I'm going to bring to everyone's attention a group of people that are "legally cyberbullying" stories: the "Reportable offense!" community. These stories number in the thousands, and are those that break the rules of the site. They get away with this because those stories, which include my own, do break the rules. If any of my stories are removed, I'll be moving sites. For good. I'm not going to sit around and have my free expression bullied off the site.
Sorry. That's my personal anger out of the way. I came here to get my stories out, and that's all.
Anyhow, ON TO THE STORY! .
Last time on Sforzzando, Mugi was saved from a horrible fate by Ritsu. Now, they go to one of Mugi's conveniently located villas so Mugi can get through her shock.
Chapter 2:
Break down? Break out.
I lifted my eyes to the stars, wondering how they stayed hanging there, suspended, unhelping, when things like that were happening throughout the world.
Mugi was still being completely silent. Her normally bright blue eyes were unfocused and dull, only barely seeing not to fall. She wasn't even part of this world at the moment. Maybe her thoughts are floating with those uncaring stars, I mused the thought for a few seconds before dropping it.
I looked back at Mugi again. I was holding her left hand in my right, letting the connection trail behind me as we walked onwards. Sometimes she would mutter directions as we walked, so I knew she wasn't completely gone. I let a sigh escape my lips, as I know quite well that she's only in shock. The emotional stress would kick in any minute.
I knew quite well that I didn't know how to handle her, but I didn't want to stop walking. Stopping to make a phone call might well make her break down in the middle of the street, and I wanted to avoid that. I'll at least let her be alone when that happens, even if it is with me.
After several minutes of walking through the dark streets we reached our final destination, a large home that appeared very out of place from the normal scenery of Japan's suburbs. However, I noted that it stayed within the architectural styles of the area.
The place was empty, which was normal since it was so late at night. We entered the building quite easily with a keypad number from Mugi.
I felt odd entering an empty home at this time, almost like I was being judged from somewhere, but I quickly dispelled the feeling by justifying my motives. We're here to let Mugi calm down, not to steal anything.
Mugi had stopped walking on her own by this point, so I led her to a bed somewhere in the house. I had her sit down on the plain white sheets, where she did nothing but space out and stare at the wall opposite. I sat down on her left and put my arm around her shoulder, dragging her into a hug.
Whether she knew it then or not, she would need it. I was just waiting for the break at that point.
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...
...
The break came after an hour of sitting in near-silence, only the sound of the AC turning on and off breaking the peace. I heard Mugi's breathing catch and saw her eyes focus suddenly, then the floodgates opened.
From her mouth came a wail of sorrow and horror that I hadn't heard outside of movies up to that point. The poor girl was sobbing and sobbing and no matter what I did for half an hour straight, she kept crying.
I hated every second of that emotionally unbarred state. She would almost stop crying, then she would catch again and go right back into it. I kept holding onto her the whole time. She had her arms wrapped around my shoulders, mine wrapped around her midsection, and her face shoved into my neck. I'm pretty sure my shirt was completely saturated with water within five mintues.
I remember smiling and whispering kind words and hugging her tighter when she seemed to need it, I even remember at one point resorting to kissing her on the forehead. That action seemed to be the turning point, as she slowly, ever so slowly, calmed down from there.
Eventually I was left with an emotionally exhausted blonde girl sitting in my arms, simply wanting the contact for the sake of it.
At length she said, "I'm scared."
She was holding tightly to me, my chin resting on the side of her head. It wasn't the least awkward position I could think of, but I accepted it without complaint for Mugi's sake. I responded, "Tell me. I'll help."
"I'm scared. What if he's still following us? If he got away from the police? Will he come for me, or will he stop what he was doing?" She continued with similar things for a long time before saying, "What if the others reject me now?"
That one took me kind of off-guard. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean, I've been violated. I'm not pure anymore, right? You saw what he did... He-he..." She almost started crying again.
"Sh, sh. Nobody's going to reject you. We wouldn't even if he had gone that far. He stayed above your clothing anyways, right? It's okay, it's okay..." I said this while patting the side of her head.
After over an hour of this, when the sun was beginning to come up, she accepted my words. I had soothed her fears for now, but I knew that with time they would resurface. Maybe she won't recover... I've heard of that happening. I shook my head a little at the thought. Mugi just had to recover. Ho-kago Tea Time wouldn't be the same without her.
"How am I going to face the others? I'm... broken... I feel broken..."
"You're not. You're still Mugi, right? You're still our pianist."
She seemed to accept this answer, and I realized just how tired I was. My eyes started to droop closed, and my mind started to fade. I reached up and popped myself in the forehead to keep awake.
"Don't do that, Ricchan!"
"Why? I'm staying up with you, no matter what. No matter how long it takes for you to feel safe asleep."
I saw her eyes take on a different quality than before. She was looking up at me from the same position as before. She must have just realized how long it had been since she slept. I continued to pet her while she stared up at me in almost wonder.
Some time later, though, my eyes couldn't be held open by mere pops to the forehead. I was going to fall asleep no matter what, it seemed. I told Mugi, "I'll hold onto you as long as you want, Mugi, but I need sleep. Can we at least lay down."
Mugi hesitated, turning slightly red, but agreed. I assumed she was still recovering from her ordeal, and that kind of closeness seemed slightly different to her than now. She'd probably feel unsafe and exposed.
We shifted around quite a bit until we were both comfortable under the blankets, where I was still holding Mugi. Like a lover, I noted with an embarrassed smile.
Right before I drifted off, I thought I heard a word escape from Mugi's mouth, "Sa..." but then, I fell into the blackness of sleep.
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...
Upon waking, I noticed that Mugi was laying on top of me instead of beside me. She slept quietly, breathing softly and shifting periodically when she became uncomfortable. Good, she got to sleep sometime last night.
I looked over at the clock to see that it was still before noon somehow. At my movement, Mugi woke. Damn... I wanted her to sleep a little longer.
"Good morning, Ricchan..." Mugi said in a small, tired voice. Before I could respond, though, she realized our position. Her face turned bright red, but she didn't roll off of me. "I'm sorry, this was the only way I could sleep... I feel safe here..."
I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and squeezed her. The position was awkward for me, too, but I'd do anything to keep her from crying again. She smiled in return to the hug.
"Ricchan... Thank you... If it wasn't for you, I'd- I'd..." She started to tear up again.
I stopped her by putting a hand over her mouth, which she found midly amusing. She smiled a little under my hand and let out a small giggle. "It's fine, Mugi. That's why we told you not to go anyways... We were scared for you. I was scared for you." I remembered convincing the others to help me convince her.
She apologized again and again for a small time, eventually being sated by my accepting every last one of them. Then, something odd happened before I could realize what was going on.
"I've always wondered about girls..." Came the words from Mugi's lips.
Then, she did something I never expected: she kissed me.
If this feels rushed or anything, please tell me! Leave reviews, follow, favorite, whatever! I want feedback, guys! I'm going to keep this T-rated for as long as I'm comfortable, but this started out being just a straight lemon. Now it's its own story, and may be longer than originally intended. I hope you like it!
Thanks for reading,
-Kyle
