The next day the results from the exams were released. To his surprise he did fairly well, surpassing the “barely passing” marks he would typically get. However he saw something far more shocking, Kanato’s score was not far from being the worst in their grade. 

Kanato didn’t even bother looking at the ranking and headed straight to class. 

Hiroto and Satoru both gave each other a knowing look before following after him. 

Kanato was sitting quietly when Satoru sat down next to him and Kanato gave him a quick smile. 

“See, I told you it was bad,” he said.

Satoru slowly nodded, “yeah…”

The day went by the same as always except the air felt heavy. They got their exams back and Kanato’s scores just got worse with each paper he flipped through.

Though as the day grew closer and closer to an end Satoru noticed Kanato looking worse and worse. His shoulders were slumped and he was biting his lips to the point that they started to bleed.

As they were getting ready to leave for the day, Kanato was listless, dreading the moment he would have to walk through the doors and face his mother. 

Before parting ways, Satoru pat Kanato on the back, “I hope things go okay and know it’s okay to call or mail me whenever you need something,” Satoru said with a smile.

Kanato nodded and gave a small smile back, “thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he said then made his way home. 

When Satoru got home he sent Kanato a quick message, just to check in yet, Kanato never responded.

Satoru could only hope that Kanato was at work and just didn’t see his message. Though he knew that it was probably not the case and it probably had something to do with Kanato’s mom. 

That night he had a difficult time sleeping. Satoru would toss and turn before staring at the ceiling. No matter how hard he tried to stop worrying, his mind wouldn’t shut off and the worst scenarios continued to play out in his head.

The next day when he arrived at school he saw no signs of Kanato. It was pretty rare for him to miss school unless he was sick or his mom left too many visible injuries for him to be seen.

Satoru hoped that wasn’t the case and that he simply wasn’t feeling good but based on Kanato’s results and what he said the past few days made him think it was the latter. 

Days turned into a week and Kanato still wasn’t showing up. Satoru made up his mind and decided that he would go see Kanato after school. The anxiety of not knowing what was going on was eating him alive. He had been trying to get ahold of Kanato but whenever he would call it would just go straight to voicemail and all of his emails would go unanswered. 

Once the day came to a close, Satoru quickly packed his bag and changed his shoes, running for the train station. 

He boarded the train and as fast as it was, it wasn’t fast enough. Each stop felt like an eternity. Satoru made sure to stand next to the doors so that he could leave as quickly as possible.

After what felt like ages, it was finally his stop.He rushed off the train, running straight for Kanato’s apartment complex.

When he reached Kanato’s apartment he was panting as he knocked on the door in a panicked frenzy.

Satoru waited there for a few minutes before the door slowly opened. It was Kanato’s mom who opened the door and she was smoking a cigarette, reeking of alcohol. Her dark brown hair was a mess and she had a loose-fitting t-shirt and shorts, she had dark circles under her eyes and appeared to be unfocused.

“Ah, Satoru. What brings you here?” she asked, exhaling a big cloud of smoke in his face. 

Satoru’s eyes and lungs burned and he did his best to stifle a cough, “I wanted to check on Kanato. He hasn’t been at school for over a week so I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

Kanato’s mom took another drag from her cigarette, “he’s just come down with a cold. He’ll be back in school soon.”

“Would it be alright if I spoke to him?” he asked.

Kanato’s mom seemed to be getting annoyed, “he’s asleep and doesn’t want to be bothered. You’ll just have to wait until he comes back to school.”

“Can’t I just see him? I’m worried,” Satoru pleaded.

Kanato’s mom didn’t seem to care, “no. Now go home,” she said, shutting the door on Satoru.

Satoru clenched his hands into fists and kicked at the ground. He was at a loss for what to do. He had no way of getting in contact with Kanato. His calls and emails were going unanswered. 

At this point he would just have to wait for Kanato to come back to school. Though he had no idea when that would be. He also didn’t believe any of the lies Kanato’s mom tried to tell him. He knew this pattern all too well. Satoru just wished that there was something he could do.