Toru felt the blood boiling in his veins. How dare they, he thought as he glared at the small knot of whispering girls who were talking and stealing glances at him occasionally. How dare they say such things of Mire-chan?!
Fujima tapped him on the arm. "Toru, what's the matter?"
"Come on, let's get out of here," Toru muttered as he strode out of the classroom, unable to bear listening to those girls talk about his cousin the way they were.
When they were already out in the hall, Fujima turned to him, his expression extremely puzzled. "Naze, Toru? What's going on?"
Toru's voice was deadly calm, though beneath that his entire being seethed with anger. "Could you believe that there are now rumors that say Mire-chan was raped?" He laughed mirthlessly. "Kuso, some of these people are just too damn desperate! Do they REALLY think that Mire-chan was raped?! It's absolutely ridiculous!!!"
Fujima was just silent, staring at the floor, hands clenched as his sides. Toru grinned half-heartedly. Looks like he's just as angry as I am. Why shouldn't he be? These people are questioning the honor of his GIRLFRIEND, for heaven's sake! He reached out, and patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Yeah, I know how angry you are too, and I understand. But they're just rumors, right? They'll fade away in a few weeks…"
Fujima remained silent for a long, long while. In the end, though, he grinned, and nodded. "Hai, I suppose you're right." He glanced at his watch. "Looks like it's time for practice. Come on, let's go get Mire-chan and go to the gym already."
* * *
All through the walk towards Sumire's classroom, Fujima's thoughts were spinning out of control. How could they have found out?! He was quite sure that they were alone in the gym when he and Sumire confessed, so no one could have been eavesdropping. Unless…
He whacked himself mentally for being so stupid. Kenji no baka!!! You two were yelling at each other so loudly that probably the other students who were still on campus at that time could hear you!!! He moaned softly, so that Toru wouldn't hear. Kuso, and I bet that Mire-chan will know by now…
When they got to Sumire's classroom, they found her standing outside the door, her face looking quite troubled. When she spotted them, she ran over to them, her eyes worried. "I hope you-"
"We heard," Toru cut in, and Sumire's face paled instantly.
"Oh God, no way, no way…" Sumire muttered as she placed a trembling hand over her mouth in shock.
Fujima approached her, and put an arm around her waist. "It's going to be okay, Mire-chan…"
Toru nodded. "Hai, Kenji's right. I mean, it's just a rumor, right? There's no truth in it. It will fade away in a few weeks. Besides, it's such a ridiculous idea for them to say that you were raped! They could have thought of something better, really…"
While Toru continued to rant about the injustice of it all and how much it was hurting Sumire, Fujima glanced at his girlfriend's eyes, sensing the worry in them. Is she going to tell him now? Will she admit at last to her most guarded secret?
He understood why Sumire kept that particular secret to herself for so long. In Japan – even in the Philippines, now that he thought about it – girls who were raped were generally discriminated against. They were viewed as being "unclean", or something like that. When he was young and quite naïve (more than he was now), he held the same view, but that gradually faded away into just a small thing as he grew older and more open-minded. That small thing was shattered completely when Sumire told him that she herself had been raped. Now, he believed that rapists were the most heartless and cold-blooded of criminals in the world. And the one who had raped Sumire – if and when he found out who the bastard was – would suffer the most at his hands.
Sumire didn't say anything about it, though. Not for quite a while. She seemed to proceed with everything as she usually did, though now Fujima knew that she was just trying to hide something. In the meantime, though, he just went along with the little charade and played like usual.
It was towards the end of practice, when everyone but he, Toru and Sumire had gone home, when she finally spoke up.
Sumire turned to her cousin then, and said, "Toru-kun, I…I guess you would like to know about those rumors…"
Toru laughed as he arranged the things in his bag. "Don't worry, Mire-chan. I know they're just rumors. They aren't true, ne? They'll die down in a couple of weeks or so."
"That's not exactly it, Toru-kun…"
Toru glanced up at her then, a confused expression in his eyes. "Nani? What do you mean, Mire-chan?"
Sumire bowed her head, and Fujima could see the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "They're not just rumors, Toru-kun… They're true."
* * *
The silence pounded in Sumire's ears, echoing the time when she and Fujima had a shouting match in this same place, and at almost the same time. Déjà vu…
Toru laughed. "Oh come on, Mire-chan! Don't give me that! You're just joking around, aren't you?"
Sumire looked up at her cousin, her eyes pleading. "Do you think I would joke about something like this? Toru-kun, I was really raped. Remember the time two years ago, when I first came to visit? You remember the night when I went out for a walk and came back home with blood on my skirt? That's when it happened."
