Content warning: this chapter contains a potentially disturbing scene up to but not limited to thoughts about ending one's life. If you become emotionally affected after reading and need a reliable yet anonymous source of help, I recommend these numbers below

Crisis text line (US and Canada): text HELP to 741741

North Dakota Suicide and Crisis Helpline: Dial 2-1-1 or (701) 235-SEEK (7335)

Distress Center of Greater Toronto: 408-HELP (4357)

India:

Mumbai: I Call – 022-25521111 (Monday to Saturday, 8 am to 10 pm)

Telangana: Roshini (040-66202000) – 9AM – 11 PM

Tamil Nadu: Sneha – 044-24640059 – 24 X 7

"It's Monday again. Where has the weekend gone to?" Kenta whined at the breakfast table as he ate the strawberry oatmeal Shiori had prepared for him and Akira. "I wish I don't have to go to school today. You know what?" he turned toward his cousin. "If I were the principal, I would give the top ranking straight-A students a privilege of not attending school for up to three days a week as long as they keep their GPA above 3.75, that's a fair enough reward, right?"

Akira almost laughed at the phrase straight-A, but she successfully disguised it as a cough. Shiori raised an eyebrow but Akira told her aunt that she choked on a piece of strawberry because she ate too fast. Kenta handed her a cup of green tea and told her they wouldn't be late to school.

"You don't usually get upset about Monday, son." Shiori responded to Kenta's complaint. "Is this about Aiden bothering you? Lee's offer about handling it his way still stand, you know."

"You should really let my dad help." Akira chimed in with a look of concern. "We do not know if Aiden will ever stop and it's naïve to think that treating him with niceness would bring him to his senses. There's no telling the length he's willing to go to in asserting dominance."

"I'm fine." Kenta said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "You fuss over me too much."

"We're not fussing, sweetie, we just want you to know you can rely on us." Shiori ruffled Kenta's hair. The boy fell silent. "That's what family is for. No shame in getting help."

"Oka-san, how come you and Otou-san never feel that I'm a burden?" Kenta had stopped eating and now stared at his empty bowl. "Why didn't you abort me when you knew the baby in your womb would be born deaf? Is it because you were simply afraid of angering kami-sama?"

"Because each and every baby whose birth their parents prayed for, no matter the baby's disability, is a gift." Shiori replied while hugging Kenta very tightly. "Both me and your dad believe it's wrong to reject a blessing. Do you know why we named you Kenta?"

"Why? Because it's a pretty common name for a Japanese male and it sounds masculine?"

"The kanji for your name means a healthy and strong child. Just because you're deaf doesn't mean you can't grow up to have a fulfilling life. And you do have an inner strength, like your name." Shiori explained as Kenta fiddled with his spoon. "We know your childhood hasn't been the easiest. We knew how much you loathed having to go to weekly auditory verbal therapies just so that you can learn how to speak despite not being able to properly hear every consonants and vowels other kids take for granted. Yet despite everything, you had the determination to speak. I remember your first words. You were four when you finally spoke using your voice."

"I waited four years to speak?" Kenta asked in bewilderment. "Wow, I was dumb."

"Dumb, you? No way. Don't discredit yourself like that!" Akira spoke up. "I don't know the technicalities about a deaf child learning to speak, but you should be proud of how far you've come. Even if you can't speak, your value as a human being won't diminish. You are you."

"Listen to your cousin." Shiori said. "Chin up, son. Your worth isn't measured by what everybody else thinks of you but by whether you're a good person who wishes the best for the world and actively work toward helping everybody else have a brighter future. You've always been curious about plants and you use your talents to help others, for example by teaching other students in your botany club. That alone is enough proof that you deserve to live."

"If Aiden does something cruel today, don't let it bring you down." Akira squeezed Kenta's hand. The boy forced a smile but did not say anything back. "His opinion is trash."

"Oka-san, there's something you need to know. The reason Aiden bullies me might be in part because he suspects I don't like girls and never will. I know I'm a freak but—"

"You're not a freak. And what do you mean you don't like girls? Akira is a girl and you get along well with her. Do you mean other girls in school? Well, I know that making friends is hard for you, but don't worry, it's not about how many friends you have but about how genuine your friendship is." Shiori replied. "Once again, you are not a freak and I mean it."

"No, you misunderstand, Oka-san. I don't like girls as in I don't think I would want a girlfriend. I don't think I will ever marry a girl. It's hard to know why but I don't need a reason, do I?"

"That's okay." Shiori remained unfazed. "But then, does it mean your dad and I can never have grandchildren?" her expression turned into a mix of mild disappointment and grief. "That's okay, though. I guess Akira would be the one who bring a grandchild to this family. Her child would be our grandnephew or grandniece. Akira, find yourself a good person to fall in love with."

