Not This Time

by Monado1022

Alex is someone who's suffered through life, losing those who he loves until there's no one left. He pours his sorrows into the modding community of a certain horror visual novel game for years, eventually finding himself waking up in an unfamiliar house one morning. Will he be able to rebuild what he's lost with memories and a cult working against him, or will he fail once again?

8. Chapter 7: Entrance Music

(Author's note: Due to more recent plans for the fanfiction's story, I feel I should retcon something that was said back in Chapter 2. In it, I described the characters' heights without much detail, but I would now like to describe them better and change the heights to better match the canon heights of the characters along with giving Alex a definitive height. Here they are now:

Alex: 5'3" or 160cm

Mc: 5'3" or 160cm

Monika: 5'3" or 160cm

Sayori: 5'2" or 157cm

Natsuki: 4'11" or 150cm

Yuri: 5'5" or 165cm

Tiffany: 5'4" or 163cm

Shiro: 5'1" or 156cm

Okane: 5'3: or 160cm

Chad: 5'5" or 165cm

Hiran: 5'5" or 165cm

Sorry this isn't very consistent, but this will be the officially canon height of the characters for the rest of the fanfiction, so there won't be any more inconsistencies. I promise.)

Chapter 7: Entrance Music

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbe-

"IT'S SUNDAY, BITCHES!" Yeah, don't even ask.

It was Sunday in the world of DDLC, and the day that Natsuki and Yuri were coming over to prepare for the school festival on Monday. I was going to be helping Natsuki bake cupcakes in the kitchen, and Mc was going to be helping Yuri make decorations in his room. In the original game, it was also the last time Mc would see Sayori alive, but due to my actions the previous Thursday, Monika would be taking care of that.

Now you may be wondering why my schedule on Saturday isn't being told. Well, dear reader, that's because it was boring as hell. Mc and I went to the store to get things we'd need for when Yuri and Natsuki came over, then we just binge-watched a shit-ton of anime.

Anyway, after my overly enthusiastic announcement of the date, I threw myself out of bed and dashed over to my closet. I opened it up and tried to decide what to wear. I eventually settled on black track pants and a red hoodie. I don't care what any fashion designers have to say, I wear what I want to wear.

As I pulled my hoodie on, I caught a glimpse of something out my window. I walked over to it and gazed outside to find it was aimed directly at Sayori's house, and Sayori was waving at me from her bedroom window. She was waving at me to get my attention, then pulled her phone out of her pocket. Instantaneously, my phone began to ring on my bedside table. I picked it up and pressed the 'answer' button while I moved it to my ear.

"This is the absolute weirdest way to call someone, Sayori." I greeted. Sayori giggled.

"So? Normal is boring." She responded. "Yuri and Natsuki are going to be at your place today. Are you nervous?" Sayori giggled again, clearly trying to get a rise out of me. I wasn't having it.

"Why should I be nervous? Mc's the one who'll be working with a girl in his room." I smiled devilishly, waiting for Sayori to get the joke. She looked confused, but her expression gradually changed to shocked.

"Why would you say that, Alex?!" She asked desperately. "Don't say things like that!" I laughed at her reaction, which was made even funnier by her giving me a raspberry through the phone.

"Seriously, though." I stopped joking around. "I'm not worried about the visit at all." I was telling the truth. I wasn't worried about the visit itself, but about what could happen after. What happens after the visit was completely unknown territory for me. There were many mods that took place after Sunday, but there was no way to pinpoint exactly which storyline would be occurring, or if a known storyline would even be taking place.

That being said however, if a pre-known storyline would be taking place, I hoped to god it wouldn't be Exit Music. For those of you that don't know, Exit Music is a mod where Mc breaks into Natsuki's house to find her barely alive in her bedroom after she tried to kill herself via overdose. After saving her, they get together and Natsuki lives with Mc for a while. However, towards the end, Natsuki is forced to go back to her father's house. She hangs herself there, and Mc jumps off a bridge in grief. Roll credits. I felt a tear rolling down my cheek, which yanked me out of my thoughts with some help from Sayori's yelling.

"Alex! Earth to Alex!" I nearly dropped the phone in surprise.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. What were you saying?" I wiped the tear away as I asked. Sayori laughed.

"It's been a while since you've done that." She lamented worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I tried to sound upbeat. "Why do you ask?" Even from that distance, I could see Sayori's skepticism.

"Is your depression acting up?" Sayori asked. "I know how that feels, too. If you need any help, I'm here." Sayori was sounding oddly serious, which wasn't normal for her.

