Hi y'all! Back for another story! Thank you FeralG3 for requesting this. I hope you guys enjoy and please don't hesitate to comment! :D
Whispers. All she could hear were whispers as she walked down the hallway. She held her head high and looked straight forward intent on getting to her class without breaking down into a teary mess.
"Hey, it's her."
"I can't believe she did that to him."
"She's so plain. I can't believe she would cheat on Maseo. He totally deserves more than her."
Tatsu wanted to scoff as much as the hurt clogged up her throat. What did they know?
She wanted to scream out that she wasn't the one that cheated or had been telling lies for a majority of their relationship but she kept her mouth pressed tightly together. It wouldn't help anything since her boyfriend—exboyfriend, she corrected herself—had the whole school fawning over him like a movie star.
He was the star swimmer of the school and she a nobody. That's why it had surprised her that he had asked her out in the first place when she thought he didn't even know she existed. For first month of their relationship, he made her feel famous with all the new friends and attention but it didn't last. He became distant and bitter. Joke was on her when she caught him in bed with someone else. Her bed. Didn't even have the decency to go to his own home, the bastard.
When she confronted him about it, he yelled that she was frigid for not wanting to have sex with him in the first place. Apparently by a month, he had expected to get luck with her and when it didn't happened for their whole three month relationship, he had enough and decided that the lead cheerleader was better than her.
She should have never agreed to go out with him in the first place because heartbreak and sadness was the only thing relationships were good for. He just wanted to conquer the new transfer student who he didn't check of his list yet, and she fell for the nice boy routine.
When Tatsu walked through the door all chatter ended except for a few people in the back. She moved to her seat against the window and ignored the looks being tossed her way. A particular one that bore into the side of her face was from a girl who used to be a friend when she dated Maseo. Guess that part of her life was over now since the cold glare was none too welcoming.
She didn't know what she was going to do. Being a transfer student didn't exactly help especially when the only group of friends you made were all from your ex-boyfriend's cliche. It was back to being alone since she wasn't exactly the most social with her quiet demeanour. Tatsu let out a quiet sigh of relief when the teacher entered the room and all attention shifted away from her.
It was fifteen minutes before class ended when the door swung open and a rather bulky teen sauntered in whistling a tune without any books or even a backpack.
"Mr. Harkness, you better have a good reason to be walking in so late," the teacher said, not even bothering to turn away from the board. Considering how often this happened, almost every morning, the teacher knew exactly who it was who had walked in.
When the boy began to open his mouth, Tatsu knew that some sarcastic comment was about to be made in his trademarked Australian accent. Tatsu didn't know a majority of her classmates well but she knew him for his infamous reputation and the crowd that he hung around.
Digger was loud, obnoxious and a down right pain in the ass to all the teachers around him. Even in the limited time she spent in the high school, she knew of his violent streak and his rather deranged sense of humour. Last she heard, he had strung up one of the jocks from the football team on the flag pole and began singing the national anthem as the boy screamed and swung around. Tatsu never cared much about the rumours, but from what she could see, he wasn't exactly someone she would want to trifle with.
A large hand ran through his brown hair and grinned before saying, "Funny story teach, you see me and my nana were having a game of mahjong-."
"You know what, I don't care enough for you excuses today," the teach cut him off and there was a distinctly loud laugh that came from the back. Tatsu didn't have to look back to know that it came from Harley, one of the girls in the group that had been dubbed the Suicide Squad. Why they were called that, she didn't really know and never had much opportunity to ask. "I expect you in detention for an hour after class. Take your seat."
Smirk still on his face, Digger shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the back of the class. Along the way, he passed Tatsu's seat and seeing that she was intently watching him, winked in her direction. It took her by surprise and she snapped her eyes back to the board.
Before long, the bell rang and she packed up her bag. One class done. Now only a couple more to go before the end of the day. She could do this.
At the end of the day, Tatsu got out of the class as fast as she could and thanked any one who would listen that she didn't run into Maseo for the whole day. She was half way to her apartment before she realized that the book she needed for an assignment due the next day was left in the class desk. With a huff, she made her way back to the school hoping beyond hope that everyone was gone.
Her prayers were answered when she found abandoned hallways and empty classrooms. She was so sure that she was alone that she when she got to the door of her classroom, she whipped it open without much thought. And then she stopped in her step.
