Chapter 3: Over the edge

Tezuka was walking down the halls with Sahya floating right after him, on his way to the tennis club room. Being captain of the tennis team, he had a bunch of paperwork that went with it that Ryuzaki didn't handle. His days were steadily getting busier.

As he passed a less-used hallway, he noticed 3 figures there. One was a girl, and towering over her were 2 guys. He immediately grasped the situation. She's being bullied.

"We have to help her!" Sahya exclaimed suddenly, eyes glued to the scene.

It's best to tell a teacher about it first. Tezuka thought to her.

"But..." Sahya looked from him back to the girl. She was grabbed roughly and pulled away from the wall towards the end of the hall. Something in her snapped. Her blond hair waved wildly from an unseen wind as her eyes widened and glowed blue. One by one, moving quickly down the hallway, the windows cracked and shattered.

Tezuka hurried over to where the 3 students were to make sure they were alright. The two boys ran off, leaving him with the girl. He brought her to the school nurse and told her about the bullying incident, then returned with the custodians to the hallway with all the shattered glass.

...Why were you so angry that the windows cracked? He asked finally.

Sahya looked away, feeling a bit ashamed of herself. "...I'm sorry. At my school, there were girls who started becoming jealous of me. They also harassed me." She floated to the window panes, sitting on the edge with a small, sad smile. "It was because I got the attention of the best student in the nextdoor boys' school. Of all the things, it was over a boy who I had no interest in."

Tezuka started walking back to E-33, forcing her to come with him. "What happened then?" He asked quietly once they were safely inside.

"...They locked me in here."

Sahya looked around at the room, taking it all in. "The mirror was broken in the scuffle. Then..." She turned to look at the window that he had first seen her standing at. "...They pushed me out." She floated over, placing her hands gently on the sill. A few tears fell on her hands as she looked down. "They said it was suicide. It was never disproved."

Now Tezuka understood. She was trapped here because of feelings of sadness, anger, betrayal, and a longing for a happiness that was cut short. That was why she was still in the realm of the living. "..."

"I'm sorry." She said again. "They will probably try and get revenge on you." She closed her eyes painfully. "I'll stay here if you want...And if I stay with you, I'll deal with it. It's up to you. I know I've given you more problems than help."

Tezuka strode over and closed the open window, taking her cold hands gently. "...That's not true." He said finally. It was always reassuring for him. To know that if he turned around, there she would be, smiling at him. Just around the corner of his eye. How had she slipped through his defences so quickly? Oh well. It didn't matter, really. "Come on. Let's go back to my house."

Sahya wiped her tears away and gave him the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen. "...Ok, Tezuka."

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCE

Tezuka entered his classroom at the end of that week to find that, once again, his desk looked just like normal. Sahya knew better. She snapped her fingers and a few clunks were heard before Tezuka finally put his bag down and sat down.

The textbooks from his locker were waterlogged. Someone had poured water through the small holes in the doors. A wave of Sahya's hand returned them to normal. She could only keep the classroom locker from opening for anyone but Tezuka; when it came to the holes and cubbies she couldn't do a thing but deal with it when Tezuka got there.

Some attempts at revenge on Tezuka were dangerous. Three times she had misdirected falling objects from windows and the stairs. Five times from food in the cafeteria. Although he normally brought a boxed lunch for the classroom, he occasionally ate with some of the Regulars there.

Sahya kept fully alert with her heightened senses as a spirit as Tezuka and the Regulars played tennis. But surely those two boys wouldn't be so daring as to target Tezuka in front of a whole club of potential witnesses.

Do you need to pick up anything for dinner tonight? Tezuka asked as he dismissed everyone for the day. He turned away and started walking towards the school. He still had some papers to deal with regarding the club.

"I don't think I need anything..." Sahya said thoughtfully, floating just behind his shoulder as always, at his eye level. As they approached the doors and turned to go around the wall that acted as a rail, for the stairs, Tezuka took an immediate step back. His body went right through Sahya, and up before her loomed a figure swinging down a golf club.

