Death

....

*RINGGG* *RINGGG*

As the sound of an alarm echoed throughout the room a boy is seen reluctantly getting up as he goes and presses the stop button. Still feeling drowsy he laid back down to gather his thoughts.

'My first day as a senior in high school huh.' Thought the boy as he glanced at the window with sunlight pouring in.

'I really do not feel like going to school today, especially after just going to the new Broly movie last night,' The boy thought as he tried to go back to sleep.

Finally, he sat up on the bed and stretched out his arms while looking back at the clock. Seeing that he wasted enough time he got up and dressed in his school uniform. After which he walked over to the bathroom to wash up. Drying his face he looked in the mirror which showed a boy with a light bronze complexion to his skin with dark black hair and eyes.

"Zane it's almost time for school, get down here and eat your breakfast!" a loud voice shouted out.

'I wonder what's for breakfast today?' Thought Zane as he mostly thinks with his stomach, especially in the mornings as he walked down the steps towards the kitchen.

There in the kitchen, he saw a short woman with the same skin and hair color, but her eyes had a brown shade to them as she started setting the table. You could tell from her features that she was a beauty in her prime, but after working 2 to 3 jobs for more than 15 years you could see that it had taken a toll on her. Though her appearance was short and petite standing at a mere 5'1, this lady had an aura of authority that surrounded her. Zane himself was not small, standing at 6'1 he mostly towered over his mother.

(Editor's note: 155 cm and 185cm for Non-Americans.)

"Good morning mom. Thanks for the meal." Zane said happily as he helped his mom finish setting up the table. The plate on the table had pancakes, bacon, and eggs while off to the side was a glass of orange juice.

"I hope you finish all of your summer homework last night instead of watching your little cartoons," said Zane's mom with a hint of frustration.

"Mom, relax I always have school as my priority," Zane said, reassuring his mom that he would not fall behind in his senior year of high school.

"Wow I can't believe my little boy is already a senior and before I know it you'll be in college, and a good one at that!" Zane's mom said while approving his last comment.

"You better not forget about your dear old mother!" she says while showing a bright smile.

Zane showed a slight smile and nodded to his mother's plea. "I won't mom, anyways I better get going, see you after school."

Zane grabbed his bag and a piece of toast as he left for school. On his way out, his mother shouted "Have a great day at school and please be safe!"

On his way to school, Zane was daydreaming about the anime that he caught up on yesterday while munching on his toast when suddenly someone snuck right behind and pounced on his back.

*Cough, Cough!* Nearly choking on his toast he quickly slammed on his chest to stop himself from choking to death!

Knowing who would do such an ambush, Zane looked behind his shoulder to see a girl with long dark brown hair and hazelnut eyes. And as luck would have it, she was his childhood friend and neighbor, Mia.

"Oooh Zane why are you always trying to leave me behind, also what's with that sad expression on your face!" The voice cried out as it tried to climb even higher on his back.

"Nice to see you too Mia, now would you please get off my back," Zane said still slightly annoyed about his toast.

"Geez you're no fun at all Zane," Mia said while climbing down unwillingly while also making sure to show Zane her disapproval. Ever since the day they first met, Mia has always had no sense of personal space. Zane had gotten used to her behavior over the years and didn't mind her clinginess as he always chose better to ignore it.

"So Zane are you excited about our senior year?" Mia said as she looked at Zane.

"Well, I am excited that this will be our last year of school. How about you?" Zane said while looking forward, paying no attention to Mia.

"Well I am actually kinda nervous, I don't know if I would be able to get into one of the good colleges," Mia said, hanging her head down while hugging her bag tight.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you will be accepted into a nice college," Zane replied, again not looking at Mia when he spoke.

"Easy for you to say Mr. Top of the Class since freshman year! Hmph!" Mia stated as she folded her arms and looked away.

Afterward, Mia being her usual self, rambled on and on about various things while Zane listened. She mostly talked about how her summer went and how her family was starting to push her into a relationship with some son of a family friend. Zane did find this bit interesting but moved on as he continued the last of their talk with his usual replies. Finally, when they both reached the school's front gate they waved bye to each other began to part ways to their first periods.

