Title: Vulnerable
(A Personal Headcanon request by Shane-chan)
Summary: Let him protect you... Let him be your shield.
Author's Note: Welp, this is the final revision of my headcanon for you, Shane-chan. I have nothing to say anymore. I think I'm in love with you and Akashi together! Haha! Anyways, here you go.
Enjoy reading!
Shane had always been that way...
She was the most dominant high school girl everyone had ever known. She was tough and ferocious when provoked. She was independent and mature for her age. But despite being constantly serious, Shane was actually a great leader. The whole student body of Rakuzan Kyoto had acknowledged her as the best student council president they have ever voted for. Not only the students, but the teachers as well were very impressed by how Shane handled certain issues that had been in the halls of Rakuzan for a very long period of time. The number of bullies and gangsters dropped and the complaints about the high prices of food in the school cafeteria were settled right away. Vandalisms in the comfort rooms and in the library were avoided and school festivals were organized smoothly and successfully by her as the student council president. She had given Rakuzan Kyoto a great image, which is why the number of students who enrolled in her beloved school had soared up surprisingly high. There was no doubt that she was supreme.
She was absolute.
"That is unacceptable..."
But not until the captain of Rakuzan's basketball team had noticed her brillance. He had overheard it from his team mate, Nebuya Eikichi, about how strict the student council president was, about how Shane Molina was looking down upon him, despite the fact that he was the shortest lady he had ever seen wandering around the corridors of the school.
Shane was a powerful empress sitting on her throne inside the four corners of the student council office. She was able to control each and every student in the campus. Like pawns in her grasps, she was able to move each and every one according to her liking. Just like a game of Shogi. Just like the redhead captain. She was as absolute as he was.
However, the captain disapproved of such idea.
"There can only be one absolute ruler..."
The president had unknowingly caught the captain's full attention.
"I'm absolute..."
"Not her and not anybody else."
It was another day that had finally came to its end. The sun was setting and it was time to dismiss the members of Rakuzan's basketball team from their killer practice and training. However, Akashi Seijuro was still not satisfied from what he had seen. There was the lacking of improvement and the players' reaction times were off. He despised mistakes and would like to correct them as soon as possible.
"I am not satisfied. I see that all of you are not determined enough to be on this team." Akashi said as he folded his arms over his lower chest, his monochromatic eyes piercing each and every member of the team. "If these poor performances continue, I will have to remove each and every one of you off the team..."
The members of the team held back a gasp. Fear and fatigue etched all over their faces as they eyed each other with gazes of dread and anger.
"Now we wouldn't want that, would we?" Akashi said. Instead of protesting, all the members buried their burning emotions within them and swallowed down hard. They kept their mouths shut for their own good.
"We shall do one more round of dribbling and passing before I end today's practice."
"But what about the school president's orders? The school curfew and-"
"Kotaro." said Akashi, cutting off Kotaro mid-sentence. "Who is your captain?"
"A... Akashi Seijuro..." said Kotaro as he lowered his head.
"Right. I am your captain. Nobody else's orders will be obeyed but mine."
"However, the policies of the school shall prevail!" A strong but tiny voice had echoed across the court. Akashi and the others turned their heads to the source of such cute but dignified voice. It was a short girl with sleek mid-length black hair and eyes as dark as coal. Akashi smirked at the female standing at the entrance door of the gym.
"Well, if it isn't the president herself." The redhead said as he eyed her deadly. Nobody had ever opposed him except for her. It was not as bold as Akashi had thought, but rather foolish. Shane Molina had no idea that she was already inside his territory.
"The school curfew will commence within fifteen minutes. I suggest that you should save your team's practice for tomorrow, Seijuro." Shane said as she walked across the court, her black eyes trying to match his monochromatic ones.
"Time is of the essence. We will keep on practicing until I say so to stop." said Akashi. His voice seemingly deadly when felt. He and his team mates watched Shane approach them until she was finally standing in front of the captain.
"Seijuro, I don't want to deal with the same arguement over and over again! This is an order from the student council president! The rule is written in the student's handb-"
All of a sudden, Akashi grabbed Shane's wrist and pulled her in closer to his face. The redhead captain gave her one threatening glare. A glare that sent contradicting emotions inside herself. The raven-head stood frozen as the redhead took a few silent and fearsome moment staring into her soul. He then opened his lips as soon as he was done implanting fear inside her mind.
"Know your place."
Shane could only stare back at him upclose.
"Is this your court? You know perfectly well that this isn't yours. The school policies will prevail, but surely I can talk to the teachers myself about my reasons and intentions for the basketball team..."
The short girl could see Akashi's eyes glinting malevolently at her.
"I can defy your rules, Shane. You are welcome to watch me defy them all right before your eyes."
Shane could not process everything he was saying. She was too focused on his red hair, his flawless skin, his strong muscles, the sweat rolling down across his temple, his glinting monochromatic eyes, his lips and his strong, knobby hands that held her wrists tenderly. His greatest features pulled out a blush upon her cheeks. Her mouth opened but no voice came out. No words were rationally formed by her brain.
"Let go..."
Akashi raised an eyebrow as he watched Shane lower his head.
