*Ding Ding

“Thats all for today class, great first day of your last year of middle school, don’t forget that Kanji exercise sheet needs to be completed before class tomorrow”

“Yes teacher”

“Udon, want to get some ice cream while we walk home”

“Sure, I don’t have any money on me though”

“Don’t sweat it, I’ve got this one covered”

That was Raoul, we had just finished the first day of our final year in middle school, life was good, I had a group of friends I regularly hang out with, my little sister had just started her first year in middle school and my life at home was almost something out of a fairy tale.

“Onii-chan!”

A small girl was running towards me, her purple shoulder tote bag was swinging aggressively, the bag matched her hair and eyes, all purple, she wore a sailor school uniform, the official uniform of my school.

“Kairi, how was you first day?”

“It was fun, I’m in the same class as my best friends and I’m one of the fastest on the swim team”

Kairi was 12 years old and my little sister, she had an incredible talent for swimming, I hate to admit it, but Kairi was more athletic than me in everything, I could only beat her in gaming.

“Kairi, you look cute in that outfit”

Raoul was staring at my little sister, it seemed creepy. Although Kairi was only 12 she was more developed than girls her age, she was often bullied for her mature figure by other girls, but that was obviously because they were jealous.

“How was school for you Onii-chan”

Kairi ignored my friend, she didn’t like him very much, she was always calling me Onii-chan instead of my actual name, she was so cute though, it didn’t bother me.

“It was good, although, our teacher already gave us homework”

“I know right, who gives homework on the first day”

Raoul complained with me, we walked out of the school grounds and through the park

“Kairi, do you want any ice-cream? My treat”

“No thank you Raoul, I’m not hungry”

“You sure Kairi, a young body like yours needs some treats every now and then”

“Dude? You’re pushing it a little much”

Kairi grabbed onto my arm, it was obvious she was disgusted with Raoul.

“I’m only joking, I’ll go grab the usual Udon, wait out here”

Raoul ran towards the convince store that just came into view

“I don’t get why you hang out with him, his a creep”

Kairi still clinging to arm looked up at me with concern

“He is a little weird, but his helped me make friends and is one of the most popular boys in our school”

Raoul started talking to me in the last year of elementary school, he was actually talking to Kairi at the start but made her cry, I stepped in and tried to put Raoul in his place but he ended up kicking my butt. We both got in trouble with the head teacher, but I covered for him and ever since then we’ve been friends.

“His a creep”

“Hmm, you have swim training later tonight right?”

“Yep, mums going to take me their, you should watch me, I always swim better when you’re watching”

“I need to finish my homework with Hinata, I’m sorry”

I patted Kairi on the head, that often cheered her up

“I’m back, here you go Udon, Mochi Ice-cream”

Raoul came back with two cups of ice-cream and handed me mine

“I was thinking Udon, as a way to pay me back for the ice-cream, why don’t I stay the night at yours why we work through this homework? I want to play that VRMMO test game you got from Leviathan as well”

“Huh, I don’t think its going to be that hard, the VRMMO isn’t real good as well”

It was only 15 characters we had to copy out in Kanji, nothing special

“Come on, it’ll be fun”

Raoul nudged me, he did seem to want to stay over, it’s not like I don’t want him to

“I’ll ask my mom when we get to my place”

“Awesome, I can’t wait, Kairi have you played the VRMMO?”

“Huh? Kairi that hurts, she didn’t like it very much”

Kairi held my arm even tighter, what was going on with her? She looks frightened.

2 years later

“I don’t know how long I can take this anymore! I get bullied mentally and physically, the teachers just watch and ignore what’s going on, the other students either call me a best friend murderer or sister killer, I didn’t do any of that!”

It has been 2 years since the worst day of my life, that piece of shit Raoul, I would kill him over and over again for what he did!

“Mom, Dad, I’m home?”

I walked into my house, I couldn’t see any cars outside, they mustn’t be here.

“What!? We’ve been robbed!”

I dropped my school bag and ran around the house, all the furniture has disappeared, the TV is gone, the kitchen utensils are all missing, its just a bare house, the only things they didn’t take is the kitchen table, a fridge and a futon in the middle of the lounge room.

