Title : Broken
Plot/Summary : Broken. That is what she is. And that is how she left everyone else.
Rating : T (suitable for Teens and above)
Warnings : Coarse Language, Death, Heartbreak, and Confusion
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It was during the start of his 2nd year when Shin first saw her. She was barefoot and panting like a dog wearing a hospital gown. She was looking behind her warily as if someone would jump at her at any minute. It was obvious that she had escaped from the hospital. As soon as she caught her breath, she turned to him with a sheepish smile and a polite bow before walking away. He could remember contemplating calling 911 and report about her, but it wasn't really his business. So he let it go.
The next time he saw her was in the arcade center. She was playing by the crane machine, trying to get a stuffed toy while being oblivious to the men leering her short Momo High skirt.
"YES~!" She squeals triumphantly when she successfully won her desired prize.
"That's quite cute" one of the guys smirked.
Shin noticed her freeze for a second before turning to her spectators. She smiles at them and for a moment there, Shin felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
"Why thank you" She chirps innocently before skipping away from the group. The group of 5 high school boys from Kurogin High were left dumbfounded by the machine. Shin knew without a doubt that they felt it too. That cold ominous aura that came out of her as she smiled at them. He felt his fingers twitch as he caught sight of her again and realized that she was watching him from across the crowd before disappearing again.
Shin had a feeling that that is not the last time he would see her. And oh how right he was. He just did not consider the situation they would be in.
He was walking home alone from school when it happened. She was backed up a wall while being cornered by a guy from Akadou High. Her eyes were darting everywhere, desperately searching for an escape when her eyes caught his.
The guy was about to grab her when Shin felt his body move automatically to dash towards them. He yanked the guy backward before placing himself in between while shielding the girl with his body.
"Who the hell are you" The guy sneered.
"Just a passerby" He replied tonelessly. He felt her grab at his polo before hearing her sigh in relief.
The guy studied them closely. "So, is this the guy you said your boyfriend is?"
Shin glanced back at her with a raised brow. She did not deny or admit the claim as she merely shrugged. While his focus was on the girl behind him, Shin did not fail to notice the guys wearing the Akadou uniform appearing around them.
"You should leave him" The persistent guy smirked. "I bet that I'm better than him"
"Believe me" The girl tightened her grip on his uniform. "Better him than you"
Shin didn't know where she pulled that remark from but he sure as hell wished she didn't. The insult was enough to make the guy attack them, followed by his apparent cronies. Under any circumstances, Shin would have no trouble dealing with them but right now his main focus is to defend the girl - whom he still didn't know the name of.
That was the official day they had met. Because later that night, when the others were down groaning on the pavement from her special pepper spray and mighty kicks, Shin had finally learned of her name.
With a bright smile despite her extreme exhaustion, she extended her hand and introduced herself. And Shin knows that it's a name he'll never forget.
Arashi Sena.
After the fight, Arashi Sena had dragged her savior to a nearby pharmacy store and purchased the necessary items to fix him up. Shin insisted that he didn't need them. He even considered ditching her once her back was turned but she glared at him and threatened to 'hunt him down' if he even dared to go through his thoughts as if she could read his mind.
So he sighed, nodded, and patiently waited for her. If his friends heard about this, they would surely conclude that the world is ending (in the most comical way possible).
Once she was back, she methodically cleaned his scrapes as gently and as fast as she could. Shin silently observed her as she did her thing. He honestly answered her clinical questions and when that was all over, she finally let him go.
But he didn't leave.
They stayed outside the drug store, sitting silently beside each other while watching the stars.
After a while, she spoke : "Will you be my boyfriend?"
"No" was his quick answer.
She chuckles mirthlessly at that. "You don't have to act like one, you know. I just need the label"
"What?"
She grins mischievously as she replies : "I need someone to act as my boyfriend without the strings attached"
"Aren't you going to ask if I have a girlfriend first?"
"I already concluded that you had none. Why? Do you have one?"
"No. But how...?"
"I haven't seen you yet with one"
Shin could only blink. "That's it?"
"If I go on further, you'd think that I'm weird"
"I already think you're weird the first time I saw you"
"When was that?"
"Answer my question first"
She huffed. "Fine." Holding out her hand she counted : "One, as I had said, I haven't seen you with a girl. Two, you don't have anything in your belonging that could be considered 'girlfriend-bought'. Like a matching 'something'"
"'matching something'?" He sounded amused.
"Hush" She glared at him before continuing, "Three, you don't have a feminine smell on you"
"Of course I don't have that. I'm a guy"
She gave him the most unimpressed look she could muster. "When girls cling to guys, their perfume clings on the guys' clothes. I didn't smell even a faint feminine perfume on you"
"You smelled me?"
