Chapter Two :: Protection

Hikari gazed at the ground as she sat in Kei's room, her eyes were red from crying and the blonde boy had stayed holding her until she was ready to stop speaking and push him away. She remained in the still condition right now as the male student occasionally glanced over from his work to ask her if there was anything he could do to which she would just bow her head and then respond with a simple shake. He had tried everything he knew, even offering to arrange for them to go anywhere in the world but she stayed on the floor without much movement at all.

"They say it's caused by stress," he whispered trying to search her face to see her reaction, it hurt him to see her in this much pain but he couldn't do anything for her if she would keep pushing her away. "So, just...don't stress yourself out alright?" he told her before going over and holding her hand. "Hikari, if there's anything that I can do tell me alright? You can tell me anything you need to, I'll always help you."

"Takishima should go and do his work I'll go home," she spoke in a hollow manner as Kei frowned. After hearing what her problem was and after breaking up with her for those torturous five to seven minutes he didn't want to let her leave but he couldn't stop her.

"Wait a second," he spoke going over and putting his laptop on sleep mode, "I'll go back with you, I won't stay there but I'll get someone to drive you and I'll come too. I want to say something to your dad." He walked over to her, crouching there again. "Hikari..." he whispered gently as she stood on her own, almost falling over due to how exhausted she was but Kei immediately caught her. "You want me to carry you like a princess?" he teased her only to be greeted by her sadness.

"I'll be fine Takishima, you don't need to put yourself out so much for me," she turned around and faked a smile only to meet the concern in his eyes. "I'll be able to get home alone just fine, I'm sorry for all the trouble that I've caused you Takishima. It's...it's not something you should worry about. I'm sorry that I caused you to be bothered," she whispered starting to walk to the door of his bedroom before feeling him holding her to his shoulder.

"Hikari's staggering," he spoke softly as she bowed her head, "If Hikari doesn't want me to carry her then she should just lean on my shoulder and let me help her. And," he bowed his head, "As I've said before, you're not a bother to me nor are you troubling me, I'm just a little concerned about you. I want you to be as happy as you always are Hikari which is why I'm here. I want to give you your happiness but I need to figure out what it is."

"If I make a doctors appointment," the girl struggled to say before shaking her head, no it would be too much of a bother for him, she couldn't do that. He was already so busy with school and the company, she didn't want to add more onto his load.

"I'll come with you and sit in the waiting room if that's what Hikari wants. That's what I want but if Hikari doesn't then.."

"I..I can't inconvenience Takishima like this," Hikari bowed her head, "This is why it might be better for Takishima to break up with me and leave me alone. I can get through this just fine, you'll see, tomorrow I'll be "happy" again."

Kei tilted his head to the side, how could he believe that this girl would be happy? He held her tighter, "I want to meet you at your house tomorrow morning and take the train with you alright? I want to make sure that you're happy." He smiled weakly, his eyes filled with pain and concern, he loved her and he had no idea what she was going through. All he knew was the type of situation she was in and some basic facts.

"I'm fine..." Hikari forced herself to smile, "So don't worry about a thing Takishima. Hmm, oh and don't worry about whether to go with me to school because Iori's been going with me and...I'd just cause you trouble," at that the sadness came to her face again. Kei took a deep breath before looking away.

"I'm coming," he announced in a way that no one could fight back with him on.

Meanwhile

Iori gazed around the outside of the Hanazono family home as he waited for the door to be answered. He took a deep breath in and bowed his head, Hikari had become a friend to him and he wanted to help any friend he had. What more, Hikari was a special person and so if there was any way that he could help her he would. Bowing his head he waited until hearing the door open and blinked up.

Standing there was a third year boy, he blinked back at Iori and ran a hand through his black hair. "You must be one of Hikari's friends. She's not here right now..." After saying that Atsushi took another deep breath trying to maintain his composure, ever since he had caught Hikari that one night their worlds had changed. He was in the position to feel even more protective of his little sister.

