Memento Mori (MikaYuu)

«5»

Yuu had no idea how to weave his way through the colossal crowd forming around the brawl of two freshmen boys. His locker was just past the inconvenience, seeming unfeasible to reach with the rambunctious gathering that was thirsty for action.

He crept through the outskirts, hearing fists land on skin and noses and sneakers squeaking against the floor. The kids screamed in amazement, cheering and betting, piercing Yuu's ears. To say fights were uncommon was a genuine lie. He was far used to it now.

It was like a common greeting. Like a handshake.

Spinning the combination for his locker, he peered over at the officers beginning to separate the two boys shouting horrid things at one another. One spit in the other's face, blood trickling out of the purple, distorted nose of another. The crowd was dismissed when handcuffs were threatened.

Who even obtained the energy to brawl so early in the day?

An enigma, to Yuu.

Harbor Lee's witchcraft.

Gym was not his preferred first period class, especially since they were swimming that day.

Besides, there were two issues:

Yuu couldn't swim.

He was poor and couldn't afford swimwear.

He was poor, but with occasional luck. He was lucky he ever even discovered that shoddy, cheap phone Mika disintegrated into thin air with a toss on that one night. There was no phone plan, no data... It was really just his camera.

Now it was just gone.

He was back to square one on sources of entertainment.

Yuu anxiously gnawed his chapped lip as he tread to the pool arena, which was expectedly adorned in filth and neglected in care. Much like himself.

The reeking breath of chlorine made his eyes water and his sinus clog. Boys and girls of all classes were already jumping in, splashing one another and playing Chicken.

If only someone wanted to play a game with him...

He quietly walked into the changing rooms, keeping his eyes directed to the floor and off of the bare boys around him.

The last thing he needed was to be beaten for accusation of being a homosexual.

Although Yuu couldn't care less about the subject, he still didn't want to be jabbed for something he could not control. It wasn't like the boys there were very friendly, or even attractive for that matter.

He fished through the donation box in utter humiliation and prayed the pair he chose weren't contaminated in any form.

He hid away in the bathroom stall, undressing his pasty body and sliding on the baggy pair of awful neon-green swimming trunks that were far too big for his frail size.

Not to mention but this process was embarrassingly common.

Everything Yuu practically owned was directly from donation.

He stashed his towel and other belongings in the back of the musty room, knowing far too well from freshman year never to leave his stuff unattended and out in the open. One too many drugs had been slipped into his bag as a passerby "trash bin".

He wrapped his arms around his ribcage - the most vulnerable and insecure area of his little body - and waddled out to the actual poolroom itself.