What a crappy night it was. It's impossible to believe after such a bright and sunny day, that it could somehow turn to shit with a massive thunderstorm. I could hear the rain slamming into the roof, thousands a second splashing against the shingles. The only good thing about tonight was the pizza I ordered was amazing. I also texted Sayori twenty minutes ago if she wanted to have some, cause I was full after two slices.
My phone dings in my pocket, prompting me to pull it out. It's Sayori, simply saying she's getting dressed and is on her way in a minute. To be honest I was feeling lonely tonight, and wanted some company. Natsuki wasn't responding, and I forgot how alone I was before I joined the club. Is it pathetic for me to be so sad about not being able to talk to my girlfriend for one whole night? I'm interrupted by a knock on the door.
There was always something scary about a knock after hours. Even though I knew who it was, it still seemed eerie. I didn't expect her to come so fast, as she had just texted me a minute ago. I guess she texted me once she was out the door? That's Sayori for you. I looked through the peephole, expecting to see the cinnamon bun, but instead a pink that I would know anywhere sent a shock to me.
I opened the door and was about to ask her what she was doing, but before I could utter a word out, she looked past me, avoiding eye contact and said, "I don't want to talk." I look over her and a chill runs down my spine. Her left eye is black and blue, there was dried up blood coming from her nose down to her mouth, and her clothes had little red marks on them as well. She let herself inside, where I notice the limp she has in her right leg. She's trying to hide it, but it's still obvious.
She makes her way to my couch and sits down, grabbing my TV remote and unpauses the anime I was watching. I'm still just staring at her in awe. What happened? Who did this to her? Am I gonna have to teach someone a lesson? Who will pay for my hospital bills if I have to?
I take a seat on the other side of the couch, and think of what to do. I can't question her right now, as much as I want to. If I really want to get the answers I need, I'm going to have to be patient. She's been through hell, and the last thing I want her to do is relive it too soon. Slow and steady, MC, slow and steady.
"Do you want something to eat?" I ask. It starts up the conversation casually, and if she is hungry some food will be good for her.
Her eyes stay glued to the television fiercely, like if she broke away from it she would keel over and die. She nodded slowly and solemnly.
"Anything specific?" I ask again. She shakes her head. "Okay," I simply say and walk over to the kitchen. I haven't gone food shopping for a week, hence why I ordered the pizza, so hopefully she was alright with this. I grab a plate and a slice and start walking back into the living room. However, I freeze in place as a thought comes to me. The pizza! Shit! Sayori's on her way now!
Okay, play it cool, it's alright. All you have to do is text her and say that she can't come over right now and that you're sorry for teasing her with food, easy peas-
My doorbell rings, cutting off my anxiety for an even bigger wave of it. Natsuki flinches at the sound, and breaks her gaze from the television to look at me. It hurts to look at her, how someone could harm her escapes me.
"It's, it's Sayori. I invited her over to finish off this pizza before you came over. I'll tell her to go home, don't worry." I say, trying my best not to panic. Lord knows what she will do if I start panicking.
I start walking to the door, but I hear something come from Natsuki. She says it so quietly, that the TV and rain crashing down drown it out. I look back at her and tilt my head slightly.
"Let… her in." she says quietly and calmly. The emotionlessness in her voice had disappeared into a sorrowful tone. Tears started appearing in the corners of her eyes.
I'm very surprised, I didn't expect her to want someone else here. I expected her to just want some time to herself, and thought this place was the best for it. But whatever she wants I will do my best to supply. I walk back towards the kitchen, putting the plate of pizza on the island.
I walk to the door and open it up, seeing Sayori. Before she can cheerfully greet me, I join her on my porch and close the door softly behind me.
"Um, what are you doing out here silly? The pizza's in there," Sayori says in her normal bubbly self. It was refreshing to hear it.
"Listen, right after I texted you, Natsuki came over, and-"
Her smile drops, but her voice stays the same "Oh! I can go, don't worry, you could have just texted me though. You two have fun!" She says cutting me off.
She begins walking away, but I grab her sleeve, "No, no. Listen. She said she wants you here. And she's… not doing too well right now. So could you stay for more than pizza?" I'm assuming that since she wanted Sayori here that she's okay with Sayori knowing about what had happened to her, but I'd rather let Natsuki explain rather than me guess.
"Yeah, of course I can stay. Is she okay?" Sayori asks, losing the happiness and adopting a concerned tone.
