[ This takes place when Souichi is 11 years old. Around the time of Souichi's first appearance, in 'Fun Summer Vacation'. ]

It was the horrid day you've been dreading for the last few days of freedom you had left.

The end of summer break. Which means, you'll be back in school.

You heard his teeth grinding against those rusty nails he refuses to get rid of in your dreams. You're honestly appalled that the school hasn't dogged on him for it; at all. If you think, you remember him passing off an excuse of being anemic – lacking sound blood consistency – so he sucked on metals to rebalance it. You always thought it was some weird reverse-psychology B.S he liked to pull when kids ganged up on him and tried to make him give a method to his madness. Well, he's never changed his story so it might just actually be true. Huh. That'd be the first time you think you'll ever hear him tell the truth instead of lying to inflate his ego.

God, you were only 11, but you were sure you were now feeling the first and deepest emotion of pure hatred you'll ever feel for your entire life.

Brushing the knots out of your hair only reminded you of the throbbing headache you'll have later in the day from his antics. Placing the hunk of plastic down, you ran the water to your shower and hopped in. After drying off and doing what any other middle schooler does before leaving, you said your goodbyes to your family and were off. You used to like school and all, but he's ruined it.

You hadn't talked to the boy – to your absolute jubilation – but, he was going around messing with and confronting those of your general friend group, and now it feels like he's this close to setting his sights on you. You shiver just thinking about it.

The immediate reaction your body served you after opening the school doors was disgust. You didn't want to see his stupid face or his greasy hair. And you especially didn't want to smell his odor; consisting of rust and strawberry syrup. You had to wonder where you smelled that scent before, but thinking too much of such things often incited your stomach lurching into your throat before eliciting a few gags in sheer habit.

All in all, he was revolting. You just wished he would disappear, or could be squashed with a napkin or your foot like a bug. But he's much bigger than one; horrifyingly tall for a 11 year old. You were about 4'9", but it didn't matter next to his intimidating, towering 5'4".

You took off your shoes and put them in your cubbie. While you were closing everything up and picking up your bag, you got the feeling.

He's staring. At you, maybe. You hurried into the classroom, desperately clutching the little toy you brought for lunch and recess.

4 hours until lunch. No big deal, none at all.

Standing at the table, a group of friends conversed easily. A blonde girl with a full face, A boy with dark skin and itchy hair and a timid little one clutching onto their Gameboy underneath the table for dear life. Once the bell rung, their conversation died down and two of the trio fleed from that part of the classroom, one proclaiming 'I need to pee.' and leaving it completely.

The room was actually a bit emptier than usual; only 10 to 15 students. You wondered if it was just because of the recent news story – some kid was found injured outside of the local bus station. You were walking distance to the school, so your parents figured you weren't in any serious danger. However, their precautions did reup a bit, and your curfew without supervision was pulled from to 8PM to of 6PM.

While you were thinking, something peculiar feeling tickled the back of your neck and you cautiously turned to meet it.

Hm. nothing. Your eyes scanned the room and landed on the bright things that jumped out, and then worked into the details. Books on shelves, the dirty ceiling panel, a poster that's corners were dog-earing. Nothing.

When you felt better, you turned back and jumped out of your skin. There he was, laying on the desk like he owned it. Where was the teacher?

" Aha! " He spoke, spittles of saliva dribbling down his chin. There were cotton balls taped over what looked to be gashes all over his face, his eye decorated in a blackened ring. Hah. Atleast someone finally put him in his place.

" The goody-two-shoes has finally revealed a flaw! A FL-AW! " Though he was across from you the table, his wingspan was wide enough to grant him nearly complete control over most of the table's inertia. This allowed him to silently shake it as he whisper-screamed at you.

You were also wondering why everyone else was ignoring this.

You digressed, reclining in shock and pressing your lips into a thin line. What was there to say? How do you make him leave? Threatening him might make him go into overdrive; he's a bit of a wild card.

" Yatta~! Wouldn't you like to know, too? Because-you're-oh-so-completely unaware – Or, are you? "

Frozen. You couldn't help but stare at him, anticipating his next move like a deer in headlights.

" Ignoring people isn't very polite — Your future may not be as fortuitous as you expect, and your butterfly wings might just clipped off! Hehehehe! "

You squinted, "Butter..fly? " You had no idea what he was talking about. It really just sounded like displaced rambling by now; it was almost hard to get as confusing at that. He seemed to disregard you speaking, carrying on his one-way conversation. A small grunt muffled by guaze emmitted from him, curt and arrogant.

" I think people like you should be grateful for people like me more often!

Speaking of ignoring, you completely ignored me for our first few years of school together!! In addition, exactly 3 years ago today, September 16th, you threw away my declaration of lo– "

Your friend Misaki kicked the backs of his knees and made Tsuji fold like a chair, a desperate yelp escaping his mouth before he fell to the floor. Then, he silently seized on the ground in embarrassment as his face turned red, reverting to slowly sulking away. Thank god you didn't have to deal with that. Freak.

Misaki stood at about 5'3" as well, She was pretty tall for a fifth grader, but it came in handy. She was one of your only best friends here.

" Sorry I didn't see him earlier, [Name], he's sneaky. "

" Thanks-Misaki, " You whispered, moving around the table to escape the corner you were put in.

" No problem. Me and the bunch had to get rides to school, so we were a bit late. We're over at the library, Come on. "

You nodded silently and slung your bookbag over your shoulder. You peered over at Souichi and saw he was angrily leering over a pretty girl in the class, a terrified look on etched onto her face as he babbled barely-legible nonsense.

You felt very sorry for her.