Chapter Four
A/N: Okay, here is the fourth chapter. I tried to finish it as fast as I could so that I could make up for the lost time I had during the time I was busy with school.
I'll try to slow down the transition of the story, so that the thrill factor will still be in. As for what's going to happen here in the chapter, it's just going to be like the continuation of the third chapter, it also include some past situation and wounds opening.
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the P.O.T characters…but I do own the main OC character and the upcoming OC character ^^
The rain continues to pour down and the air makes the rustling sounds that came from the tree's leaves. The sound of someone running can be heard through the splashing of puddles, it seems like this person is panicking but has no intention of finding shade from the rain. From a far corner beneath a tree, sits a little girl crying her eyes out disregarding the fact that she's feeling the cold and how soaked to the bone she is. There seems to be something red dripping from the hand that was gripping tightly to her wrist. Her cries starts to lessen now, her loud cries were now gone. She could feel herself becoming anemic, the tight grip on her wrist was gone she could no longer fight with the cold. The blood on her slashed wrist continues to flow out and combine with the puddles of rain water.
"Why weren't you there for me Ri-chan" The girl cried out with dead eyes "I thought I could trust you" She said eventually falling into the ground life-less
"AKINA!" Riku screamed out as she sat herself up in immense fear she could feel herself sweat buckets of cold sweat. "Not that again" She thought her right hand covering half of her face, her eyes covered with fear and guilt
She tried to find a way to shake off every feeling she had over the dream but nothing was helping at all. She had to find a way to sleep pronto because tomorrow was a weekday, but with a dream like that Riku couldn't bring herself to close her eyes even for a minute. The fear of seeing the same scene again and again was heart-breaking, and it sent shivers down her spine. She could only pray that this doesn't affect her tomorrow.
"Just as I thought, I didn't manage to get any sleep at all" Riku sighed as she walked along side her boyfriend who in the other hand wondered why his girlfriend was already sighing so early in the morning
"Ri-chan, is something bothering you?" Fuji asked concern was clear in his voice but the only response he got was a simple nod of no "Well whatever it is you're thinking, you can tell me anytime, okay?" He continued knowing that every time Riku is silent, it's always something big
"Hai" Riku said simply
"Oh and did you know" Fuji suddenly remembered something then flashed Riku a smile, this caught his girlfriend's attention "Everything you sigh you lose a bit of happiness" He continued only to receive a blank stare from the other girl
"Shusuke-kun" Riku called out her boyfriend's name
"Yes?"
"Stop reading stuff like this in the internet"
-Vibrates-
-Vibrates-
-Vibrates-
-Vibrates-
Akina's phone kept on vibrating since this morning, she was too afraid to check what it was ever since the incident she had. She was too scared to even think that it was just Eiji texting her that it was him waiting for her outside. But somehow she knew that Eiji wasn't the one that's texting her because he only sends his messages once and wouldn't send it again and again.
"Stop" Akina cried out covering both her ears with her hands, she just wants the vibrating to end she was too afraid to stand up, she felt herself falling to the ground crying her eyes out she could hear the people from her past laughing at her again to the point its making her dizzy and anemic
Because of her current situation, Akina hadn't notice that someone was knocking on her door again and again, because there was no response the person from outside opened the door only to be shock to find her crying on the floor, shivering.
"Aki-chan?" The voice so familiar patted her head gently
Akina found herself glancing over Eiji, his face full of worry and concern for her. Without even thinking she hugged him tightly and started crying again and again. Eiji wasn't sure what he was supposed to do instead he allowed Akina to cry just to calm herself down, as he allowed her to do so his hand gently caressed her hair to make her feel at ease.
It took Akina a while to calm down, but eventually she did and it was a good thing they agreed to go to school early to at least have time for practice because if they didn't agree to do that they would need to run just to reach school in time, which Eiji will not permit seeing as Akina would be too exhausted to do.