"I'm not sure," I say truthfully, "She said she doesn't want to talk about it, so I'm giving her time." I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't sure. But I did have a bad feeling about who it might be. A feeling doesn't mean it's right however, so I didn't bother telling Sayori about it and worry her further.
She's deep in thought, understandably so. This is not something either of us expected. "Okay, thanks for letting me know, MC." She says, smile and all. I opened the door as gently as I did close it and we both walked in. We see Natsuki back to staring at the TV. The pizza that I left was taken, and Natsuki was quietly eating away at it. This girl was completely different from the hotheaded hyper Nat I'd known every day until now.
We made our way through the kitchen into the living room, Sayori holding back a gasp. I couldn't blame her, I was as shocked as she was when I saw it. Thankfully she didn't start pushing her with questions, she just stayed her cheery self and said hello. Natsuki gave a hurt smile back. It lasted a second, until she gazed back upon the television. Her face looked so tiny while she was like this. It was really getting to me.
"Sayori, want me to get you a slice?" I ask, breaking the uneasy tensions.
"Yes please! I haven't eaten since like 30 minutes ago, I'm dying!" Sayori responded. I couldn't help but smile at the big oaf. I'm glad she was still being herself even during these circumstances.
I walked back to the kitchen and left the girls alone. The pizza had started getting cold, and I wanted some time to myself to mentally deal with this. I opened the microwave and put two slices on a paper plate. I set it for a minute, and stood there, leaning against my counter top.
The best thing I could do right now is calm myself down, and relax, so that I can manage this problem as calmly as possible. And right now I need to step away. I concentrate on the spinning pizzas, letting the slight hum of the microwave be the only sound I hear. And even if it was just for a minute, that would be a minute more of figuring out what the hell to do.
I realize at this time, how did Natsuki get here? She walked in a downpour with a limp, and that's the only noticeable internal injury. Who knows what else that bastard did to her! My blood begins boiling, imagining what had happened. I know I shouldn't be, but I can't help it. How could a father do this to someone? How much of a lowlife do you have to be?
My internal rage is put to a halt but the microwave beeping. My thoughts broken, I open the microwave and grab the plate out. Going over to my cabinet I pull out a bag of chips and pour some on the leftover space on the plate. It's the least I can do for her, coming over here and helping out with Nat.
I walk back to Sayori and Natsuki with the pizza. Handing it to Sayori, she ferociously grabs it. I'll be surprised if she isn't done in a minute or so; classic Sayori. I look at Natsuki. She's not as stuck to Bleach as she was earlier, looking down and hugging a pillow within her crossed arms. Her face still looks so small, it pains me to play the waiting game. Though it is for the best that she tells me on her own terms than me forcing it out.
Sitting down in between Sayori and Natsuki, I pause my episode. Sayori, already halfway through the first slice, slows down and looks at Natsuki and I. Natsuki stays. I slowly reach my right hand out and put it on hers. She stays still. I sit there, my hand on hers, Sayori watching.
A sound escapes Natsuki, a muffled sob. She's trying her best so she won't cry, why is still a mystery. Maybe it's her sheer pride, keeping her from crying in front of Sayori and I as to not hurt her image. Or it could be that she's trying to stay strong and in control of her emotionsー a war in her head against her emotions. Whatever the case, the sounds of her keeping it back are starting to break me. I can feel tears of my own coming down my face.
Natsuki continues holding back her cries, but it's showing how hard it is to contain. She's beginning to shake, and her muffled sobs have turned into exacerbated gasps. I can't take this anymore. On an impulsive, I grab her and pull her into a hug, wrapping my arms around her back. I do this gently, in case there were other injuries I had not seen. She stays still, unmoving for seconds. Then, out of nowhere, aggressively hugs me back burying her face into my chest.
The sobs are now only muffled by my shirt, she's letting them out completely. Her fingers dig into my back, nails into the skin. It's painful, but I don't mind. Maybe it's the slight adrenaline of the moment, or that she isn't as strong as I thought.
"What was that, Natsuki?" Sayori says behind me. "Did you say something?"
I didn't hear anything. I listen closely, very closely. I lower my head so the sound doesn't have to travel as far to my ears. And I hear it. Continuous, repeating. "I'm sorry."
The sturdy hearted, resilient, Natsuki, apologizing to us, for no reason. That fucker hurt her this bad not only on the outside but inside as well. My eyes were only slightly leaking before, but now they were a full on dam. I comfort her, rubbing her back in the midst of our hug, telling her it's alright, there's no reason to be sorry. But she doesn't stop. She won't stop.
