Warning-Mentions of sexual harassment.
"What did you want, Haruna?" I asked, annoyed. I hoped that Haruna had missed the slight tremor of my voice. Damn it, Takaya, I thought to myself. You're supposed to be over what happened. Flinching internally, I warded off those dark thoughts. But no matter how hard I tried to purge himself of those dark memories, they still caught me at the worst of times. But my attention was quickly drawn back to the boy standing in front of him.
"Oh, I justed wanted to chat. See how you were doing with that new pitcher of yours," Haruna casually responded.
I knew that couldn't be it.
Impossible.
He took a step forward and cornered me against the wall. We were outside the restrooms set up outside the stadium. Our team was waiting for us, and Mihashi was in the men's room right now. If i needed to, i could call for help-but I didn't. What help would MIhashi be?
I tried to convince myself that was the reason I was rendered speechless. Definitely not because he was making me feel like I was twelve again, helpless and afraid. I tried to keep calm.
"Oh, Mihashi? Yeah, uh, he's really good," I winced. That, of all things, was my response of choice. Smooth, Takaya. I decided to reason it down to the fact I was in a high pressure situation.
Haruna's proximity to me was making my brain go fuzzy. I would curse myself for it later–but right now, I was scared and nervous. I felt like i was back in the old locker room, and everyone else was gone already. Haruna had pushed against the wall of the shower, and then he–
Oh, hell no.
Not right now.
I forced myself to look up at Haruna, and was almost surprised to find my vision cloud with tears.
Why am I crying? He hasn't done anything yet. But i can tell from the look in his eyes, that sadistic glint. I tried to breathe.
"I bet doesn't treat you right, does he?" Harune said, blocking my exit with an arm. He leaned forward to my ear to speak the next part.
"He doesn't do to you what I did, does he? He never gave you what you know you want, deep down."
The tears started pouring down my face.
You shit, you should be able to control yourself. He isn't doing anything to you, you dumb fuck. Calm down. This is what he wants.
No matter how much I tried to reason with myself, I couldn't relax. The memories were merging with reality. I felt Haruna's hand ghost over the buckle of my pants. I tried to fight him, but i was shocked into moving. I just tried to keep the tears back and hoped he would come to his senses soon.
You had to know it would happen. You aren't allowed to be happy for too long, it has to be spoiled, he'll always be here when you get too happy. Even if it's not in the flesh, it'll be in memory.
Haruna began to start unbuckling his pants when I heard a voice from my right, fairly close to me.
Before I even registered what the person said, my first thought was, I hope it isn't someone I know. I really hope it isn't someone from the team. I hope it isn't the coach, or worse, Tajima–
"Get away from him."
Was that….
Mihashi?
"I told you to get away from him, Haruna. I will tell someone what just happened if you don't," Mihashi stated, his voice harsh and without a trace of the usual stutter and tremor I had come to associate with him.
I was relieved, but not enough to smother my embarrassment.
Mihashi can't see me like this. Nobody can see me when I'm so weak. No one was supposed to find out what he did, because he would just make it worse. But you don't see him everyday. You moved to a different neighborhood. You're safe. But still, it's humiliating to be seen in such a state.
Haruna leaned back, and turned away from me. He had an empty smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Have fun with your little boy toy, Takaya. I can't wait until we meet again."
He continued walking away like nothing bad had just transpired.
I flinched at his words, and slid down the wall. I pulled my legs into my chest and tucked my chin in, fighting tears.
I hear Mihashi walk up to me. I instinctively curled into myself further, retracting my limbs.
Instead of trying to coax me away, he just sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. He rubbed his thumb in comforting circles in my back.
And thats how we stayed.
No one asked any questions when we finally got back on the bus, but there was no doubt in my mind that there were going to be bets placed and rumors flying about the incident before we even got back home.