The Way of the Fanboy (Male Reader x Shikimori)

A Blooming Bloodroot

Yui stared at Izumi, still dumbfounded. She was almost frightened, but not by how he changed, but by the look in his eyes. "Y-you've changed," she stuttered.

Izumi nodded gloomily. "How's Shikimori-san?" he side-stepped the topic.

Yui forgot her fear because she could suddenly recognize this side of Izumi—his love for Shikimori. 

"I think she is okay," Yui responded. "But... she looks a little tired these days."

"Oh." 

"Talk to her," Yui said somewhat hopefully.

Izumi smiled a bit more at Yui, perhaps trying to assure her. "Don't worry," he said. "I will."

He walked past her without any goodbye, and quickly untied his smile. Yui couldn't properly process what she had just seen. Izumi's metamorphosis to her was like a bad omen.

As soon as Izumi disappeared out of her sight, she ran into the school. She wound through the maze of hallways, just as she was weaving the event in her mind. What happened to Izumi? What would Shikimori-san think of this? Was Izumi even the same person?

"Kyou!" she found her friend standing beside the vending machine. 

Yui was exhausted from her search and stopped in front of her friend gasping for air. "What's wrong?" Kyou had never seen her friend in such a state.

"It's... Izumi," Yui gasped between her words. "He's... not... the same!"

_____

Y/n was roaming aimlessly in the halls. A usual routine he followed at lunchtime. When others were walking in the halls, they moved away from his path, because they were uneasy of his infamous history and intimidating stare.

But Y/n didn't care enough about other students. He was only thinking about his plans over winter break. Stuck in his own world. Unfortunately, Y/n's bubble of fantasy was delicate—popped at the sight of reality.

As he passed the restrooms he saw Izumi—or at least what was left of him. Y/n almost couldn't recognize the boy. "Izumi?" Y/n croaked.

Izumi gave a mischievous smile to Y/n. "What do you think?" Izumi said.

"...Of what?"

"Of me of course!" Izumi marched towards Y/n. "I followed what you said, and it worked! It worked!"

For the first time, he saw Izumi eye-to-eye. Izumi used to be a few inches smaller than Y/n—but now their eyes met at the same level. Now Y/n had to look in the eyes of his creation—in the deep voids called pupils, that had no empathy nor pity. For a second, Y/n swore he was looking in a mirror.

"Now, I'm not the victim," Izumi backed away. "Now I can fight back Y/n! Now I can do what the old Izumi couldn't"

Y/n was tracing a mental image of Izumi in his mind. He noted Izumi's skittish eyes, his glistening grin, his menacing body frame, and his rock-like fists which had a hint of crimson on it.

"What on your hand," Y/n yanked Izumi's hand to get a closer look. "...Is this blood?"

"Oh... you can see in the bathroom for yourself," Izumi shrugged with a closed smile.

Y/n pushed Izumi aside and rushed inside the restroom—there were three battered and beaten students struggling to get on their feet—they held their stomachs and groaned repeatedly—the sides of their faces were faintly bruised, and one's mouth was hot red.

"Oh god," Y/n muttered. "Hey, you okay?"

He rushed to help one of them, by offering his hand. However, a sort of epiphany hit Y/n. He was the type of person to ignore those around him, but strangely, he could never forget a face he saw. Y/n recognized the boys once he got a closer look: it was the same three boys in the bathroom 

"Thanks," they spat out some blood and took Y/n's hand.

 Y/n yanked the guy to his feet and smashed his head on the bathroom stall. THUD! The plastic stalls wobbled at the impact, reverberating the sound through the walls. Y/n kept his strike hard enough to hurt, and light enough to not knock him out.

Y/n's victim fell and slipped on the wet floor like a worm.

"Hey!" the other companions shouted.

But Y/n silenced them with a blank stare. The scene was terrifying to them: Y/n standing over his prey, observing their smallest movements with vacant eyes, and gritted teeth, like a tiger searching for the best moment to kill.

In the end, he left the restroom without another word, and Izumi was nowhere to be seen.