"No, it isn't acting up, Sayori. My depression isn't as bad as yours." I explained. "If I do need help, though, you'll be the first one I go to, okay?" This answer seemed to satisfy her.

"Okay!" She said with a smile. "Monika's coming over soon to help with the flyers, so I got to go! Bye!" She hung up before I could say 'bye' back. I looked back at her house to see her giving me one last raspberry, then she dashed out of view. I chuckled to myself as I turned to the door.

As I walked out into the hallway, I caught a whiff of something cooking. I recognized the smell and instantly ran downstairs as fast as humanly possible. As I reached the bottom of the stairs and looked into the kitchen, I saw Mc cooking breakfast. (Speed)Walking behind him, I peeked over his shoulder to see that he was cooking crepes and bacon.

"I can see you have good taste." I commented, causing Mc to turn around in surprise. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. It was amazing just how average he looked. Like, I wouldn't even be able to describe it because it was so average.

"Ah, another fan of crepes, I assume?" He joked in his best Sherlock Holmes impression.

"Yes, actually." I replied in my pathetic Watson impression. "If you say 'elementary, dear Watson', then I will take that spatula and shove it directly up your ass." We both cracked up in laughter.

"Wow, we are losers." Mc joked.

"Yup." I agreed.

*Five minutes later*

"So, are you going to confess to Yuri?" I asked, purely out of curiosity as we ate. Mc laughed, but I couldn't see what was so funny.

"Actually, we already confessed to each other on Friday." He said. "While you and Natsuki were outside, Yuri just randomly told me she liked me as we were reading. I said the same to her, and now we're together." He smiled.

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Just like that." He answered.

"Well, congratulations. You'll have your girlfriend in your room before you even have your first date." I gave him a joking smile, and he instantly turned red.

"Let's... not talk about this conversation ever again." Mc went back to eating to prevent further conversation. I chuckled in amusement, then turned my attention back to my breakfast, shoving crepe after crepe into my mouth. Sayori would be proud.

*Thirty minutes later*

"Dammit!" I exclaimed. Mc and I had been playing My Hero One's Justice for almost fifteen minutes, and I lost every round so far. No matter what character I chose, he always beat me with Shoto. I had just lost to him again, crossing off yet another character that could be viable against him.

"That's twelve to none." Mc taunted. "Cheer up. Even if you lost with Izuku, Ochako, Tenya, Stain, All Might, All For One, Kyoka, Himiko, Tomura, Denki, Aizawa, and Endeavor, I'm sure you'll get it next time!" He gave me a taunting smile, so I promptly flipped him off. Luckily, I was saved from another defeat by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Well, I guess they're here." Mc said as he got up and turned off his Xbox. I got up and followed him to the front door, where we could already hear idle chit-chat coming from outside. Mc grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, revealing Yuri and Natsuki having an idle conversation while they waited.

Natsuki, just like in the original game, was wearing a white t-shirt with a pink cat face design on the left of the chest, along with a pink, frilly skirt. You never really saw much of her below the waist in the original game (not in that way!), but here, she was simply wearing a pair of pink running shoes with white socks. Yuri, of course, was wearing a tan turtleneck sweater with black yoga pants. She was wearing the same shoes as Natsuki, only purple. They were each carrying a large plastic bag.

As soon as the door opened, Natsuki put on her 'annoyed' face.

"Took you long enough. This thing's heavy!" She complained. Yuri looked a little embarrassed.

"C-could we come in?" She asked, doing her best to ignore Natsuki's complaints.

"Of course, come on in." Mc ushered them inside, then closed the door behind them. "Just uh... take off your shoes, okay? My parents may be paying for this house, but I'm the one maintaining it." Yuri and Natsuki nodded in acknowledgement and put their shoes next to the door, Yuri's shyness and Natsuki's frustration seemingly already gone.

"So, let's get started." Mc told Yuri. "Follow me, these two have a lot of work to do." He led Yuri upstairs to his room, leaving me alone with Natsuki. I turned to Natsuki, who smiled surprisingly sweetly. Already doing better than the original game.

"Come on, I'll show you the kitchen." I turned around to lead Natsuki but stopped when I heard an "ahem" from Natsuki. I turned around to see her staring at me expectantly, like a cat waiting for its owner to feed it.

"Would you really force me to carry this big, heavy bag all by myself?" Natsuki pouted, obviously messing with me. I sighed in amusement and took the bag, noticing something strange about it as I looked inside.

