Chapter 7: Hikari's Savior
Days passed and it was now Thursday. Hikari had not talked to Takeru in fear that she might be disturbing him and Takeru did not talk to her either. Hikari also feared that Takeru would go back to his former self as the unstoppable berserker. However, contradictory to her prediction, Takeru had not caused an injury to anybody that week. It turned that Hikari had to look out for an injury she might receive. The rumor about Hikari being Takeru's girlfriend had spread across the entire school district. Due to such circumstances, Hikari was targeted by many girls with both the questions and hostilities. She had been avoiding the furious girls by hanging out with friends such as Sora, Mimi, Miyako, Ken, and Daisuke afterschool. Unfortunately, even with her friends, she was faced with numerous confrontations. Because she was with her friends and out in the public, she managed to evade violence. However, Hikari was afraid today. Because Ken and Daisuke's soccer game was pushed to today, they were not present on school campus and Miyako was the only protection she had until school's end.
"Miyako, what should I do?"
"I can walk you to club room, if that helps."
"Thanks, but I'm still afraid a little."
"It's not even lunch yet, so don't get scared so early. You'll be fine."
Hikari was consulting her problems with Miyako during their 4th period. Talking to Takeru was out of option. He was sleeping the whole time and when someone tried to wake him up, he would give a death glare to silence them. Even though, Takeru had not paid attention to her, Hikari still constantly looked at Takeru.
"So, how is it being the genius's girlfriend, Hikari?"
"Don't tease me like that anymore. That's just a rumor."
"Haha. I know. But it's funny to see your reaction."
"I wish people would believe that it's nothing but a rumor."
"Is it really a rumor, I wonder?"
Miyako made a cunning grin.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"To me, the rumor seems true. You've been staring at him for the past few days."
"H…hey, I can look at people. I have the right."
"You've been looking at him ONLY."
"I look at Daisuke and Ken too. And now, I'm looking at you."
"Still, I say the scale is 100 to 1."
"Ahh. Stop teasing."
"Hahaha. Okay okay."
Miyako laughed it off and asked a question.
"On a serious note, how come you don't talk to him anymore?"
Hikari started to think and tried to devise an excuse.
"He…lost his voice…Yeah. I don't think I should make him talk. That's why."
"Really? Sure, of course."
Miyako said with sarcasm in her voice.
"It is true…"
"Okay. Whatever you say."
The two constantly chatted until the lunch bell rang and walked to the cafeteria. When they arrived, Hikari immediately looked for seats where her groups of friends were. Several of her friends were found and Hikari joined them. She felt safe around her peers, but she was wrong. That day, more girls were present at the cafeteria than boys, so the older girls approached Hikari. In the group, there were at least 40 girls, minimum. Among those massive numbers of girls, a large female started talking.
"So you're that Hikari Yagami?"
"Y…yeah. Why?"
Hikari became frightened. All her friends were either in their freshman or sophomores and the hostile girls were mostly juniors and seniors.
"Who the hell gave you the right to be Takeru's girlfriend?"
"If you're talking about the rumor, then I can explain…"
"Shut it, bitch."
She interrupted Hikari and continued to talk.
"You're not using that as an excuse. We all know that you are his girlfriend. You've been to his house, his room, and you spent your afterschool time with him. What does that say, huh?"
"I only did that because he is my friend…"
"I don't care what you say. Just looking at you makes me sick. You probably drugged him to not be violent when you were around."
Hikari gasped in shock. Hikari began to look cheerless.
"Why would you say such things to me? I only wanted to be his friend."
"Talking back now, drugged bitch?"
"Hey, that's enough!"
One of Hikari's friends shouted at the crowd of girls.
"You can't just call Hikari like that. It's your fault for being a coward and never going up to Takeru."
"You got guts, girl."
"I'm only speaking the truth. I swear Takeru will beat up all of you because Hikari's his friend. And you guys are just senseless barbarians to him."
The older girl slapped Hikari's friend on her cheek hard. The impact created tension and the smaller girl fought back. Soon, the whole cafeteria was turned into a battle field. Girls began to slap, pull hairs, and throw foods at one another. After being challenged, the misbehaved older girls called their boyfriends to fight the younger students. That's when things started to get extremely out of control. Obviously, the size and strength difference made by age gap are tremendous. Due to such circumstances, Hikari's supporters were beaten senselessly and Hikari was dragged into the girl's bathroom. There, she was slapped and punched.
"How do you like that?"
"Nobody can save you now."
