Ch1 - |Training Wheels|

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I explode, I explode
Asking you where you want us to go
You've been riding two-wheelers all your life
It's not like I'm asking to be your wife
I wanna make you mine, but that's hard to say
Is this coming off in a cheesy way?
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When I was a child, I lived in a small house in a quiet estate of a peaceful town. Despite the area being a bit cramped - all of the houses placed close to each other - it was really silent. This was caused mostly by my neigbours, as most of them were either old retired people or old marriages waiting to retire. Because of that, I didn't have many friends. All of my classmates lived in other towns, a long drive away from my village, so I didn't see them outside school. And so... I was forced to play on my own.

Looking back on it, I still remember that feeling of loneliness very well. And the worst thing is - I get bored of things easily and I constantly search for new interests. Same thing went for my childhood self, too. I could like a thing very much, but I just wasn't able to play with it for more than a week. After that, I always got bored of it. Yet, there was one thing that I could do day after day without getting bored...

Stargazing. That's right, I simply loved looking at the stars. My room was upstairs and conveniently enough, my window had been placed directly above the roof of our living room down below. I could easily sneak outside and lie down on the roof, looking at the beautiful stars shining directly above me.

Well, but the stars weren't the only thing in my childhood that kept me sane. It was... Him.

I met him for the first time on a warm, summer night. My parents were already long asleep and told me to go to bed earlier too, but I didn't sleep. I was a tiny little rebel like that.

I was lying on a pillow, covered in a blanket - both things brought from my room - and watching the stars. Suddenly, I heard a sound of a window opening. I looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. And then I saw him.

It was a young boy, around my age. He had slightly messy reddish hair, sparkling green-gray eyes and pale, white skin. Or at least that's what I could make out of him - it was pretty dark, after all.

The boy had climbed the adjacent roof and now stood there, staring at me in silence. I stared back.

"Hi... What are you doing?" he asked in a cute, soft voice.
"Hello... I'm looking at the stars!" I responded proudly.
"Oh... Can I join? I can't really sleep." he asked.
"Sure, come over here!" I smiled. I've never seen a kid my age in this area before, so I was really excited, and maybe a bit anxious?

The reddish-brunette walked up to my stargazing spot, sat down next to me and looked up at the sky.
"Wow... I've never gotten such a clear look at the stars before!" he said with a tone of amazement in his voice.
"Really? Where do you live?" I looked at him in shock.
"Oh, I live in the city, so it's always veeery bright and you can't see the stars..."
"Then why are you here?" I was getting curious.
"I came here with my parents to visit my grandma! She lives in this house there, see? And that window I came from is the window to my current room." he responded and pointed at the window.

"Ah, the old Lady Komaeda? Then you must be..."
"Yup, I'm Nagito Komaeda! I'm my grandma's grandson!" he smiled sweetly.
"Oh! Nice to meet you, Nagito! I'm [FN], [FN] [LN]!" I flashed him a wide grin and stretched out my arm towards him. He took my hand and shook it a bit, slightly laughing from the happiness of meeting a new person.

"So, how long are you gonna stay?" I asked.
"Oh... Around two months now, since it's summer vacation... And my parents said that we will be spending every important holiday with grandma, too!"

'Two months! Maybe I finally won't be bored!' I thought to myself, smiling.

And I wasn't. For the rest of the summer vacation we played together, chasing neighborhood cats, climbing trees, making flower crowns, finding bugs, treasure-hunting... I was very sad when he had to leave, but his parents promised that they would come back.

And they did. For 3 years straight they visited every summer. They also showed up during holidays, like Christmas and Easter. Until... Nagito's grandma died. I didn't know her much, but I cried nonetheless.

The last time I saw him was on her funeral. He wasn't crying, not even a bit. He just had this very serious look on his face... Almost like he has suddenly grown up to be an adult. Even to this day, I still frown in worry whenever I remember this expression.

Nagito was a very sweet child, always smiling... And he had this very cute childish laughter, too. Despite falling a lot and having bruises all over his legs and arms, he smiled even when crying.

To see him with such a serious face, dressed up all nicely so no bruises or any sign of child play were visible, and his hair somehow less messy than usual... It was heartbreaking.

Despite that, I still tried to talk to him when he was going away. And I couldn't help crying at the thought of never seeing my best friend again. At first he still had the serious expression, but then he gave me one of his usual heartwarming smiles.

"Hey, don't cry, [YN]-chan! It's gonna be alright..." he tried to reassure me. I looked up at him from beyond my tears. "B-but... We're never gonna see each other again... I'm gonna be all alone and bored again..." I sobbed.

"Don't say that... I'm... I'm sure we will see each other again!" he tried. He looked at himself, then at me, and then at himself again. "Oh, I know!" he shouted and untied the gray ribbon that was used instead of a tie in his funerary outfit. He took my arm and tied the ribbon around my hand like a bracelet. "See, I gave you something mine. That way, I will be sure to come back for it. So we will see each other again, I promise!" he smiled.

I wiped away my tears and looked at him. I gave up and smiled at him too. What he did and said was very sweet. So of course I tried doing the same. "Oh, wait here!" I shouted. I quickly ran up to the tree next to my house. There, I picked up a small jewelery box hidden inside the tree. It was the box that Nagito and I used to keep our findings when we played treasure hunters. I ran up back to him and opened the box.

"Hm... Oh! This will suit you!" I grinned and picked up a long silver chain from one of the box' drawers. I placed it in Nagito's hand. He examined it carefully. "But you said this chain might be cursed, since we found it near a cemetery and it has a skull charm attached to it!" he exclaimed. I giggled. "Don't worry, it's not cursed. Rather... Let's think of it as a charm that will bring you back to the place where we found it... To this town! Okay?"

"...Okay!" he nodded and gave me a one last smile. After that, his parents yelled at him to get into the car. His expression was once again serious and didn't suit him at all. "...Bye [YN]..." he said sadly, hugging me lightly before heading into the car.

"...Bye, Nagito..." I responded in the same tone. Even after he got into the car, I still stood there. Even after they drove away, I still stood there. Even after the car had long disappeared from my view, I still stood here. I just didn't know what to do. The instant he was gone, I was... Bored. And lonely. Very, very lonely.

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As this is my first ever story, I would really appreciate some feedback, so please let me know if you enjoy or didn't enjoy it.

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