A lesson not needed
by
Silver-Eyed Rukia
Rated: M (language and topic of rape)
Pairing: Shizuru x Natsuki (hinted)
Note: Please ignore any mistakes. Or point them out and correct me, whatever you prefer.
The late afternoon sun was basking the few remaining hours of the day in a bright light, a sign that summer had finally truly begun. Large clusters of people were gathering in front of the city's most favourite and well known club, their idle chattering acompanied by the cicadas' loud chirruping.
I sighed as I lifted the upper hem of my top, trying to fan some wind onto my heated skin while I kept watch on how many people were still in front of us in the long queue whose end I couldn't even see anymore. Judging by the time it took us to get this far I assumed the remaining time to be around another thirty to sixty minutes.
"Hey Shiz, got anything to drink on you? I swear I'm melting!"
Crimson orbs traveled from the uncountable amount of strangers towards the voice that had just adressed me, smiling at the look of utter misery she was fakingly giving me.
"I am afraid not, you have to wait until we can get it."
I couldn't keep a laugh from excaping my painted lips as Midori's whole body collapsed into itself, shoulders dropping and expression following suit.
"I hate you, you know that."
I smirked. "Love you too."
Another fifteen minutes went by in silence. Well, between the two of us. The rest of the crowd was as noisy as ever, even going so far that some were already getting so drunk that the security from Club Artemis started throwing them off their property. I caught sight of a rather tall, blackhaired woman that was dragging two males away from the entrance, collars grabbed tightly between her fingers. She stopped in front of the lawn seperating the outside "waiting area" from the street and tossed the dead drunk boys onto it, effortlessly dodging a phone that they chucked at her in their drunken stupor.
Her mouth moved but I couldn't hear anything, she was too far away and it was far too noisy. She was reciting the club's rules, I guessed. Standard procedure to stay out of trouble with lawyers if the drunk and the dumb decided to sue them for kicking them out. 'She's really pretty for a bouncer', I mused in my head as she turned around, moving back towards the entrance. Someone close to me moved, letting the bright rays of the sun hit me at full force. I winced and rose my arm to shield my face from the insufferable brightness before another person took the previous spot, blocking out the light again. I blinked, trying to clear the spots off my vision, when I caught sight of the bouncer waving at me, a wolfish grin on her features.
I blinked and before I fully realized it, she was gone. I vaguely heard Midori saying something about being the mistress of flirting, even from a high distance but I didn't pay attention, just smiling a little at the random exchange of...well, what exactly?
"I don't think you can call that a flirt", I said loud enough for her to hear, trying to get a look at the woman again. I tiptoed and to my misfortune someone used that moment to push the crowd, making me stumble and nearly fall face first into the person in front of me. To my surprise, apparently as much as to his surprise, the guy had turned around just in time to catch my falling form. I regained my posture and thanked him, noticing his touch linger longer on my arms than neccessary.
"It has been my pleasure, Miss...?"
I sighed inwardly, slightly annoyed at the open flirt attempt. But outwardly I just gave my usual smile. I guess for most people it's normal to be attracted to the opposite gender after all.
"You can call me Shizuru, Mister Stranger."
"Reito. The name's Reito. Damn I'm a dumb fellow, I didn't even tell you my name before asking yours."
'I couldn't agree more.' I scolded myself for the thought and let my years of practice take over for me. Practice at acting like I care about everything and anything the person talking to me says, faking interest in their person and just generally small-talking to get them to stop bothering me. Sadly this guy was apparently way too eager to get someone to talk to whilst ignoring any sort of personal space as he kept randomly touching my arms or my shoulders, making it look like someone from the crowd had pushed him.
The redhead next to me finally seemed to have enough of his attempts when he went for a grab way beyond my waist, wrapping her fingers around his outstretched wrist and twisting it so harshly that he yelled out in pain, falling to his knees to avoid further harm.
"Look, Prince Douchebag, thanks for the save from getting her face smashed by your oh so rock hard back, but fuck off. She's a woman, not meat."Midori's glare was enough to shut him up and I was glad that it was finally time for us to enter the club. He was a player, even a blind person with a guide-dog would have seen it. And those types never let go of what they want.