Hikari constantly received the blows and started to cry in the prejudice of the situation. She knew that she had done nothing wrong. It was true that she fell for Takeru, but she couldn't believe that so many other girls were willing to beat her in their jealousy. After much violence, Hikari's backpack, clothes, and her belongings were torn and ruined. Hikari panted in pain and the humiliation she was forced to endure. She looked up at the brutal girls and saw that more cruelty would continue. Unable to contain her pain, she yelled on top of her lungs.
"Help me! Takeru!"
The bathroom echoed and Hikari was slapped once again.
"It doesn't matter if you call him or not. He can't come in here. We're in the girl's bathroom. Besides, what are the odds of him hearing your squeal, anyway?"
Hikari let out a drop of tear and spoke.
"You have no idea how Takeru is."
"Freaking showing off now?"
More physical confrontation was on the way. Hikari couldn't bear to look at the upcoming blows and closed her eyes. It felt like an eternity. Hikari didn't feel anything hurting her. She thought she had either died or passed out and was dreaming. However, she realized that she wasn't hit when she heard Takeru's low, deep voice.
"What the hell do you think you bastards are doing?"
Takeru looked immensely infuriated. Nobody has ever seen him this mad. He was clenching his fists so tightly that bloods started to drip out of his hands. The girls were scared and shocked. None of them dared to speak, but one did in an attempt to save herself.
"How can you come in here? This is a girl's bathroom. You pervert!"
Takeru leered at the girl with his death glare and spat at her direction. Then, Takeru walked up to her and spoke.
"I don't care when people call me murderer."
The girl was startled as Takeru lowered his voice even more in fury. He walked even closer to her which made her step back all the way up to the bathroom wall.
"Do you think I care when I'm called a pervert?"
Many girls gasped in fear. After making them afraid, Takeru grabbed the girl by her neck and pointed his fist against her head. The girl screamed out loud. She was scared to death since Takeru was very well capable of obliterating a human skull. Other girls were frightened as well, but couldn't do anything. They were afraid that Takeru will get even angrier.
"T..Takeru, stop…"
Hikari said weakly, but Takeru did not seem to listen and clenched his fist. Seconds later, Takeru utilized his arm energy and struck. A loud noise was heard. It sounded like a bone snapping, or even breaking. Everybody looked at the poor girl and saw that she was still conscious. Takeru, instead, punched the wall right next her head and created a huge hole. It penetrated through the tiles and even the thick layer of concrete. Then, he loosened his grip on the girl's neck and turned back.
"You all know what this means, don't you?"
Nobody let a word out. And Takeru continued talking.
"If I ever see that Hikari is injured in any possible way, I'm going to give you all a free plastic surgery. Know that I will go after everyone, not just the one who hurt her."
Everyone nodded as they trembled uncontrollably.
"I need an answer!"
"Yes, sir!"
All the girls spoke simultaneously when Takeru yelled for a reply.
"Now, get out of my sight unless you want broken bones."
Takeru said menacingly and everybody, except Hikari, dashed out of the bathroom. The bathroom was cleared in less than 5 seconds and Takeru and Hikari were left alone. Once Takeru saw that nobody was around, he walked up to Hikari.
"Are you alright, Hikari?"
"Not really, no."
Hikari smiled while dripping tears out of her eyes and blood out of her mouth.
"Here."
Takeru took off his jacket and covered Hikari since her clothes were full of holes now. Then, he ripped off his shirt sleeves and used it to wipe off blood and tears.
"Thanks, Takeru."
"Sure."
After cleaning Hikari, Takeru raised her up and apologized.
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"For getting you hurt because of me."
"No, it's okay. It's not your fault."
Hikari said as she held Takeru's hand firmly.
"Takeru?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for saving me."
Hikari, then, dived onto Takeru and hugged him tightly. She kept no distance from Takeru and embraced him passionately. Hikari felt Takeru's rhythmic heartbeat speed up and soon, she felt Takeru's muscular arms around her body. One of his hands was on her back and the other was on her head. She could feel Takeru stroking her hair while the other hand tried to bring her closer to her than she was now.
"T…Takeru, I can't breath."
"Sorry."
Takeru released Hikari out of his arms. Hikari blushed and felt happy despite numerous bruises. Hikari realized that Takeru does care for her unlike few days ago.
"Come on, I'll walk you back home."
Takeru spoke as he started to walk out the bathroom.
"You're going to make me ditch school?"
"It's not ditching. You got an excuse to go home. I'll explain things to school later."
"You sure I won't get in trouble?"
"Quit worrying and let's go."
Takeru rushed her. Hikari tried to get up, but she couldn't balance herself due fatigue and the shocks she received.
"Um…Takeru?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry, but could you carry me? I can't walk."
"Your legs are broken?"
Takeru looked like he was growing angry again, but Hikari quickly answered him to calm him down.