Behind the teacher's desk was Digger with something metal clenched between his lips and crouched near the desk drawer. His hands gripped other metal instruments that were inserted into the drawer's lock. Well, she definitely didn't expect to burst into the room and see her classmate picking the lock to the teacher's desk.
Surprised, Tatsu stood in front of the open door for a few seconds before Digger talked through the metal pin in his mouth. "Mind closing the door, sheila?" He wasn't even phased by her entrance and moved his eyes back to the lock.
She was so shocked that she felt herself stepping out of the entrance so that the door could close behind her. Without a word, she made her way to her desk and dug out the book from the cubby below it. When she got back to the front of the class, Digger was still there picking the lock. She had so many questions, but mostly it amused her...in an odd way.
It wasn't like she was a vigilante. In fact, if you asked anyone about her, they would say that Tatsu was an average Japanese teenager who got good grades and mostly kept to herself. But this, this amused her. He didn't even care that she was now intently staring at him.
There was a click and soon Digger was sliding the drawer out. He stood and placed all pins back in his pocket before riffling through the papers that were stacked inside. He seemed to find the one that he was looking for and started snapping photos of it.
Without noticing her own actions, she crept closer until she was in reading distance and her eyes widened when she realized that it was the next day's calculus test. She didn't have to know him long to know that he was probably flunking the class and needed the grades. So much for hard work and studying.
"Want me to send it to you too, sheila?" His voice was so loud that Tatsu jumped back a bit and was left staring at his eyes. His grey eyes. She didn't really want to question why she noticed their colour, or why their gaze made her want to blush. It was then she noticed that she was standing only a couple feet away from him and that he was waiting for her to answer.
"My name's not Sheila," Tatsu commented while scrunching up her nose. A loud laugh erupted from his chest at her expense.
"And so she speaks." He pocketed his phone and shoved the papers back in the drawer before shutting it.
Tatsu opened her mouth to retort and realized that her throat was a bit hoarse. Those were the first words she had ever said to him. And the first words she had said today.
"Your not going to tattle on me are you?" The question was asked but by the look on his face, Digger didn't seem to care whether she told someone or not.
"It's none of my business," she responded and made to turn to the door.
It was only when she was in the hallway that she heard the footsteps following after her. When she turned her head, she saw the Australian man following after her with his hands in his pockets.
She picked up her speed thinking that perhaps he was just walking in the same direction. When his footsteps also sped up, she turned and put her hands on her hips. "Why are you following me?"
A cocky grin spread on his lips. "What makes you think I'm following you?"
"You just turned two corners to follow after me even though they go nowhere near the entrance of the school. Besides what are you even doing outside of the classroom, you're suppose to be in there for an hour for detention, not to pick the lock and run."
"Keeping track of me are you." Her face heated and she pivoted on the spot to make her way back to the main gates. "Wait. Wait," Digger called after her as he made his way to her side. As she walked, he kept up with her pace. "Was just joking with you. Thought we made a good team back there."
"Team?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah, you know, thief and the accomplice."
"I am not your accomplice," she bit out.
They bickered as they made their way to the front gates, Tatsu not even noticing that she hadn't spoken in that clipped way in a very long time. There was very few individuals that she spoke so freely to.
"Why you walking so fast?" Digger asked a tad out of breath.
"I never asked you to walk with me and I have somewhere to be."
"Ah of course. Bet swimmer boy is waiting for you. Better go before his swarm of fans take your place."
At those words, Tatsu stopped mid-step. Her heart seized. For a couple minutes, she had forgotten about the heartbreak but now it was back, drawing the air from her lungs and bringing tears to her eyes.
Digger stopped beside her. "Oi, what's up?"
She had held out for the whole day regardless of the whispers and stares but the way that Digger had said it with such indifference and the way he phrased it had hit home. From his words, she couldn't tell whether he was purposefully riling her up or if he didn't know that they had broken up, but the words were so on point that they made her throat clog and tears well in her eyes.
"Hey," Digger persisted.
She heard him take a breath, but before he could say anything else, Tatsu fixed a tear-filled glare at him. Wiping her eyes, she walked around him and took off in a sprint.
It all just hurt too much.
What was wrong with him?
When he closed his eyes all he could see were the tears that streaked Tatsu's face as she ran from him. He had been so shocked to see the usually tight-lipped and apathetic looking girl cry that instead of chasing after her to apologies and ask what was wrong, he instead stood there like a statue. But what did he care? Tears never got to him before. Before her. Heck, Harley's crocodile tears when she wanted something had made him immune to such things.
