The wolf and the sheep
She didn't understand why she wasn't afraid. She was vulnerable, defenseless, easy prey, even among her own kind.
She knew that most people under the same circumstances would have run the other way. She knew that most people would have preferred to go back to their homes rather than live with a couple of terrorists who had not long ago partly destroyed one of the most important buildings in the city. She knew that her troubled life, with the bullying and her mom, would be a preferable choice to most than life as a criminal or a fugitive. She knew that most people would rather face a couple of mean sheep than live with the wolves.
But she wasn't most people.
Whether that was a good or a bad thing, she still didn't know.
Hisami-kun had put her in a life and death situation, had forced her into making an impossible decision, and later threatened to kill her if she made a wrong move. He was, for all intents and purposes, the bad wolf she was supposed to avoid... until he rescued her from the streets and nursed her back to health, all while pretending it wasn't a big deal. She knew he had long discussions with Kokonoe-kun about her stay, and yet, even after she fully recovered, she was still there, sleeping on their couch, using their shower, eating their food. He never made her feel unwelcome and even eased her fears about Nine's rejection.
She had wanted to stop feeling useless and return the favor, maybe even make Kokonoe like her, but ended up only making things worse. She had used and ruined most of their food and, as Kokonoe liked to point out, almost burnt down their apartment in the process. Her attempts at preparing a meal seemed to amuse Hisami though, and he always, always tried the disastrous result before passing judgment, no matter how many times it was the same, no matter how obviously awful it looked. She was still trying to understand that about him, despite his tactless verdicts he always gave her botched cooking the benefit of the doubt. That was probably why she hadn't stopped trying, no matter how futile it seemed. But Kokonoe had not been subtle in his disapproval, and that morning he had stared her down and let her know that they had run out of food because of her.
She hadn't been able to meet his gaze and felt stupid for not thinking just how much her need to feel productive was costing them. She had muttered an apology and told him that she had some money, it wasn't much, but she could replace some of the products she had wasted.
That's when Hisami had entered the room and enthusiastically asked if they were going shopping.
Kokonoe sighed and before Lisa could process that a decision had been made she was already standing inside the store with Hisami.
He gave the list Kokonoe had carefully written a quick glance before he shoved it in his pocket and guided her down the aisles, not bothering to look at brands or prices or stopping to check the list again.
Soon their baskets were already half full and as he was about to move to the next item she grabbed his shirt, making him stop and look back at her.
"T-This is all I can afford with what I have…" she regarded her own basket in shame "I'm sorry, I will def-definitely pay you back f-for the rest but…"
She felt a pat on her head before his chuckle reached her ears.
"Lisa, you're not paying,"
"But I told Kokonoe—"
"I'm sure he isn't expecting you to afford all that we need either,"
"But he—"
"He likes playing the role of the cold guy," Hisami said with a dismissive wave of his hand "Don't worry about it, if he asks we'll say you used all of your savings. Now," he took the crumpled list out of his pocket and handed it to her "I'll go get some things from the pharmacy and you get the cereal you like and Nine's coffee, the kind he likes is in there. I'll see you in a bit,"
She stood there for a moment, blinking in confusion after him as a warm feeling filled her chest.
The cereal she liked? She wasn't going to pay for any of this and he still took her preferences into consideration?
She moved up the aisle, unaware of the smile on her face, and tried hard to remember what they had in their pantry, failing to place a particular brand of cereal. It took her several minutes to decide on something that she thought both Hisami and Kokonoe would enjoy. Happy with her choice, she started looking for the coffee.
That's when she saw them. Three girls giggling to each other and whispering to themselves, the laughter stopped abruptly as one of them caught sight of her and nudged the other two to look in Lisa's direction.
She felt her heart start beating in a panic and her hand automatically went up to her chest, clutching the fabric of her dress tightly.
"Lisa,"
Her eyes widened, fear striking her limbs and freezing her in place in that particular way only Yukari Inoue managed to do by just saying her name. .time. She had almost forgotten how her own name could make her breath hitch and her hands sweat.
She had a moment to ponder on the absurdity of the situation.
She had felt safer with two strangers, two terrorists, for days, and now she was standing there, inside a store, in the middle of the day, feeling frantic at the sight of her former school mates. The mean sheep.
She managed to back a step as they approached her, but when her whole body finally responded and she tried turning around it was too late. The basket slid from her grip and she felt herself being jerked back before either her head or neck registered any pain.
