(A/N:) YEAY! Next chappy's up! Hmm… this chapter's definitely a complex chapter – so try to keep up! I need more reviews! Please review! I don't mind constructive criticism, but no flaming! Thanks! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, sorry if you expected I did, I feel bad to have disappointed you… sorry, you can't sue me – not today! ^___^ !!!
Warning: Yaoi, boy & boy relationships, && lots of cursing in this chapter!!!*** (beware)
Now on with the story!
_Empire_
Part VII: The Melee I (Solstice Night)
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(Iori's POV)
The whole day had passed very quickly – not just because it was the shortest day of the year, but because everything seemed to flow relatively smoothly for once… everything just all seemed calm, no drama, no calamity, no near-death experiences… not any so far and school was almost over – only one period left… I walked into my next class with Takeru – it was an elective (out of the two I was taking) which I mandatorily had to choose – after memorizing Takeru's schedule after our first day here I made sure to sign up for the electives he chose – they were drawing and digital photography. When I asked Takeru why he chose these electives he said because he used to be friends with Daisuke who chose the drawing elective and he chose digital photography because he likes electronics and stuff like that and this was the only elective that was close to it. The elective I had now was drawing – and Takeru wore an unfamiliar grimace… I guess him and Daisuke didn't get off on such good terms…
"Hello class – today we have a new student – Iori, please introduce yourself to our class." Wow, this was the first class that was actually going to humiliate me with the whole "introduction" thing, I was praying the teachers would just forget about these things…
"Well she pretty much covered it I'm Iori, bye!" I was about half way down the row when the teacher stopped me.
"Ahem! Iori, when I said 'introduce yourself' I meant more then just your name. Why don't you tell us why you chose this elective, hmm?" Her hair was brick red with curly tangles that reached down past her shoulder, she had one clip on the top of her head in the shape of a blue butterfly, and there were glasses on a chain around her neck. Her clothes were prim and proper, tucked in all the right places and you probably couldn't find a single fiber in her knee-length brown skirt out of place – the only thing alien to the uniform was the first two buttons were undone on her tucked-in white blouse that stopped halfway to her elbows. I sighed and trudged back up to the front of the classroom – Takeru just sat and watched in despair, there wasn't much he could do, and if there was I knew he would've tried by now. Ever since this morning he's been trying to make my dad amazing for me, honestly, it's been getting slightly annoying – I'm not one for constant attention.
"Hello… I'm Iori Hida, I chose this elective because –" I had to lie, I couldn't say the real reason, which was because my boyfriend was taking this course… "I really like… art… pieces?" I said it as more of a question because there wasn't really a reason for liking to draw, drawing was skill that either came naturally or was worked hard at, either way none of those applied to me – I was suck-ish at drawing and if I lied about how good I was it would clearly show. Liking a topic can't be proven false.
"Oh, darling, that's what this whole course is about! The love of culture, the love of artistic view, of art in all different styles and forms! Here we will learn about Japanese styles, even current ones like manga – I know plenty of you must be interested in this fad, and I figured I should work it into the curriculum! We will also be doing styles from around the world; some of them will be on your final! Things like prints from Africa, cubism from Europe, cartoons from America! Oh the many different ways you can paint a picture! But mostly in this class we will focus on our own history, it may even help for your global history class – though I do believe some of you are still on the America Chapters, hmm well it doesn't matter! We must all know how everything comes together in the end no matter what it is! Whether it's our history, or someone else's it can all relate back to any country including Japan! Now please tell me children…. What is the capital of Japan?" This teacher looked so uptight but she was so…. young and perky…. I didn't believe it. She gestured for me to sit down and I did – eagerly – yet I was wondering why she asked such an obvious question. Who didn't know the capital of Japan? It's not like we were some unknown country off the coast of Asia – we were really important!
"Tokyo is our capital!" Daisuke piped up, waving his hand in the air madly and obnoxiously, like he was ushering a plane for landing. He sounded like he was so extremely proud of himself too… was this some kind of slow class?
"Very good Daisuke, but I wasn't meaning for you to answer… it's on the chalkboard in big, bold letters. It was rhetorical – anywho, I bring up Tokyo because there are some quite amazing sights to see there. We will be drawing scenes from Tokyo! Isn't that fantast-imazing?" Fanatast…imazing? Okay I was sure it was a slow class now. I nudged Takeru.
"Since when were teachers allowed to be drunk while teaching?" I whispered sarcastically into Takeru's ear while the teacher was grabbing a whole lot of pictures from her desk.
"Now… some of you….ugh! Will be… ah! HEY! GET BACK HERE! Ah! Okay, gotcha! Some of you will be – ah! – going on a field trip to Tokyo, if you are in our digital photography class – and will be taking some more pictures for our class to draw! Grrr! So those of you who are – you little runt – make sure you take good…" She was trying to catch all the papers fluttering around the air by her desk – the ceiling fan was on for some unknown reason to me – considering it was practically winter – and the second she took the paper weight off the photographs they started flying around the room. Her attempts to catch them were quite amusing – hence the whole class laughing in unison. I decided to be the bright light in the darkness for this class and do something productive.
