Kaede didn’t understand. He couldn’t comprehend the scene in front of him. There was no simple explanation. All the feeling left his body, only dimly aware of his surroundings.
He heard footsteps and people talking panickedly, their meaning lost on him. Slowly Kaede regained his senses, feeling what he was hoping was merely sweat dripping on his face.
“Yamamoto-kun, are you alright?” Someone cried out. Kaede thought he recognized the voice, but wasn’t too sure.
He tried to say that yes, he was, but his throat was tight, dry, and clammy. So it came out like the croak of a dying frog that was halfway through puberty. Kaede swallowed and tried again. “I- I’m f-fine.” Was what he meant to say. He wasn’t too sure if it came out exactly like that.
Kaede attempted to get up and almost fell, but was caught by a girl with long purple hair, and eyes that matched. Her name was on the tip of his tongue, but his mind was on other matters. He also spotted another classmate on the other side of the room, trying to help some of the other students, but again, there were more pressing concerns.
My fault. Gone. Missing. Have to help. Clock tower. My fault. My responsibility. Blood. Why? Why? My fault. I don’t understand. What happened? I could have been there. I should have been there. Clock tower. Missing. Gone. Okazaki. Oogami. Hanazawa. Sasaki. Why? My fault. Should have been me. Have to save them. Have to do something.
Kaede’s thoughts were scrambled, basic, the thoughts of someone almost at the edge. He knew he had to do something. The Drama club was his home. The members were his family. Immature, reckless, rude, rambunctious, but still definitely family. He would rather die than lose them. There are many fates worse than death, and this was one of them.
Without thinking, Kaede grabbed the girl’s wrist, Tatsuya, that was her name, he was pretty sure, and he ran. She screamed at him to let her go, but he was deaf to it, heart pounding in his ears. Kaede thought that the other guy was running after them too, and that was good. The more people the better. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but the clock tower was his destination. Something important was there. He knew it. Kaede concentrated on the sound of the footsteps hitting the ground, and the sound of the blood dripping off his back onto the floor.
Drip
Drop
Tick
Tock