Here's chapter 4!
(The following chapter is some sort of flashback.)
"Yo Kisa!"
Kisa Sohma winced and tried to hide behind the door of her locker as Takashi, her boyfriend, came plodding down the nearly-empty school hallway.
"Hello Takashi," Kisa whispered, looking down at her feet.
"Hey. So, there's a party at Katsuo's house tonight. I told him we'd be there. I'll pick you up at six."
Kisa bit her lip. Katsuo was a school celebrity for throwing wild parties that usually involved alcohol. Kisa quickly thought up a reasonable excuse to miss all the excitement.
"But today's Wednesday. We have school tomorrow."
"Yeah, so?"
"Takashi," Kisa said softly, talking to the floor, "I need to study tonight. Some other time."
She picked up her backpack and began to stride away from Takashi. He grabbed on to her wrist while she was in mid-step and pulled her in so close, he could hear her heart pounding.
"Say you'll go."
"No." Kisa whispered.
Takashi began to twist her arm. Kisa held back a scream with all her might. She dropped her bag and it fell to the floor with a stony clank.
"NO!" She hollered.
Her voice echoed and rang down the hallway. Takashi looked taken aback. Kisa wondered if she had ever spoken that loudly in her life.
"Let GO!"
Takashi let go just in time, seconds after he released Kisa, a small, plump teacher poked his tiny head out of a nearby classroom.
"Is there a problem?" The man asked.
"No," Takashi said quickly. "Nothing is wrong, sir."
The man stared sternly at Kisa and her boyfriend, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flaring.
"Well, then get to class and don't cause anymore trouble."
"Yes sir." Kisa whispered.
She picked up her things and hurried down the corridor before Takashi could say anything.
Finally alone, Kisa ran into the girl's bathroom and ran into a stall. She locked the stall door and crumbled into a heap on the white tiles. The Sohma girl let out a long sigh. Kisa examined her arm. A fish-belly white streak was left from Takashi's death grip. She was grateful that the bathroom was empty. Kisa could already feel tears forming behind her eyes. She tried to focus on the graffiti scratched on the stall door, but through her vision was blurred by the water spilling from her eyes.
"Why?" She croaked in a soft voice.
Kisa and Takashi had been going out for 7 months. At first, Kisa had been enchanted by him, his charm, and his unreliable, wild personality. But soon, his true nature began to show. Kisa quickly realized that his temper was short and he would lose it over the least little thing. He got mad so often, it was like a storm building up. One day, about 4 months after they had started dating, Kisa and Takashi were getting ice cream. As Takashi was paying for the ice cream, Kisa held both cones. She accidently dropped Takashi's cone and the ice cream landed square in a patch of gravel. When Takashi discovered his chocolate cone lying in the gravel, he lost control and slapped Kisa's cheek. As the Sohma girl's face stung, Takashi stared at her, his once friendly eyes now cold and wickedly frightening. He stared at the reddening mark that was beginning to appear on Kisa's cheek.
"If you tell anyone, I will kill you."
Each of those words put fear in Kisa. After that, Takashi's fist flew more often, and Kisa began to wear makeup, spending hours applying the product so her bruises wouldn't show. So everything looked perfectly natural.
Wiping away the final tears, Kisa picked up her bags and quietly left the bathroom stall. She turned around to face herself in the mirror. A sad, red-eyed face stared back at her. Kisa turned away, refusing to look at her sorrowful existence. She jogged out of the bathroom and wandered aimlessly down the hallway. The girl rounded a corner - and came face to face with Hiro.
Kisa and Hiro had been avoiding each other since Takashi had come along. Whenever Kisa walked by Hiro pretended to be busy, and Kisa always looked the other way. This time, Hiro stared at Kisa's puffy eyes. For a single second, there was some sort of magnetic pull - an unknown force that caused their eyes to meet. Hiro's eyes widened and he reached forward to Kisa.
"Hey, are you okay? It looks like you've been-"
Kisa took off before her old friend could finish his sentence. She took off for the school courtyard and hid on the swing-sets. Even though class was in mid-session and Kisa was supposed to be taking a history test. But the last warm breeze of the year felt good as it gently brushed through her hair. The last warm breeze before a long, long, winter…