“Mom! Dad!”

I screamed out running around the house, that’s when I saw it

“What’s this”

I picked up a note that was left on the table

“To Udon,

We tried to love you, but we can’t stand the look of you, everything you do either infuriates us or drives us into a deep despair, you might not think it was your fault but the events show that you where the reason your sister is dead. I’m ashamed to call you a son, I don’t know why God punished us by giving you as our child, there is nothing special or good about you, do the world a favour and leave it. We aren’t your parents anymore, we have left and found a house somewhere far away from you, don’t come and find us because we don’t want you in our lives.

-Ichika and Botan”

I read the letter over and over again, I could feel my body getting cold sweats, my family, my family, they, they left me! Not only that, they disowned me, they blamed me for everything!

“I don’t need them anyway! I never had a true family!”

I shouted out at the top of my lungs, I could feel the tears streaming down my face, I was truly alone now, I had no one, no pets, no friends, no family, I was utterly and completely alone…and its my fault!

“Did they at least leave me any food?”

I walked over to the fridge, the note was clenched in my hand.

“Instant Ramen, that’s all, they probably left the futon in the lounge room because they sold all my stuff”

I slammed the fridge door shut and walked up stairs to my room.

“Damn it!”

My room was bare, it didn’t have anything in it, none of my games, no manga, not even my bed.

“Why! Why me!”

I fell to my knees and cried even louder.

“I haven’t done anything to anyone in my life! I’m not a bad person! Why doesn’t anyone like me!”

I cried for so long I fell asleep, I must have been exhausted from everything.

“Huh? I fell asleep, what time is it…11:45pm, that’s late, I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch, might as well make some of that Ramen…no, I’ll get my own food, I’ve saved up some money from my birthday and holidays”

I used the door frame to pull myself up, I was drenched in sweat or was is tears? I walked down stairs and pulled my wallet out of my bag

“If they want nothing to do with me, then I don’t need the crappy Ramen they left me, I’ll take care of myself from here on out”

I walked out the house and went to the convenience store to get some dinner, good thing its open 24/7

“Hey kid, you sure you should be walking out around this time of night”

The cashier asked me, he scanned my small bento box and placed it in a bag for me

“I’m fine, mind you own business”

I snatched the bag from him and walked out

“Kids these days, I don’t know what to think”

The convenience store was about a half an hour walk from my house, I needed to go through a park to get back, it was dark and there had been reports of muggers in the area recently

“Oi! Kid!”

“Huh?”

I turned around to see a group of four men in hoodies and ripped jeans

“What do you want”

“Whoah, careful now kid, we don’t want to cause any trouble, we just want to know if you can spare some change so we can get some dinner”

“Yeah kid, why so angry?”

“I don’t have any money now leave me alone”

These must be the muggers, I only grabbed enough money for a bento box, they can search all they want, they won’t get any.

“Hold it kid”

One of the men grabbed my shirt and pulled me back

“You don’t seem to understand the situation you’re in”

He pulled me up by my collar and threatened me

“Give us your money, you little brat”

He threw me to the ground, they searched the bag that had my bento box in it, then patted me down and tossed my wallet away when they saw no money in it

“Suck shit, you low life scum”

I managed to catch my breath and looked at the muggers

“What’d you say kid!”

“You need to know your place!”

The muggers surrounded me and started kicking me repeatedly, this was the first time I got beat to near death.

“Anything to say!”

“Wheres that tough attitude gone huh!”

The muggers where now starting to punch me, I could feel my body swelling up after each punch, my bones felt like they had been broken, I managed to look up and caught the eye sight of the convenience store cashier.

“Ha, just like I thought”

“What was that? You can still talk, lets stop that”

The convenience store cashier caught me looking at him and averted his gaze. What a weak piece of shit, at least call the cops! No one will help if they don’t get anything in return

“Next time we see you kid, we’ll make sure you pay up!”

The man that grabbed me at the start picked my head up with my collar and gave me a hard punch square in the nose, this was the first time I had blacked out.