"Thanks Mi. He was getting rather attached."
Merry laughter reached my ears as we both handed our I.D.s to the bouncer outside the establishment before going further inside.
"He was going to attach himself to you more like it. His mind probably had sideways plans for you."
I faked a gag at the thought and my green-eyed friend only started laughing harder, catching some odd looks from the people around us. Loud, bass-heavy music was flowing out of the dance hall and made my chest vibrate from the intensity. Only the wardrobe and the checkout were still between us and our first day of summer vacation and my excitement rose. This was my first time actually being in this club and after Midori bugged me about going there for the millionth time this year I finally budged and well, the rest is history.
We split up. She took our stuff towards the warderobe while I bought us tickets. The line inside was much shorter so it only took me about five minutes to arrive at the checkout. I rumaged through the back of my hotpants before I realized my mistake: I had forgotten to take the the money out of my...
"Well, this is awkward", I mumbled while raising my head to look at the woman sitting at the register. Her obviously dyed, red hair reflected the dimmed light from the spotlights above, her lime green eyes were barely acknowledging anyone asking for a ticket and she was, gladly enough, paying zero attention to anything besides her phone, save for counting the money people gave her in exchange for allowed entry into the establishment.
I swallowed and hoped that she would not choose to look up for her display just yet as I dug into my bra, pulling out a twenty dollar bill for both me and Midori. I let out a silent sigh of relief when she indeed did not look at me and just placed the tickets on the counter. Suddenly, the music stopped, just a few seconds of silence between songs due to a probably inexperienced DJ, but it was enough for me to catch the chuckle coming from just behind me.
I turned around to come face to face with none other than the blackhaired bouncer I had met earlier, only that this time she wasn't what felt like miles away, but rather standing right behind me. Her beautiful, emerald coloured eyes held a humorous sparkle in them as she leaned down to whisper something into my ear, coming so close that I could feel her hot breath brushing against my ear and blowing away some lose strands of hair.
"Careful, if anyone sees that they might want to rob and grope you. Two birds, one stone, y'know?"
Her voice was deep, husky, nearly unnaturally so for a woman and it left me dumbstruck when she just turned on her heels and left for the entrance. The beat from the music came back full force, but somehow I doubted that my heart was beating so strongly due to the bass. I blinked away the surprise and instead tried to regain my composure. 'Get it together, Shizuru. You usually make others weak, not the other way around.' I pinched my side for good riddance and finally, after reuniting with Midori, entered the club in hopes of forgetting the last, exhausting school year. And the very sexy voice of a certain blackhaired bouncer.
I was well into my god-knows-what amount of drinks, had successfully driven off any guys trying to hit on me, even though I think that was more thanks to my martial arts champion of a friend right by my side, and had flirted up the cute bartender girls more than twenty times this night before the both of us decided that we should call it quits before anyone had too much or things got out of hand.
It was hot and humid on the dancefloor where I was currently watching Midori very openly grind against a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties with short, wavy hair that about reached her chin while I was waiting for my last order to arrive. The alcohol had already gone way beyond just making me more open or eager towards about anything, even going so far as to voluntarily agree to doing my redhead's entire shitload of homework over the course of summer break. 'Damn it, I knew there was a reason she insisted on drinking...'
Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I turned around, coming face to face with the same blackhaired guy who I had nearly fallen into outside the club. He was holding a beer in his right hand while his left seemed to hold what looked like my order: a B52. Which was just a small shot that really packed a punch. I was about to tell him to fuck off when he handed me the drink, yelling something about knowing of a place in this junkyard where the two of us could get to talk some without wearing out our vocal cords. I sighed, gave Midori a wave to tell her I'd be back shortly and followed him with the intention of very kindly telling him to stuff his dick somewhere where the sun doesn't shine.
We passed the dancefloor, the entrance and the checkout before we reached a set of stairs leading to what was labeled as the "Chamber of- oh wtf get down to it already". I raised an eyebrow at the name and managed to peek inside when he opened the door, spotting several empty booths with only a few of them filled with talking and kissing adults. It wasn't what I had expected judging from the name but oh well. Intoxicated minds aren't the quickest. Or the most trustworthy.