"No, I'm just fatigued. I don't have the strength to walk."
"If it was me, I would recover after minutes later."
"I'm not a gifted martial artist."
"Okay. Alright. Get on."
Takeru walked up to her and held out his arms. Hikari got confused and asked him.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to carry you?"
"I thought you were going to carry me on your back or something."
Hikari began to blush incredibly at the imagination of Takeru carrying her in his arms.
"What's wrong?"
Hikari was lost in her imagination and didn't hear Takeru asking question. Being an impatient man, Takeru went closer and picked her up and carried her out the bathroom with his broad, powerful arms. Hikari's heart was beating loudly and quickly. Her heart beat extremely fast as if she had just dashed a 100 meter. She was carried by her lover and he was so close to her right now. Hikari constantly looked at Takeru's elegant, handsome face the entire time. Soon, her excitement turned to embarrassment. At least half the school watched her being carried out of school by Takeru. Hikari's face reddened even more. Despite the embarrassment, she couldn't get off of Takeru. She could not walk and she didn't want to be separated from Takeru. To her, it was one of the few chances she gets to be close with Takeru. The two left the school campus and Hikari began to talk.
"Takeru, isn't your home closer?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Let's go there first. I want to sit somewhere and rest a little bit."
"Okay."
With that, Takeru headed to his home. After short walk of 3 minute, he arrived and went in. Takeru took her to one of the many rooms that he had and put her on a large bed.
"Stay here."
After speaking, Takeru left the room momentarily to get a first aid kit. Moments later, Takeru came back and started to put band-aids and bandages on her.
"T..Takeru, I can do it myself."
"Can you?"
"Y...yeah."
"Okay then."
Even though she liked Takeru, it was still uncomfortable for her to have him touch her injuries on her legs, back, and thighs. After treating the injuries, she lay on the bed almost motionless. Out of boredom, HIkari looked to see what Takeru had been doing. He seemed to be writing something down. Hikari wanted to look, but sadly, the writings were not visible to her. Takeru realized that Hikari had been staring at him and asked her why.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Just wanted to see what you were doing."
"Brainstorming ideas for my story."
"You really work hard. Don't you?"
"You'll understand when you're making money for yourself."
"That will be after a long time."
Takeru returned to jotting down ideas and Hikari went back to lying on the bed. Hikari decided to sleep for a while and closed her eyes. She fell asleep and was lost in her dream. Her mind pictured a young Takeru running around in a field, laughing and smiling with his older brother. He seemed so happy and carefree. Soon, Hikari was able to join the scenery and played with the small Takeru. He was really cute. His smile didn't have a smudge on it and it seemed as if it could brighten the whole world. Hikari felt pleasant to see such sight even if it was a dream. Hours later, Hikari was awoken by Takeru.
"Hey, get up. Your brother is here."
"Taichi is here?"
"HIKARI!"
Taichi dashed to where Hikari was lying and hugged her.
"I was so worried. Are you okay? You're not hurt, right?"
"It's okay. Takeru saved me. I'm fine."
"You should've told me people were bothering you."
"Actually, they only bothered me today."
"Whatever! I'm just glad you're not hurt."
Taichi parted and talked to Hikari.
"If you ever see anyone that bugs you, let me know, okay?"
"I will, but I don't think that will happen."
"How come?"
"Takeru gave a quite a shock to people today. Didn't you, Takeru?"
"If you call that a shock, then, sure."
Takeru scoffed and Hikari resumed speaking.
"Anyway, I'll be fine from now on. Takeru will protect me."
"You will, Takeru?"
Taichi looked back with a relieved expression as he asked.
"I never agreed to do so, but seeing the situation, I guess I have to. It was my fault to begin with."
"It's not his fault. Don't worry about it, Taichi."
"I know he it isn't. He's Yamato's brother after all.
"Yamato has an incredible sense of friendship. He would never betray or hurt his friend. If his friends did get hurt, he would go berserk."
"I see."
Hikari looked at Takeru at that instance.
"Anyway, come on, let's go."
"Okay."
Hikari rose up from the bed and began to walk out. Takeru followed them to the door.
"Thanks for helping my sister, Takeru."
"No problem."
"Thank you, Takeru. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Alright. Take care, you two."
"Yeah."
The two exited the door and headed home. Even though Hikari was physically exhausted, she still felt great. It was clearly confirmed that Takeru obviously cared for her judging by his action. Hikari smiled the whole time. She had no reason to be depressed or sad. A significant man in her life became her life savior. To her, it was a dream come true. She regained her confidence and decided to return being friendly with Takeru.
I've been told to write and upload more often and I will try to do so. Thanks for being patient and reading.
