Chapter 7: From Bad to Worse

After everything that happened yesterday, I didn't really know how to deal with it. I couldn't get a single wink of sleep yesterday after imagining the scenarios of him and...that "bitch" sleeping together and acting like they've been lovers for so long. I let out a groan while I massaged the bridge of my nose. All I know was that I was tired, frustrated, and not in a very good mood after running like that for so long.

I had just about no choice but to visit the coffee shop again. Just so I can buy something that can help keep me awake for the time being. Luckily, my class doesn't begin in an hour, because I misread my alarm clock. I was really just a mess at that point.

On the way, I bumped into a lamp post, a vending machine, and nearly got tripped over by a park bench. I was seriously not having a good day today.

"I wonder if he can give me a free coffee today? Sadeena-nee-san did tell me that if we stopped by, then he'll vouch for it." I said to myself.

I just really wanted a good and simple kind of coffee, even instant coffee is the best. Coffee is a college student's best friend, due to the fact that we stay up later in the evening and up to the first crack of dawn. It just feels right to drink it.

I kept saying that to myself until I ended up in front of the shop. Then I realized that I was slowly beginning to let my nerves get the better of me. 'What if I'm being a bother this early?', 'what if his shift is still not up and I walked in there?'. There were too many questions in my mind. I was slowly losing it, until something happened.

Naofumi was standing next to me. I got surprised and I fell to the floor on my butt.

"Ow.." I said as I rubbed my butt for a bit, then he extended his hand to me. I grabbed and he helped lift me up.

"Looks like you've been having a rough start on the day." He said.

Well, at least he wasn't wrong with that part.

"Anyway. Lucky for you, I just arrived for my shift. So for now, it's better to get inside the shop instead of out here in the cold morning." He explained to me as he slowly opened the door to the entrance of the shop.

I just followed soon after. I really wasn't a big fan of cold places. Trust me, when I was a kid, Winter isn't the best time for me since I'm sensitive to the cold.

After I got in, I noticed that the place looked incredibly serene when it's just beginning to open its doors. The chairs have been placed onto the tables. The booths are empty. The counter is basically a "no man's land". Everything just felt...quiet. If I were to be honest, this is just what I needed. That, and a cup of coffee.

"Speaking of which...Can I order an Americano?" I asked him after he got behind the counter.

"Well, it wouldn't really take me long to make it. Plus, I did say that I'll vouch you one cup of coffee if you visited." He said as he began to prepare the ingredients, utensils, and the coffee machine. "Would you like that hot or cold?" He asked me.

"Hot. I did say that I'm not a fan of cold weather. " I replied with the most straight answer that came out of my lips. Then I realized that he doesn't know that, which made me purse my lips and feel embarrassed about what I had just said.

He snickered for a bit as he was preparing my order as he looked at me. "Seriously? I like a bit of cold weather."

I pouted as I looked at him after he gave me a cocky smirk. "You can't blame me. Sometimes snuggling under a blanket isn't enough, the water gets too cold, and the humidity of the atmosphere can really hurt your fingers and make them go numb." Then he set down a cup of coffee in front of me and smiled lightly as he said "Okay, Elsa, I get it. So now can you 'let it go'?"

I fumed for a bit and then I responded "Your jokes are so corny! Hmph!" Then he just laughed it off as he got to wiping the top of the counter while I slowly blew at the coffee and sipped a bit. As always, it is nice and calming. I tend to like coffee more than tea. Tea just has a weird and bitter aftertaste when it hits your tongue. Coffee just gives you the bitter part first, then it hits you with the sweetness or the depth of their flavor.

He responded once more with that cocky grin of his. "At least I have a sense of humor, Ms. Straight-laced."

I just kept fuming, but then I began to laugh about how terrible his sense of humor can be. Then we began going back and forth about it until the early morning passed along peacefully. As soon as I finished my coffee, I asked for the check and he raised his hand at me and said "I already told you that I'll vouch for it."

After he said that, I still felt bad and handed him a 800-yen tip. Then I said, as I showed him a genuine smile on my face "I still need to pay, but not for the coffee. For helping me get my mind off my worries" I said.

