"You psycho bitch!" The outburst is startling, to say the least. Loud in the halls of her school and drawing attention to the venom in the voice of Ikari Haji. He's known as a quiet boy with seemingly no ill intentions towards anyone, though Kanra is having second thoughts about that.
"Do you get off on teasing men, you bitch?!" The answer was yes, she really enjoyed teasing people, but she hadn't meant to in this case. Rejecting a boy certainly didn't seem like teasing him, nor did it make her a psycho bitch as far as she was concerned. She hadn't done anything to Ikari with sexual implications, she had merely sat with him in the library a few times.
"You have no right to say no to me, it's fucking rude." He hisses, now, trying his luck once again by force. He's threatening her, using social conventions as his weapon. "You owe me a date."
"I don't owe you anything." Kanra's voice is casual, and she's already walking away from the scene with her head held high and face showing no signs of unease. She's not entirely uneasy, of course, because she's never had a boy react so angrily to her and the way his body language screams aggression has her shoulders tense. She'll never admit it, but she's never had to fight a boy before.
Girls, yeah she's fought lots of girls. Clawing, biting, punching, kicking, girls were ruthless in their battles be it mind or body but boys had never been a threat. No, boys liked Kanra. She was pretty, she knew, and her connections in school made her someone most boys wouldn't wish to cross. So far only girls, with too much confidence or too little care, had challenged her. And only Shizuka Heiwajima has proven to be a worthy opponent, so far.
"You fucking lead me on!" He shouts, catching up quick with long legs that look a lot more powerful now than they had when she'd been sitting with him in the library and quietly discussing Shakespeare.
"How?" She hisses, irritation clear in her voice. That's bad, of course, because her mask is slipping and if her mask slips then he'll know he's making her react. Boys were good at pushing, she's starting to learn, and she knows pushing never leads to anything pretty. He'd asked her out not ten minutes ago, and she'd declined with a simple "Not interested."
"You were flirting with me!" He grabs her arm hard to keep her still, leaning forward into her space and her heart picks up pace. 'Is this fear?' She wonders. 'Me? Afraid of this idiot!?' But her arm is starting to hurt and she can't back up with the way he's cornered her to a wall. Fight or flight is kicking in so hard it's making her dizzy.
Around her people shake their heads, students glaring at her for giving this boy the wrong idea. They don't mind that he's assaulting her, they don't care that he's hurting her, they're upset because she, a woman, apparently lead him, a man, on and that's somehow worse.
"I didn't." She says, calm as she can but that isn't much.
"You fucking did!" He doesn't budge, gripping her harder and getting closer.
"Let go!" She is not panicking, okay? She's been around dangerous men, she's an up and coming informant for the Yakuza after all, but they're always very polite to her. She'd arrogantly assumed it was respect for her skills, but now she's decided it's because she's a woman. She pushes at Ikari with her free hand, shoving him back and finally breaking his grip.
His eyes find hers, angry and that's very bad because she's seen boys fight and when they lock eyes it's never pretty. He shoves back, much harder than she had, and she smacks into the wall behind her. It hurts, knocking her head back behind the wall and she swears she hears someone laugh.
"Don't screw with me!" He shouts, getting in her face and Kanra has never felt embarrassed or afraid like this before. Ikari's fists are balled up, right arm raising like he's going to hit her and she's been hit before, but not like this. Not with everyone watching, practically cheering, and though it's not like her, she finds herself shrinking back as his fist pulls higher.
"PISS OFF!" Red flashes, one of the schools vending machines fly past, and Ikari doesn't stand a chance. He's knocked several feet away, the vending machine crashing further down the hall with glass shattering and cans flying. It knocks into walls as it goes, missing all the students except for Ikari of course, but crumbling part of the walls and other decorations in the hall. Some students run off, away from the danger, while others freeze where they are.
'Funny…' Kanra thinks, staring wide eyed at the wreckage. 'I thought they got rid of all the machines…'
"Disgusting." Shizuka snaps, huffing and pushing her golden hair back. She's glaring at where Ikari lays, likely unconscious and possibly dead. He deserves it if he is, of course, and she hopes he goes to hell in a flash of anger at the scene he caused. This will surely end up being bad for her reputation and that's bad for business.
"Ugghh…." The boy groans, hands slowly coming to hold his bleeding head as he curls into a tight ball on the ground. 'Not dead, then.'
"Ya okay, ant?" Shizuka asks, voice hushed so no one hears. Golden eyes are concerned, something she's seen often but never directed at her. Come to think of it, this is the first time anyone has been worried about her, excluding her little brothers.
"Why?" She asks, instead of answering. Because no, she isn't okay and she'll never say so. This wasn't okay.
"Why what?" Shizuka asks, frowning at her. Her uniform is dusty, probably from the vending machine, and Kanra can see a small tear in the sleeve from one of their past fights.
"Why did you help me?" Kanra demands, staring down her worst enemy.
"Because you needed it." The blonde states, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. She's still angry, glancing at the boy with cold eyes and zero sympathy. The remaining students are already starting to whisper about Ikari being beaten up by a boy and it isn't right.
Shizuka is the most feared student in the entire school. With inhuman strength and an incredible sense of justice, you'll find her stomping on bullies and holding her hand out to victims. She beats up assholes who attack her, takes down bullies with ease, and often chucks school property at Kanra herself for weaving traps and playing cruel games on their fellow students.
And yet, she is hated. Severely. If she were a boy it might be a little different, she might have made more than two friends and people would simply be wary of her at the least, but as a girl with such strength and little hesitation to use it, she's shunned.
She tries to be liked, it's not like she wants to be an outcast. She takes good care of her hair, makes pretty bentos, and keeps up with what's popular. She tries to avoid fights when she can and often states how much she hates violence. She has cute charms for her phone and loves her little sister, but none of that stops boys from calling her scary and gross or the other girls teasing her if they're brave enough.
And now, because she is a girl who just beat up a boy, again, she's going to be teased even more. No one will focus on her skills or that she helped someone. Instead they're going to mock Ikari for being beaten up by a girl, and hate Shizuka because she's different.
And Kanra has even helped fuel these things, spreading nasty rumours about Shizuka and calling her a "beast" or "monster" whenever she can. She doesn't even use her real name, and has gotten many of the students to use "doggy" instead of Shizuka's real name. Partially because she's bitter about the other girls instant dislike of her the instant Shinra introduced them, but that's something to ponder on another day.
And yet here, today, Shizuka helped her. Simply because Kanra needed help, with no other meaning behind it. It doesn't matter what Kanra has done to her, she's stepped up and helped her because she needed it.
Now Kanra has a decision to make, and it turns out to be surprisingly easy.
"Thank you, Shizu-chan." She says, smiling at the way Shizuka's cheeks immediately flush at her new nickname. It's cutsey, almost as girly as one can get and likely something Shizuka has never been called before. Shizuka huffs, crossing her arms and obviously trying not to smile.
So, Kanra will ignore the whispers. She'll remember that boys can be irrational and violent and scary, and she'll strive to be better than that. Because there's a girl with pretty blonde hair, cute bentos and the strength of a bear who's saved someone who bullied her from the day the first meant and that means something to Kanra.
"You're welcome, Kanra-chan."