"Natsuki, why did you tell me to get some things for baking when you already had everything in this bag?" I asked. It was true, everything that she told me to get the previous day was already in the bag, completely nullifying everything that I'd done the prior day as useless.

"It's just in case you forgot anything." She explained.

"You sent me the list a total of three times yesterday, two of them being sent after I'd already gotten everything and counted them twice." I complained. "Also, why did you even make me get all of these things if you already had them? We could've just used what you had without any problems." Natsuki began to respond but fell silent as she realized I was right.

"Oh... Well, shit." She said. "Anyway, we're still using what you got. We wouldn't want it to go to waste, would we?" She smiled again, but more sincere this time. I decided I could forgive her, and we quickly got to making the cupcakes.

*Thirty minutes later*

"Alright, that's the first batch done." Natsuki said as she put the tray on top of the oven. "Do you think you get the idea now?" I nodded confidently.

Before we made any cupcake batches separately, Natsuki and I made a batch together to get through the basics. And by 'together', I mean I did all the work while Natsuki babied all my movements. I normally would've been offended, but it was my first time baking, and I wanted to make sure I didn't screw it up. Whenever I'd reach for the wrong tool or ingredient, Natsuki would grab my wrist with surprising speed and face it towards the right thing. It was quite funny to have her do this, considering she could barely see over the countertop.

"How many are we making, exactly?" I inquired. "We don't have any way to know exactly how many people will be attending our event, so how do we know how many cupcakes we need to make?" Natsuki didn't take any time to think before answering.

"We're making eleven batches, counting the one we just made." She answered. I choked on my own words.

"Eleven?!" I exclaimed. "Why are we making so many?!" Natsuki smiled at me, clearly enjoying my confusion. It wasn't like our club was all that big or popular, so I couldn't see why we needed to bake so many cupcakes.

"You'll see..." Natsuki hinted slyly. "It's a surprise." She waved her hands in front of her face jokingly, causing us both to laugh.

I'd seen hints of it before, but this was the first time I actually took note of how different Natsuki's personality was when she wasn't in public. She was less worried about being embarrassed, and she wasn't as snippy with her speech. She was almost a different person. A different person that only spoke to the ones she trusted most.

"Alex, did you want to do something after this?" Natsuki asked completely out of the blue.

"Um... like what?" I responded.

"Mc mentioned to me that he had the Sword Art Online manga series laying around somewhere." Natsuki explained. "Do you maybe want to check it out when we're done?" I looked at my watch, which read 8:30. With this in mind, I turned to Natsuki.

"Sure. We should have time if we stay focused." I answered, much to Natsuki's joy. "Why Sword Art Online specifically, though? I thought you'd want to read some sort of romance, knowing you." Natsuki looked offended and crossed her arms.

"Just because I like to read romance doesn't mean it's the only thing I read, Alex." She said my name with an accusatory tone, but then looked off to the side in embarrassment. "Plus, I actually enjoyed the anime..."

"Same." I said a very matter-of-factly. Natsuki tried to keep her expression neutral, but her eyes gave away the fact that she was mildly shocked.

Instead of saying anything more, Natsuki merely turned back towards the counter and grabbed an empty cupcake tray. I quietly chuckled at her speechlessness and got to work alongside her.

*Two and a half hours later*

"Okay, that's six so far. Three from me, three from you." I stated as I placed my tray next to the others. Natsuki laughed smugly.

"Actually, it's two from you and four from me. That first one was just you following my instructions." She taunted.

"It was still me who actually made them." I responded. Natsuki leaned on the stove.

"Oh, really? And would you have been able to make them without my he-OW!" Natsuki recoiled her arm from the stove and clutched her elbow in pain, kneeling on the ground. "Ah, fuck." She slowly took her hand off her elbow and examined it. It was pretty red, but not to the point that it would constitute as a serious burn.

I looked at the stovetop and, to my surprise, one of the burners was on despite us never having used it. I quickly turned it off and rushed to Natsuki's side.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. "That looks pretty bad." I gestured to the burn, but Natsuki shook her head.

"Don't worry about me. Let's get back to the baking." She tried to get up, but I held her down.

"Nat, I'm not an idiot. Whether you like it or not, we're treating that burn." I told her. Natsuki didn't argue, but it was clear she was frustrated. It was also clear it hurt a lot, shown by the painful grimace on Natsuki's face.

I picked up Natsuki by the waist (much to her annoyance) and sat her down in one of the kitchen chairs.