Her eyes dilated slightly and turned into a hard amethyst instead of their usual sparkling indigo pools. A force shot out around her and Tezuka. The figure was tossed to the ground past them as Tezuka was forced by her power to sidestep. A second figure shot up from the other wall on the other side, but now no longer in an ideal position to hit him since he moved.

Sahya turned slowly, raising her hand. She suddenly faced it palm up and the other boy was squeezed tightly to the point where he lost his breath. But he wasn't being released to get it back. "Sahya!" Tezuka called sharply, when he realized what she was doing.

She released him and recoiled in the air, startled. He fell gasping to the ground, but was too stunned to make another attack. Shakily, Sahya held up her hands. "My god..."

"What do you boys think you're doing?!"

Ryuzaki came jogging up. Sternly she grabbed both boys and hoisted them up. "I think we're paying a little trip to the office..." She looked at Tezuka. "Are you alright Tezuka?"

"Yeah." He answered, adding "I was lucky that the first one missed."

"Is this the first time they've gone after you?" Ryuzaki asked.

"No."

Tezuka and Ryuzaki turned to see the Regulars come up. Fuji was the one who had spoken, and he was watching Tezuka closely. "...They've bothered him all week. They've tried to tamper with his desk, luckily he was never injured, they've tampered with his locker and his textbooks..." He hesitated to give more detail there.

"They've tried dropping things on him in the stairs and from windows." Ryoma piped up. He returned the glare given to him by the two guilty boys.

"Well, this is serious. We should get going now so we're all home in a reasonable time." Ryuzaki said, walking off with the two in custody.

Now the Regulars turned back to Tezuka, but Tezuka was busy looking at Sahya. He was worried, and a little showed up on his facial expression. Sahya hadn't moved from her position, instead she was still staring at her hands. "...I almost killed them..." She whispered, horrified.

Sahya... He wished he could reach out to her, but the others were here. For once he wished they would leave him alone to deal with his own issues.

"Tezuka..." Oishi started hesitantly. "This isn't just luck or coincidence."

Ryoma looked up at his captain. "Mind explaining just what is going on?"

"And I'm guessing the answer is related somehow to E-33." Fuji added.

Tezuka looked between them and Sahya, although to them he looked at them and then away again. "...Tomorrow after school, I'll show you. Right now I've got something I have to deal with." Grabbing Sahya's hand quickly with one hand and opening the doors to the school with his other, he hurried inside.

"...Odd..." Fuji muttered. "It almost looked like...he was holding someone's hand...but nothing was there."

Tezuka hurried to the room where the tennis club held meetings and closed the door and locked it behind him just in case. Moving to the chairs, he sat down and had Sahya do the same in the air directly across from him. She didn't look up at him, only gazed remorsefully at the ground. "I lost control...I didn't want to kill them...and still I almost did..." She whispered.

She felt her shoulders grabbed and looked up finally to meet his gaze, almost afraid of what she'd find there. "...It's alright." Her eyes widened slightly. Tezuka continued. "I'm not going to say that it wasn't wrong, almost killing them. But you lost control and that was an accident, and I know you'll learn from that. So don't let it depress you."

Sahya sighed, and a few tears leaked out from her closed eyes. Once they dripped off her cheeks they disappeared. "Yeah..." She wiped her eyes dry. "Yeah..." She felt Tezuka bring her close. She didn't feel the warmth of his skin like he felt the cold of hers, but she felt him holding her and for that she was grateful.

Gently she dropped her head forward to rest it on his shoulder. "...You called me by my name." She smiled a bit. "You haven't done so until now."

Tezuka remained silent for a few moments in slight embarrassment, since he wasn't sure how to react to that. "...You may call me by my name if you want."

"Kunimitsu..." Sahya's smile grew. Then it faded again. "...We have to show them tomorrow. Here's the plan..."