I got up and turned the fan off.
The papers fluttered slowly back to the desk and the class all looking in accord at me – as if robotically – with accusing looks. I just noticed something… maybe they all wanted to skip some of the class time being entertained – this wasn't so much as a problem to the students as it was a joke – one of them might've turned it on, on purpose… uh-oh. I was the killjoy, teachers pet who actually did something nice to further the class… this couldn't end well…
"Oh thank you Iori! You've been here five minutes and your already such a big help! Okay well now that that's over why don't you pass all the photo's out – make sure everyone gets one, please? Whew!" The teacher exclaimed slumping on her chair and sighing. Every one of the students glared at me while I submissively placed a single photograph on their desk – Takeru just pinched the bridge between his eyes and sighed. I really disappointed him – damn it! Damn it all to hell…
I growled slightly under my breath as I returned to my seat after giving everyone a paper. Could this day get any worse?
"Now class this will count as your pop quiz! I was afraid I'd never be able to get it to you in time with the fan and all but thanks to Iori we can fit it in! You guys could all learn something from him." The teacher beamed at me happily.
Oh.
My.
God.
I was going to be killed. No I was going to be tortured so long that I would wish I were killed. Everyone glared at me ferociously – oh hot damn. The only thing worse then helping a teacher out to stop the class from wasting time was to help a teacher out and get rewarded with a test the class may have had a chance to avoid. But… it was just drawing… wasn't it? It couldn't be that hard… it's not like they had to remember anything, all that they needed was there in front of them… right?
"Okay so kids, I want you to draw your scene and make sure it includes shadowing, realistic qualities, an artistic perspective of a three-dimensional view, and after it is drawn you will color it with paints or pastels and you may only use the techniques "Wash" or "Impasto" which we covered in our last two chapters. If you picture also contains a sky or any blank space or area you will cover it with a unique design that you think will foreshadow the African Prints section we will go over in the future, you have fifteen minutes, go!" She tapped a small service bell at the front of her desk while she laid back lazily in her chair. I swear I wanted to die right now. I kept my eyes down at my paper while everyone's glares burned into my head like twin drills boring nonstop on my fragile line of sanity. I felt like I couldn't breathe, like all the air was being pushed out of my lungs before I could get any back in them, I felt dizzy and light headed and my head began to throb. I couldn't take all the attention and the quiet sounds of teeth grinding, and the absent sounds of anyone's eyes blinking (which meant they were non-stop glaring at me) made me extremely hesitant to make a single move from the position I was in.
Takeru nudged me with his elbow carefully. I slowly dared to look up at him, and only risked it because I knew – or at least I thought I knew – he'd never betray me. He was just smiling happily and leaning in close to my ear and whispered:
"Don't worry about them – half of them will forget you by tomorrow, and a few of them aren't even in this class, they're just skipping their own classes to be with their friends here, just ignore them and do your best on your picture – we get a good amount of pop quizzes and I know your dad would be unhappy if I let you fail any of them." I heard him pause for a second and I guessed he was looking around before he leaned in closer and kissed me by my ear tenderly. He returned back to his drawing while he left me blushing and trembling in my chair – he could always find a way to make me blush. I tried to calm myself but all I could think about was Takeru. I continued to draw anyway – he was right – my dad wouldn't tolerate anything less than perfect.
My picture was of a sign in Japanese that read "Kido's Rice Bowl" and it looked like a really fancy restaurant, it was quiet large and the neon sign look amazing illuminant and through the clear windows the inside looked amazing! So fancy, so eloquent, so…. expensive. I thought for a second, just one, how cool it would've been to go there with Takeru for a date but… I didn't have that kind of money… I sighed and continued to draw it anyway.
"Alright class pass up your drawings and we'll get onto teaching today's topic 'A Birdseye View'! Doesn't that sound interesting? We'll be learning about how to draw things from above, like buildings, and trees, and streets, all of that fun stuff!" The teacher said as the clock showed fifteen minutes had passed, though it only felt like a few. My drawing came out really good… but there was only one problem, as I inspected it closely… inside the shop in my drawing was… Takeru and me sitting at the table closest to the window looking at each other lovingly. Oh crap. Before I could even erase a single line of our faces the kid in front of me snatched it up and passed it on (along with his drawing) to the kid in front of him.
Oh damn. Why, oh why couldn't I have just drawn what I saw instead of what I wanted to see? What if the teacher noticed? What if someone else noticed? What the hell was I going to do? Two teenage boys would be sitting together at an exclusive two-person table eating food and staring at each other intently… and in that kind of expensive restaurant? Yeah that didn't flow well at all for either of our reputations.
"Hey wait I need to change something!" I said before it got to the front of the row.
"Hub, Hub, Pup!" The teacher made three weird sounds making everything come to a halt. "There's no redoing things after the times up – it's a quiz! It's not like it's that important. Now please continue passing it all up, please." The teacher said waiting at the head of my row for our drawings.
"Wait! I need to write my name on it!" I lied, but I needed to use anything as an excuse to get my paper back and erase it.