"I'm going to go ask Mc if he has anything to treat burns. Stay here, alright?" I requested. Natsuki nodded defeatedly. I turned around and headed out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and down the hallway towards Mc's room. I was about to knock on the door when I heard strange noises coming from inside.

My curiosity getting the better of me, I leaned in and put my ear up to the door. Shockingly, it seemed like Mc was taking my joke of 'having his girlfriend in his room before their first date' literally, because I could hear moaning emanating from inside.

'I'm definitely bringing this up to Mc after they leave' I thought jokingly, then focused back on the task at hand. 'I'll check the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.' With a new plan in mind, I went a bit further down the hall towards the bathroom. I walked inside and made a beeline towards the mirror hanging over the sink.

I grabbed the handle and opened it up, revealing a slew of pain medication, sleeping pills, and even some essential oils. Ignoring that last thing and hoping Mc wasn't an anti-vax idiot, I began searching through the cabinet for something for treating burns.

It wasn't long before I came across a small tub of cream. The label was still on it, but over the name of the product was a piece of scotch tape that had the words 'TREATS BURNS' written on it. I pulled it out of the cabinet and turned it in my hands. On the back, it had another piece of scotch tape which read 'USE IN CASE OF CHEF SAYORI'. I chuckled to myself.

Closing the cabinet, I turned around and left the bathroom. I walked down the corridor back to the stairs, careful to not let Mc and Yuri hear me as I passed them. Finally, I reached the stairs and climbed down, turning towards the kitchen as I reached the bottom.

Natsuki was still in the chair that I left her in, but she was now bending her arm at an awkward angle, trying to see the burn on the bottom of her elbow. She touched it but recoiled in pain as she did so, the light contact with the wound obviously hurting.

"You know, touching the burn won't make it feel better." I joked as I walked up to her. Natsuki snapped her gaze to me as she finally noticed my presence, of which she somehow didn't notice earlier.

"Oh, hey." She sounded a bit embarrassed. "Did you get anything for treating burns from Mc?" I held up the small tub of cream but shook my head.

"I had to find it myself. Mc and Yuri are a bit busy at the moment." I explained, only half-lying. Natsuki, however, didn't look convinced.

"What do you mean 'a bit busy'? Couldn't they have taken a few moments out of their decorating to help?" She asked, annoyed. I could tell there wasn't any easy way out of this situation, so I just decided to let out all the information at once.

"Mc and Yuri confessed to each other on Friday while we were out in the hall and now they're together and are... doing stuff." I left the last detail hanging in the air, but Natsuki already knew what I meant, judging by her reaction.

"They're having sex?!" She exclaimed, accidentally banging her burned elbow on the table. She clutched her elbow again, barely not screaming out in pain. I rushed over to her and knelt, bringing my face level with hers.

Her eyes were shut tight, with tears of pain leaking out almost constantly. At first, I couldn't see why it hurt so much to the point of not being able to move, but then I thought of how small she was. That must've had something to do with her low pain tolerance. There wasn't really anything I could do about her current pain spasm, so I waited until it went away.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked when she finally opened her eyes. There were still a few tears, but for the most part, the pain seemed to be fading.

"Yeah... I... I'm fine." She said, obviously not fine. "Just... put the cream on." She said this but didn't take her hand off her elbow. I waited, for her to move it, but she just... didn't.

"Uh, Natsuki?" I prompted. "I kind of need to see the burn in order to put the cream on." Natsuki took a moment to process what I said, then seemed to have a moment of revelation.

"Oh, right. H-here." She slowly let go of her elbow, revealing the burn. It was slightly less red than before, but the bang against the table must've been causing Natsuki a lot of pain.

I picked up the tub of cream with my right hand and took the lid off. I lightly grabbed Natsuki's arm with my left, careful to not touch the burn. Her skin was warmer than usual, but I couldn't tell whether it was due to the burn or if she was embarrassed. I scooped some cream onto my right index and middle fingers and slowly brought them to Natsuki's burn.

Natsuki flinched as I slowly and methodically rubbed the cream on her burned skin, taking care not to hurt her further. After rubbing all the cream off, I examined the burn one more time. It was pretty much completely covered by the cream, but something still bothered me about her arm. Taking a look a little further down, I could see a few bruised around where I was holding her arm.

I was worried that I'd caused them, but a closer inspection of the bruises proved that theory wrong. They were extending past any point that I touched her arm at, meaning I couldn't be the main cause. Curious, I rubbed my finger along a clear area of skin, just above the highest bruise. To my surprise, as I moved my finger across Natsuki's skin, a bruise revealed itself. I looked at my finger that I used to rub her arm, and there was makeup on it. She was using makeup to cover up her bruises.