Regardless, the image popped back into his mind throughout the night, causing him to twist and turn instead of sleep. Even the next day, it bugged him enough that the first thing he did was look around the school for her but wasn't surprised when he didn't find her. It was a large school and her being an honour student usually put her in different classes than him. It was a fluke that he even had math with her.
He didn't even know why he knew she was an honour student. When she had transferred into the high school some months ago, he had to admit that he thought her attractive. All she gave were little smiles and was typically very quiet, but there was always some secret to those that were silent.
Being part of the Suicide Squad, as others like to call them, had some perks. Being surrounded by a lot of crazy and damaged teens, tended to give you a crazy radar that pinged when ever someone just like them was around. And around Tatsu, it pinged. He just did not know why.
"Digger? What you staring at?"
Harley's voice took him out of his staring contest with the wall and he turned to look at the bubbly girl. As normal, she had her platinum blonde hair in pigtails with the tips dyed half-blue and half-pink. He didn't know how she pulled it off, but the explosion of colour always worked for her. Behind her came Floyd, having the presence of a barn house and was staring down anyone who was staring at his little sister. You would never think that the muscly teen with his dark skin and serious demeanor was the elder brother to the pale skinned, all-smiles Harley, but they had been raised together since they were children. Siblings by something more than blood.
"Okay now your staring at me like your having some sort of internal monologue..." Harley chattered as she took a seat on the bench to eat her lunch. Floyd took a seat beside her, and when Harley unwrapped her sandwich, took it before she could even get a bite of it. "Hey! Get your own."
After taking a rather large bite, Floyd handed it back to the pouting Harley.
"What do you know about Tatsu and her boyfriend?" Digger blurted out the question before he could stop himself. He saw the curiosity in both Harley and Floyd's eyes at his question. He never usually cared enough to ask about anyone else outside of there group.
"Well that's different," Floyd mumbled as he opened his own lunch.
Harley tilted her head to the side and looked at him like he had grown a second head. And as far as Digger was concern, may be he had. It would explain why he was thinking and acting like this.
"The new transfer student and the swimming guy?" Harley asked and besides his better knowledge, Digger nodded. "They broke up over reading break. Apparently, she cheated on him, but that's only rumours. Honestly from the psychoanalysis I did on them as a couple, I would have pegged that Maseo was the one that cheated and just blamed it on Tatsu. Then again..."
Digger didn't hear the rest of Harley's sentence. He didn't know her at all outside the small glimpses he'd had of her and the conversation yesterday, but he would never see her as a cheater. In fact, the tears from the previous day practically proved that she didn't. Or was she crying because she did cheat and was now feeling sorry for herself. There was no way she cheated. Why was this so confusing, and why did he care...
"Digger?" Harley called out to him, "Earth to Digger. What's up? Why are you asking about her? Wanna talk about it?"
"It's nothing," he replied trying to keep it short since he didn't really know why he was curious in the first place.
"Wanna talk about what?" Croc grunted as he walked up to the table with Diablo and June not too far behind.
Digger opened his mouth to answer but Harley beat him to it. "Digger has a crush on Tatsu and was wondering what her relationship status was!" she said rather excitedly.
The words had him stopping in his thoughts. "Where the fuck did you get that from, mate?" he said tersely
"What? Isn't that why you were asking? You've never been interested in a girl before."
"No. No no no. Absolutely not. Your going apeshit, Harley," he said quickly. "You know, let's just drop it."
"Uh huh," Floyd nodded his head, but the look in his eyes was that of amusement, annoying Digger just a little bit.
It wasn't until the end of the day that Digger spotted Tatsu. He was on his way out of the school when he saw her through the buildings window walking out of the school gates. Without a thought, he made an excuse to his friends about going ahead and rushed to catch up to her.
Once he got to the main gates, he turned the same corner as her and wasn't surprised when he didn't see her. He should have turned back at that moment since he was never the type of person to run after girls, but something pushed him forward and he jogged until he saw her figure enter a traditional Japanese building. As soon as Tatsu entered, she shut the door behind her. It was only then that Digger came out of his hiding spot around the corner and ventured closer.
"A Japanese dojo?" he mumbled to himself with slight confusion and crept closer towards the wooden door. Tatsu seemed so lean that he could never picture her hitting even a fly, but heck, what did he know. He stepped onto the wooden stairs and stopped when he heard it creak underneath his weight. As he slowly snuck up the stairs, something in his mind called him a stalker and even he had to admit to himself that it was creepy. The easier method would be to knock on the door and wait for someone to answer, but he really needed to apologize to Tatsu and there was a chance that she wouldn't talk to him voluntarily. Besides, he was curious as to what she was doing in there.
