The Strong-Willed Sean O'Connor

I took a tiny scoop of my cherry flavoured ice cream as I read a manga on my phone. I received a message from Ken Miyamura – My Friend, asking me if I would be coming to school, to which I obviously replied with a no. Surprisingly he told me that'd he'd come to where I was.

I was surprised that he felt like playing hooky today. He said he would be coming along with someone, so I expected it to be Manyuda Manabu, but boy did he surprise me. He came with Maya instead, which sort of put me in a weird spot. I had confessed to her earlier on, but she refused me and ever since I hadn't been able to talk to her or any girls for that matter. Except maybe Akane-chan.

Ken told me that she forced him to let her come with, and threatened to expose us if he didn't. Of course, I'm certain she was joking, but Ken tended to fall for such tricks easily.

"Hey, don't you think it's a bit weird?" She asked, sucking on her banana strawberry milkshake

"Huh? What is?" Ken asked, seemingly uninterested in what she had to say.

"How the class was oddly empty the whole time we were there."

"Eh? The class was empty?" I asked

"Ah… that's right you don't attend classes anymore."

No need to rub it in!

"Yeah, weirdly no one was in the class. That's why we decided to leave."

"But if you guys stayed, the teachers might have told you to just go home or?"

"Yeah right, as if Kushieda-Sensei would let us go that easily."

"We had math this morning?"

"Yep."

"Ok, now I'm glad I stopped going for classes."

"This ice cream... It's too bland." Maya stated something that had entirely nothing to do with the conversation.

"Really? I couldn't tell." I told her, taking another spoon.

"That's because you don't have taste Kira." Ken teased

"And you do?"

"Of course I do. Unlike your shut-in NEET ass."

"Speaking of which, why is a NEET out here? I figured you'd be holed up in your room doing something weird." I felt my heart split in two at her question.

"Hmm? Maya-san, it hurts when you call me a NEET. Just call me by name. If you like you can also call me Kira like the useless asshole does." I pointed at Ken with my finger while paying little attention to him.

"Naaah, I think I'll stick with NEET." She completely rejected my offer for friendship. Did I really offend her that much? Then again, being one of the class' four queens she sure has an image to keep up, I guess. "Don't you guys think stuff has been boring recently?"

"I suppose. Why do you ask?" I glanced at Ken. The entire time, he hadn't even tried to talk to Maya once. I knew he didn't like her, but the clear hostility in the air was sort of annoying.

"I don't know. I've just been really bored off late." A new light entered her eyes as if she just had an idea. "Hey Akira-kun. Wanna play a game?" Both she and Ken asked at the same time, giving me goosebumps.

"S-sure." I gulped. I expected them to argue about this, but they simply continued in perfect harmony, as if it was planned.

"If you were to die, how would you want to go out?"

'Wait! Akira-kun? Did she just refer to me by my actual name? I shall treasure this moment! But now is not the time. Play it cool Kira! Also… The hell!?'

I choked on my ice cream after hearing that question. I beat my chest for a few seconds then coughed a bit.

"What kind of question is that?!" I asked, slamming my hands down on the table, which attracted a lot of unnecessary attention. Various eyes were fixed on our table and I could hear murmurs starting to brew.

'Look away! Mind your own business!' I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I never ever would be able to. I just sat back down and loosened my collar.

"Come on Akira-kun. Answer the question." They said again.

"That's a weird question to ask." Looking at the people again, I noticed that they were turning around, back to their meals.

"Answer the question Akira-kun." They ordered with this weirdly cute tone and hungry eyes. Seeing that on Ken made me cringe. I had seen a lot of weird stuff and this was turning out to be a horror-flick.

"Alright, alright. I'll answer the question. Just stop speaking in sync. It's weird." Both of them sat back, staring intently at me, as if my answer would solve all their problems.

"If I were to answer, I guess I'd want to go out with a bang"

BANG!

I was petrified. I couldn't move as soon as I saw the bullet rushing for us. When and where was the bullet coming from? My eyes traced behind the bullet and focus on a man in black, hiding his face and holding a pistol.

Ok, we've found where, but why? Was he trying to rob the store? If so, why did he shoot at us? The way things look Ken is in trouble.

I should have tried to push Ken out of the way, but… I couldn't. I felt that if Ken was in front of me and received the bullet I'd be just safe. It wasn't necessary to try to play the hero here, right? Maybe I could try to run away instead. Yeah, if I'm lucky I could simply dodge the bullet. It's not that close to me.

Let me just… huh?

I thought the bullet was a ways away, but when I realised, it was a mere millimetre away from my forehead. Just as the bullet hit my forehead, I saw the perp. Maya had shoved Ken out of the way, but that had given the bullet the perfect chance to come for me.

Ah… I see. I'm sorry for being such a cowardly friend Ken. If there is a next life I-

The bullet connected with my head while I was trying to make a beautiful internal monologue.

Damned bullet!

My eyes went back to the shooter once again. This time I realised that he was just black, with starry lights all over him like he were a private universe. He had eyes that shone hotter than the sun. It was probably my imagination. Being on the brink of death had me seeing things.

I could feel arms grabbing me and a soft giggle. They were pulling me back, saying things in a weird language, leaving me confused. I closed my eyes, succumbing to my cruel fate that was death. Maybe the angels had come to take me to heaven. Though I was fairly certain I'd be going down.