"You were standing in front of me earlier. It's not hard to get a whiff of it." She shrugged. "Four, you didn't deny that you were my boyfriend. Every loyal guy to their girl would correct other people's mistake of pairing him to another girl other than his own"
"Is there more?"
"Last one," She shrugged and brought down her hand to her lap. "You've been studying me for a while now. Probably gauging if I'm similar to other girls"
Shin didn't comment at that, but he was looking at her as if to ask her to elaborate on that one.
"You have a pretty face" She shrugged. "You probably were subjected to many confessions and whatnot. I can only conclude that you were disappointed to know that they only want what they see and not what they don't"
There was a beat of silence before Shin asked. "What do you see?"
Sena blinked, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I see a bored guy who had been in too many fights than it is healthy for his age"
"That's it?"
"Yeah" She nods. "And I don't care"
And that is how Shin was convinced to be her boyfriend.
It was weeks later when Class D finally found out that the redhead rebel is in a relationship and a few days before they met the proclaimed girlfriend of Shin. It was chaos, to put it simply. No one believed it at first aside from Yamaguchi Kumiko (Class D's homeroom teacher).
It was only by chance that they had met her. Shin was forced to accompany Kinoshita's girlfriend's fangirl of a friend. The first thing Shin told the girl was that he already has a girlfriend. The woman didn't believe him. With no other choice but to follow the persistent leech, Shin could only sigh.
It was a disaster, to put it mildly. He didn't know what to do the whole time. It was when Yamaguchi was scolding Shin in front of a hotel filled with Yakuza people when Shin's saving grace came to his rescue.
Sena was walking near the place when she spotted them. She blinked a few times, not really sure what to do about the situation. So she timidly waved and sketched a hesitant smile. Shin's relief might have bled in his features, he doesn't know, but he was glad that she came towards them.
"Hello" Sena gives a shy, respectful bow to the Kuroda Clan Head and his granddaughter.
"And who might you be?" Yamaguchi Kumiko eyed the new arrival.
"This is Arashi Sena" Shin introduces. "My girlfriend"
News that Yankumi met Shin's girlfriend first spread like wildfire in the class and the red head's closest friend was demanding to meet her too. Too bad she was busy with school works.
But just like with Yankumi, they met her by chance.
In the arcade center of all places.
Shin could only shake his head as he watches his friends surround (unknowingly) his girlfriend while playing some virtual shooting game. They were awed as she continues to level up.
He could already imagine their reactions when they find out that the one they desperately want to meet is already in front of them.
The game finally ended and the surrounding audience clapped their hands in amazement.
She turned around and spotted him.
"Shin!" She beams before walking towards him.
After the initial introduction of Sena to his friends, Shin didn't expect them to immediately be smitten with her in just a few hours.
But Shin could see...
She fits right in.
And whether he likes it or not, that she would be a permanent fixture in his life.
Sena found out that he has a crush on his homeroom teacher.
She grinned brightly at him and said that she was more than willing to help him out.
Shin found out a lot of things about his girlfriend in the past months they've been together.
He found out that Sena lives alone in a small studio-type apartment.
He found out that Sena works part-time in a convenience store nearby.
He found out that Sena is the top student in their year level at Momo High. And that she's on a full scholarship.
He found out that Sena lost her parents to a car accident and that she doesn't have any siblings.
Shin felt that something was wrong but couldn't point as to what it is.
Sena had called him out to the park. And right now, they are eating some takoyaki while watching the clouds.
She was humming a familiar tune.
He watches as she follows the drifting clouds with her eyes.
And then she drops the bomb.
"Let's break up"
She said it with sad eyes and a fake smile.
"Thank you for your time, Shin!"
And then she quickly left with a wave. Not even giving him time to respond.
Their break-up came as a huge shock to the class. Everyone thinks that they were a perfect match. Even Yankumi.
They said that he was an idiot for letting her go. They told him to get her back.
There was no more reason to contact her but he still found himself dialing her number. It was unreachable.
It would be weeks later before he finds out that she had gradually shut her friends off and that she had stopped going to school altogether.
And it would be months later before he encounters her again. It's just something is majorly wrong with her.
She didn't recognize him.
She is terminally ill. It was the cold hard truth.
Arashi Sena is dying.
She had a rare case of brain cancer that wouldn't be cured even with chemotherapy. Shin's heart broke. And a part of him feels betrayed.
She could have at least told him what was wrong.
Their classmates found out about her illness and together with class D and Momo high's class A, and even with the addition of the Kuroda family, they do their best to support her every step of the way. To keep her company and make her smile every day.
Even when every day they had to introduce themselves all over again.
It was all worth it.
Even when their hearts break every time they are reminded that she is bound to leave them behind.