His hand gripped the sliding door and when it resisted the tug, he knew that it was locked. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration and made his way down the stairs. Maybe he would be able to speak with her tomorrow.
Or... He eyed the wall that surrounded the property. It wasn't too tall and he had plenty of practice scaling walls from some possibly illegal acts that he may or may not have participated in.
With his nerves steeled, he grabbed onto the large bricks that made up the wall and used his strength to pull himself to the top. With minimum effort, he swung his leg over the top and straddled the wall. From there he could see the garden that made up the majority of the complex. At the back was a large building that he was sure was the main dojo. He hopped down and landed with a thud before collecting himself and strolling past the plants onto the main walkway.
There was no one around to see him sneak in, but the place looked well taken care off and was a complementary merge between traditional and modern. When he got to the main building he once again slowed his step and grabbed for the sliding door. This time when he pulled it yielded and slid open a crack. He peered into the room and was surprised to see that it was empty. He was so sure that she was here.
After several moments, still no one appeared. His frustration and confusion getting the better of him, he slid the door the rest of the way and stepped into the dojo. Digger looked around astounded at the wooden walls and large open space. He had never been to a place like this since his boxing gym was mostly cluttered junk and smelled a tad like rotten socks. A smirk was on his face until he felt pain spread on his back and a force push him forward.
With a thud, he landed on the mats and had just enough time to process the fact that he had been kicked on the back before a fist connected with the mat beside his face. When he rolled to the side, another fist made a dent in the space where he previously was. He scrambled to get up and managed to kneel on the mats before he saw a leg come flying at his face. With a grunt, he blocked the kick with his arm and grabbed onto the ankle before flinging it and the person attached to it across the room.
He didn't her a grunt or a crash as he regained his standing-stance. Pivoting on his foot, he planted his feet and looked towards where he had tossed his assailant only to notice that there was no one there. For a second, he stood completely perplexed at the situation before a winding blow hit his stomach. All he saw was black hair before he collapsed onto the mat with a thud.
When he tried to prop himself on his elbow, a glinting sword was positioned close to his neck stopping any movement he would have made.
"Bugger," he whispered to himself before looking up to see who was wielding the weapon.
Shock was plain on Digger's face when Tatsu looked down at him. To be fair, she was also pretty shocked when he's eyes locked onto hers.
She knew that someone was following her but didn't see his face while she snuck around the room to avoid his gaze, and his face was always facing down or the other direction while they fought. It may have seemed a little excessive to attack a person she didn't know but years of training had made her stealthy and a little bit paranoid. Besides, it was odd for someone to follow her around, no matter who it was.
"You know, sheila, usually it's the guy pointing a 'sword' at the girl," Digger said his voice filled with laughter.
His face was no longer shocked and instead a smirk took its place.
"Ever point that 'sword' at me, and I'll have to use mine to separate it from your body," she said with a slight smile to her lips. She sheathed the sword and backed up to give him room to stand up, but when he made no move to stand, she looked at his face again.
His eyes were staring directly at hers and his jaw was slightly slack. When he didn't move for another few seconds, Tatsu asked, "What are you staring at?"
She touched the skin on her face. Perhaps, she had sweat running down her face or a piece of hair in her mouth.
"You smiled."
The reply caught her totally by surprise and pink rushed to her cheeks for a moment before she quickly composed herself. It wasn't like her to let her emotions show, after all, it lost people fighting matches when there was a hint of fear in their eyes. But it had been awhile since she had fought against someone, and she enjoyed being able to use some of her martial arts on something a bit more entertaining than just a bunching bag. It was fun and somehow, Digger was responsible for the slight high that she was feeling at that moment.
"I can't smile?" She felt awkward being complemented so she tried to deflect the attention.
"Naw, sheila, just haven't seen it before." Finally, he heaved himself off the ground and stretched.
"I told you my name isn't Sheila."
"I know. It's Tatsu. Where I come from, sheila is slang for a beautiful woman," Digger said with a smirk and chuckled when pink rose to her cheeks again. His smirking face was quickly becoming one of her favourite things to see and that thought alone had her worrying about what was happening to her.
"What are you doing sneaking in here? How did you get in here?" her voice cut into Digger and he froze in his stretches.