"Oka-san, she and I are not even sixteen yet!" Kenta laughed. "Don't worry, if you really want a grandchild there's always adoption. My future spouse and I can adopt a child or two."

"Oh, thank kami-sama!" Shiori exclaimed in relief. "Yep. A baby is a baby, adopted or not," she added hastily. "Does Lee know about this too? And your dad and Chiharu?"

"You can tell Otou-san." Kenta answered calmly. "As for auntie and uncle, I would trust Akira to decide when the best time would be to reveal my true identity. She knows them best."

"Thank you for trusting me." Shiori took Kenta's and Akira's bowls, bringing them to the dishwasher. "Now, off you go to school. If anything happens, text me and I'd make up an excuse to bring you home if it becomes too much and you start to stress out."

"I can't do that. You have your flower shop to look after. Thanks for offering, though."

---

The first half of the school day flew by relatively uneventfully. Kenta practiced his drumming skills with Masuda-sensei in orchestra class and learned about integral calculus in Mathematics. His third period was sports, which he didn't like except for the fact that it was the only period on Monday he shared with Akira aside from orchestra. The teacher made the students ran three laps around the soccer field on Mondays and Kenta wished he could fake having stomachache but unfortunately his acting skills weren't good enough to lie convincingly so he perished the thought. Fourth period was botany, which filled Kenta's heart with a lot of warm feelings.

"Good afternoon, students." Ms. Smith entered the classroom carrying a box that Kenta guessed must be full of dried plant specimens. "Today we will continue with our discussion about dangerous plants and how to identify them. I have collected several, but if some of you do happen to know of potentially toxic plants in our city, feel free to share."

Kenta raised his hand in the air and Ms. Smith nodded, giving him permission to speak. Aiden, who sat a few seats away from him, snickered and mouthed "What a Mr. Know-It-All, he thinks he has to show off how much he can suck up to the teachers. Lame."

"Ms. Smith, I saw a strange plant on Hinotori Park several days ago." Kenta said, ignoring the stinging words he managed to lip read. "The plant has a lot of fruits on them, bright red like cherry tomatoes. Weirdly enough, no squirrels seemed to be eating the fallen fruits on the ground. I remember you saying that some berries in the nightshade family aren't edible to humans. Could this be one of those berries you meant?"

"Did you snap a picture, Kinoya-san?" Ms. Smith turned the projector on and gestured for Kenta to use it if he wanted. "Maybe you can show us what exactly you saw, just to be doubly sure."

"Yeah. Those are the prettiest berries I've ever seen." Kenta said as he accessed his website, which contained a plethora of photos of plants he encountered throughout his high school years. "Look!" he pointed at a photo of a shrub with tiny flowers of pinkish hue, some of which had transformed into luscious berries, appearing as tempting as the forbidden fruit that casted Eve out of paradise. "Aren't they lovely? And yet something's wrong if animals won't touch them."

"You're observant as always." Ms. Smith said with a hint of pride in her voice. "Those are Daphne's berries, also known as spurge laurel or pseudo red olives. They are ornamental plants. Their toxicity is due to cyanide in their seeds. Interestingly, birds seem immune to the poisonous berries but if we humans try to ingest them we could end up with organ failure."

"Is there an antidote to the poison?" Akira asked. "Any herbal remedy to reduce its potency?"

"This isn't scientifically proven yet, but I've heard that ginseng root might counter the effects of the poison," Ms. Smith said with a hint of hesitation. "So, don't quote me on this but if it's true then that's good news. Oh, that reminds me. Maybe we can conduct an experiment our next lesson. I'll ask your zoology teacher if I can borrow his lab mice to test that theory. There are potted ginseng grown by the apothecary club on the school roof. We can juice them."

"I feel bad for the mice." Akira whispered to Kenta. "But this is for science."

"I'll pray to kami-sama to make sure the mice's souls pass on peacefully after we kill them. Or not. I sincerely hope the ginseng juice does work to nullify the poison's effects."

---

The bell signaling lunch break rang just as Akira's stomach began to rumble. She and Kenta hurried to their locker room to fetch their bento boxes. They never bothered with school cafeteria foods because, as Akira put it, "Who wanted French fries and nuggets when you could have beef stew and potatoes lovingly cooked by your auntie? A kid with questionable taste, that's who."

When the cousins made their way to the cafeteria to eat with the rest of their classmates, they were surprised to see Aiden standing on top a table, yelling for everyone that he had an announcement to make. To Kenta's horror, the blond boy held a printed photo on his hand.