"Oh don't worry I'll write your name on it – here we go! All the drawings! Thank you Daisuke!" She smiled at him in the first row for giving the papers to her happily.
I went frantic back to my scared, trembling disposition. I tapped Takeru subtly on his leg. Thankfully since the desks held two people, (and obviously Takeru sat next to me at the one table/desk) no one could see any of our silent exchanges. Daisuke sat next to some red-haired kid who chuckled as Daisuke whispered something in his ear – I went to mirror the movement as Takeru looked expectantly and questioningly at me.
"I accidently drew you and me inside the fancy restaurant in my drawing! It looks like we're dating! I drew it on accident – I was daydreaming through the middle of it – I'm sorry, please don't be mad!" I whispered frantic and nervous. I was so afraid someone would find out our secret – did he know how they'd react? Takeru had status here! He was popular! His reputation could be damaged permanently! The most popular guy freshman in the school… gay? Yeah that wouldn't go well with the student body… I had to get that paper back and erase Takeru and me or at least draw Takeru differently – it wouldn't be weird if I made him a girl, then he wouldn't be involved and it wouldn't be a problem…
"Huh? Seriously? Aw that's sweet." He said patting me on my back lightly – I knew he would've kissed me again except people weren't focused on anything particular now and could probably see him randomly kissing me. But I understood the gesture. Wait… did he understand what I just said? I drew him and me having a date at a fancy place. Did he not understand the severity of that if someone saw?!
"Takeru!" I whispered loudly. "Don't you see the big problem in this?" I said with my fingers digging into his arm – quite strongly too – but he didn't seem to notice at all my death grip I was unleashing on him unintentionally… geez I was weak. He turned to me and whispered.
"Calm down, everything's fine, I'm a representative of the student class, I can just go into the art office after school and change it – no biggie – I do it all the time whenever I screw up, you don't know how many times I have. Though I do really like the fact you were thinking about me." He purred – and this time kissed me quick on the cheek again – no one, thankfully, saw. There was practically no light outside – the sun was close to setting and it wasn't even 3:00 yet. It didn't register in my mind what that meant until I noticed it was still the winter solstice – the day had seemed over and long gone already that I forgot I was still living it.
No matter how I thought about it I didn't know how Takeru planned to get it back really – it was probably going to be locked up in a desk in some other room or office somewhere unknown to us, and hey this school is big enough to be confusing like that. I just shook my head and waited for the day to end…
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(Hikari's POV)
I was walking to my locker after the last bell rang – signaling school to end (finally) – and I noticed a large tuft of golden hair swiftly disappear into the boy's bathroom. Just out of normal curiosity I took out my make-up compact and flipped it open – with my locker being perfectly diagonal to the boy's bathroom I could see through it I get a clear view. I was purely curious of who else had such brilliant blonde hair besides my boyfriend and I peered at the mirror. I wanted it to be discreet so people wouldn't think I'm some kind of perv – curiosity wasn't something much easily proven. I looked in it and noticed that it was Takeru, he was standing in the corner though moving oddly – jiggling, almost – he looked like he was hugging something in a rocking sway of motion. I couldn't see what he was hugging but it seemed large… a thought entered my head…
"Naw." I said shaking my head putting away my make-up compact. He couldn't be cheating on me – that was a boys bathroom – he wouldn't drag a girl in there and cheat on me – he was in the broad daylight of the bathroom, anyone could walk in on him, and he couldn't… couldn't be gay… could he? "Naw" I repeated again putting a few books in my backpack. Takeru wouldn't dare cheat on me… and especially not with a boy. He'd be ruining his reputation if anyone found out, he wouldn't dare risk something like that… he was probably just taking a kiss – I mean piss – in the bathroom, yeah – yeah a piss. I don't know why I thought "kiss", silly me! I'm not suspicious, nor am I jealous! I shook my head – this was insane and stupid – this was how good relationships ended! I couldn't be doubtful towards Takeru… oh wait yeah I could – but he couldn't. I could do whatever the fuck I want! Takeru can't though – he's just my boyfriend, he's not in the same position I am. I could leave him tomorrow if I wanted to and it wouldn't matter! But he couldn't, he just wasn't allowed.
I was almost done and I was waiting patiently for Miyako to meet me at my locker like how she did everyday. But… she never came… I stood there patiently, checking my phone for messages or calls on Miyako's whereabouts, but there were none… I stood there five more minutes before I decided to call her.
"Hi, you've reached Miyako Inoue. If you're a nerd, geek, dork, are ugly or are in the school marching band then expect that this is the reason that I'm not picking up when you called me and why you got my voicemail. Translation: don't call me anymore. If you don't qualify for any of those and are a hot guy you probably just called me when my phone was off – I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. Please leave me a message – love ya!" Miyako's voicemail rang cockily in my ear. Someone was obviously getting full of themselves – I thought grinning and shaking my head waiting for the beep.
Beep.
"Yeah, Miyako, where are you? I've been waiting here for like five whole minutes! You can't expect me to wait much longer if you want to walk home with me. Text me, bitch." I said back into the phone irritated. I never used the word 'bitch' maliciously – at least with Miyako – she knew I was just kidding, but right now I was too annoyed and bored to care what she thought.