Sayori gets up from the couch and goes over to the armrest on the side of the couch Natsuki is on. Leaning over it she joins the now group hug. At this point I don't know if she's mainly trying to comfort Natsuki, or me. We both need it though. I notice she's crying too now, though it's not as violent as mine or Nat's. We stay like this for minutes, simply crying into each other, loving the embrace.
Natsuki pulls away, wiping tears from her eyes as she leans back on the couch. Her face is red, and eyes puffy. Her head hangs lowly, but slowly lifts to meet my gaze, then Sayori's. Then back to me.
Her lips part, and the quiet Natsuki speaks, "I'm going to take a bath." I'm a little caught off guard, not what I expected her to say. A bath might help her out, so whatever she wants to do.
"Do you have a change of clothes?" Sayori asks. Natsuki shakes her head. "Want me to bring you one?" Natsuki nods.
"I can wash your clothes if you want too." I chime in.
"Way to jump on the first ship to get my clothes, weirdo," Natsuki snarkily responds. Even when she's down there's still a hint of her fiery side there. I can't help but smile knowing that she's feeling better. "Stop looking at me like that, it's creepy!" Natsuki shouts, prompting me to come out of my trance. Sayori snorts at this, and then I laugh, followed by Nat. She starts making her way to my bathroom, and leaves just me and Sayori.
"I'm gonna grab her a change of clothes from my place real quick, I'll be back." Sayori says, walking back towards my door.
"Wait," I say, grabbing an umbrella off my coffee table and tossing it to her, "here." she turned around right as it got close to her, and in retrospect tossing before telling her was going to end badly. It wacks her on the forehead and falls on to the floor with a soft thud.
"Owwie!" Sayori says, slowly falling to the floor in 'totally' real pain. She plays it for a few more seconds before cutting the act and grabbing the umbrella, heading towards my door once more. She heads out to her house, and for a few minutes, I'm alone.
I sit down on my couch and let my body hang loose. My heart has been racing ever since Natsuki showed up, and a break is well deserved. I can only assume this visit will be a lot longer than usual, so I prepare myself for whatever. To be fair though, I don't mind having her here. As long as she's safe, then I'm alright.
It's fair to say she's staying the night, and she probably wants to sleep in a bed. I get up and walk over to my washer and dryer. On the shelves above them, a basket with bed sheets and a comforter sits. I grab it and make my way to my room.
I pass the bathroom on the way to change the bed sheets, and peek in the open door. Natsuki is sitting by the tub, idly waiting for the water to fill up and for Sayori to return with a change of clothes for the night. I knock on the door, she looks up at me.
"Hey, you can sleep in my bed tonight." I tell her.
Her face flushes red, and the trademark angry face appears, "Hell no!" she shouts at me. "Not with all your weird germs! What do you think I like you or something?"
I avoid the second question, "I'm changing the bed sheets for a reason you know. It'll be clean, completely unused and washed. And I'll just take the couch."
Her mouth opens to try and retaliate, but it looks as if she's at a loss for words. It closes, and she returns to looking at the bath filling up. MC 1, Natsuki 0. I walk into my bedroom and start cleaning up. I hear the door downstairs open followed by Sayori affirming it's her. I wonder what's going through Sayori's mind...
(Sayori's POV)
Making my way up the stairs I knock on the bathroom door and let myself in. Natsuki is sitting next to the tub, watching it fill up. It's almost to a good volume.
"I grabbed one of my uniforms, though it's probably going to be a little big on you." I put them on the small closed basket next to the towel rack.
"Thanks," Natsuki says, "You can leave now."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you alone, if that's okay," I tell her.
She looks at me with a fusion of confusion and disgust, "Um, why do you have to be in here while I do this?"
"Would you rather MC?" I tell her. Her face flushes completely red, and she looks back towards the bath, now full. Part of me wants to laugh, but another holds it back.
Natsuki disrobes and hops into the bath. It's hard not to notice all the bruises she has, and it's a horrifying sight. Multiple on her arms and back, some on her thighs, neck, and shoulders. I felt tears on the horizon, but I held them back. I don't know what it was, but something inside didn't want me to cry.
She falls slowly into it until she's practically laying down. Grabbing her hair clip, she takes it out and tosses it onto the floor. Then she sinks her hair into the water, soaking it and letting it fall loose. Her hair like this is really cute. Just like the rest of her. Cute. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous.
