DarkFusion: Thank you so much for the supportive words. I'm really glad you enjoyed last chapter. I do aim to please. I hope you like this one!
Tallulah: Always great to hear your comments. As for the review, I may do more with Kaori in later chapters. Everything is still confusing for them right now and I don't want to rush things. I think I rushed them in this chapter, but who knows. Tell me what you think.
DiamondLynxx1314: Here's your update! You know I can't resist the dreaded puppy dog eyes!
Susan: Thanks for your support. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Akira
They rode for a long time, trees and farm life becoming more and more visible. They didn't say a single word to one another for a good three hours, and the silence was enough to make Kaori go insane. They'd only stopped twice for gas, but had done nothing else.
Kaori was extremely nervous. Tetsuo had also avoided eye contact with her along with his silent treatment. She couldn't understand what she did that was so wrong. She knew Alex was part of the cause, but his behavior stemmed from something before he came into the picture. He'd been distant for a while now, only before he hid it a lot better.
Living in the orphanage for most of his life, he mastered the art of hiding his feelings and keeping himself as distant as possible. Being picked on all the time prevented him from allowing anyone to be close to him. She and Kaneda were the closest, and look how he treated them.
Kaori also had a difficult childhood. She grew up in the orphanage as well, having been picked on because of her appearance and behavior. She was constantly made fun of, and her only friends were Yoko and Sakura, two girls who also received the same treatment. Kaori, too, learned to distance herself and not let others get close to her. It wasn't until she met Tetsuo that she let her defenses down. He was just like her, outcast and afraid, although she handled it better. The more they talked the more open they became with one another. It was only natural that they ended up together.
She was distracted from her thoughts when the bike suddenly sped up and she was thrown back, almost falling off. She wrapped her arms tighter around his waist and screamed when she saw the clowns in the mirror of the motorcycle.
"Fuck!" Tetsuo screamed as he turned on a side street and continued with the clowns still on his tail.
Once they were next to Tetsuo and Kaori, the clowns pulled out various types of weapons and began attacking. The leader's weapon of choice was a dagger, which was already covered in blood from a previous attack a few hours earlier. A fellow gang member took over the bike as he jumped and landed right on the front of Tetsuo's bike. Tetsuo's face conveyed a look of anger and the clown leader merely smirked and looked directly at Kaori. Out of nowhere another clown followed the example and landed on the back of the bike causing Tetsuo to swerve more.
"Hey, baby! Remember me!" Kaori turned to see the clown from the night before looking her straight in the face. She screamed as his hands made contact with her mouth and chest, restricting her voice and breathing.
Tetsuo wanted to help, but turning around would mean that the bike would crash into something and end up getting them all killed. He continued swerving, however, in hopes that the two bastards on his bike would fall. Eventually the leader fell and Tetsuo took that opportunity to speed up. He swerved easily now that there was less weight and stopped the bike abruptly before turning around to help Kaori.
She continued to scream as the clown tried to unfasten her shorts. He grabbed the nearest weapon, which happened to be a metal pole and lunged at the scum that was currently hurting his girlfriend. The clown moved more from fear than pain and ran back to his bike and sped off. Tetsuo threw the pole at the clown from his place on the bike and watched as they all sped off together before turning to check on Kaori.
She sat on the back of the bike and smoothed out her clothes. She was shaken, yes, but she was in this type of situation so many times that it wasn't as bad as the others. She wasn't physically hurt and the only thing wrong was that her hair was slightly disheveled, as well as her clothes. It was now her turn to avoid his gaze as he turned back around, stood from the bike, and stood next to her.
"Are you alright, Kaori?" He asked as he placed his hand on her bare thigh. She winced slightly.
"I'm alright, Tetsuo. Are you hurt?"
"No." She looked down again as his voice began sounding cold again.
His hand moved from her leg to her face, the other resting on her hip. He looked down and inspected every part of her with his eyes.
"Why do you keep lying to me, Kaori!"