"Where are you, Miya?" I muttered as I paced around my locker.
"Ya know what? I ain't waiting for you! Bye!" I said more to myself considering Miyako was nowhere to be found…
I walked away from my locker and out of the school after walking through several long hallways continually muttering to myself about how annoying Miayko could be sometimes…
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(Koushiro's POV)
I couldn't stand it anymore! Nope! Nu-uh! Nada! I couldn't wait this out; Jyou was never going to ask me out! I could wait another hundred years but he'd probably never ask me… I'd have to do this myself.
"JYOU WILL YOU PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME?" It escaped my mouth before I could register what was I was saying. Holy geez… I knew this couldn't end very well… I mean was he even gay? Or bi?
There was silence for a second and then Jyou had a weird face. It suddenly turned to a smile.
"Sure, how about I give you my number and we'll make plans later, 'kay?" He asked walking over to me. I just nodded dumbly. My whole body was stiff and in shock. I couldn't speak – if I did I knew my voice would break.
He wrote his number in pen down on my hand, and then handed his pen to me for me to write my number on his hand. I copied his action and wrote my number. It was astounding that my brain could still function properly with all the shock I was in. I didn't believe it… Jyou… he said… yes?!
"Jesus…" I breathed as Jyou smiled and waved a hand in front of my face. He smiled again and rolled his eyes and walked away. Giving once last wave he turned a corner in the hallway and was out of sight. Just then the bell rang and a flood of students entered the halls. I had run into Jyou in the halls… and no one was even around to witness it… a junior going out with a freshman! A perfect blue-haired junior god going out with ME! I walked to my locker in a daze, a smile lighting up my face – a spring in my step – and my heart pounding harder in my chest then I even imagined.
I sighed contentedly as I reached my locker entering my combination without even really thinking about it. I gathered my books with my head in the clouds… who cared what books I took home when I have a date with Jyou?! I chuckled, giddy just at the thought of it, and slung my backpack over my shoulders. I walked through the halls so out of it I didn't noticed I started going down the wrong halls to get outside. I was now in the senior gym hall – freshmen strictly prohibited (that rule was created and dictated by the seniors and they were much into enforcing it). I quickly got my focus on again and started to get out of the hallway when a startled scream stopped me dead in my tracks. It was so specific, so familiar… it was Miyako. Miyako screamed again – this time more shrill, it was a cry of bloody murder. All serious… all scared… all blood curdling… It sounded like someone was skinning her alive.
Against my better judgment and my dire hate for Miyako and Hikari, I had to find out what was going on. I may've hated them but… that didn't meant that Miyako should get up by a senior in the senior gym hallway – she must've entered here just like me, completely unknowing, and now she was paying the price… I had to stop it. What if the actually killed her? It damn sure sounded like they were. My morals compelled me to stop them; pain to that degree was inexcusable.
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(Miyako's POV)
I felt oddly cold today, everything felt a lot warmer to me then it should've. A normal textbook was like a hotplate against my frigid skin. I didn't understand it, but something seemed to click when I saw this random purple-haired kid. I had never really noticed him before… but when we locked eyes he gasped and so did I – I saw a very morbid picture inside of his eyes. As odd as it sounded I did – and it included me somehow, yet I didn't know why or how. I hurried away from him – he looked at me with such pity, and sympathy – it was like he was watching me lay dead in a coffin at an awake. It was scary – terrifying even – I needed to get out of this school, right now.
It was weird the feeling that surged through my body – it was a feeling of extreme fear, a feeling that told me to rush out of where I was as if I was being stalked by a killer – and it only started after I saw Ken's eyes. Wait… Ken? How'd I know his name? He seemed familiar too… his hair kind of looked like mine… I shook my head and focused on getting out of the school.
Oh damn.
I was in such haste that I wandered down the wrong hallway – I was at the entrance of the senior gym hallway – thank god I didn't go in. Freshmen could get killed in here! In fact I'm sure they have killed a few innocent souls in there… I quickly turned around.
"Hehehe…" I stopped cold at the evil sound. The feeling returned like a raging flame inside my body and I quickly saw Ken's eyes in my mind once again. I could feel the temperature change in the air on my skin. It turned heated, and my cold skin burned in its presence. For some reason my sense of touch was always so accurate… I shook my head – I needed to get out of here. Just as I was about to sprint in the opposite direction from the hallway, a hand caught my shoulder. My instincts took over.
I shrieked – it was the shrillest scream I ever solicited from my lungs. I jumped away and my body fell into a fighting position – but before I could even see who grabbed my shoulder – I was punched on the side of my face and was sent flying backwards. I landed hard on the floor.
"Hey Miyako… remember me?" A dark, husky voice asked. She was shadowy in the covers of the dim-lit senior hallway. There were two other large figures behind the one who spoke. They seemed feminine oddly enough – their bodies that is – they all had their hands on their hips and their lips sparkled in the dim light. They stalked closer to me and their identities became known. I gasped loudly.