She had cut her hair that summer in the hopes it would no longer be used as an instrument of torture against her, thinking that it would be practically impossible for her mother or bullies to tug and pull at it when they were tormenting her. She had been wrong, she thought as tears sprang to her eyes. It hurt so much more this way, she could feel Yukari's long nails digging into her scalp and she tried not to yelp as the girl's grip tightened viciously and forced her neck to arch back in an unnatural way.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see one of the other girls stand at the end of the aisle to keep watch as the other two crowded her.
"Where have you been, Lisa? We've been so bored without you at school,"
"I didn't know you had the guts to run away," the other girl said "we should call the police now and let them know we have found our good friend,"
"Good idea, Chie," Yukari smiled venomously at Lisa "you call the police and I'll call her mother,"
"No!" Lisa rasped, her hand clutching the taller girl's wrist in an attempt to free herself.
"Now, Lisa, don't raise your voice, we are your friends and we should be able to welcome you back properly before you see your mom,"
There was a yelp at the end of the aisle "What are you—, let me go!"
Firm footsteps followed and Lisa was suddenly free from the painful hold on her hair. She rubbed the back of her neck and stepped away to take in what was happening.
Hisami was tightly gripping the lookout's wrist in his hand, keeping her still as his other hand clutched Yukari's ponytail, putting her in the same position Lisa had been just seconds before.
"No, no," he shook his head as Yukari's mouth opened to scream "We don't want to attract unwanted attention, right? We're just friends catching up,"
Lisa swallowed as she recognized that controlled, threatening tone he had used with her once before. That deceitfully pleasant look that would fool anyone who wasn't on the receiving end of it was rigidly plastered across his features.
The wolf had come to her rescue.
She looked in shock as neither Yukari nor the other two girls made a sound. Chie, the only girl safe from Hisami's grasp, was standing very still beside Lisa.
"Y-you're hurting m-me," Yukari spat, trying to sound as dignified as she could manage even as her knees shook under her, barely supporting her weight in the awkward position she was being forced to stand in.
"Eh?" Hisami looked down at her questioningly, as if utterly confused by her statement, and Lisa's eyes widened as he tugged harder on her bully's hair, Yukari yelped as her feet clumsily strived for balance "But weren't you doing the same to Lisa a moment ago? I thought this is what friends do to have fun,"
Yukari winced "I-I-didn't…I-wasn't going to…, please, let go," her voice finally broke and her eyes glazed.
Lisa felt a pang of compassion in her chest as Yukari stammered incoherently at an uninterested Hisami, "Hi-Hisami-kun, we should go."
He looked up at Lisa, taking in the worried expression she carried for a bully that certainly did not deserve it. His eyes softened and his predatory smile vanished. Slowly, he started letting go of both girls but before Yukari could move away from him he took her arm and held her in place to whisper in her ear.
Yukari's eyes went huge and Lisa noticed how he gave the girl's arm a squeeze before she nodded. He let her go and she scrambled away with her two cohorts following closely behind.
Lisa watched them go and knelt down to inspect the contents of her discarded basket, hoping nothing had broken. She sighed with evident relief when she was done and picked it up.
"I-I got everything left on the list, we should go now before they come back."
He observed her for a moment and she noticed the way his eyes seemed to scan her face for something, until he shook his head and offered her a smile. He grabbed her hand and started walking further into the store "You don't have to worry about them anymore,"
"Hisami-kun, they might call the police, we really should—"
He ignored her, humming something to himself until he stopped in front of a shelf with a wide variety of Pocky of all flavors.
"I really love these, have you tried them before?"
Lisa nodded, surprised at the way he talked about Pocky as if it wasn't the most common snack in Japan.
Hisami grabbed a box of chocolate Pocky and winked at her "Let's not tell Nine about this, he doesn't like it when I spend money on snacks,"
She nodded at him, trying not to dwell on how sad that statement was, and started moving again when he tapped her shoulder.
"Which do you like?"
She shook her head, she had been enough of an inconvenience already, she didn't deserve treats, or his general kindness, really, but her eyes wandered to the pink strawberry package next to the chocolate ones and Hisami didn't miss the cue. He grabbed a box for her and dropped both on her basket before taking it from her hands.
"Now we can go," he beamed at her and led the way to check out.
Lisa stared at him, at the way he carried both full baskets with absolute confidence in his stride, how he didn't bother looking around for Yukari or any other sign of trouble, how he had gone from terrifying to playful and careless in a matter of seconds.
He carried himself with the fearlessness of somebody who could destroy the world. And she knew, deep down, that he could.
Yes, she should be afraid. She was nothing but a sheep and there was no telling that he wouldn't eventually get tired of playing nice and decided to sink his teeth into her.
Then why was it that she had never felt this safe before?
Was the wolf any better than the mean sheep?
It didn't matter. She had made her choice.