It was much quieter in here and I welcomed the semi-silence as it helped dull the throbbing in my head from both the noise and the alcohol. Several booths were free, but he opted on sitting down in the one closests to the restrooms. I reluctantly sat down opposite of him, taking the shot into my hand and yet again faking interest in whatever he had to say. It would be so much more satisfying to see his face when I tell him to go suck a co-
"Well then, Shizuru", he interrupted my mental monologue, taking a sip of his beer and leaning back in his seat, obviously letting his eyes linger on my cleavage longer than socially acceptable, "now that your friend isn't here to interrupt, how about the two of us get to know each other better."
The word friend sounded more like an insult and I somewhat angrily downed the shot, setting it back down harder than neccessary.
"I fail to see how you came to the conclusion that after pulling that prank earlier you'd still have any chance of getting it on with me. Or whatever it is you think you're able of achieving with this."
The pounding in my head started to increase in intensity and I immediately regretted drinking so quickly. I blinked away the blurriness that was starting to cloud my gaze, watching as Rei-whatever his name was just continue sipping his beer, now an oddly smug look adorning his barely attractive face.
"Oh I know what you like, girl. I watched you flirt with those cunts behind the bar. Probably never had a real man before that showed you how it's done."
He leaned closer and reached out. I panicked. I stood, faster than my hazy mind could handle, and smacked away his approaching hand. My vision was fading in and out and it was hard trying to keep balance while I tried wriggling my way out of the booth. To my relief he didn't try to stop me, only watching as I obviously failed even basic motoric tasks like standing or walking, which made me wonder, even in my damn near drunken stupor: why?
Realization, cold and sharp as ice, dawned on me as my crimson eyes looked at the empty shotglass on the table. How could I've been so stupid? I tried to shout, but a sweaty hand clamped over my mouth, keeping me from voicing the terror I was feeling inside my chest. His beery breath entered my nose as he whispered into my ear, those words being the last thing I heard before I passed out.
"I'll show you what a real fuck feels like, bitch. No one turns me down."
I flashed in and out of consciousness, how often I didn't know. If I had been awake prior to the last thing I remember my brain had successfully shut it out: because of the drug or because of the traumatizing event that had followed I didn't know either. I only remember waking up to a stunning pair of emeralds worriedly gazing at me and strong arms holding me away from the cold, tiled floor I was currently lying on.
Thoughts still weren't connecting, not even when I recognized my best friend in the distance talking to what looked like a police officer. My head felt like someone had hit it with something hard and when I felt an itch on my temple I clumsily raised a hand to scratch it. When I looked at my fingertips afterwards I saw what appeared to be dry blood.
"Can you talk?"
Deep. Calming. Familiar.
"Miss, can you talk?"
I blinked. Fragments of memories came back to me while I tested my voice and managed to croak out a barely audible "Yeah".
"Good", the raven-haired beauty sighed and shifted slightly, pulling me closer to her chest when she felt me shivering. I noticed the lack of my top and wondered where it had gone when that simple thought made my head explode with pain. I groaned, causing the woman to look at me with deep worry in her eyes. But something else was mixed with said worry, something that burned with the intensity of an everlasting inferno. What was it?
"Can you tell me your name?"
"...Shizuru. Shizuru Viola."
"Shizuru, can you remember anything? How you got here?"
Was it disgust? No. Was it...anger?
"I don't know, my mind's all...hazy." I blinked and tried remembering again. It was painful, but something urged me to remember, that it was important. And if only to please the beautiful woman that was holding me close to her, shielding my worn body from the cold. My vision blurred again, but this time it wasn't from loss of consciousness, but rather the sudden recalling of the near abuse that I had suffered at the hands of that repulsive excuse of a man. A sob tore through my throat as everything came back to me. Him aproaching me, leading me to a more secluded area, handing me my drink...
...zu! Shizuru! Hey, come on. Look at me."