"Grab that photo for me before he could humiliate me, Akira." Kenta whispered fearfully.

"Whatever you're doing, Aiden, get down. No one cares about your announcement. It can wait until everyone's done eating." Akira climbed the table and glared at Aiden. "Quit the act."

"Oh yeah? Not even if the announcement is life changing?" Aiden smirked. Akira kicked his leg and tried to steal the photo from him, but she wasn't fast enough and Aiden could avoid her reach. Akira was ready to push him down but Aiden pushed her down first.

"Everyone, look at this!" he flashed the picture to the student body. "You know what this means? Kenta is gay. I can prove it. This photo is real and not edited. See for yourself, people."

"Aiden, that's a serious accusation!" a girl shouted from another table. "Kenta, is that true?"

"It... it's not... A-Aiden is lying." Kenta stuttered. "I just fell asleep on a stranger, that's all."

"Oh yeah? If that's all there is to this photo, why are you stuttering?" another girl asked.

"Fuck you and fuck everyone except Akira!" Kenta yelled and ran out of the cafeteria, crying.

"Kenta! Where are you going?" Akira followed after him. "Aiden, you bastard, you've gone too far! Apologize to him right now!" she swung her fist in the air. "That wasn't nice!"

"Don't follow me." Kenta said sternly to his cousin. "I need to be alone."

"B-But..."

"I want to be alone."

----

"No way I'm gonna be leaving him alone!" Akira said as she escaped from Aiden's hold. "And you're coming with me!" she grabbed Aiden's wrist and dragged him forcefully.

"Kenta is overreacting. Also, if he insists on being alone then maybe we should grant his wish?"

"You don't know him like I do! What if he's having a panic attack and no one helps?"

"Panic attack isn't fatal." Aiden brushed her off. "He's just being dramatic."

"Just help me find him or else!" Akira thundered. "You don't want me to punch you, trust me."

"I don't believe you." Aiden said cockily. "Punch me all you—Oof!" he fell backward as Akira really punched him with all the strength she had in her. "Damn, you're pretty strong."

"Help me find my cousin or I'll gladly throw more punches!"

"Okay, okay, you're so bossy. Let's see. I'll go to the boy's restroom. You can check the school rooftop garden. He likes plants so maybe he's talking to plants like a lunatic or something."

"Don't call him a lunatic!" Akira barked. "Anyway, you know my digits, text me immediately if you find him and that's an order! And you better not play any prank with me!"

---

Akira did not find Kenta, or any student for that matter, on the rooftop. Fortunately, the rooftop gave her a bird's eye view of the bustling intersections in front of the school and that included a view of Hinotori Park. She squinted when she spotted a skinny boy in East Hinotori High uniform walked toward the playground and started sobbing on the swing. Could it be?

Target possibly is in the playground. Meet me there ASAP, she texted Aiden.

Akira dashed down the stairs leading her out of the campus, her heart pounding and mind spiraling onto a list of things she planned to tell Kenta to cheer him up. All of them sounded like useless platitudes to her, but she shook her head and focus on getting to the playground.

Aiden was already there and he was screaming at... Kenta on the ground in a fetal position?

"Kenta!" he shook the boy who didn't stir. "Shit, what's wrong with him, Akira?"

The girl crouched down, rolling Kenta on his side, and shrieked when she saw foam coming out of his mouth and his limbs started jerking uncontrollably and his breathing became labored.

"Kenta, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can!" Akira yelled frantically. "Calm down."

"Akira, are those... he couldn't..." Aiden trailed off as he pointed to Kenta's hat lying next to the swing. On top of the hat were some bright red berries, exactly like cherry tomatoes.

"Kami-sama has mercy on us!" Akira gasped. "Aiden, dial the Poison Control number now!"

"He's an idiot. Or maybe his sound processor dies and he didn't hear Ms. Smith's lecture."

"This is not the time to call him an idiot!" Akira said through tears. "You're the idiot! This is no accident, Aiden. Fuck you. You drove my cousin to despair. Fuck you very much."

"I---I'm sorry. I didn't mean for things to get this bad. Kenta..." Aiden wept. "Please don't die!"

"Too late for apologies." Akira said mournfully. "You know the Poison Control number?"

"Y-Yes." Aiden said, still weeping and hiccupping. "7787. Oh god. I hope they pick up."

"Poison Control here," a man's voice came through the speaker. "You're talking to Isamu Hamada, licensed toxicologist. What's your emergency?"

"My classmate ate Daphne's berries! He's unresponsive and seems to be having seizure."

"We'll dispatch the paramedic team. Where are you and your classmate? Hinotori Park? Got it. It might take twelve minutes for the paramedic to reach you. Stay with him until we arrive."