"Nat, what's with the bruises?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer. Natsuki gasped in shock, then pushed me away. I looked at her in surprise and was met with a gaze of fear. She sat there, stunned for a while, like she was caught stealing cookies. Finally, she spoke.

"I... I... I'll tell you l-later..." She said weakly. I opened my mouth to protest, but stopped myself as I saw tears coming out of Natsuki's eyes. Unlike before, she wasn't just crying because of the pain. This time, she was terrified of what I was asking. Terrified of what she had to say.

"Okay, I won't rush you." I said. "But I'd like to hear the reason when we're done the cupcakes. You can't keep your troubles to yourself forever, or they'll inevitably consume you." Even I was shocked by my own words. Natsuki didn't respond and merely got up and walked towards the counter. I hauled myself to my feet and grabbed the tub of cream, putting the lid back on it as I did. I took one last look at Natsuki before I went to put the cream back, and all I could see in her eyes was defeat and depression.

*Two and a half hours later*

The rest of the cupcakes were made in silence. There was an aura of stressful worry in the air, and it wasn't difficult to see who the source was. While we were baking the cupcakes, I stole glances at Natsuki many times. Every time I did, she had the same, blank expression on her face. I also studied the bruises on her arm at every opportunity I had, and I began to notice something about them.

It was hard to tell exactly how many bruises she had, because they all blended together. It was almost like her entire arm was just one big bruise, and I didn't doubt that possibility. How bad Natsuki's parental abuse was differed from story to story. It really wasn't that much of a stretch to assume that this version of her father was one of if not the worst, considering what I'd heard so far from Monika.

"Alex?" Natsuki's words snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at her as she took the last tray out of the oven and put it on the countertop. We'd agreed that the last two batches would be without icing, just in case there were people who preferred that.

"What is it, Nat?" I asked cautiously. This was the moment of truth.

"You wanted to know about my bruises and..." She started. "I think it's about time I finally tell someone." She was looking down in shame, so I walked up to her and lifted her chin up with my hand.

"You don't have anything to worry about, Nat. I promise." At the word promise, Natsuki froze for a second, but quickly regained composure.

"You... might want to sit down. Let's go to the living room." She said. I nodded. At first, I was confused as to why she would make this decision, but then it hit me.

In order to talk about something like this, you'd need to be sure you're in a stable environment. You'd need to make sure you're safe, and you need to trust the person in front of you. It almost seemed like she was trying to recreate the feeling of being in a psychiatrist office. I'd never really gone to a psychiatrist, but now I was required to be one?

I shook my head, banishing any doubts I'd had in my mind. Then, with a newfound resolve, I followed Natsuki into the living room. Natsuki walked over to the nearest couch and sat down with her head still hanging low. At this point, I couldn't even tell whether she was sad, or scared, or both. All the worry that I was feeling turned into determination. With this determination, I strode over to the couch and sat down next to Natsuki.

"So... what is it you want to tell me?" I asked. "And you don't need to rush. Take your time if you need to." Natsuki turned to me with a grateful expression on her face. There were still a few tears on her cheeks, but she either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"Thanks, Alex. I honestly don't know how I could've gotten this far without you." Her voice was soft. "Okay, here we go." I laid back as she began her story, listening intently.

"My father, Hiran Kurushimi, was a wealthy businessman from Tokyo. My mother, Kojin Josei, was a wealthy bank owner, also from Tokyo. My father was always distant from me, which made sense. They never expected to have a child. I was an accident, as you might say. He hated me, but he never let it show too much. He commonly had business partners over, during which I was always forced to stay in my room because I would 'disrupt their important business'."

"My mother was the opposite. She loved me, cared for me, even played with me when my father had his business partners over. She was my world, and I looked up to her so much. I didn't know it yet, but my father had apparently wanted her to get an abortion. My mother refused, saying she wasn't just going to kill someone before they even had a chance to live. My father told me that, and that was what he hated about me. He believed that he deserved full power over my life, and that my mother was standing in the way of that power."

"He finally got that power when my mother was murdered in an alleyway. The police say she was shot to death by the attacker, but they were never found. While he was happy to finally have control over my every move, he was devastated by the death of his wife. He moved us here for what he claimed were 'business reasons', but it was clear he wanted somewhere to be alone. Alone where he could drink to his heart's content, and abuse his daughter to his heart's content..."