"You see Miyako, I know it was you who's been orchestrating all these attacks against me, I saw you out in the gym yard, in History class, you just wouldn't stop, would you? Well now it's over and I've come for my revenge. Brianne, Gabrielle! Let's teach little Miya how big girls play in the real word." The leader called to the dark figures behind her. I gasped as they advanced on me. I tried to get up but my legs were frozen and a feeling of dread dawned on me – Ken's eyes flashed once more in my mind before all I could see were the evil grinning faces of my attackers.
"Patricia." Was the last word silently whispered from my mouth – chuckles and grunts filled the air…
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(Iori's POV)
I was walking out of the school as the last bell rang and saw a rather giddy red-haired kid, who I recognized from my biology class, bounce down the halls happily with a grin on his face. What was his name? Kodiro? Koushipo? Who cares. I leaned into Takeru as we walked from our last class down the halls. I was still a little freaked out about the photo I drew, but Takeru said he'd take care of it. I couldn't doubt him when he seemed so confident… when he looked at me so sure of himself… I believed him fully. We came to my locker first seeing as it was the closest to the art class. We then headed down another five hundred or so lockers to Takeru's locker. Once we both had the books we needed we started to leave the school.
"So how'd you like school today?" Takeru asked me cheerily, though his voice seemed a little husky… and he kind of looked at me… hungrily. Like he was impatient and waiting for something… I shook my head and answered his question.
"It was okay, I guess… are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, jusssstttt fine…" He said it kind of seductively – his hand crawled around my shoulders and my face flushed with heat. He purred in my ear.
"You know I love it when you blush." He whispered huskily in my ear – holy crap – Takeru was horny.
"Uhhh… that's nice…" I said watching him look at me greedily – his had around me possessively. Oh. God.
"Yeah… yeah, you are nice…" He said and at that moment swung me into the boy's bathroom and captured me in a kiss. His arms came around me like bullets and held me firm to him. Why he was so horny? That was completely beyond me. But he was, and he was obviously determined to get what he wanted. He lips attacked mine with such fever and eagerness that I was shocked into submission in his arms. I never anticipated this and frankly… I was kind of scared. His hands escaped under my shirt and began groping my skin feverishly. I could barely kiss back – he moved so fast I could barely keep up. His hands moved my chest and then he started to move forward until I was pressed against the wall. His eyes focused on my lips and his erection pressed painfully against my body.
He captured my lips again and his hands crawled down to my groin. This time I was determined to keep up. I kissed back just as eager – I wasn't going to just sit there – and my hands crept around his neck in a tight hold. His tongue pried open my lips and entered my mouth. His tongue brushed mine and I brushed mine back, it was almost like a game – I wouldn't let him brush me last. His hand massaged my groin furthering my own erection as well as his. His other hand came behind my head and tangled up in my hair. When we finally had to pull away for air we were both panting, completely out of breath.
"Iori, you're so fucking cute." His whispered roughly, I shivered as his breath rolled over the side of my face in a splash of curls – I felt his pants continually roll over my skin in the same manner. He kissed the side of my mouth while his hand continued to grope me, he kissed my cheek and then further up it until he reached my ear.
"I want you." I panted. "Right now." He breathed and I gasped. In a school? If the drawing didn't give it away that we were gay then this sure damn would – it'd be undeniable. I'd have to stop him before someone walks in on us and we all regret it. I doubt any straight boy would want to walk in here deciding he really had to go and see us and be disgusted and run out. That wouldn't be good for anyone… so I needed to stop this.
"Takeru, maybe we should wait till we get home – ah!" I shouted in surprise as he tugged down my pants to my ankles. He was on his knees in a second and was just about to go further when I thought of something that could halt him.
"Takeru – my parents have work for the next two hours – if we hurry home we can have sex plenty of times with no chance of getting caught. What do ya say? Wait till we get home, hmm?" I said in the most seductive voice I could. His eyes widened in wonder and lust, and he looked at me more hungrily then before. He lifted my pants up as I rose and gave me one more passionate kiss as we headed out.
I noticed Hikari, the other person in Takeru's true relationship, walk down the hall looking unhappy. I heard a faint scream in that moment as well that no one else noticed. It was Miyako. I heard her scream, and scream, and scream. Three times in succession – each was more painful sounding than the last – my eyes widened. Because of my amazing ears I was the only one who noticed. I didn't wish to alarm Takeru though if I told him Miyako was in trouble, I'd have to find a distraction and see what was up.
"Takeru why don't you go fix the picture I drew in art class while I go take care of something." I said turning around. Takeru caught my shoulder and I yelped scared out of my mind for some unknown reason. I jumped and turned around in a ready position still unknowing of why I was doing this and was hit with a strong feeling of Déjà Vu. I felt like I had already done this before... but not me… What was going on? At that moment Ken passed in the hallway and saw me, our eyes locked for a second and I felt Takeru's eyes on me as well. I read the message in Ken's eyes… Miyako was in trouble.
Ken made his way over to me fighting through the crowds of people to get to me.