Silence. And then:
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WHEN YOU CAME BACK?!" Toru yelled. His face was contorted in an extreme combination of rage and frustration. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH?!
Sumire winced then, and was somewhat comforted when Fujima embraced her. Kenji-kun…
"Toru, calm down," Fujima told his best friend. "It's hurting Mire-chan, can't you see that?"
Sumire looked up at her cousin through tear-misted eyes. "Gomen nasai, Toru-kun. I just…I was…so scared then. I wanted to tell you, but I thought you'd just get angry at me and blame me for everything and-"
"Gods Mire-chan, why would I do that?!" Toru walked up to her then, knelt down, and looked at her straight in the eye. He was crying too when he looked back at her, and those tears made the ones in her own eyes fall down her cheeks.
Toru continued talking then. "Why do you think I would blame you for something that wasn't your fault? Why would I be angry at you for something that you didn't want to happen to you?"
Sumire choked back a sob. "Everyone would get angry at me," she whispered as she threw herself into her cousin's arms, letting him hold her. "You heard and saw how everyone acted when they heard the rumor, ne? They were all staring at me and looking like I was the filthiest being on the face of the planet… They looked at me as though I was some kind of…of whore!"
She felt Fujima place a hand on her back. "No, you're nothing like that, nothing like that at all! It wasn't your fault that it happened…"
"If I hadn't gone out that night, if I'd just listened to Toru-kun and stayed home, then it wouldn't have happened!" wailed Sumire as she clutched tighter to her cousin.
She felt Toru shake his head and rub her back gently. "It's not your fault, Mire-chan, not your fault… It never was, and never will be. And as for those other people…don't listen to them. They don't know anything about you, and they have no right to judge you. We can pretend that it's just a rumor, if you'd like…that way they'll stop talking about it and looking at you the way they do now."
Sumire nodded slowly as she pulled away from Toru. She sniffled once, and smiled. "Arigatou, Toru-kun, Kenji-kun."
Fujima smiled, and put an arm around her shoulders. "You're going to be just fine, Mire-chan. Just ignore them. They've got nothing better to talk about."
Sumire smiled up at her boyfriend, letting him kiss her on the cheek.
But then, Toru spoke up. "Who did it, Mire-chan?"
Huh? Sumire turned to Toru, who was looking at her seriously. "Nani?"
Toru stared back at her, his eyes suddenly angry black pools. "I said, who did it?"
Sumire bit her lip. Fujima was now staring at her as if he wanted to know too. Should I tell them?
She sighed. Yes I should. They have the right to know. There is no use to hide this secret for any longer. She took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then said, "It was Mitsui Hisashi."
AUTHOR'S OOC:
Harle gasps: Oh my God, Mitsui's going to be in SOOOO much trouble!!!
Chibi-Fujima and Chibi-Toru cracking their knuckles: Like hell he will!!!!
Maia holds the two guys back: Hey, hey, take it easy!!!
Chibi-Toru pulls out a Magnum: There's no going easy on that guy!!!! I SWEAR I am going to shoot him the minute I see him!!!!
Chibi-Fujima loads rocket launcher: No one rapes my Mire-chan and gets away with it unscathed. points to more guns and rocket launchers And there's more where that came from…
Chibi-Sumire blinks at the wide array of weaponry: My God, where did you get those?!
Chibi-Fujima smiles sheepishly, and points towards the U.S Ministry of Defense Armory for Top-Secret Weapons: Uh…there?
Harle gapes: Okay…they just raided a U.S armory…looks around… Hey you guys, did you see any good sniper rifles in there?
Chibi-Toru nods: Hai. Check towards the back. Why, what are you doing to use it for?
Harle smiles evilly: I'm going to hunt down Sendoh the Evil Grinning Hentai (please don't kill me Sendoh fans! It's just that Sendoh's smile is way too creepy).
Maia smiles evilly as well: Hey, good idea. Any more rocket launchers in there?
Chibi-Fujima nods and smiles: Hai. First rack on the left, top shelf. There's ammo in the boxes around there too.
Harle and Maia nod together: Hai! Thanks you guys!!! dash off
Chibi-Sumire runs after them: Hey, chotto matte kudasai!!!! I want to get Sendoh too!!!!
Chibi-Mitsui glances at Sendoh: Oi Sendoh, I think now would be a good time to run.
Chibi-Sendoh nods: Good idea. Mitsui and Sendoh run away
Chibi-Fujima grins charmingly at readers while balancing the rocket launcher on his shoulder: Well, since neither Maia-sama nor Harle-sama is around to introduce the next chapter, I guess that responsibility falls on me this time. So go ahead and keep reading, minna!! And don't forget to review!!! Harle-sama writes better the more reviews she gets Toru nods and grins in the background… Ja ne!!!