"Hey Botan? Wake up, you're gonna be late. It's already six, and you haven't even gotten ready. Hey Botan… What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" A question that Botan had grown tired of hearing, day after day, as a new person, peer, or family member would always ask. "Hey Botan, what's wrong?" To always be greeted with the same response, "I'm fine.. I'll be just fine."
His left hand rolled off the side of his mattress, banging on the floor, waking up the large, pudgy cat sleeping on the floor of his room. Groaning "ughhh," he sat up, bringing his bony hands to his eyes, scratching off the gunk that had built up around his eye sockets from his sleep.
"Hina, what time is it?" Hina, a girl around Botan's age, stood in front of his slumped body, placing her hand on his right shoulder and gently caressing the area around his shoulder and neck, acting as if the two were an item. "It's six o'clock, and come on, we're gonna be late. Your mom let me in. LET'S GOO…"
Slowly, Botan placed his left hand on his left knee and his right hand on his mattress and brought himself up, standing tall now in front of Hina's small frame. "Woah, easy there, giant. Since when have you been this much taller than me, Bo Bo?" Botan wobbled side to side, still a bit light-headed from waking up from his deep sleep. "What? I don't.. I don't know. Listen, Hina, can you just do me a favor and leave my room so I can get changed? I'll be out in a minute, Kay."
Her checks became flushed, making her pout. She took her hand down from his shoulder and shut the door loudly, walking down the stairs into his kitchen to wait. "God, how dense can he be? A cute girl like me waking him up, asking what's wrong?! I MEAN WHAT MORE DO I HAVE TO DO? I swear I just don't know what's wrong with that boy."
In his room, now alone, Botan walked up to his closet and, as he opened the doors, he fell to the ground and began to sob on the floor of his closet, making sure to keep quiet so as not to alert Hina or his mother. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever seem to get those words out… I hate myself." After wallowing for a short moment, Botan changed into his school uniform and wiped the tears from his eyes, stood up, and put on a façade to hide his true self from everyone.
Bang!
"Botan, move it! Hina's waiting for you outside. You're gonna be late. It's already six-thirty." His room was located in the attic of the house. Hence, as he opened up his door, still groggy, Botan placed one foot in front of the other and ended up slipping and falling comedically down the stairs, plunging headfirst into his bag.
Vroosh!
"What was that noise?! Bo Bo, are you okay?" Looking down at her feet was Botan's bag, alongside Botan's face lodged into the backside of it, followed by his body. "What exactly do you think you're doing on the floor, mister? Don't you know school starts at seven?" Yet again, he let out a groan, complaining about how "this day can't get any worse", and from there, the two were off.
"Hey Bo Bo, how do you feel about me and you going to the aquarium this weekend? I know yesterday you said you didn't feel like it, but I thought maybe after sleeping on it, you changed your mind." Botan's demeanor shifted from one of seeming indifference to hide his earlier breakdown to one of apparent acceptance. "Fine, Hina. You win. After much thought and much consideration, I, the great Bo Bo, have decided to accompany you to the aquarium. By the way, quit calling me that. It makes me feel like a kid." He spoke as if he were a jester or clown making fun of Hina, but she could tell he was serious about the acceptance.
Hina's smile grew so much that you could say she was smiling ear to ear after hearing Botan's acceptance of the date. "So, looks like Bo Bo's finally gonna go on a date with me. How lucky am I?" After saying that almost instantly Botan's demeanor went back to his normal dazed and thought provoking self, "who said anything about a date Hina, how many times do I have to tell you me and you will NEVER and I mean NEVER be a thing and quit calling me Bo Bo, I already told you it reminds me of when we were kids."
Pouting Hina let out a cute giggle, making Botan blush. "What's wrong, Hina?! Why are you giggling like that? Stop it."The two of them now stopped at the main entrance of the school, made one final glance at each other, and walked into Hokkaido Sapporo Higashi High School, the place where their bond broke.