"Iori? What are you talking about? What do you need to take care of? Can't we just go home? I really want to fu –" He stopped himself from saying the word trying not to attract any attention to him by saying it. No one could know that we were gay, nor could they know that we were together – saying the end of that sentence would've surely given our secret away. Geez Takeru's turning out to be really lousy at keeping this a secret, but I couldn't dwell on this much longer… Ken was right in front of me.
"Iori… I think we should talk." He said staring at me intently. I heard Takeru growl unhappily.
"And why would you need to do that? Huh? You've always been around us, pretty much stalking us! Why don't you just leave Ichijouji?!" Takeru shouted angrily, stepping between us with his arm wrapped around me protectively. Ken raised a single eyebrow, and spoke in a calm tone.
"I implore you to move out of my way and allow me to talk to Iori privately. It is important that he knows something." Ken said, not backing down.
"You implore me? No, buddy, I implore you to stay the fuck away from my – I mean Iori! Got that? What could be so important that you need to talk to him without me? Huh?" Takeru looked extremely angry. No doubt all that testosterone was going to his head – it seemed like he was… was he jealous that Ken was always looking for me? Did the fact that Ken and me would share a secret bother him? Did he notice the unknown bond we held with each other? Was that helping fuel the fire of his anger and jealousy? Takeru wanted me all for himself. That made me feel kinda fuzzy inside.
"I need to talk to him about our family. It's important that we talk." Ken said angrily – obviously loosing his patience. Wait… what the fuck did he just say? Did he just say OUR family? No, no, I must've just heard him wrong. Either that or he just meant his family and just said it weird. I shook my head – this was confusing me – no, today was confusing me.
"Huh? What about your family? Why would Iori want to know –" I cut him off.
"Takeru I've got to go take care of something – please let me go it's important." I heard a lot more screaming now – it was hurting my ears and it sounded morbid. What the hell was happening to Miyako? I had to stop it. She sounded like she was dying…
"What is it, Iori?" He turned to me. I just mouth the word 'please' at him with puppy-dog eyes. He sighed and released his hold from me. I darted from him while Ken was just about to turn around and follow me when I heard Takeru say "Hey you've got some explaining to do, I'm not finished with you," he sounded pretty pissed off.
I ran down the hallways and followed what I heard to where it was coming from. It felt weird to hear this and see everyone else completely ignorant to it – not noticing someone was crying for their life somewhere in the school building. It was weird but I didn't dwell on it I continued on through the school – I needed to find Miyako… something terribly wrong is happening to her.
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(Takeru's POV)
So many things were distracting me, why were all these things happening now? Iori just basically ditched me when I really wanted to have some fun with him (looks like I'll never be able to have my fun with him before his parents get home…), this Ken kid was getting on my last nerve and I was ready to kick his girly little ass, and lastly I still needed to fix Iori's picture before anyone saw it and noticed it was us. I tried to make my conversation with Ken as quick as possible so I could fix the picture and try to get Iori home before his parents. Geez, why the hell was I so horny?
"Hey you've got some explaining to do, I'm not finished with you," I said holding onto Ken's shirt angrily. Being kept from having sex was enough to make me incomprehensibly mad at Ken.
"Look I've got to go, stop being a jackass. I need to talk to my brother!" He tried to tug from my grasp.
"What do you mean? You said you had to talk to Iori! What are you talking to all these people about that I can't know?" I said angrily holding him closer to me giving him a death-glare. "And what the fuck? Who're you calling a jackass? I'm gonna kick your ass!" I said my anger rising to its peak. I was getting extremely frustrated right now.
"Hey look over there, it's a walrus!" Huh? I turned sharply around. Wait, what the fuck?
"Hey you bastard get back here!" I can't believe I fell for that one, dammit! I was really going to kick his ass now. I turned around and punched a locker with all my force – I made dent in the metal – I grinned to myself looking at what I did. Poor bastard who comes in tomorrow and finds their locker was pulverized. I heard Hikari muttering angrily besides me just then. I looked over to her curiously while she dialed in her combination on her locker, she seemed really angry.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked, feeling quite angry myself.
"Huh? Oh, Takeru, hi honey. Uhm, yeah I guess. Miyako never met me afterschool – and I just noticed I forgot to get my history book; I have a big test in it tomorrow, so I came back to school to get it. What are you doing here? Usually you're home by now – or at basketball practice." She said playing with her hair. Shit. I forgot all about basketball practice. Eh… I'm the captain, I can miss a day or two if I want can't I?
"Oh, uh… my friend needed to take care of something so I'm just waiting for him to finish…" I said repeating what Iori had told me. What did he have to do?
"Oh? Who would that be?" She asked inquisitively. She leaned against her locker, and laid a hand on her hip. Gay or not I had to admit she looked pretty damn hot right now… wow was I seriously still attracted to her? I thought I was gay…
"Uh, no one you know. Iori Hida? Does the name ring a bell?" I asked with my eyes focused on her curves. I was still really horny and she just kept looking better and better by the second… I think I seriously wanted her right now – for the first time in my life.
"Oh yeah, I know him. He's Miyako's cousin, I went over his house briefly not too long ago. Miyako's not too fond of him; she thinks he's a nerd. Ha! He looks like one." Despite how angry her comment just made me – no one, absolutely no one was allowed to talk about my Iori that way – I still found her breathtakingly hot.
