From the Inside

Hit the Floor

"Hey, it's that manga freak. Let's see what he is up to."

Naoto heard it from behind him, he decided to put his head down and walk faster so they don't catch up. But they did.

Naoto then felt a shove from behind that lead him to fall to the ground.

"I don't even push him that hard yet he falls down! What a pussy!" The person who pushed him said as the group around Naoto was laughing.

"Hey, we're already in sixth grade and you think you can keep up with your manga. You disgusting otaku, why don't you marry your manga. If you did, you don't have to burden anyone anymore." One kid said in Naoto's ear.

Naoto did the only thing he could, close his eyes, close his mind and wait. The bullies saw what he was doing, so they decided to do something to get him to stop.

One of the kids took a manga and began ripping the pages. The others follow suit, but Naoto stayed strong. He knew if he didn't do anything, they would go away.

"Heeh? Sword master Nao-kun? That's gone. Oh, isn't it Miyamura-chan? Wait, you have a crush on her? Whoops, into shreds."

"I don't think he's responding."

Indeed he wasn't. So the boys scoffed and began to leave.

"You're nothing but a failure. You have nothing, you are nothing. Come on, he's not worth the time."

The group left and left all the shreds of manga for Naoto to pick up. Naoto began to look into the pile. When he saw it, he felt pain all over. But he couldn't do anything. They ripped it so severely, there was not way to fix it.

So he held it in. He didn't cry, if he did then he would burden someone. If he cried, no one would be there to help him anyway. He has no value, who would benefit from helping him. They would get bullied as well.

Naoto stood up and walked to the shreds and picked them up and puts in the bag. On the way home, he walks as fast as possible to get home.

As he made it home, he went to his room and saw all the manga and stuff he had. He was this close to make it all fall. He took has bag and aimed it to the first shelf. He was about to throw it with all his might, but stopped himself.

"It's not their fault I'm like this. What responsibility do they have for me being like this?" he said quietly.

He took his bag and used it to beat himself. He was unhappy with himself. Why can't he protect himself? Why can't he express himself? Is he really that low that he deserves to be bullied? It must be, right?

He began to hit himself in the head until he saw a small bruise in his left cheek.

"I'm not strong enough to beat myself up properly. I really am garbage."

He then began to lay down in his bed.

"That wasn't even the worst bullying this week. I'm so pathetic. I really don't deserve anything, do I?"

What parents would want a son like him. He thought that his parents deserved a better son, not some wannabe manga "artist" that will bring disappointment no matter what.

He began to feel pain on his waist.

"Shit, that kick was from two day ago. It still hurts."

He then left his bedroom to go to the bathroom. There he opened a cabinet full of medications. There he found the painkillers, and took them downstairs. There, he took a glass and filled with water.

He looked at the painkillers and saw how many there was.

"What if I took more than one? No one will notice, right?" He was becoming more delirious that he made himself a danger to himself. He decided to take four painkillers and eventually start overdosing till it's over.