[Chapter 8] A big misunderstanding

The wind hit him in the face while the sound of wheels running across the streets resonated in his ears even when the crowd was noisy. His teeth were clenched together unconsciously, unsure if it was because of the pestering thugs he caught red-handed swarming around their territory, or it was just an habit he did when he concentrates in riding his skateboard whenever he chases his targets.

To be completely honest, the young boy couldn´t be any more fed up with these guys. It wasn´t the first time he´s seen them acting suspicious near the bar. The worst part was that they weren´t even that strong or threatening, only bothersome. They make him waste his time chasing them out of their territory when he could be doing something else right now.

He used to beat them up outside of their domain, but this time he lost sight of them for a moment thanks to being closer to the crowed zone of the city. He clicked his tongue for letting them escape. If they were heading towards the bar to try to assault it, he must find them before that. He wasn´t going to let them get away with it.

The young boy rode his skateboard as fast as he could, with his head moving side to side to not miss a single spot and give them what they deserved.

There wasn´t any time to lose. Therefore, at the next corner, he turned left to take a shortcut to their base in case those idiots get there, but he was going so fast he didn´t have time to react.

*Crashed*

The skateboard flew through the air, colliding with the ground a couple meters away. Of all the times, why did he had to crash into someone now. His body hurt around his knees; maybe he cut himself, but at least he fell on top of that idiot who crossed his path taking most of the damage for him. But now wasn´t the time to think about that.

Ouch. Look where you go, dumbass!

That´s what I should say. A stern, cool voice he heard before prepared him to see who he bumped into.

A chill ran down his spine before his eyes could confirm his unluck. Unsure, his hazel eyes looked down to see if he really bumped into her. Indeed, there she was on the ground, the aloof, red eyes girl looking unpleased at him.

Once he got a grasp of the uncomfortable position they were, his face turned red and he quickly leaned back from her, falling on the ground. S-Sorry! He tried his best to amend this awkward meeting. He had made her angry before, and it never ended well for him, so the best thing to do was give her space and have a safety distance from her.

Both were on the ground recovering from the hit they received. She was holding her head just like him, holding the rest of her body with her other arm while her legs were spread widely showing her...

Flustered, his face tinted red and he turned away his gaze complaining about her exposure. C-Close your legs, woman!

The short haired girl looked down to see what the problem seemed to be and understood what he meant. But far from sharing the same rush as he, she just casually closed them a little, indifferent about the "issue".

Having rose from the ground first, the skater boy looked down at her to see if she was in a less shameless position. Since it was partly his fault that she fell, he felt bad about it, so he casually offered his hand to get her back on her feet, avoiding eye contact the entire time. He stayed in the same position waiting for her to grab his hand, but the time passed, and he felt nothing. Intrigued by what's going on, he peeked at her, only to see her already standing and brushing the dust off of herself.

He stared at his own hand dejected and then at the insolent girl menacingly, but she ignored him completely. It was that bored look she had that pissed him off the most. His rage, however, was going to fade the moment he finally noticed her garment. Right in front of him, the annoying, robot girl had a different outfit he´d never think she´d wear: a school uniform. H-Hey, what the hell are you wearing? The odd attire on her body was mismatched with his image of her as a stubborn, rude, gorilla woman. He didn´t want to assume it was some kind of weird kink she had or a uniform from a shady workplace, so there has to be a logical explanation.

My uniform. She stoically replied the obvious.

From w-work? A chill ran down his spine just by thinking the kind of place she worked for.

School.

You´re high school student?! The most logic answer was the craziest.

She couldn´t comprehend what was so strange about that. Yes. Wasn´t it obvious? Second year. She half-heartedly responded while taking the dust off her clothes.

Wait, so, you´re younger than me?

For the first time that day she looked at him intrigued under her bored eyes. Really? How old are you?

I'm 17! He harshly responded, slightly offended by her surprise.