The line went dead and Aiden hung his head down while Akira cradled Kenta in her arms.

"Akira, if Kenta survives, I owe him a real explanation as to why I am so mean to him." Aiden sighed. "It's something to do with my older brother Ezekiel. He's deaf, like your cousin."

"That doesn't make sense." Akira frowned. "You have a deaf brother yet you bully a deaf boy."

"Because the deaf boy is rich. He's everything Ezekiel could have been if only..." Aiden inhaled. "If only my family wasn't dirt poor. Ezekiel isn't my brother by blood. He's my step brother. My dad married his mom after my own mom passed from diabetes. My stepmom doesn't live with us, however. She got a job in White Banyan and that's how our family could afford to send me to East Hinotori High. My dad works too as a lifeguard in the Aquatic Center downtown but what he makes isn't enough to..." Aiden looked at Akira uncertainly.

"Not enough to get Ezekiel his own cochlear implants or hearing aids?" Akira guessed.

"Yeah and only barely enough to pay for his boarding school." Aiden said almost inaudibly. "The day I sneaked out during our excursion, I was visiting him at Mizunotori Boarding School for the Deaf and Mute. We talked for a bit, about his dreams and about his plans for after graduation. He said he wanted to be a chef because he's been studying cuisines from all the different cultures of Indigo Inferno but he's afraid no one would want to hire a deaf chef."

"That's a good dream to have." Akira nodded. "I do hope he can find a restaurant that sees him for his cooking skills and not just his disability. Hey, I have an idea!" she said suddenly. "If Kenta survives, do you think you could introduce Ezekiel to him? I mean, your step brother and my cousin might be able to find comfort in each other and learn from each other's experience."

"I'm sure Ezekiel would love that." Aiden sniffled. "Akira, I know you said my apology comes too late but I mean it. I never want Kenta to try ending his own life. I promise if he survives I'm gonna treat him right to make up for all the anxiety and unnecessary turmoil I put him through."

"You better be serious. You're an asshole if you're still mean to Kenta after—"

The sound of blaring ambulance sirens filled the air. Aiden and Akira exchanged a hopeful look.

"Is that the boy who's in emergency? The one who ingested Daphne's berries?" a man in paramedic uniform crouched down to examine Kenta. "Kid, pinch my arm if you can hear me."

No movement at all from Kenta. The man put a stethoscope on his chest, listening intently.

"It looks like the berries' juice filled his lungs and caused pleural effusion," the man said to Akira. "I would need to perform thoracentesis. It's a procedure in which I stick a needle between his back ribs and inserted a long tube to remove the fluids."

"Can you save him, sir?" Akira pleaded. "He's an only kid and his parents would be devastated if we lost him. Tell me we're not losing him."

"The procedure should stabilize him. There's a risk of pneumothorax or air escaping into the space between his chest walls and his lung, causing collapsed lung, but it's a rare complication."

"Hang in there, Kenta. And I hope you can forgive me," Aiden whispered. "Although I don't deserve forgiveness after bullying you to the point of making you feel worthless."

"Here goes the needle," the paramedic began thoracentesis. "Hmm, like I suspected. Look at how much fluid has entered his lung!" he pointed at the liquid moving down the suction tube.

A moaning sound escaped from Kenta's mouth and his eyes fluttered open.

"Welcome back, kid!" the paramedic said. "You're lucky your friends found you or you'd be a goner. Those berries you ate are really toxic. Are you aware of that?"

"I am." Kenta said weakly. "But I'm glad kami-sama gives me a second lease at life. I was so scared when everything turned black. I underestimated the strength of the berries' poison."

"As a rule of thumb you shouldn't eat any berries that look suspicious."

"I know. I was stupid and in distress." Kenta said. "Thank you, Mr..." he read the label on the paramedic's shirt. "Hamada-san. Domo arigatou gozamashita. You are an angel."

"It's my job. Now, do you have someone who can pick you up?" Hamada-san asked. "And I don't think you should go back to school. Take a time off to give your body time to really heal, about five days or so. That would flush out any remaining toxins."

"I can call my mom, she told me she can bring me home from school today." Kenta said. "Oh damn, Akira, Oka-san is going to be so sad. What do we say to her? I feel so guilty now."

"We'll worry about that later." Akira said. "I'm so, so glad you're safe now."

"Me too, if you could believe it." Aiden stared at the ground. "I don't expect you to accept my apology but I'm very sorry for bullying you. I'm wrong, Kenta. You're rich, yeah, but you're a good person. I shouldn't have hated you just because of your family's wealth."

"I forgive you as long as you do regret what you've done to me. Let's be friends."