"Yeah, I was wondering if it would be possible to talk to someone," he whispered with his head bowed, "I heard about a problem she was having and I wanted to know if there's anything that I could do to..." Atsushi's eyes widened as that sentence ran through his mind, what was going on with this? Had someone found out and started telling everyone else and who was this guy?

"Listen, if you do anything to hurt Hikari!" he yelled alerting his parents whilst doing so, he glared up at Iori before cracking a cold-hearted smile, "So you want to hurt my sister do you!? Is that your little game! Who the hell do you think you are to do that to her!? I'm warning you..."

"I'm her friend," Iori replied putting his hands up hoping that his senpai would calm down. "She told me herself whilst that guy was there."

"What...guy?" Atsushi growled showing this angry side of him, since Hikari wasn't here he could protect her without troubling her.

"Takishima, Kei..." Iori sighed as the relief came through in the older boy's face. Atsushi bowed his head before nodding, Kei would take good care of his sister, he was the most capable of that and he had to believe in him as much as Hikari did.

"You should come in," Atsushi looked down pointing to the shoe rack outside, "Put your shoes there and we can get you something to drink. Then...if you don't have a problem with it you can talk to me about Hikari. I might be the easiest one to talk to but if you dare to insult her then I'm going to be the second to last person you'd want to see."

"And the last," Iori gave a weak smile, he wasn't sure why he was coming here but if it would help Hikari.

"You don't want to see Kei if he ever gets into that situation." As he said that he found a car to pull up and gave a faint smile at seeing the two people in question. Kei was walking slowly with Hikari in his arms but when he got closer to Iori he glared.

"Should I put her down in her room?" he asked, kicking his shoes off as he got to the front door. As Atsushi stepped aside Kei managed to support Hikari's head on his chest as he performed the princess carry technique. Climbing the steps to her room he opened her door and frowned. There were textbooks everywhere, most of them open and face down so the pages were bending. The papers which once read Beat Takishima were now cut up into several pieces. In short this room was a complete mess. Beside her bed he saw a large bottle with pills in it and stroked the black strands behind her ear again.

"Hikari," he whispered putting her down on one side of the bed whilst grabbing the books and shirts on the other side. He took a breath in relief that she didn't have her underwear there although he wouldn't mind seeing that if she let him. "You're home." As he saw those sleepy eyes blink up at him, Kei put a hand on Hikari's head before smiling, "Rest well number two and I hope I won't catch you up when you're supposed to rest."

After getting a weak smile in returm, Kei left the girls room and closed it behind him. He bowed his head as he stood outside and turned so that no one could see him, this girl was sick in a way no one could believe. Something had happened to her that had caused this and he hadn't been able to help her. He felt incredibly guilty because of this, he could have helped her but she didn't tell him about this. Maybe it was what he got for sharing so little with her in his own life.

Leaning his head back on the door he closed his eyes and tried to relax, as he looked up he smiled gratefully at Jiro as he passed him hot tea and a small piece of mochi. "It's not much," he apologized before sitting down with the extremely tired student. "So..." he nodded watching Kei eat, "I heard that she told you."

Kei nodded showing the desperation on his face that he had been feeling inside ever since he had found out. "Yes, I was hoping to talk to you ab-about that," he put a hand on his head. He always get migranes worrying about Hikari but then again she was more than worth it. "Her...situation, is there anything that I can do or get to help her?"

"The best thing that you can do," Jiro replied drinking his own tea and patting Kei on the back, "Is to stay beside her through this, be prepared to help her when she needs help. Be her boyfriend or if you can't do that be her friend because I trust you not to let any harm come to her."

"Don't worry about that," the blonde nodded trying to smile but he couldn't, in front of Hikari it was different but without her being there. "I'll protect her."

"I'll protect her as well," Iori commented walking over to the two of them as Kei gave a deep glare up. He was going to be the one to protect Hikari!

Special A is the work of Minami Maki

Thank you to reviewers Ch.1:

Fate Lowe, Vera