Disclaimer: I do not own KHR!
Enma: Stutter
"Enma, do you want me to help you with the homework?" you offered politely.
The redhead flinched, startled by the sudden interaction. He turned to face you with his head lowered and mumbled a reply.
"Um, could you repeat that?" you asked hesitantly. You tried to get a glimpse of the expression on his face.
His chin lifted slightly but his lowered gaze did not meet yours. You saw his cheeks flush a red that rivaled his hair and eyes. In a meek voice, he stammered, "Er, w-well…t-t-that's not," he swallowed nervously, "not necessary…"
You smiled. "I see. You don't usually do the homework, so I thought maybe you were too busy to do it," you explained, thinking of Tsuna who partly lacked in his academics because of private mafia affairs.
"It's…it's fine! I-I-I gotta go now!" With that, the redhead scampered out the classroom.
"Enma doesn't seem to like me," you mumbled as you got ready to leave.
"What happened, _(Name)_?" Yamamoto asked. You met his curious expression and shrugged.
"I know that Enma is extremely shy," you started to explain, "but it feels like he avoids me."
Yamamoto shrugged. "He doesn't really interact with anyone in class. And he probably has a lot going on, y'know?" the baseball star suggested, keeping the fact that Enma was a mafia boss a secret. You assumed Enma was affiliated with the mafia, but you had no idea that he was the boss of a whole family.
"Yeah," you solemnly replied while nodding in agreement. You gave a halfhearted wave of goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow…"
Upon stepping off school grounds you heard rustling in the tree which was among the few planted at the entrance of the school gate. You were beneath its cover of leaves and branches, and just when you were about to look up, a sudden weight landed on you.
"OW!" you (both) cried out. You felt the heavy weight scramble away.
"I'm s-s-s-sorry! UWAH! _(Name)_, I'm really sorry!" You sat up and saw Enma looking at you with a horrified expression. He edged closer to you in case you needed assistance but kept a safe distance, not wanting to be any closer than he needed to be. "Are you o-o-okay? Did…did you g-get hurt?"
"…I'm fine," you replied while raising a hand to massage your neck. "Why were you up there?" you asked, glancing at the tree he fell out of.
"Well, um, the-there were these bullies a-a-and um, um, they asked for money. T-Then they threw me up there – "
You cut him off and lightly scolded, "Enma, stop stuttering! You should speak clearly! Those bullies probably pick on you because you stutter so much…even though you look cool…"
"E-Eh? …Ah. Um," Enma then started to fidget as he glanced at you and softly asked, "W-What do you mean I look 'cool'?"
"Oh…I meant, um, good-looking," you replied, cheeks heating in embarrassment. His face immediately turned red as he looked down to desperately hide the blush. Your cheeks flushed a deeper red in turn, feeling mortified you just put yourself in this awkward situation. You quickly dug through your bag for some Band-Aids for the multiple scratches on Enma's skin and offered it to the redhead. "Feel better! See you later!" He looked startled but you shoved the bandages into his hands and ran off to your house.
The next day Enma didn't come to school.
For days, he and the peculiar people you often saw him walking with did not appear at school. Coincidentally, Tsuna and his friends were not around either. You wondered if you would see Enma again and felt ashamed your last conversation with him ended the way it did.
It was a little over a week later when you felt an enormous quake rock the school building. Waves of chatter filled the classroom while you opened the window to see what was going on. It almost seemed like the shake was caused by some kind of explosion.
"_(Name)_, get away from the windows!" the teacher ordered, utterly bewildered that you stuck half of your body out the second floor window during the supposed earthquake. You were about to comply when another shake rumbled, greater than the first. The shakes were definitely caused by explosions – and they were nearby. Unfortunately, you lost your footing and…
"WAH!" you screamed as you fell out the window, completely losing balance as the building quivered violently. You shrieked the whole way down, petrified of splatting head first into the earth. Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of your lungs for a brief moment as your body collided with another from an unknown direction. You were suddenly right side up as strong arms wrapped around you, secure and comforting. The sudden change in momentum had your hair flying and body uncomfortably angled for the briefest seconds.
With your slow reaction time it took you awhile to register that you had already stopped moving and were in the arms of your protector who held you protectively against him. Your savior knelt with you leaning on him for support. You looked at your savior and you gaped.
"E-E-En-Enma?! Is that really you? Why are you – W-What are you doing here?!" you questioned, a barrage of questions swirling through your head. He looked so different! Even the look in his eyes was unusual. You looked at the peculiar flame adorning his forehead. It was like Tsuna's, but different—it was kind of T-shaped. "Wha-What's going on? Where – How – W-Were you flying?" You looked at the flame again. "Wha-What's – What were you – "
"_(Name)_," Enma said, silencing you. His voice was clear and his tone was sharp. His strong, unwavering gaze then flickered with amusement as a playful smile played on his lips. "You're stuttering, _(Name)_."
His comment brought tingly warmth to your cheeks as you stared back, utterly stunned. "But you…surprised me and I haven't seen you in days…" you stated in a quieter, more controlled voice as you tried to mask your astonishment.
"I know," he said understandingly. He then placed a small, tiny kiss on your forehead. "It's cute…your stutter." He had never seen you show great amounts of shyness in front of him so he particularly liked the reversed roles. "You should go. It's dangerous outside, so stay indoors."
"Okay," you breathlessly replied, though you were concerned with what was going on. You wondered if there was some kind of crazy mafia training or a horrific life-or-death battle taking place.
He stood up and gave you one last glance. "I got to go. See you."
You nodded and watched him fly off towards the explosions you had been blindly ignoring since he had caught you. 'Wow,' you thought, still in disbelief of what had just transpired. The way he had looked at you unwaveringly was so sinfully attractive you had actually lost the ability to speak.
Because he was absolutely breathtaking.
. . .
. .
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For Woopa