"Let go of me... You're hurting my wrist."
The redhead, realizing that he was holding her way too intensely, quickly loosened his grip on her small wrist. He noticed the redness of his face and the change of her facial expression. It wasn't the fearless and dignified ones Shane had always showed, but rather a timid and weak look that had slightly put him off guard. Akashi thought she was rather cute that way.
"This..." Shane mumbled as her face burn redder. "This'll be your last warning, Seijuro!"
The raven girl said before running away shamefully from Akashi. The team stood silent after witnessing what just had occured. Their captain, despite being given a warning, could not help but smirk once more. He finally knew how to make her vulnerable.
"I am interested in her."
Shane had always been that way...
But not until the captain of the basketball team decided to cross her mind everytime she would close her eyes. Shane had felt very uneasy after that last encounter. All she could think about was Akashi Seijuro and nobody else. The thought of him made her feel like she could fall on to her knees ever so easily. And she deeply resented such feeling, which was the reason why she tried her best avoiding him. She willingly gave herself more paper works, more school projects that were needed to be upheld in the campus, and everything else that she had to do just to keep her mind off the redhead captain.
"Kaichou, take it easy, you're not the only officer here. Come on. let me help you with those paperworks." The vice president said as he watched Shane write as fast as she could.
"N-No need. I can handle this myself." Shane forced out a tired smile. "Don't worry. I won't finish them all right away. Go on ahead. I'll be leaving as soon as I'm done with atleast ten more copies."
"Alright. Please don't push yourself too hard. The whole council wouldn't want you getting sick." said the vice president before leaving the office.
Shane was left alone, scribbling words that did not make sense to her anymore. The silence was slowly ringing inside her head as she sat there, feeling her head ache as she tried to focus more on her work. Then an unexpected knock on the office door got her attention. She gave herself a good reason to stop from what she was doing.
"Come in!" She said loudly. Just after her command, the door opened and a figure with red hair walked into the threshold. Shane's black eyes widened and her mouth sagged as she saw the redhead look at her with those beautiful eyes.
"S-Seijuro?!"
"Yes?" Akashi said as he approached the raven-head.
"W-What do you want?" Shane quickly looked back down at her paperworks, trying to evade Akashi's lovely face, keeping her face in apricot hue and not rosy red.
"Nothing really important. I just wanted to drop by and see you." The redhead said as he stood right beside where Shane was sitting. The young girl's heart began to race. She took subtle and deep breaths as she tried to get back to her work. "You haven't been showing yourself to the gym lately after that last encounter…"
"If you have nothing important to say, please leave immediately. I am too busy at the moment to entertain you." Shane said as stern as she could. But she could not help but glance at her side every now and then, causing her focus on her paper works to dwindle. "What you do with your team and for our school is none of my concern anymore. As long as you coordinate with the teachers well, I won't mind. After all, that gym belongs to you. I don't want to interfere with your team's trainings anymore."
"It doesn't seem like that to me, Shane. It seems that you're not avoiding or ignoring the basketball team at all." Akashi placed his hands on the papers that Shane's eyes were busy staring at. He was actually doing it on purpose, provoking the stressed and tired president.
"I think you're avoiding me."
"Seijuro!"
Shane gripped the ballpen she was holding tight.
"Keep your hands off my paperworks now."
"Look at me."
"Wh-Why should I?! Please stop distracting me from my work!"
"I said look at me."
Shane then slammed her hands down at the table as she stood on her feet. She stayed quiet before forcing herself to look at him.
"What do you want, Seijuro?..." mumbled Shane as she gazed at Akashi's eyes.
"What do I want, you say?" Akashi said as he locked gazes with the raven-head. "I want to know the reason why you're avoiding me."
"What makes you think that I'm avoiding you?" asked Shane, her hands clenched tight.
"I've been watching you lately..." Akashi admitted without any hint of doubts. "Whenever I look at you, you always look away just as soon as you see me looking at your direction. When you know I'm going to pass by you along corridors, you start running away as soon as possible..."
"Th-Those moments only happened by chance! It's just all in your head!" retorted Shane as she looked away from his gaze.
"See, right there. You're doing it again."
Akashi then placed his thumb below Shane's chin and turned her head facing right back at him again.
"Why are you trying to avert my gazes, Shane? Why are you avoiding me?"
The raven-head finally blushed at his touch. The way he was controlling her against her will was maddening. Her charm was weakening her, making her legs wobble. Her knees were knocking at each other as she tried to stay still and stand up straight for him. She hated that feeling. She could not hide how strong she was feeling for that redhead.
"It's... It's because..."
"Go on." Akashi commanded.
"It's because I know you're doing this on purpose." Shane said lowly as she tried to push away Akashi's hand below her chin. "You want to control me like your own pawn! You know what makes me vulnerable and you keep on using that to take advantage of me! That's why I keep avoiding you..."
Akashi watched tears fill in her black eyes. And once her eyes already overflowed with that salty liquid, the brim of her eyes finally released all of it down to her cheeks.
"As the student council president, I shouldn't show any signs of weakness... But you keep on revealing them for the whole school to see. You keep shoving it into my face that I have a weakness... That I can be vulnerable."
