School Days | A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Sunny's expression changed, and the muscles in his face shifted to form an expression of confusion however his face was too injured to do such a thing. Nephis words confused him, what did she mean 'because she wanted to'? Everyone had a motive, including her but he couldn't accept that it was merely just a desire that fuelled her actions.

Yet, he didn't pry any further. He allowed silence to settle between the two, only being disturbed by the sounds of his stomach expressing its disapproval at being left unfed. Her eyes snapped toward him before making her way toward him. Before Sunny knew what had happened, Nephis raised his shirt, checking for any new bruises. Sunny's face shot red as he placed a hand on her shoulder attempting to push her off weakly.

"What are you doing?" Sunny hoarsely exclaimed, Nephis stopped her searching for a brief moment before tilting her head to the side. "I'm checking for new bruises, I don't want you continuing school without proper care." With that, she continued, tracing her hand over his stomach and studying his face for any pained reaction. Thankfully, all she received was a red face for her efforts and a flustered sigh from Sunny.

Grabbing him by the arm, she lifted him to his feet. Sunny's wrists fit into her hands almost naturally as she pulled him back towards the cafeteria. A pull backward was all it took to draw her attention away from the cafeteria as Sunny attempted to resist her hold. "Why would I go back there to get beaten up again?" Sunny asked, his voice laced with suspicion. Nephis looked him over for a few moments before sighing.

"I'll be with you this time, so don't worry about it." The answer seemed to satisfy Sunny as his attempts to resist became nonexistent. Instead, he was taking a moment to admire all the sights and smells of such a prestigious school. The air was clean and untainted by pollution, a luxury he had never had the chance to sense for nearly as long as he'd been alive.

Soon enough, he found himself in the cafeteria once more. The table he once sat at was still filled with the puddle of his blood as Sunny allowed a grin to appear on his face upon noticing the grim sight. He didn't know why he was smiling, yet he smiled anyway. Thankfully, Sunny's meal remained present even after he had left. Well, technically it was Nephis meal but the details were irrelevant.

Sunny took a seat once more, this time, Nephis sat next to him, pulling his tray towards him before taking a moment to watch him eat. His hands were unsteady and shook slightly as he raised the food to his mouth, yet as he took his first bite his eyes shot open with joy. 'This is the best thing I've ever eaten' Sunny thought to himself before staring at Nephis with wide eyes, giving her an excited thumbs up as he continued eating.

'For what it's worth. He's cute.' Nephis thought to herself as he eagerly wolfed down his meal. Suddenly, Sunny stopped and turned his head to her. Taking a moment to swallow his food, a confused expression painted itself on his features. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked, his tone expressing mild worry. Nephis held an imperceptible smile on her lips as she nodded and turned to her meal.

They are in silence, no words needed to be exchanged as Sunny finished his meal in a few moments. A satisfied smile settled itself on his face as he suddenly rose to his feet. "Don't we still have class?" Sunny asked, however, the surrounding people quickly calmed him. Nephis shook her head in response "It's the end of the day. You should be going home now." Sunny nodded silently before dusting himself off and stretching.

All his equipment remained in his history lesson but he was sure it would be safe under the watchful eyes of a teacher, extending a hand, Sunny looked at Nephis eagerly as an awkward smile settled itself on his face. "For what it's worth, thank you for taking care of me today." He commented meekly, Nephis nodded and took his hand in her own as he shook it vigorously.

The two walked side by side till they exited the academy. Eventually, Sunny had to part from her to make his way back to the secluded region of the NQSC he lived in, meanwhile, Nephis stood in front of the opened door of a car that waited for her entry. "You can go without me, there's something I want to check." Nephis ordered, the driver looked at her with a confused expression before relenting upon receiving a glare.

Nephis pace quickly increased as she attempted to keep up with Sunny unnoticed. She leapt from one secluded area of the street to another as she saw the environment grow increasingly poorer the deeper she went, soon enough, Sunny stopped. He wasn't close to any homes yet he remained stationary in the middle of the street almost expectantly.

Soon enough, three figures, grown men, surrounded Sunny. She could hear them attempt to rob him but in moments Sunny was upon them. He kicked one of them in the groin before spinning around and snapping a punch in the face of the nearest man. Then, he took advantage of his reduced height and slipped between their legs, grabbing one by the hair from behind and slamming him into the ground.

However, Sunny didn't notice a man sneaking up from behind him with a glass bottle in hand. Nephis placed a hand over her mouth in horror as she was scared still at the sight. A glass bottle collided with Sunny's head crashing into millions of pieces. Sunny limply fell onto the ground and the onslaught continued. He was stepped on, kicked and spat on until the three men had their fill. Finally, they ripped his shirt clean off his body as a statement to never resist them again and walked away.

Nephis wasn't sure if Sunny was still conscious after that onslaught of blows. Yet, her expectations were once again disproved as Sunny laid on his back and extended a hand into the sky. "The stars are beautiful today." Sunny groaned to himself before running a hand through his hair. Slowly but surely, he rose to his feet yet couldn't maintain his stride as he fell once more into the shards of broken glass.

At this point, Nephis couldn't restrain herself. All her inhibitions and hesitation fuelled by the drive to preserve her image flew out of her mind as she shot to Sunny's side with an expression of horror painted on her face. Grabbing him by the waist, Nephis held him upright as she watched blood sink from the back of his head. "Sunless, stay awake Sunless." She grabbed him by the face and shook him, only receiving a bloody grin for her efforts.

"I'm still awake, I'm a bit delirious right now but do I know you?" Sunny asked drowsily, Nephis eyes blazed with worry once more as she stood in front of him and grasped his face in her hands. "Look! You know me, I'm Nephis!" At this, Sunny blinked slightly before his eyes widened. For the first time, Sunny's eyes expressed genuine horror as he stared Nephis up and down.