She looked up, her face suddenly very pale. She wasn't expecting the outburst to come out this soon. He usually stayed quiet and took his anger out on random objects. She panicked slightly when he roughly turned her chin up to look at him.
"I don't know. I just don't want to worry you."
"This is all your fault, you know? If you hadn't brought pretty boy into our lives, or lied about his flirting, or any of the shit you've pulled these days, then we wouldn't be in this situation right now!"
Kaori removed his hand from under her chin and let her head fall. She silently cried and hoped he wouldn't notice; she already knew he didn't care. She just chalked it up that she was not worthy to be his girlfriend. Everything he said was true and she found herself, much to Tetsuo's surprise, raising off the back of the bike and walking away. Once she was far enough away she let out the large sob that she'd been holding in since before they even began their trip. She didn't know what possessed her, but she found herself sprinting, running faster than she'd ever run before. She didn't hear the footsteps behind her, and it took a moment for her to recognize the feeling of arms wrapping around her softly. She struggled to get loose, not wanting to be touched after what just happened and not wanting to feel any more isolated.
"Kaori." He whispered, knowing that he really messed up this time.
She didn't hear him—she couldn't hear him. She had finally broken down after all of the years of keeping everything bottled up inside.
Tetsuo put one arm under her legs and the other on the small of her back and lifted her up. She'd stopped struggling and let him take her. She wanted any and all distractions to get rid of the pain she felt. He carried her back to the bike and drove off. He held on to both of her hands with one of his own, not trusting her to hold on tight enough in her current state. It was hard to maneuver, but he managed to get them to an isolated area, one he was sure was clown-free.
He stopped the bike in a wooded area and looked down the road. There were no signs of life other than them and he found that strangely comforting. He looked behind him to Kaori, who was still in the same position as before he stopped. She had silent tears still streaming down her now extremely pale face and her hands were still limp around his waist. He put his hands over hers, all the while wondering how he hadn't noticed how ice cold they were during the drive. He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and sighed before turning completely so that they were facing one another.
"Kaori" He whispered her name for about the hundredth time, the previous being in his personal thoughts. She moved her hand an inch to show she was still alive but showed no other sign that she heard him.
He lifted her chin up and wiped the tears away with his thumb. Her eyes no longer had the same life in them that he admired so much. They were as dim as they were when he first met her. He mentally kicked himself, knowing that he caused her the same pain he tried to protect her from.
"Kaori, baby…" She finally turned her face up to meet his, being somewhat surprised that he called her an affectionate name.
"Listen," He started, needing desperately to get this off his chest. He lifted himself from the bike and stood a few feet away, his back to her.
"I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I made you cry. I didn't mean to. And I know you don't mean to, but you make me so mad! Ever since you met him he's been all over you. This is the first time we've actually been alone in days. And then you flirt with him in front of me just to boast his ego. I don't get you. At this rate it seems like you're already dating him."
"No, Tetsuo!"
He turned around to face her and saw her walk toward him and stop a few inches away from him.
"I don't want him! He's just a friend to me. I'll admit that I was flirting with him, but I only did it so you would pay attention to me..."
"That's bullshit!"
"…And it worked! You haven't spent this much time with me since before you were in the gang!"
"You think the only way to get my attention is to be a little whore and flirt with every guy you see?"
"You do the same thing to me, Tetsuo!" She said, her face reflecting the rage she felt.
"What the hell—"
"You go out with Kaneda and the others to bars and pick up girls. Then you come back to me drunk and act like nothing happened. But the difference is that I flirted because I wanted your attention; you flirted because you didn't want mine!"
It was silent as the two thought about what was said. Tetsuo, of course ruined the silence by letting out a maniacal laugh.
"You are such a fool. If I didn't want you as a girlfriend, then would I really be dealing with you right now?"
"I just don't know, Tetsuo."
"Did it ever cross your mind that I went out with them so you would be jealous? You don't pay any attention to me!"
"How don't I pay attention to you?"
"Like this!" He pulled her arm so that her body was tightly pressed against his body and pressed his lips to hers aggressively.