"What's wrong Aki-chan? Why were you crying?" Eiji asked gently his tone wasn't demanding any answers from her, he was just curious to see if Akina was in the right mind to at least respond to anything he was saying or if she was back to her senses "Are you feeling better? Do you still want to go to school?" Eiji throwed on question after the other to the small girl
"Senpai, You are the first person to ever ask me one question after the other" Akina suddenly said with a blank expression "Usually, what people would do is compile them all to one concrete question" She continued, she couldn't help but sweat dropped
Classroom
"Self-Study Period"
"Girls…are complicated aren't they Fuji" Eiji said without thinking what he was saying while he was staring outside their class window "They can be hurt of easily and are completely fragile too" He continued his eyes were so fixed with the sky
Fuji was confused with what his friend was saying but at the same time he had a point, girls can be complicated and can be hurt easily, and they can be fragile too but he wasn't sure what was going through Eiji mind at the moment "What makes you say that?" Fuji asked staring at his friend sigh again as he took his attention off the sky and now to his desk
"I texted Aki-chan that I was already waiting for her outside her house, just like what I normally do…" Eiji explained as his expression slowly turned bitter and sad "…but…she didn't seem to response right away so I knocked at their door and her sister told me she was still changing…because she took too long her sister asked me to check and make sure she wasn't sleeping…but…but…no matter how much I knock she didn't responded so when I tried to open her door, it wasn't even locked at all…I was surprised to see her on the ground crying her eyes out…she couldn't stop shivering as if she was too scared to go out" He continued his hands cupping his face, he could feel himself shivering "I've never felt so—useless" Fuji continued as he looked outside the window, he remembered when he wasn't able to help Riku this morning
He understood that Eiji felt so useless because he wasn't sure what to say and what to feel when faced in situations like that, even Fuji who already has a girlfriend has no idea what to do when faced with such a situation. It's not like they were given a guidebook or manual to know what to do in these situation...sometimes you just got to follow what your guts tells you to do. In Fuji's case he thinks it's best to stay silent and make himself open to his girlfriend whenever she was feeling alone and hopeless. But he also knows that girls aren't to be underestimated because they can face the most problems on their own rather than just forget them and run away from them.
"Don't worry about it too much" Fuji continued giving Eiji a reassuring smile "Akina-chan might look fragile and helpless but I'm sure she can fight her own battles and I'm sure she'll win. Just wait for the time she'll open up to you and be ready to give advices whenever she asks you some…sometimes doing nothing but making them feel that you're there for them can be doing something"
"Yeah you're right" Eiji smiled
Lunch
As usual everyone in the team ate lunch together at the same spot they always do. However everyone was wondering where Akina was and why Riku was so silent. But in some sense everyone was really worried about Riku the most, not only was she silent she was also not touching her bentou. Because of the concern no one notice that Akina was already there except for Reika who seemed to be the only one who was searching for her.
"Akina! What happened to your hand?" Reika exclaimed as she stood to check Akina's hand, it was neatly bandaged it was clear enough she was in the nurse's office, it was enough for everyone including Riku to snap out of it and be shock at Akina's bandaged hand.
"When did you go to the nurse's office?" Riku asked all worried and confused not sure where she was when this happened "I was right next to you, nothing could have happened to you" She continued all panicking but eventually calmed down when Fuji have her a pat on the head
"Riku was busy thinking of something that's why you hadn't notice" Megumi explained trying to defend Akina who couldn't say anything at all "And I'm sorry that I didn't say anything up until now, it was because you seemed too out of it since this morning" She continued staring at the ground with a sad expression
"It's okay now" Reika stated resolving the misunderstanding as she held Akina's hands gently to avoid inflicting pain "Akina, what happened?" She asked wanting to know what really happened
"There were—some papers scattered on the stairs, and since I wasn't looking, I tripped and the scissors I was holding on to cut both my hands…it was all because I was careless that's all" Akina explained covering Megumi who was about to explain what really happened a while ago
"Next time, be careful, okay? Especially with scissors" Reika said taking a sit beneath the shade the tree was giving them
Riku could feel that Akina was hiding something, and she was sure it wasn't about the scissors seeing she doesn't own any scissors of her own. And somehow she felt like Megumi knew the truth but Riku was certain that Akina will eventually tell her so there was no need for her to ask Megumi. But she was most stunned that when Akina isn't thinking she is actually telling a white lie.