Yeah, it was pretty stalker like to be run after someone, climb a wall when the door was locked, and then proceed to get your ass kicked by said person. "First, you might want to make the wall taller, it isn't that hard to scale," he took a breath, "And second, I'm sorry."
Her mind reeled at how apologetic he looked regardless of how foreign that expression looked on his features. He didn't look like the type of person to apologize. "Sorry?"
"Yeah," he continued, looking a bit uncomfortable with the sincere words coming out of his mouth. "For yesterday. I didn't realize that it was over between you and the swimmer. After Harley told me, what I said seemed rather insensitive."
Tatsu stared at him, shocked at his words. After the week she had, she was ready to burst into tears from hearing such understanding words, and from Digger no less. Then, her mind flipped to the source of his knowledge. There was no doubt that he had probably heard it from the rumours that were floating around. So why was he apologizing to her when he should have been calling her a whore like the others. Her eyes steeled when she answered.
"There is nothing to apologize for. Besides, it was my fault right?" she asked more than stated, her voice coming out sadder than she had intended.
"Bullshit!" the words were said with so much force that they echoed in the empty room and made Tatsu's eyes widen in surprise. "I don't know much about the things going around about the two of you, but that swimmer had always been a playboy even before you came. I know for a fact that he happens to be with more than half the cheerleaders since you guys broke up."
Hearing him say that Maseo had been with a lot of people last week hurt, but at the same time there was twinge of happiness that Digger had even taken the time to find out more about her and the actual situation that had occurred.
When she didn't answer for a while, Digger grasped for something to say thinking that something he had said made her upset. "Shit, I didn't mean to say that last part...it just that...well...shit."
"You found all that because of what happened yesterday?" she asked, effectively saving him from the stuttering mess that he had become.
"Yeah, I may be stupid, but I know people." When Tatsu stared at him with slight disbelief, he chuckled. "Okay, well one of my mates knows people and is a fan drama. She says it like a movie. Besides, you don't seem like someone who would cheat."
"Thank you," she said quietly. When Digger smirked and the guilt from his eyes diminished, she offered him a small smile. There stared at each other for a while until it got excessively long and awkward, and both of them diverted their eyes quickly.
"So we square then?" Digger asked.
"As long as you don't go stalking after me again, we're square."
"That depends on if you let me in or not."
Tatsu quirked up an eyebrow in question. "Who says you allowed in here? And why would you want to come here?"
Instead of answering, Digger's eyes traced the length of her body slowly. Following her gaze, Tatsu saw her white crop top and low riding black leggings. In the heat of the moment, she had forgotten about the rather revealing attire and felt herself redden in response to his obvious appraisal. At school, the most revealing thing that she wore were tight jeans. After years and years of martial arts, she knew her body was toned and well defined but she never felt comfortable with people's gazes on her. Then again, she didn't mind Digger's at the moment.
She coughed into her hand when his eyes still hadn't lifted from their perusing. "You can stop ogling me anytime now."
Instead of looking up like a normal gentleman, Digger kept his eyes where they were. "I'm good thanks," he said humorously.
Tatsu unsheathed the sword in her hand slightly and allowed Digger to see the glint of the blade underneath. Immediately his eyes snapped up and he put his hands palm up in a defensive posture. A slight smile tugged at her mouth as she turned around to place the sword back on the weapons rack.
"Is that real?" she heard Digger ask as she secured the sword.
Turning around to face him, she raised an eyebrow. "Did it look real?"
"Yeah, but when someone beats you up and places an object to your neck, you kind of don't have time to assess if its a real traditional Japanese sword or just a replica."
She looked at his quizzically for a moment. "You know swords?"
Digger shrugged in response. "No, not particularly. But I do know blades. Like to make boomerangs with sharpened edges for a little extra flare." He walked over the collection of shurikens that were on the shelf beside her. Before he could grab for one of them, Tatsu grabbed his wrist to which he gave a her a look. "Relax, Katana, I've handled sharpened objects before."
"Katana?" Digger gave he another shrug.
"It's an appropriate nickname." When she finally let go of his wrist, he took one of the shurikens and held it in his palm. "Yeah, these will work."
In one smooth motion, he chucked the sharpened object against the practice board that was across the room. To Tatsu's surprise, it hit square in the center of the bullseye that was painted on it. She turned her questioning look at him.
He grinned at her. "You're not the only one with literal killer moves."
She couldn't help but smile back at him.