"Why are you here? Did they hurt you? Please tell me if they hurt you!" Sunny exclaimed as he stumbled towards Nephis but he didn't make it very far. In two steps, Sunny had already fallen with Nephis having to leap forward to keep him upright. "Where do you live Sunless? I'll take you there." Nephis watched as Sunny simply pointed forward before she supported him with her hands snaking around his waist and helping him support his weight.

After thirty minutes of walking, with Sunny changing his directions depending on the situation, they finally made their way to his house. It was a decrepit thing, the door was merely a piece of wood that Nephis had to shove out of the way to make her way inside. There were no windows, merely holes in the concrete that let in light which was clearly made under short notice, and the roof was practically nonexistent, with a piece of wood that was as long enough to cover only three people huddled together loomed above them.

Looking around, Nephis quickly placed Sunny on the mattress before sitting down by his side. Sunny had threatened to bite off his tongue upon the mention of the hospital, considering he was fine with the infirmary at school, Sunny's incessant refusal to visit the only place that could help him right now was confusing, to say the least. "Sunny." His voice came out as a pained whisper, yet Nephis heard it all.

She was confused about what he meant, and so remained silent allowing him to continue. "My mom called me Sunless. I always hated it when people called me that, so call me Sunny." He grunted, Nephis could only nod as she sat next to him in silence. Before she knew it, Sunny was asleep. He needed medication for the pain and to prevent infection yet Nephis wasn't sure how she'd get it. But she was sure she would, after all, she had to.

'If I stepped in sooner, maybe you wouldn't have…' her thoughts cut themselves off as she refused to allow herself to delve deeper into despair. She had initially only gotten involved with the boy out of an abject desire she felt towards him that she couldn't place a finger on, but now it was something more. She felt directly responsible for his condition. But what confused her was why hadn't he run?

"Why didn't you run?" She whispered to herself, Sunny's hand extended outwards towards hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You told me to try fight back right? I fought back hard, and look where it got me." Sunny began coughing up blood that trailed down the corners of his face as he turned his face to look at Nephis.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect it as I fought. But for a moment, I did something stupid. I wanted to believe that if I fought hard enough I could push past all my pains and troubles, but that wasn't true. Hope's a leisure of those in power."

There wasn't a way she could respond to Sunny's words, so Nephis sat in silence. It was her fault entirely, there wasn't anything she could do to change it. Getting up, she walked around his house to check for supplies that could be used to help with Sunny's bleeding, a silent whisper of praise went to those who had bothered to teach her these skills which she previously deemed as useless until now.

Yet, she didn't find anything. Aside from stray empty bottles of water and dirty rags which promised an infection for whoever brought it close, there was nothing she could use. Making her way back to Sunny, she saw he was still coughing blood. Rushing to his side she sat him up, tilting his head forward. "If you lay down the blood might flow into your lungs and drown you, try staying seated up for as long as you can." Nephis ordered gently before exiting his home.

Supplies needed to be bought, and they needed to be bought quickly. His house wasn't for someone who intended to live, rather, it was merely good for surviving the brief hours of intermission between each school day. As she rushed back to the residential areas of the town, a thought rushed into her head. 'What if he becomes self-destructive?' The thought of Sunny harming himself sent chills down her spine as she quickened her jog to a sprint.

Soon enough, she found herself in a convenience store, her eyes scanning through every pain-killing medicine possible. However, she was greeted by familiar faces. Nearly towering over the shelves, Effie stood in the food aisle collecting every piece of edible material she could currently fit in her obnoxiously large trolley.

"Princess!" Effie exclaimed, upon noticing Nephis presence. To her surprise, Nephis didn't acknowledge her presence, instead continuing to collect medicines and drinks she could bring to Sunny. Her focus was broken as Effie lightly tapped her on the head eliciting a look of annoyance from Nephis. "What's my junior doing here this late into the night?" Effie asked, glancing at Nephis basket with suspicion.

"I…need to buy resources for an…acquaintance of mine. They're very unwell." As Nephis spoke, she began eyeing all the food stock available before grabbing every snack that fit in her hand and shoving it into her basket. Effie followed after her with a teasing expression on her face "Is it a guy…aww don't tell me my junior is getting married off already!l" she mock whined, Nephis paid her no attention as she briskly made her way to the counter.

She didn't even wait for the attendant to scan it as she simply dropped a large number of coins in front of him before bolting out of the store. It wasn't like that money was a lot to her anyway. Effie's face finally grew serious as she continued to follow behind Nephis. "Hey, Princess. I don't know if you've noticed, but that's the outskirts you're going to." Nephis simply glanced backward for a moment before commenting. "I'm aware."

Thankfully, they were not met with any robberies as she had once seen Sunny get into. And so, they made their way to his house uninhibited. Shoving the piece of wood off the door, she gestured for Effie to be quiet as she quickly made her way toward Sunny. Her steps slow and deliberate as they were, still stirred Sunny from his sleep and his eyes shot open with panic.

A knife emerged from a location out of Nephis sight as Sunny weakly aimed it in her direction, coughing blood as his arm trembled. How Sunny had gotten a hold of such a weapon was beyond Nephis. "Who are you? What are you doing in my home?" Sunny groaned, Nephis took a step back placatingly before commenting.

"It's me Sunny, Nephis. I've got you some stuff for your house, and they'll help with your injuries too."

With that, Sunny seemed to relax as he allowed the knife to fall to the ground with a thud. Nephis made her way towards him before grabbing a towel, pouring water on it and applying it to his face. Suddenly, the sound of Effie meandering through the house caught Sunny's attention.

"You brought somebody here?"