I focused my gaze on her pale face again, tears flowing freely as my head came up with all the possible scenarios that could have followed me blacking out while in the hands of that man. The worst possible outcome being ra-
"He didn't. Not now not ever" she angrily spat out through gritted teeth, looking at something behind her that I could not make out from my position. This had been the second time someone had interrupted my musings this day. It was somewhat odd that it seemed like she knew what was going through my head, but maybe it wasn't. Rape wasn't something uncommon after all.
She freed one of her arms from her hold on me and wiped away my tears so gingerly that it felt like the touch of a feather. It was mesmerizing how gentle she was, seeing that her profession was to literally kick people's asses out of a club full of drunk and stupid people. Her pure presence calmed me down but I still sobbed, the shock of the possibility still sitting deep in my bones.
She started chatting me up, probably to distract me from further thinking about what had happened until I calmed down enough to stop crying. I sat up, instantly missing her warmth as I wrapped the jacket, apparently hers as she currently lacked wearing one, tighter around my form and basked in its pleasant aroma. I was now finally able to see what was behind the stranger and my eyes widened at the sight.
Reito, as I now remembered his name, lay on the floor, unconscious, nose broken, some teeth missing and one of his eye sockets clearly shattered. His sleeveless shirt revealed several bruises that were already starting to form and his right wrist seemed to be contorted at an unhealthy angle. I would have winced at the sight, but I felt no mercy for that man, only disgust. I must have stared at him for quite some time, because when I snapped back into reality I had the woman's hand on my shoulder and her toothless smile directed at me.
"You don't need to fear him doing anything to you anymore. His ugly mug will rot in prison for hopefully the rest of his pathetic life." The anger that I had previously seen in her mesmerizing emerald orbs was now evident in her voice, making me wonder if something similar had happened to her to be this...personal about it.
"Did you do that? Were you the one who...found me?"
She nodded and scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah. I...found you when he was just done stripping off your top. I did my usual round up here to see if everything's alright cause Nao told me someone shady was leading a woman towards the booths. The woman from the checkout, you remember? Anyways, took only one twist of his wrist and a well placed punch to his pathetic face to knock that bastard out."
It was then that I realized something important.
"I don't even know your name." As soon as those words left my mouth I felt horrible about not asking earlier. This woman had saved me from getting sexually assaulted and I didn't even bother asking her name. An embarrassed blush crept unto my face and earned me a cheery laugh from the beauty in front of me.
"That's really nothing for you to worry about, pretty. But the name's Natsuki Kruger, pleased to meet you. Luckily I can say that we have met under better circumstances, even though I guess you might have forgotten about my poor flirting attempt...", she trailed off, giving me a semi-apologetic smile. "Sorry, totally not the time and place for this kinda talk, huh?"
"No, you're fine", I hurriedly replied, blush not leaving my face at the curious and intrigued look she was now giving me. Before I could even try to reply further one of the cops had walked up to us and now started asking about the hows and whens from this night. I didn't know if I felt ready to already face everything that had happened, but when Natsuki took my hand and helped me stand, giving me this encouraging look, I felt like I could pull through. I squeezed her hand and gathered strength from her calming presence.
Never once did her hand leave mine throughout the whole interview.
Not even once.
Author's Note: In German (and UK English, which we learn in English in Germany) we use the comma after the direct speech, like this: "Bla bla", [subject name here] said. So please bear with it, it's too much work to go back and change it every time since it's how I learned it. I am aware that this is different in American. Thank you for your attention and understanding.
This is pretty much how I feel about guys saying "You are only a lesbian cause you never had a real man before". Sorry if anyone feels offended or thinks that I exagerated but sadly this is a topic that I wanted to adress at least once. I can, to some extend, relate to this form of abuse so yeah. I don't know why I wrote this to be honest, I just felt the need to. I hope you still enjoy, even if it's a little bit dark in between.
Also...first ShizNat in MONTHS! Holy slipping shit. I swear, I neglect things for far too long.
Phrase of the Day
Take my hand let's go, somewhere we can rest our souls
"Circles" by Hollywood Undead
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