𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 | 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐦𝐚

[𝐨𝐧𝐞]

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Kokichi woke up to the smell of burning wafting into his room from the kitchen downstairs.

Groggily, Kokichi lifted his head from his pillow and looked around the room. The first thing he noticed about the room was that the pillows he slept upon were damp. Reaching up to his face, Kokichi found that his face, too, was damp. The only conclusion he could conclude was that he had fallen asleep weeping. Behavior like this was typical from the boy, so he didn't pay much attention to it; keeping up a snarky, witty facade had slowly deteriorated his mental health through his high school years. But his actions last night were beyond him. It was morning now and Kokichi had to get a move on. Today was college move-in day. With as much energy he couldn't muster, Kokichi swung his legs over his bed and hopped down from it, stretching out the sleep in his limbs.

That's when the burning smell arose once again.

"Goddamn it, what now?" he groaned to himself, running his hands through his wild, violet locks. He could only imagine what type of cooking his mother tried to make this time. Trudging over to his closet, he flung the door open and scrounged around for some sort of clothing to slip on. Eventually, he decided on a pair of grey sweatpants and a white sweatshirt he pulled over the shirt the slept in (the house got cold when his mom forgot to pay the heating bills). With a sigh, Kokichi left his room and climbed down the stairs and into the kitchen to try and decipher where the burning smell was coming from.

Upon entering the kitchen, Kokichi spotted a skillet on the stove with what looked like an attempt at making pancakes. The stovetop fire was still on, a pancake that was now charcoal black on the skillet above. Smoke could be seen arising from it, tainting the kitchen with a crisp, fire pit aroma. Batter was splattered against the cabinets and countertops, some of the batter seeping through the skillet and burning in the stovetop underneath. The sink to the left of the stove was overflowing with bowls, spatulas, whisks, and other various cooking supplies all tainted with that milky batter that could've had so much potential.

Kokichi's first order of business was to clean up anything that had the chance of starting a fire, so he quickly walked over to the stove and turned off the fire, depositing the "pancake" in the nearby trash can. Next, he tended to the cabinets and countertops, taking a rag used for washing hands and wetting it, wiping away at what looked like a toddler's masterpiece. He decided the dishes could wait until later and sat down defeatedly at the kitchen table. If he could've had his way, Kokichi would've woken up two hours later with enough energy to get off his ass and head out the door right away. Just as he got up to make himself something else for breakfast, his eyes landed on a yellow Post-it Note plastered on the table in front of him.

Good morning, Kokichi! I decided to make breakfast for the two of us before I headed off to work. I hope you enjoy it! Dad and I'll miss you so much at college! Don't forget to call us and come back to visit! Love, mom.

"Yeah, right," Kokichi mumbled to himself as he read off the loopy cursive of his mom's handwriting. Lying seemed to run in the family, for everything on that note was and meant nothing to Kokichi. Taking the note in his hands, he ripped it up and dumped it in the trash with the burnt breakfast he could've enjoyed.

Kokichi's home life was complicated. His mother wasn't as bad as his father, but she still had problems of her own. Instead of facing problems head-on, she lived in her own made-up world where the family she had was perfect already. She didn't make an initiative to change anything, ending with Kokichi's father thinking he could do what he pleased. He, on the other hand, used verbal and sometimes physical abuse to get his way. If dinner wasn't on the table, that'd lead to one of his screaming fits. If Kokichi hadn't done his homework, that'd lead to one of his screaming fits. And his mother, being oblivious to what a family really meant, let it all happen. Thank God Kokichi was leaving for college today.