoever it was was on equal footing with Lucian when it came to taking down.

He doesn't want to get revenge by also killing them, but they need to be locked up.

Now he's accused of killing a Resonant when that person was clearly a god. Even Honor said so... who even was Honor?

The meeting with him still felt like a fever dream of sorts.

But he had to exist, he helped Yamikuro awaken the Darkness powers.

Well, whatever. Now was not the time to think about stuff to keep him awake.

He was starting school tomorrow. Exciting, but also scary.

New school, new class, new classmates, new teachers, new everything.

A way to start fresh... With a murder accusation yet again.

And Kaminari, he seemed interesting.

Could they become close friends? The quiet one gets along with the loud schoolmate. A classic trope he has seen a lot, but this time it was happening for real.

Going deeper into the rabbit hole of thinking, Yamikuro didn't notice he even fell asleep until Kazuhiko woke him.

"Good morning, Yamikuro."

Yamikuro rubbed his squinting eyes.

"Morning."

The morning went by slowly.

He ate breakfast, brushed his teeth with an unused toothbrush, showered, and checked out his school uniform.

It was a jacket with black and gold colors, the school logo pinned on it.

Under that was a white collar shirt and black pants with black shoes.

"Looks pretty cool," Yamikuro said, looking into the mirror.

Kazuhiko nodded. "Right?"

They then left the house.

It was a foggy morning, with the sun that rose being hidden behind the thick fog.

They walked quite a distance before getting to the school building.

It was huge, with dorms visible behind it from a distance.

When they entered, there were lockers all around and two staircases, each going up.

The corridors to both of their sides seemed endless.

Kazuhiko stopped.

"Get to class, I'll hop by the teacher's lounge for a bit."

Yamikuro nodded slightly, being quieter than usual.

His eyes were locked on the classroom numbers.

"204, 203, 202... 201, here it is."

Yamikuro could hear the loud classroom before entering.

His heart beat out of his chest, but he took a deep breath and opened the door.

The class fell silent.

"Who's that?" Someone whispered in the back.

A blond-haired student, his blazer unbuttoned, with a T-shirt visible underneath instead of the white shirt everyone else had, was sitting on the teacher's desk.

He raised an eyebrow. "Dude, you in the wrong class or something?"

Yamikuro swallowed loudly.

"Um, I don't think so... This is B201, right?"

"Ohhh... I see what's going on, you're a new student, aren't you?" He said, his eyes lit up, jumping down from the desk.

"Name's Kaminari." He reached out his hand.

Yamikuro shook his hand. "I'm Yamikuro Asaki."

"Uh, right, my last name is Indy. If you care about that." Kaminari smirked.

After that, the class got loud like before, almost like they forgot about Yamikuro.

"Alright, settle down, everyone," Kazuhiko said, appearing behind Yamikuro.

He then went and stood behind his desk.

"We have a new student with us, I'll let him introduce himself before we get started."

After Yamikuro hesitated on speaking up, Kazuhiko encouraged him.

"Go on."

Yamikuro fidgeted with his fingers.

"I'm Yamikuro Asaki... and I'm happy to be here." 

Kazuhiko started looking around the classroom.

"Good, now where can you sit...?"

A girl... Isabella raised her hand, with an empty seat on her left.

"He can sit next to me."

Her seat was in the middle of the classroom.

A smile appeared on Kazuhiko's face.

"Thank you, Isabella. But I'll need you to show your notes to Yamikuro if necessary."

"That's fine."

Yamikuro sat down, and in front of him sat Kaminari, and next to him was a girl with short white hair, her skin as pale as snow.

"He's kind of cute, don't you think?" Someone whispered from the back.

"Yeah, now that I've seen him up close, I agree..."

"Do you think he's taken already?"

"Maybe that's why he sat next to Isabella... Ugh, I hate her."

After hearing people whisper, Yamikuro turned towards Isabella. Surprisingly, she didn't react, despite definitely being able to hear it; she acted as if the class was silent.

The class dragged on.

And as Yamikuro expected, it was the same as in his old school.

Isabella was taking notes, and so was the girl in front of her.

Yamikuro couldn't see Kaminari's notes, but his movements definitely showed that he wasn't writing anything. Resting his head on his hand, he was most likely sleeping.

Yamikuro's eyes also started to get heavy.

Closing them for a second, he could feel Isabella kick his feet, waking him up.

With his mind wandering, he heard a loud noise that forced him awake.

It was the bell, the class ended.

Similar situations happened throughout the day.

He went to class, got tired, his mind wandered, and finally, the class ended.

But as he heard the last bell ring, Kaminari followed Yamikuro.

"So, I heard you're staying at the dorm from today on."

Yamikuro turned to him as they were walking side by side.

"I actually wanted to ask you to guide me."

A smirk appeared on Kaminari's face.

"You're in luck. You see, I'm the perfect person to ask this of."

Isabella stepped behind them, now also walking with them.

"Shut it."

Kaminari rolled his eyes.

"Damn, you're always... something case."

Yamikuro couldn't see her facial expression, but disappointment was noticeable in her tone.

"It's called being on my case, how do you not know something this simple?"

Kaminari shrugged.

"Don't blame me. I just couldn't find the right words for it."

Their conversation was cut off when they reached the doors.

Isabella took a deep breath in.

"Whatever, I'll see you two tomorrow."

"See you." Kaminari and Yamikuro said at the same time.

"Don't mind her. Just follow me to the dorm, I even memorized your room number."

Yamikuro raised his eyebrows.

"Really? What is it?"

Kaminari looked the other way.

"Anyway, there are some cool people in there. You'll see when we arrive, kinda like a surprise."

Yamikuro didn't know how to respond. Was Kaminari just pretending to be stupid, or was he like this all the time?

They arrived at the dorm, and Kaminari opened the door.

Yamikuro took one deep breath before entering.

This dorm quickly became a place full of memories that Yamikuro, nor anyone else, would never forget.