Couldn´t tell; you´re so short. Being careless about his overall existence, she didn´t fear to abruptly spit out her thoughts. And to make it worse, their heigh difference obligated her to look down at him.

Hearing her calling him short was uncalled for, after all, she wasn´t that much taller than him. However, while he suppressed his rage towards her, he realized something more important. Hey! So, all this time you´ve been younger than me...! He choked on his own spite, remembering every single disrespectful act committed by her.

Why is a shocker? Didn´t I look like a 16-year-old?

You look like 20. His sincerity came out before thinking. And your attitude is always so serious, bored, and unapologetic, so...

Despite taking all those insults indifferently, it was a lie to say it didn´t bother her to hear that. Apparently, she didn´t behave like a girl her age.

Also, who goes around wearing T-THAT?

At that moment, her eyes opened wide. 'That? Could it be he saw...?' She looked more aware than she ever looked before. If he really saw her garter belt with knifes, then she was doomed. Her eyes narrowed at him ready to strike him down if necessary. What did you see?

His shoulders jumped. She looked at him beyond annoyed, it was as if a dark aura surrounded her, extremely wrathful at what he saw. But there was a problem, there was no way in hell he could answer that. He was on the spot, words couldn´t come out of his mouth, but her severe impatience was just making him even more nervous. If he didn´t say anything soon, he feared he'd be dead meat. B-black. An uncertain, broken voice came out of his mouth.

The expectant girl rose an eyebrow at the vague description while he continues. L-lacy underwear...

A pregnant silence took over the scene. By the time he finished, his beanie was covering as much as it could his blushing face. Eri blinked statically a couple of times before finally understanding what he meant. She felt at ease now that everything was a misunderstanding from her, and since he didn´t focus on her knifes under her skirt, her fear disappeared, and her expression relaxed. Oh, that´s fine then.

Her monotonous voice and poker face were even more frustrating than everything since then. What do you mean 'fine'?! After what she got him into, and her previous murderous look, that reaction was absolutely unbalanced.

It doesn´t matter.

Yes, it does! Awestruck by her obliviousness he felt he had to spell it out for her. Who goes around wearing t-those kinds of flashy...?! But he found himself stumbled on his words growing more embarrassed while she stood there inexpressive. Ugh! Forget it!

Can I go now? Uninterested of keeping this conversation going, she politely asked.

Yes, Please! He couldn´t deal at all with this cold puppet. She was beyond an annoying chick; she was impossible to read and rude.

Both carried on their respective paths without any other word.

This time he got rid of her with no fights, at least. Now he could concentrate in finding those losers and beat them up. But doing that with no clue where they went was going to be impossible, so he grabbed his PDA and called Kamamoto to ask if he saw a group of punks near the bar where he was.

Once he got a little information about their whereabouts, he got pumped up again to finish their business and jumped on his skateboard again to find them.

Hey, did you see that girl?

The schoolgirl? Yeah, she´s cute.

The skateboarder passed by a small group of youngsters walking, and they were so loud and obnoxious he could hear them.

He didn´t pay too much attention to them, but he has seen that kind of guys before many times, and they weren´t womanizers or Casanovas, but the pestering kind of type. If they were talking about the same high schooler he was thinking, then they need an eyesight check, however, maybe they weren´t talking about her.

Let´s ask her out; maybe she has friends.

Just then, his eyes showed concern and he stopped for a brief second to see over his shoulder. That was the same path he saw the straight-face girl go. It was somehow disquieting thinking if they were talking about the same monster he met just a minute ago. But that didn´t concern him; he had other things to do, so he returned to his search.

He rode his skateboard one more time, on this occasion a little slower than before.

…

But she was a normal girl after all, maybe a savage one, but a defenseless girl.

'No, it´s ok. That gorilla can take care of herself just fine.' He experimented her strength twice, and although it upset him, he had to admit she could pull it off if they attack her…

Then again, those two times, they didn´t attack her, that´s why she could easily punch them.