As Zane sat down in his corner seat of the class he thought about what Mia had said before and how she made sure that Zane promised to wait for her after school. It has always been like this since they were young, walking to and from school was like an unconscious thing for them to do. Because of this people have often mistaken the pair to be a couple, when asked about it Mia would always hastily turn them down with a quite noticeable blush. While Zane of course had never bothered with the issue, as in his mind it was plain as you can see. They were just friends.

******************

Walking out of his last class for the day Zane thought to himself, 'It's always the same thing over and over again. Good thing I had some manga stashed away or I would have died of boredom in there.'

Zane loved his manga and anime from series such as Dragon Ball and Naruto to One Piece and JoJo. Oftentimes in class, if he wasn't working he would be daydreaming about such worlds filled with adventure and action.

'Well, it's time to head off.' Zane thought but then realized about the problematic Mia and the promise he accepted. Thinking about the consequences of breaking his promise he decided to wait at the front gates, as he didn't want Mia to chew him out for ditching her at school.

Zane waited at the front of the gate for about 40 minutes but she never came. A little bit annoyed at how this girl acts, he decided to start walking because at this point he could care less about what she thinks, seeing that he wasted enough time and Zane didn't want to worry his mother too much. He cupped his hands in his pocket and started walking. Looking at his watch he decided best to save some time and take a shortcut through one of the alleyways in town.

As he headed deeper into one of the alleyways he quickly felt that something was off. And as if his instincts were right, he saw a tall figure rushing towards him!

Zane couldn't react in time and was pinned against the wall, while the now seen tall man was there holding a knife against his neck. The man had a crazed look in his eyes as he seemed very fidgety, his hands and legs wouldn't stop shaking. The man looked like he was on drugs of some sort as he kept looking around hurriedly.

"HEY, KID! Give me all of your money now if you know what's good for you!" The man yelled and he pushed the knife slightly in towards Zane's neck. A bit of blood dripped down Zane's neck.

Zane looked around for something he could use to ward off his assailant. Seeing nothing he complied and reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. The man looked at the wallet with greedy eyes, he hurriedly grabbed it to check how much was inside.

"Well looks like today is your lucky day kid. You will walk away with only a scratch!" The man clearly on drugs snickered as he pulled the knife back and thrust it into Zane's stomach.

"AHHH!!" Zane fell to the ground covering his wound with his hands trying his best to stop the bleeding. He looked up at the man to see him with an excited and sick expression as he licked his lips with joy.

"Okay kid, you better not tell a soul about this, or better believe me on this when I say that I would find and kill you." the man looked down and started to back away when...

"ZANE!!" A voice shouted from the side of the alleyway that Zane went in.

Hearing the voice Zane knew immediately who it was as he looked up to see Mia with a face of shock and terror.

"MIA RUN NOW!!" Zane shouted with great struggle coughing up some blood.

'Shit another wittiness well I guess I'm gonna have to kill her now.' The man thought as he pulled out his knife once more.

Mia froze in fear, not knowing what to do as she stood still. The man walked closer and closer. Mia only managed a few steps back while her face stayed glued at the crazed maniacal man.

"Sorry about your boyfriend, I can only imagine what you're feeling right now, but know that YOUR GONNA FEEL A LOT WORSE!!" Mia closed her eyes and shielded her face.

"WAACCCCKKKK!!!"

Hearing a loud sound, Mia opened her teary eyes to see the man on the floor lying there, and behind him was Zane holding a small lead pipe. Zane then crashed onto the floor looking up at the sky.

"ZANE! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP!!" After recovering from what just happened, Mia shouted and rushed to Zane's side as he exerted all of his strength on that hit. She held him and cried loudly. Soon more people came after hearing a lot of commotion and were surprised to see a man knocked out on the floor with a knife next to his hand with high schools to the side.

"HEY SOMEONE QUICKLY CALL THE AMBULANCE!!" said one of the bystanders. Many of the onlookers began to pull out their phones.

Zane with his blurry vision looked up to see Mia with her tear-filled face and looked around to see people quickly gathering around.

'So is this how it ends, well I guess it wasn't such a bad way to go out. Hopefully, my mom won't hate me for this.' Thought Zane as his vision slowly began to fade.