"So how come you came here instead of Monika's?" I ask her.
Natsuki pauses for a moment, "MC's place is closer."
"Nat, Monika's is much closer, you don't even have to take a bus like you would to MC's. I know where you two live, we're friends."
"Well," Natsuki says, trying to find a way out of this, "Monika might have blabbed about this to someone and got me in trouble. I can trust him to keep it between us. And you too."
I shrug, "Fair enough, but why lie in the first place, hmm?" Natsuki stays silent, dipping a little lower into the water. "What about him makes you feel safe?"
Seemingly caught off guard from the question, our eyes meet. Her face is still red from earlier. I'm sure if I asked her about that she would have just said it was the warm water. Just like Natsuki to do that.
Natsuki breaks our stare returning to her original position, and speaks, "Everyone always judged me for everything, my manga, my height, my attitude. No one accepted me for myself. I wasn't going to change for others, cause this is who I am. What's the point of people being friends with me if I'm not me? But MC, he's alright with it. He doesn't make fun of my manga, or my height, or anything. I'm sure he doesn't like my manga that much, but he still reads it. I'm sure he knows my shortness and has problems with my attitude, but he doesn't comment on it. He respects that this is who I am. And no one has ever done that before."
I pause before I speak, taking in everything. "You know what that 'respecting who you are' means, right, Nat?"
She shakes her head, "What do you mean?"
I let out a small laugh, and put a smile on my face, "That means he likes you, silly." Her face showed an even redder color, as she sunk all the way into the tub. I laugh a little more, but the pain is seeping out. "Now the question is do you like him."
She stays under the water, and a small bubble appears above her lips. I don't know what she said, but I knew it deep down. I keep my smile and leave the bathroom to her alone, so she can relax. After the night she's had, I'm sure she needs it. Opening the door I spotted MC making up his bed and cleaning his room. I suppose she'll be sleeping in there tonight. Lucky girl.
I walk downstairs quietly without alerting him. Because if I had to talk to him right now I wouldn't be capable of keeping this up. My forced smile recedes, turning into a face of pure emotionlessness. Rain clouds cover the artificial sunlight I had created today in my head. No new bottles were made today. Instead they were ripped from my shelves, shattered.
The umbrella sits on the floor where I dropped it off when I returned with the clothes. It's water was spilled onto the floor around it, creating a small puddle. MC wouldn't mind if I took it back with me to stay dry, I mean he had other umbrellas anyways. He didn't want me getting sick or wet, neither did I. So there was no reason not to take it.
I didn't take the umbrella, so I wouldn't know if the water on my face was rain, or my tears.
(MC's POV)
It still looks bad, but not as bad as it did before. Stuff on the floor was now put onto shelves or my desk. Scattered clothes were shoved into my closet so high, that an avalanche would be caused by just opening the door. And any embarrassing stuff like figurines and certain anime disc boxes were hidden away so Natsuki would not have a life's worth of material to make fun of me for.
I knock quietly on the bathroom door, "Natsuki? The bed is ready for you, so feel free when you're done to just go to bed if you'd like." I hear a slight grunt from her end signifying she heard me and head downstairs. I want to apologize to Sayori about inviting her over. After all, this must have been really awkward.
What if she thought I invited her over just to flex that Nat and I were hanging out? I mean obviously she wouldn't think that, but what if she did? I just need to clear this up. Down the stairs, I expect to see her on the couch, or in the kitchen finishing off the pizza, but she's nowhere to be seen. My phone, that I left on the couch, lights up, attracting me to it. A message from Sayori appears.
"I'm home btw, don't want to be stuck over there if the rain gets worse." Fair enough. I put my phone to sleep and pocket it, letting myself fall down onto my sofa. What a long night. This last hour has felt like seven. Thoughts of what is gonna happen tomorrow have been plaguing me. I can't let her go home to that monster. But I don't really have a say in that. Why does this have to be so complicated?
There's so much that I want to do about this. I want to tell the school, the police, I want to tell off that excuse of a father she has and beat him to a pulp! A test of his own medicine! I want her to be safe, and do whatever it takes to make sure of it. I want her to be happy. I want her to-
I stop myself, realizing not only what I'm saying, but what it all means. No one would feel this way just for a friend, no way. Not even a best friend. I feel my cheeks flush and my eyes widen.
Fuck. I'm in love...