He smiled and waved me goodbye as I walked out the doors. He said "Come back soon, but when you buy, it isn't free anymore." He snickered for a bit and I giggled at the joke and began to head to my class for the day.

I happily sat down on my seat and I didn't notice that I was humming happily to myself. Then I noticed Rishia taking a seat next to me and then she greeted me "Good morning, Raphtalia. Looks like you're in a good mood today."

Everything in my day felt great, until I saw Motoyasu again. He waved at me and then I hesitated for a bit as I forced a smile while waving back at him from the back row. I felt disgusted at the gesture of what I had just done. Rishia must've noticed that my mood was back to the way it was in the morning, because she was slowly moving about five feet away from her seat.

It was lunchtime and Motoyasu began to approach me. "Hey, Raphtalia. Wanna have lunch together?" He asked me with a smile on his face. I tried my very best to compose myself and answered with a "Yes" and a forced smile on my face.

After we both got to the cafeteria and had our orders ready, one of his friends greeted him, then looked at me and said "So this is the broad you've been going with? What about-?" Then he had his mouth covered by Motoyasu as he began to awkwardly chuckle and gave him a furious glare. I just kept quiet the whole time as we sat down to our table.

He noticed that I was quiet as I was eating. "I needed to ask you this. What's wrong, Raphtalia? Why have you been ignoring me for nearly two weeks?"

Then I replied with a blank look on my face as I began to speak "Nothing. I'm fine…"

"You don't sound fine." He replied.

"Trust me, I really am fine." I replied back.

"Even I can tell that you're having issues right now. I'm your boyfriend, so don't be afraid to tell me." He replied.

Then that's when I snapped. I slammed my hand on top of the table and I hissed at him as I said "You? My so-called 'boyfriend'? The one that I saw walking out of a hotel with a bitch?! NOT ONLY DID YOU FRIEND CALL ME A 'BROAD', BUT YOU HAVE THE GALL TO STILL ACT LIKE MY LOVER?!"

I yelled out and then I realized what I had just said as I began to loom around the other students whispering and gossiping amongst themselves while Motoyasu was still looking at me with the most stunned expression plastered on his face.

That's when I began to run out of the cafeteria as soon as I placed my tray and dirty dishes to the drop-off. Then I just didn't attend the rest of my classes that day. I felt so frustrated, embarrassed, confused, and angry. But not at him or anyone else, but to myself.

After I had finished with dinner I sighed and I looked over my phone and saw a message from Motoyasu, telling me to come and meet up with him so he could explain about what I yelled at earlier in the afternoon. I put my phone down and tried to walk out the door, until Sadeena-nee-san stopped me from leaving.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked me in a stern voice.

"To the convenient store. I just wanted to buy ice cream." I lied through the skin of my teeth.

She sighed and smiled at me as she said "Okay. But please do be careful, Raphtalia." I didn't know if she knew what I was going to do, but the emotion I felt from her smile was...empty.

I rolled my eyes for a bit and smiled at her and said "I'll be fine, Sadeena-nee-san. Remember that you trained me to the ground when I was in middle school." Then I heard a small giggle from her as she waved me goodbye.

After walking outside, I began regretting lying to Sadeena-nee-san, but I have to do this. I need to properly break things off with him and I need to know why he had the gall to do this to me.

"The message said to meet him near the convenient store downtown, next to the…" I stopped my sentence as I saw the nearby love hotel and had to do my best to not remember that night. Then I saw him leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the hotel.

"You're finally here. I thought that you wouldn't show up." He told me as he walked up to me happily.

Then I began to cross my arms and I gave him a stern look as I began to speak. "So why did you call me out here at this hour?" I tried my best to hold in my poker face as he looked at me.

"For now, let's discuss this inside." Then he pointed out to the hotel. I was hesitant, but then I steadied my resolve to break things off, so I nodded and we both went inside.

After we both got into the room, we sat on the bed and I gripped my hands on my lap as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and began to speak. "What's wrong, Raphtalia? Why are you tense? I wanted to talk about what you said to me earlier." That's when I began to look at him and sighed while taking his hand off my shoulder.

