COntRol

19

⚡COntRol⚡
Chapter 19

One week later...
[Kirishima's POV]

The past week had been... slow. Nothing much happened, though I hoped that something would.

Kaminari was ignoring me - that part was obvious. Every time I were to walk into our room, he would always turn away from me, or reach out for his earbuds to listen to music, or pretend to be sleeping.

I was beginning to notice other things, though. Things that I find myself guilty to have not found out before. Instead of talking with the class when Aizawa gives us a free period, I focus in on Kaminari, who seemed almost a different person compared to who he was before. He does acknowledge the check-ins other students give him, always replying with the same thumbs up and weary smile. It was almost like he wasn't in the room, staring mindlessly at his desk when others didn't bother him. 

Come break or lunch, and Kaminari is gone, vanished without a trace. People start to notice too, murmuring about it and continuously checking in with Kaminari, even after school. They didn't want to get too involved though - I understood why.

Kaminari was starting to act like a shut-in. He doesn't leave his room and tries to keep away from everyone. Mina and Sero had often tried to cox him out from hiding, but he politely declines them. The two of them, with the golden hearts that they have, don't push him any further, knowing that Kaminari still needed time.

They say that it's still the after effects of the drug he was on in the medical centre, but I can't help believing this was really what Kaminari was feeling. Maybe, if anything, that drug had encouraged him to feel that way.

His eyes held an emptiness. A piece that wasn't there, and left him without purpose. His soul had been sucked straight from his body, and all that was left was the shell and the cooling embers of the stamped-out fire. He looked grey and weak, fragile and tired, withering away in front of everyone.

I tried myself to bring him out. Maybe to live a little; give him reasons to smile and come back to his old self. It's not that I want him to go back to his 'fun' self - I want him to be happy. And any fool can tell that he wasn't.

And yet each attempt I make is dismissed, a lot harsher than he does with others. I know those reactions are to keep me away from him, or convince me to stop asking, but I continue to try. 

I wasn't going to let him down again.

Still, each time, the answer remains the same. 

He even uses phrases like "What about your boyfriend", to which I struggle to form a reply to. On those days, I'd try to leave him alone, a part of me not wanting to make him feel further upset. He never says anything with malicious voice - he almost says it like he's... dying.

I didn't want to think that he was.

I try to stay in his life as much as I can. I put his phone in the charger when he fakes a nap. I bring him lunch when he runs to the roof, unaware of what he actually did with the bento afterwards. I even start to give him a copy of my notes when he didn't take any - he'd stopped paying attention to his lessons, fiddling with his pen or continuing to drill holes into his desk.

I even try to talk to him. Basic conversations, like how his day was, or if he needed anything from the kitchen, or if I could do his washing. He was still closing in on himself, pushing others away. I keep trying to talk, or at least bringing up conversation starters or random statements that I hoped he would continue for me.