Akashi stood there, gazing at the short girl. He felt like it was best to stay silent as of the moment. It was best that Shane should let everything out first.
"So please... Please stay away from me from now on... Please get out now..." Shane sighed deeply. Akashi, however, did not move away from her, not even a single inch. Shane then took one step to push him away. "Seijuro, please get out n-"
Shane was put to a stop as soon as her head began to ache and her world began spinning. Her balance was unstable. She slowly gave in to her weight and was about to fall flat on the floor. Luckily, Seijuro caught her just in time.
"Shane, are you alright? I think you need to rest." Akashi said as he assisted Shane back to her seat. He then took out his water bottle from his bag. "Here, drink this... You have been abusing yourself for far too long now. You should stop overworking or else your body will take its toll."
"I... I know that..." Shane said weakly before drinking at Akashi's water bottle. Her lips were placed right where Akashi's lips were always touching the bottle-at the rim.
"Come, I'll take you home." said Akashi as he offered his hands to Shane. "Can you stand?"
"I-I'm not sure..."
"Fine, I'll carry you home then."
"Eeeeeeeehh?! Seijuro, you don't have to! I'm okay, I can walk perfectly, see?" The raven-head tried standing only to fail miserably in front of Akashi.
"I don't see anything okay about that." said Akashi, not convinced at all by Shane's performance. "Come here and I will carry you on my back. Don't try to refuse. It won't get you anywhere."
"F-Fine!" Shane gave in and allowed Akashi to carry her piggyback-style.
Evening came in as Akashi carried Shane along the subdivisions and the streets. Shane decided to break the silence building around them.
"I thought you had a private car, Seijuro? Why didn't we just take that option instead of carrying me home?" asked Shane softly as she buried herself into Akashi's back.
"Your house is not that far and I don't mind at all." said the red head. He made sure Shane won't fall from his back.
"This... This is your entire fault anyway... You've made me this way..." said Shane was she looked at Akashi's luscious red hair. "But you know... I think I like being vulnerable... at least when it comes to you, I mean..."
"Are you trying to confess your feelings to me?" Akashi asked, a small smirk was meaning to escape from his lips.
"I don't think I'll ever need to confess... You already knew it right from the start." Shane breathed the sweet scent of his uniform. It was like sniffing cherry blossoms on the first day of spring.
"But still, I'd like to hear the words with my own two ears." replied Akashi calmly. Silence had reigned once more until the raven girl finally broke it.
"I like you..."
Akashi paused for a moment from his walk. He took the time for the sentence he just heard to sink into his mind and heart. Shane gripped his uniform tight. The redhead didn't expect that she had the guts to tell him those words right away. He secretly admired her for such bravery. Maybe she wasn't really vulnerable when around him after all.
"I like you too, Shane."
Akashi said without even holding back. If Shane could do it, then so should he.
"You're not making a fool out of me, aren't you?"
"Why should I make a fool out of the girl I like?"
The wind blew hard against them. Shane's face had never been as red as tomatoes before.
"From this moment on, you are now officially my girlfriend."
"Eeeeeehh?! You can't just say it quickly like that, Sei-chan!"
"Sei... chan?" Akashi could not help but blush at the nickname Shane had given her.
"What? You don't like it?" The raven-head asked.
"I love it." Akashi calmly said as he smiled embarrassingly, away from Shane's line of vision.
"I'm glad you love it... I've been meaning to call you that, to be honest."
"So you really did have beem thinking about me for the past few weeks." said Akashi as he smirked yet again.
They continued their warm converstion as they journeyed through every intersection and street they had passed by and finally, after a few more walks, the couple had reached their destination. Akashi gently helped Shane stand on her own once again. Both stood closely at the front gate quietly.
"Are you sure you can walk all the way to the front door?" The redhead asked, holding the girl's hand firmly in his.
"Yes, Sei-chan... I promise." Shane let out a sweet smile that shot Akashi's heart bull's eye.
"Alright then... But before I go, I would like to give you something."
"What is it?" Shane asked in confusion.
"Just hold still. Don't you dare move." Akashi ordered. Shane did as she was told. Akashi then leaned down to her face and gave her a kiss on her cheek. He stayed that way for a long time. Shane held her breath the entire time. She tried not to scream and the closeness of their faces.
"I like you, Shane." Akashi whispered to Shane's ear after pulling away. "I may be the one who makes you vulnerable, but believe me; I will raise you up and make you stronger than you ever were..."
"Sei-chan!" the short raven-head embraced Akashi tight. "Arigatou!"
Akashi smiled and returned her embrace as tight as he could. Shane could not find the right words to say. It was true that love can make you think irrationally. And your actions, though you are considered the strongest, still will end up hopelessly defenseless. The presence of love is the most powerful of all. It is absolute.
As the short raven-head girl hugged her beloved, she realized that it really was alright to be vulnerable. It was not a crime to be weak. It was okay to bury herself in somebody's chest and let her burdens be lifted away by him. Shane tried to think about such feeling deeply...
'Let him protect you...
Let him be your shield.'