"Yeah. I wanted to discuss that with you, because...I really did see you heading out of a love hotel with some red headed bimbo. How could you do this to me?!" I yelled out at him and gave him an angry glare.

Then he had the nerve to respond. "Could you blame me? She tried to tempt me because she knew that we both still haven't done anything for about the entire duration of our relationship."

"You...asshole..! IT'S OVER! WE ARE DONE! DON'T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME EVER AGAIN OR I WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU SUFFER!" I kept my anger boiling over with my fist clenched tightly until they nearly turned white while I began to walk out of the place and head on outside. Then I noticed tears dripping down from my eyes as I kept pacing.

But then something I would never have expected to happen at all began, he looked at me angrily and yelled out "Screw this! I didn't come here to be berated like this!"

Motoyasu spun me around and pushed me against the wall of the alleyway and then proceeded to pin my arms and legs onto the wall as he positioned himself between my legs and forcefully kissed me. I opened my eyes after I reeled back from the pain as I squirmed as I struggled so much.

He wiped the drool from his lips and gave me a disgusting look on his face as he said "If you're going to leave me, anyway, then I'll just have a last bit of fun from this!"

He nearly ripped off my shirt and started massaging my chest vigorously. I felt disgusted, violated, and furious at him. Then my vision nearly clouded from the situation I am currently experiencing. I nearly accepted the consequence of getting raped by him…

"I never should've done this...Someone...please help me…" I thought to myself as he kept molesting me and kissing my neck. The tears never stopped flowing. I felt so helpless...scared...powerless...

I thought that I could still have an explanation as to why he cheated on me. I felt incredibly stupid for even meeting him…

"I'm so sorry, Sadeena-nee-san...I should've listened…I really should've never done this..." I thought to myself as I nearly gave into despair.

Before he could kiss my lips again, he nearly took off my shirt, but that's when I noticed that my knee was just under his crotch. My eyes lit up with the opportunity that had been presented to me. With all the willpower and ounce of strength I had left, I kicked his privates, incredibly hard. Then after he winced in pain and groaned as he held his family jewels, I ran as fast I could. I didn't know where I was going, but I didn't care.

After I had ran away from Motoyasu, I bumped into someone again. In a fit of confusion and fear, all I could do was grab the nearest object and begin to use the skills that Sadeena-nee-san taught me when I was in middle and high school.

As I kept hitting the person, I felt the object I grabbed got clasped in two hands, then I opened my eyes and I saw Naofumi clasping an old plastic sword while panicking in confusion.

"What the hell is happening?! What's wrong with-!" He tried to exclaim, until I jumped into his chest and grasped onto his shirt out of instinct and fear. All I could do was just release the rush of emotions that had been building up a moment ago. I cried into his chest and all he did was brush my hair softly while trying to calm me down, which I am very thankful for, but didn't have the energy to reply with.

"For now-" Before he could finish his sentence again, he noticed that my clothes were nearly torn and exposing a bit of my underwear.

I immediately covered myself and tried to slap him, out of reflex again, but then he grabbed my arm calmly and looked into my eyes in a serious expression that was showing off...burning anger?

"Who did this to you?" He calmly asked as he looked at me. Then I began to explain what I told Motoyasu and how he nearly raped me in an alley. I am still shaken by what happened, but at least I'm lucky that I didn't get my body defiled...I kept shivering in fear as I grasped onto my upper arms and then I saw Naofumi walking to where I ran.

I grabbed his arm and I said "Where are you going…?"

Then he didn't even look at me as I heard his voice growing stern and serious. "To settle an old debt. One I should've done long ago…Go to your sister." Before he left, he gave me his jersey and told me to wear it.

Then he began to walk away. What was he going to do…?

-The End

Notes: HOLY HELL! To anyone who still reads my work, I am sorry for the delay. More like I should seriously get on all fours and bow down while apologizing. I haven't released a new one after a few MONTHS now. I've been busy with online classes and having to deal with my mental turmoil during the pandemic, so I hope you could forgive me. Thanks for reading and I apologize again.