"Yeah… I guess…" I said and leaned into and kissed her. Before I understood what I was doing I was passionately kissing her. My hands wrapped around her sleek frame – the feeling of her body pressed to mine astoundingly made me hard. I noticed for the first time I liked how she felt… I liked her body against mine… oh God… please don't fucking tell me I was falling for my girlfriend! I couldn't help it though; soon we were lost in our own world, kissing like the most passionate of lovers. Soon we had to pull away for air.
"Wow, Takeru… that was… what brought that on?" She asked gasping for air but with a smile in her voice. She was obviously happy about my random assault on her body.
"To think you were cheating on me…" She whispered, or… I thought she whispered. I could've sworn that's what she said, but I just shook my head and ignored it. I probably just misunderstood what she just said.
"I'm not sure…" I said answering her question. But the weird thing is… even knowing who she was… I liked it… a lot. Damn it. Damn it all to hell.
"Maybe we should get outta here… my parents are out of town on a business trip – you know they're always traveling… and Taichi probably has soccer practice… we can have some fun if you want…" She tugged on my arm, looking at me from under her lashes, she grinned evilly and happily. The girl who I set out to destroy was giving me an invitation to her bedroom… and I was considering taking her up on it.
Oddly enough it was the exact thing I thought I was going to do with Iori… wait… technically… just who the fuck was I cheating on…? Hikari was my girlfriend and Iori was my boyfriend… who was the closest to my heart – who would be the one… the one that I really betrayed? I wasn't sure…
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(Iori's POV)
I found myself at the entrance of the senior gym hallway. In black in someone had written on the side of the wall "freshmen beware…" I gulped. I paced in front of it hearing Miyako's muffled screams much more accurately now… along with another sound I could decipher… I just shook my head and walked outside using the door that was behind me – it lead to the senior gym yard. What the hell did I think I was going to do? What if someone big and strong was hurting Miyako? What was a little shrimp like me going to do? I couldn't do anything… and would probably just get my ass kicked like Miyako was right now. I should've brought Takeru, and maybe even Ken. The more people the better… but still who the hell knows how many people were hurting Miyako? And what if no one was? What if I was mistaking this for some scary movie? Yeah that could happen! Nope I was just lying to myself… my hearing was more then good enough to decipher it was her. Curse my hearing…
I took a deep breath and then when I was just about to go back in, I heard another sound I wished I hadn't, I wished my hearing wasn't so accurate, I wished I could lie to myself and say I didn't hear it… but I heard it… and the acid of his voice began to burn my ears…
"Hey twerp… did you see me on the news last night? I promised you I'd come back, and I never go back on my promises…" He chuckled darkly. I shivered. Dammit. At the worst possible time… the world was beginning to fall apart.
"H-How'd you… how'd you find me?" I stammered, backing up against the door that lead back inside (which I was hoping I could slip into).
"It wasn't hard… your old school – well my school – doesn't protect its student classified records so well, just like how it doesn't protect it's cafeteria food so well – lemme tell you free food is a pretty fun thing when there's so much of it. Anyways, I know everything about you now… Iori Hida… you're a wimpy little nerd, aren't you? You've never been on any sports teams, have missed plenty of gym classes, you're all for studying though aren't you? You little perfect-grades, goodie-two shoes. Have anything to say for yourself? Huh?"
"Saburo Tsutomu" I whispered. I glared at him despite my fear – I was trembling and halfway to peeing my pants – yet I still managed to dig up my hate for this person.
"What was that faggot?" He sneered at me. I growled deep in my chest – who the hell was he calling a faggot?
"GAHH!" I shouted as I ran at him with all my force. I slammed hard into his rock-solid body. We toppled over onto the grass of the senior gym yard. He grabbed the hair on the back of my head pulled it to peel me off him. He threw me against the grass and jumped on top of me. He reared his arm back and threw it forward with all his force. His fist smacked me straight in the eye – I cried out in pain. I struggled under him feeling my eye swell up.
"Faggot nerds have to be taught a lesson Iori – don't fight it – it'll be over soon enough… or will it?" He chuckled darkly. He backhanded me across the face when I managed to kick him fiercely in the back from under him.
"Leave me the fuck alone, bastard!" I shouted as I got one of my hands free and punched his groin as hard as I could manage. He squealed and his hands quickly tended to that area. I was able – while he was distracted – to flip him off me with my legs. I scrambled away on my hands and legs, desperately trying to find some escape. He grabbed my leg and yanked me backward before I could get very far. He brought up his fist and then slammed it down hard on my back – that sent me flat onto the ground from on my knees. I struggled to get up but he kept bringing me back down. I flipped onto my stomach noticing I was getting nowhere and then used my legs to catapult him backwards from me. He saw it coming though and dodged it and then grabbed my legs and stood up. Still holding my legs he lifted me and literally swung me around and let go of them. He force of the swing sent me flying further into the seniors yard.
Pain flew up and down my body, paralyzing me in this position. If I moved I knew it would hurt extremely – too much to get far – I was incapacitated. He then ran over to me and jumped straight onto my body – I closed my eyes getting ready for him to crash on top of me.