After Class
"Aoi-chan, are you sure lying was a good thing?" Megumi asked as they were walking to the girls changing room, their classes just ended and since Akina isn't injured to the max she still has to practice "I mean I know it was a white lie but still" She continued
"I know but if Reika-san founds out she'll freak out" Akina explained and not long after found herself soaked wet, someone from above threw a bucket of water over her and she was soaked to the bone
Akina was too shock to move, Megumi still in shock to realize what happened. Eiji witnessing what happened dashed to their direction as quickly as he could.
"Aki-chan!" He exclaimed running to their direction this was enough to snap Megumi from being shocked and to realize that Akina's underwear was showing "Aoi-chan, your underwear it's showing" Megumi stated
"Kyaa!" Akina screamed covering her chest with both her arms, she squatted down to cover it completely, some boys that were around even exclaimed that she shouldn't be shy and instead show it to them
Eiji took his jersey jacket off and placed it on top of Akina shirt it was big enough to cover her completely, he glared at the boys who exclaimed perverted stuff to Akina. They got the message right away because they could feel the other members of the tennis team glaring at them. They dashed off immediately feeling so much shame and fear.
"Okay, that's enough" Reika said walking near to where Akina, Megumi and Eiji were, her eyes were for the very first time stern and serious "Akina, go home now"
"But, Reika-san" Akina protested but the stern look on her senior's face was enough to tell that no matter how much she persuades she won't win "I understand, I'll head home immediately" She stated fixing the jacket Eiji gave to her, since it was getting wet she thought of using it and returning it tomorrow, she bowed and started walking
"By the way" Reika said making Akina turn back to her direction, she was very much confused with what her senior wanted "Take Riku with you, it's too dangerous for you to walk home alone now" She continued as she dismissed Riku
Riku didn't protest seeing as she wasn't in the mood to practice either, so she ran to where she gear was located then ran to Akina's direction and then bided the others farewell.
"Tsk! I knew it, Reika's on to something" Eri thought as she bit the fingernail of her thumb "Well, I can scare to girls at once…so regardless whoever is your company as long as it isn't Eiji, I care less whether you lived in fear" She continued to think as she glared at Akina who was now wearing Eiji's jersey jacket
Eri was in the same school as Eiji and Reika was back then, she hated people who went near Eiji but Reika was an exception seeing that she was never interested in Eiji like other girls were. But if she were to mess her plans up, that was going to be another story, she wasn't sure how much Reika knows or what she knew from the past but she wasn't going to allow Reika to interfere any of what she's planning.
The walk to Akina's house seems to be too long and they somewhat felt a little awkward. There was this weird silence going on, Riku knew that Akina will never start a conversation no matter what with this kind of atmosphere around she won't say a word.
"Let's plan a sleep over at your house" Riku suggested trying to destroy the awkward feeling they felt "We can invite the others, and if it makes you feel any better we could invite Shusuke-kun and Eiji-senpai to come over" She continue giving her friend a reassuring smile
"But isn't it a little unexpected?" Akina asked, she liked the suggestion Riku made but wasn't sure if the others would be sure to go "I'm sure Megu-chan will go but…what's wrong Ri-chan?" Akina asked because her friend suddenly had this scary expression on her face, her eyes constantly shifted from time to time at her back but she's doing this unknowingly to whatever is at her back
"Akina, listen…when I say run, run as fast as you can, okay?" Riku instructed as she whispered every word she said to Akina who nodded in approval "Okay, RUN!" Riku shouted and both of them dash of as fast as they can to Akina's house
Akina wasn't sure why Riku wanted to run to her house but whatever it was it was really bugging her big time. When they got at home Riku checked if the streets for something suspicious but everything seemed normal but her look had not softened at all.
