It was 10:20 AM, well past the time Tenya had set for his second training session with Fey. She was 20 minutes late and Tenya wondered what could possibly have made her miss their appointment. Being the type to show up ten minutes early to any engagement, it irritated him that Fey didn't emulate the same punctual behavior. He stared at the clock impatiently, waiting for her to show up. After another 5 minutes, he could see her flying towards him after appearing from behind a row of buildings nearby. She reached him a few seconds after, her breath raspy after all the flying she had done to get there.
"Where have you been?" he yelled. "You were supposed to be here at 10 sharp!"
He started reprimanding her for not showing up on time, chopping air furiously as he explained the importance of punctuality. During his entire tirade, Fey tried to get a word in, but was constantly interrupted by his very animated speech. Plus, she was so out of breath from trying to reach him as soon as possible that she could barely speak in the first place. Once he had finished lecturing her, she let out a long winded sigh as she set her bag down on the ground.
"I'm sorry, Tenya," she apologized. "My bus was late today..."
She seemed evasive in her response and Iida noticed that she seemed to be actively avoiding his gaze. As he approached her, he noticed her turning away from him, but not before he noticed what he thought was a bruise on her face. His face immediately grew concerned.
"What's that on your face, Fey?" he asked worryingly, trying to turn with her to see if what he had seen was in fact real.
"There's nothing on my face, Iida," Fey insisted, her tone growing colder.
Tenya's brow furrowed, and he instantly grabbed her by the wrist to force her to turn towards him.
"Look at me Fey," he demanded sternly. He didn't like that she was being so avoidant towards him.
Fey angrily spun around to face him, glaring at him with piercing eyes.
"It's nothing, Tenya!" she yelled into his face.
Tenya's eyes widened as he saw the state she was in. Not only was the bruise on her face real, but there were multiple others around her neck. Some looked like marks left by someone biting or sucking on her skin, while others looked like the type of bruise that would be left by someone who was trying to choke her out. Tenya immediately let go of her wrist, taken aback by the contusions on her body.
"Fey what... what happened to you?" he asked in a shocked tone.
"It's..." Fey started saying, before lowering her head and looking away. She moved her hands to cover her neck with them. "I..."
She could hear her voice cracking and tears started to well up in her eyes. She clenched her fists and cursed at herself for becoming so emotional, but she couldn't help the feelings that were rising to the surface all at the same time.
"I got in trouble at work last night..." she finally admitted, speaking so softly that Iida could barely hear her.
"What do you mean?" Tenya desperately wanted to get to the bottom of this.
"It's... complicated, Tenya... You wouldn't understand."
She wrapped herself in her arms, trying to calm herself down. She had thought about not showing up at all today because of the state she was in, but she couldn't bring herself to let Tenya down. She was right though, he didn't understand, but he wanted to... so badly. He wanted to know who had done this to her, why this had happened at all, and he dreaded to know if this was the first time something like this had happened to her...
"Please, Fey," he insisted, standing in front of her with his hand on each of her arms. He tried to force her to look at him. "Tell me what happened."
Fey looked at him through teary eyes. He seemed so desperate to know, so desperate to help. It was almost too much for her to bear. She hadn't wanted him to see her like this, but she also couldn't let him down by not showing up for their training. Not after last time when they had promised each other that they would support one another. But she couldn't bear to look at him now, not while she was so vulnerable...
She pulled away from him abruptly. "I told you! You wouldn't understand!"
"Then help me! I need to know who did this to you!" Tenya pleaded, his eyes growing more desperate.
"I... I don't want you involved in this, Tenya... Please, don't ask me to..."
"But... I want to help you."
He lowered his head, not knowing what to do anymore. He couldn't bear to see her in such blatant suffering and not being able to do anything about it. He couldn't bear the thought of her being hurt by someone, someone that was meant to protect her. But he also couldn't force her to tell him anything if she didn't want to say. This infuriated him. Why wouldn't she tell him what had happened? Why was she protecting the one that had hurt her? He didn't understand any of it...
"... You can't help me, Tenya..."
He looked up at her and he could feel his heart breaking as he saw the tears run down her face. She was scared, he could see it now. Her body was shaking and she was pulling at the feathers on the back of her neck, which was now raw from all the pulling she had been subjecting herself to. The only thing Tenya could think of doing now was to pull her close and hold her against his chest, squeezing her as tight as he could without crushing her. His own body was shaking now, not from fear or sadness, but from rage.
"I'm here for you," he said in a low voice. "I told you, I'm not going to abandon you... not if I can help it."