The pain… was indescribable. I couldn't feel my stomach anymore, nor my chest, nor groin. All I felt was searing pain. I saw what came next and braced myself he brought his arm back again and was going to send it flying into my body with an immense force. But I didn't feel anything this time. I thought it was because I was in so much pain that I just couldn't feel anymore pain – but I realized that's not what happened.
"Hey, what the fuck are you freshmen doing on the senior gym yard?! You should all be home by now – the schools closed. Get going before we beat the shit outta you!" A couple seniors called coming towards us. I could barely see anything and I noticed that was because my eyes were closed – I opened them slowly and saw Saburo hesitating above me.
"Hey! I'm no freshman! I'm a senior too – I go to Nishi Tsuchi High School!" He called out to them. He looked right now like he was a lion protecting his fresh kill from hyenas, I looked at the seniors inspecting their faces for any further evidence of intruding – I may just live through today if they broke up our fight.
"Nishi Tsuchi? Are you kidding? What the fuck is a Nishi Tsuchi kid doing here?! That's worse than being a freshman! Get the fuck off our property kid! We just kicked your wimpy ass soccer team two days ago and we are more then happy enough to show you what it looked like – on your face!" One of the seniors called from the group closing in on us. I instantly recognized one of the faces.
"Yamato!" I cried – my voice was hoarse – I cleared my throat. I looked up at him pleadingly.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What are you doing with Iori!" Yamato shouted angrily walking towards us.
"You know this freshman? I thought he went to Nishi Tsuchi?" One of them asked Yamato.
"Not Iori – maybe this guy here – but Iori goes here." He said calling back to his friends. He gasped when he got closer to me and noticed my condition. "Hey what the fuck? Did you do this to him?" Yamato accused Saburo.
"And what if I did?" Saburo challenged, seeming confident. He stood up and met Yamato eye to eye.
Yamato grabbed his shirt collar and forcefully rammed him back against the school wall.
"You fucking think this is funny you little piece of shit? Don't mess with me bitch, I'll really fuck you up." Yamato said pushing him higher up against the wall.
"G-Get off me jackass!" Saburo said struggling under Yamato's ferice grip. Wow I never thought he could be so angry… so strong… so overpowering… I just watched in awe.
Yamato punched him hard in the stomach and I heard a distinct crack. Saburo coughed loudly as all the air was forced out of him.
"You listen to me and you listen the fuck good! No one messes with my little brothers friends! Touch him again and you'll wish someone would kill you quickly – because me? I'll make your death slow and mortifying – you'll think being burned alive would be a much more tolerable death. So get the fuck outta here Nishi Tsuchi kid – and don't fuck with my friends, or anyone from this school, got that? Because I will hunt your ass down." Yamato pressed into him hard when Saburo didn't say anything.
"Okay – okay! I got it! Please, lemme go!" Saburo pleaded. Yamato let go of him, still glaring, and just when he looked like he was going to walk away he grabbed Saburo's shoulders and threw him straight against another wall (where the hallway turned) and released him. Saburo just sat there unmoving – moaning in pain. Yamato walked back over to me.
"Go Yamato!" One of the seniors called from behind me. The pain dulled enough for me to stand up, and I slowly made my way to Yamato.
"You just better be happy I got here when I did. I don't know what you did to make him hurt you, but I doubt he'll attempt attacking you again. Not if he values his life, that is." Yamato said the last part loudly as if he was telling it to Saburo more than me.
"Come on, Iori, let's go find your brother before he had a conniption. I can't believe he'd even let you out of his sight long enough for this to happen to you." Yamato shook his head disapprovingly.
"I-It's not Takeru's fault. I asked for him to leave me alone because… because… oh shit! Miyako!" I shouted remembering why I was even in school in the first place. Though I was not too fond of Miyako she was family – I had to protect her… that is if she's even worth protecting now… she sounded like she was being killed… and I didn't hear screams anymore… maybe she was dead… I might've been too late… This stupid melee between my past and me stopped me from protecting the life of one of my family members… I sighed.
"What about Miyako?" Yamato asked curiously. "What is she taking our break-up hard?" Yamato asked leading me back into the school. The seniors followed us back into the school.
"No, that's not it at all… I heard her screaming from the senior hallway! I think someone was beating her up. She sounded like she was being murdered! Seriously!"
"I guess we're gonna go find out what the problem is then…" Yamato muttered. "Why can't you freshman just understand you're not supposed to be on senior property? Is it really that hard to understand?" Yamato asked shaking his head. "You said she sounded like she was being murdered? That's weird… we usually don't kill the freshman literally, though I must admit it's tempting." Yamato chuckled darkly then sighed.
We went into the school getting ready for whatever awaited us…
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(A/N:) Well that's the end of the chappy! How'd you like it? Good, not good? Review and tell me! Please review! I live off those – I need more if I'm going to continue writing this fic! Review please!!! Thanks!!! (Hey I think that's a pretty reasonable proposition… reviewing = Pellucid Otiose writing more, I think that works well!)