"Kyaaaa!" Akina screamed in fear as she fell to the ground a small box was sitting there already open for anyone to see the content, Akina wept in fear
Riku dashed to her side to see what was in the box that scared her so much "What the…hell" Riku couldn't move for a moment when she saw what was in the box, a couple of letters that told her to die and some even said they'll make her life a living hell but that wasn't the thing that scared Akina and made Riku speechless it was because they were written with blood and beside the threat letters were on the head of a dead rat.
"Tsk!" Riku was annoyed with what was in that she finally snapped she took the box and immediately threw it in the garbage can outside Akina's house and slammed the cover over it
Riku had not been enraged in her entire life. She walked back to Akina's direction and helped the frightened girl stand up and guided her inside her house, after that closed all the curtains and locked the door shut. Riku had never been the over protective type but now was the time to be one. She contacted Fuji and Eiji immediately and told them to sleepover at Akina's place and be here ASAP.
"Ri-chan…" She heard Akina mutter in a scared low tone, she was shivering and her eyes were filled with tears, Riku stood were she was and waited for Akina to finish what she was going to say "What's going to happen to me? Nee-chan won't be home for a month…she had business to attend at America, what's going to happen to me?" She cried all afraid and defenseless
"No one will hurt you, I promise you that" Riku answered as she hugged Akina tightly to at least make her feel secure and safe "I'll stay here until your Nee-san comes back, so don't worry" She continued but they were both startled when someone knocked at Akina's front door
Riku was certain she heard Akina mutter 'no' in a very scared tone, but she told Akina to hush down and stay where is now and don't move and make the slightest of sounds. Riku slowly made sure that no one will see her shadow through the window, she moved slowly. Right now it could be anyone at the other side of the door. It was a good thing Akina's house had a camera near the doorbell button to check whose outside before making them enter if not Riku would be sacrificing her self.
Riku was already in front of the door, she still moved slowly just to keep them safe and unharmed. To her relief the people outside was just Eiji and Fuji, waiting for someone to open the door for them. Riku opened the door immediately and gave Fuji a big-big hug.
"Where Aki-chan?" Eiji asked not wanting to witness Fuji and Riku's lovey-dovey moment
"Oh right…" Riku said immediately turning sad as she let them in, both Fuji and Eiji were shock by this fast reaction "She's in their living room, Eiji-senpai, please approach her gently for now" She continued as she shut the door and locked it properly "I'll cook something for all of us to eat, so just leave your bags at the living room" Riku smiled as she walked to the kitchen
"She's acting VERY weird" Eiji stated something that was very clear to Fuji "Gimme your bag, I'll bring them over to the living room, I know you want to help her" He smiled reaching his hand out to Fuji, which Fuji gladly gave his bag and followed Riku to the kitchen
Eiji already knew Akina's house as if it was his own, seeing the he has been in here for like the second time already. He saw Akina sitting there on the sofa, crying and shivering it made him very worried for her, he place their bags on a free chair in front of Akina, and just like this morning he had no clue what to do but he wanted to do something.
"Aki-chan?" Eiji called out gently as he walked slowly to Akina's direction, when he was close enough he gently patted Akina's head this action made Akina quickly glace who was patting her on the head, she was relief to see that it was just Eiji "You sure are a cry baby, and boy you don't get tired crying" He said jokingly to at least make her laugh a little but it was no use
Eiji had no more clue what to say, he was very much clueless how to make Akina smile and laugh now it was as if everything he did was nothing to her now. It was as if it wasn't reaching her anymore she was so near yet so far from him, he didn't really know how to reach her anymore.