Fey stared blankly at the air for a moment, completely frozen in Tenya's embrace. She didn't know what to do anymore, what to say. Despite her persistently pushing him away, Tenya was still adamant that he would try and help her. This made her tear up even more, not from sadness, but from joy. She buried her face in his chest, muffling her sobs as she cried into his torso. Tenya could feel all of her anguish as she cried without restraint against him. He could only hold her as she let all of her emotions out. Then, once she had calmed down a bit, she lifted her head up towards Iida's face. Her eyes were red with tears, but her sobs had stopped. He brushed away a rogue feather that had fallen onto her face, tucking it behind her ear. Fey quivered slightly at his touch, her eyes lingering on Tenya's lips. They seemed even more tempting now than during their first meeting, and Tenya seemed just as tempted by hers in the moment. With eyes filled with longing, they both caved into their desires and leaned in for a kiss. It started out innocent, but Fey could feel the urgency build up inside her as she grasped him more fervently, pulling him close and kissing him with ardor. Tenya gladly let himself be pulled deeper into her arms, kissing her with just as much passion. They grasped at each other with want and need but before things could escalate further, Iida placed his hand on her waist and pulled away from her, their lips brushing against each other. They could feel each other's hot breath on their skin, as they slowly started to catch their breaths.
"Fey I-..." Iida said, not knowing what to say now.
"We shouldn't be doing this, Tenya..." Fey replied.
Despite her words, she couldn't bring herself to pull away from him. She felt safe in his arms, like nothing in the world could touch her or reach her as long as she had his arms around her. Iida looked at her confused, trying to figure out what she had meant. Sensing his confusion, she looked up at him once again.
"I told you I didn't want you getting involved with me," she clarified, her eyes looking away in shame.
Tenya was truly confused as to what was happening right now. She seemed keen on them kissing just a few seconds ago, and now she wanted him to back away. What was it she was trying to hide? What was it that she wasn't telling him? So many questions burned in his mind, so many questions to which he had no answers to. After a few seconds of silence, he finally looked her straight in the eyes and said:
"Then why are you still here?"
His tone was serious and so was his gaze. He let go of her waist and pulled away from her completely.
"Tenya I-"
"Why are you here if you do not want my help? Why are you still here if you are so hellbent on us not being involved with each other?!"
He was raising his voice at her. He was angry with her and she understood why. It broke her heart to see him so angry at her, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth about the life that she led behind closed doors. She couldn't bear to know what he would think of her if he knew.
"Please, Tenya," she said through tears. "Don't make this harder than it already is..."
"It's only hard because you made it to be!" he yelled. "You're the one making this hard, Fey! I-...! I just want to know... Whatever it is... I just want to be there for you..."
He could feel his chest tightening and his eyes welling up with tears. He desperately wanted to understand why she couldn't trust him with the reason why... Why she had come to him knowing that he would say something, knowing he would want to help her at all costs... Fey fought back her tears as best as she could, but seeing Tenya so defeated made her heart ache. She reached out her hand towards his face, cupping his cheek softly.
"But would you still be there if you knew? If you knew the whole truth, would you still want to be there for me?"
Her question rang in his mind for a moment. The answer was obvious to him, but he needed to make sure that she understood how he felt about her. His hand slid on top of hers, caressing it slowly as he leaned into her touch.
"Of course," he said softly. "I made you a promise, Fey. I won't leave you behind, not even if the stars came crashing down around us to stop me."
His honesty made her choke on her tears. He was so sincere in his words that it almost made her ache. She let out a soft sob, barely containing her feelings, then took a deep breath and said:
"I'll tell you everything then... but not here."
Tenya looked into her eyes, relieved to hear that she was finally going to let him in. He agreed to her demand, taking her by the hand and pulling her towards him.
"We can go to my house," he suggested. "My parents are out of town, so we'll have plenty of privacy."
Fey could feel her face growing warmer at the idea of being alone with Tenya at his home. Although she had been curious about where he lived and what his house looked like, she hadn't expected going there any time soon... or ever in fact.
"I-Is it really a good idea, Tenya?" she stammered. "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me..."
"There's no need to worry. Plus, I suspect we'll have much to discuss, so what better place to be than in the safety of my home?"
Fey looked up at him for a moment. It soothed her to see him smile again. He was being so strong for her, she couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Alright, you lead the way."
He nodded, leading her towards the bus stop. He put his arm around her shoulders to hold her close to him. This way, he could shield her from prying eyes while they would get on the bus. Fey instantly understood what he was doing and thanked him mentally for looking out for her. Once the bus arrived, they disappeared inside and made their way towards the Iida Estate...