However, that time he knocked her out, she couldn´t defend herself and she easily went down completely.

On the other hand, it was still daylight, and many other people were around on the streets, so they couldn´t do something too risky against her. 'I´m sure she´ll be fine.'

Nonetheless, she was younger than him; she was just a 16-year-old. There was a limit about how much a normal student could do, even if she were so demoniac as that girl.

'No, it´s not my business. I have other things to do.'

…

GGGGGHHHHH!

He was such a pushover. Why did he have to have this stupid soft spot for girls? In retrospective, he didn´t owe her anything, and even has one punch in favor of him, so he did not have a reason to do this for her. But even a demon like her shouldn´t have to go through that.

He wasn´t that far from where they went to, so he rapidly reached them just in time to-

Eh?

Oh, it's you. Didn't you leave?

Wordless, he stood there, without even panting for his rush since his body could handle the lack of air, but not the scene in front of him.

She was casually standing, dusting off her hands while her signature bored eyes stared at him. But of course, that wasn´t the shocking part but the three older punks laying on the ground of the dark alley without making any sound.

Once again, he was numb about her monstrously force. Furthermore, she wasn´t even panting like he was, not to mention he made sure to get where she was faster than before to not waste any time. And to think she could handle it, after all.

Felling foolish by his meaningless concerns, he turned his eyes away from her a bit embarrassed. All this worry to nothing. Of course, she would take care of everything by herself, what was he thinking?

The red eyes girl stared at him while he kept in silence, this time avoiding her eyes. The only reason she could think of about why he was there was You came back to help me.

Her accurate affirmation made his shoulders jumped in fear. Now he´s done it. he could see coming a witty remark about his behavior just to mess with him.

Thank you, you were thoughtful. But I did just fine.

His eyes went wide for a moment and quickly returned to see hers. Far from mocking him, she just appreciated his action. As expected, her face didn´t change, actually, not even her monotoned voice, but he could definitely swear her words were genuine.

How could he answer to this unexpected side, though? He certainly couldn´t, as it could be seen by his sudden bashful, avoiding reaction. Don´t mention it. For a second time, he watched the three guys on the floor, next to the unscratched schoolgirl and he felt a mix of wariness and shadiness towards her. She was something else. It was dumb of me to think you´ll be in danger.

Yes, it was.

At least stay quiet, would you!? He couldn't believe the nerve she had.

While the little chihuahua barked at her, the teen noticed something about him she didn´t before. Right beneath his shorts, he had serious scratches on both knees. After that unfortunate accident, she took care of her own bothering pain in the alley where those idiots tried to hit on her and didn´t take "no" for an answer. But this numbskull probably didn´t even notice he was hurt at all.

She remembered the hurry he was in when they bumped into each other, and how they went to opposite directions, so if he was there breathless, then it meant he forgot about that to defend her. it was unnecessary, obvious, but she was truly thankful for the intention even when her face didn´t show it. Therefore, the youngest tried to pay the good deed on her own way.

The older of the two was too obstructed telling her about her nasty nature and all the things it bothers him that he didn´t pay attention to her and suddenly he got her approaching him in silence. He stopped complaining when she out of nowhere crouched in front of him. That kept him quiet, but also insanely flustered.

W-What the hell!?

Just below him on the floor, her big, semi-closed eyes stared at him, trying to calm him down to not make a scene when they had three idiots laying around lifeless. Shh. I´m paying your kindness.

That serious, yet mild expression only made him more confused, to top it off, her words didn´t add any information of what she was planning to do. And her compromising position was already too risky.

Blood was rushing to his head, and his heart beat like a drum, making it impossible to think straight anymore. Before she did anything else, he grabbed her by the wrist, and run from that dark place in order to stop her.

I´m back! Expect the next chapter soon, because it was too long and I just split it in the middle. This time it´s time for the red clan.