"Do you want something Aki-chan?" Eiji asked with a concern look on his face, Akina nodded as she yawned "You want to take a nap, don't you?" He smiled as he stood up and took a sit on the sofa where Akina was sitting; Akina immediately rested her head on Eiji's lap then eventually dozed off to sleep
I can't believe it, Aki-chan's like a little baby after she cries –chuckle- she looks so cute when she's sleeping, but…why were you crying this morning and why were you crying now? I know someday you'll tell me but I hope it will be soon. I want to see more sides of you that I haven't discovered yet, I want you to show me everything it can be your cute side, you crybaby side or even the serious you. Wait a minute! What am I thinking! –blush- Why did I suddenly want to protect Aki-chan?
"How strange, Aki-chan's shivering a little too much" Eiji thought as he stared at Akina, he touched her forehead to make sure she wasn't running with a fever much to his disappointment she was very hot "Tsk! Why didn't you change clothes right away" He said quickly carrying Akina, princess style
He quickly called Riku and Fuji and told them that Akina was running a fever and that they all dashed to her room, Riku washed and changed Akina's clothes quickly to prevent her from getting any worse then she already is.
"This has got to be Akina's unlucky day" Riku sighed as she took a breather from all the commotion "First the hand thing, then the bucket of water falling on her, then her underwear was seen, then a weirdo followed us-WAIT! What weirdo!" Both Fuji and Eiji exclaimed as Riku's statement scared the both of them Riku stared at them dumbfounded-ly
"Look we'll chat about that later, I have to make something for Akina to eat" She said as she walked out the room leaving the two boys thinking of so, many stuff to worry about
"Why does Ri-chan…always talk calmly even when faced those situations?" Eiji asked as he stared as Fuji in search of answer but sadly Fuji couldn't give him any answers as he himself had no idea why she talks so calmly about stuff like that
"I wish I knew"
They all decide to eat first so that Akina could take some time to rest at her room, she was sleeping soundly when Fuji and Eiji left because when they tried leaving while she's still awake Akina always stopped them from leaving and even wanted to cry.
"I'm sorry that you guys have to be involved with all of this commotion" Riku said as she stared at her bowl of rice "I just didn't know what to do, when it was just going to be the both of us here today" She continued flashing them a big smile
"You're talking as if we're strangers" Fuji chuckled, he has never seen his girlfriend so vulnerable in his entire life that it was almost hilarious for him
"But, I'm still wondering, were you two really followed by a weirdo?' Eiji asked as he tried to swallow what he just ate, Riku only nodded as response to his answer "But why does it feel like…Aki-chan didn't know you were followed?" He continued
"That's because she didn't" Riku explained as he looked Eiji in the eye "I only told her that if I told her to run, she should run as fast as she could…in some way I knew she understood what that means and didn't ask any further questions" She continued feeding herself some rice
"Did he follow you guys to her home?" Fuji asked as he patted Riku in the shoulder, all Riku could do was shook her head to a 'no' "I guess his only intention was to scare you guys…but why?" Fuji wondered because it was just so weird
If his real intention was to scare Riku she would be the wrong target and surely enough she won't panic even if she was to be followed by someone weird but Akina was most likely the one to panic and be traumatized by a situation like that…-thinks- if I'm right that person only wanted to scare Akina but because Riku was the one that noticed him, what he was supposed to do failed because before he could do anything Riku and Akina dashed off. But why would they want to scare Akina? It would have been better if she was alone why scare with a company? Not unless he was ordered to do so regardless whether she had company or not. That means anyone near Akina could get hurt as well…
A/N: Chapter four finally done! ^^. I tried my best not to show as much of their past because that next chapter will be all about that, but there will be two chapters dedicated just for the past of the character the next chapter is one of the two…the other one? Who knows :D
Again feel free to post what you think in the reviews and don't worry you can be as honest as you want :)
I apologize if you think its shorter than the previous chapters, but for me it's already long enough, I apologize for wrong grammar and of course spelling some of the word wrongly…I'll try to update fast, ciao :D