Natsuki paused, and I looked over at her to see her expression. She was crying. Tears were constantly streaming out of her eyes, traveling down her cheeks, and dropping off her chin into her lap. Such a sight hurt me so much, so I did the only thing I could think of: I put my left arm around her shoulders. She jolted at my touch.

"W-what are you d-doing?" She asked between sobs. I expected the words to be angry, but they weren't. Again, I was seeing the sensitive side of Natsuki.

"You're being hurt by remembering these memories, and I'm here to remind you that you don't need to rush yourself." I told her softly as I continued to comfort her. "I'm not going anywhere, Nat. Take as much time as you need. I know how much it pains you to remember this."

Natsuki seemed stuck for words, like she'd never been treated that way. Then I realized: That was exactly the case. She'd NEVER been treated that way! Almost her entire life had been composed entirely of abuse from her middle-aged father. It made me sad. Seeing someone who'd been so horribly abused that she didn't even know how to react to comfort was... horrible.

"Alex, are you okay?" I suddenly heard Natsuki ask. "Y-you're crying." It took me a moment to notice that she was right. I WAS crying. I quickly wiped away the tears with my right arm while keeping my left arm around Natsuki.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Nat. Just... your story." I lied. Natsuki was probably too sad to doubt me, so she accepted my answer. Then, for some reason, she leaned into me and pulled my arm further around her, ultimately locking herself right next to me. I could feel my face getting hot, and Natsuki's face was red.

"If that's the case, then could I take a break?" Anyone else would've found this request ridiculous, but not me. Going through memories like this, remembering these horrific events, it takes a lot out of you.

"Sure. Take as many breaks as you want." I said. "When you want to continue, just tell me." Natsuki smiled weakly but didn't say anything. She snuggled up closer to me, as if using me for warmth. She still had a frown on her face, but I could tell she felt better. Even from just telling me what she did, it seemed to help a lot. Going through depression myself helped me to see things about other people that others couldn't.

Natsuki suddenly rested her head on my shoulder, causing me to flinch slightly. She didn't relent, however, and just kept her head there. I smiled to myself, despite the living situation she was going through.

'I'll stay by your side, Natsuki.' I thought. 'I won't leave you. Not until you're free of him...'

*Ten minutes later*

"O-okay." Natsuki said suddenly. "I-I think I'm ready to continue." She took her head off my shoulder but didn't pull away. I wasn't complaining, as Natsuki was more important than anything at that moment. Once again, I laid back and listened as Natsuki continued her story.

"When my mother died, I was only eight years old. However, eight years old didn't mean anything to my father. He forced us to move and only let me take what could fit in a single suitcase. I lost most of my toys, books, clothes, and all of my friends when we moved. As soon as we finished moving, my father began to drink heavily. He had inherited a bunch of money from my mother's death, which is the only reason why he hasn't gone bankrupt from all the drinking, yet."

"At first, I thought things wouldn't be so bad. However, that optimism quickly left me the first time my father hit me. I had accidentally dropped a frying pan off the countertop and onto the floor. I thought it would be fine, and that he would understand but... when I went to go tell him, he went insane. He swore at me, punched me, kicked me, and even threw me across the room at one point. The pain stayed for weeks, and it was only made worse by the fact that he barely ever made any food for me."

"Whenever he DID cook, it was usually something that didn't take much time or effort to make, like a frozen pizza or macaroni. And most of the time he didn't even cook. Instead, I was given leftovers from whenever he'd eat out. The only person who ever took pity on me was one of my teachers at school. She noticed how thin I was and got me to tell her about my home situation. She wanted to call the police, but I told her not to. For some reason I still believed in my father. I still don't know why, but she agreed with me. Instead, she allowed me to eat some of her lunch each day. This only lasted until the end of that school year, and then I was back to starving."

"The abuse got worse when I turned thirteen. Before, my father looked at me as some sort of annoying animal. A rodent, if you will. After my thirteenth birthday, however, my father looked at me as an object. I think I was beginning to remind him of my mother, so he did what any sane person would do: he began to sexually assault me."

Natsuki spat out those last two sentences with pure hatred. I looked at her, and any trace of sadness was gone from her face. Her eyes burned with rage, and she didn't stop there.

"He groped me whenever I was around him. I would tell him to stop, but he never listened. He continued to do it, and if I didn't comply, he would beat me. He'd strip me, grope me, then throw me to the side when he was done. His own fucking daughter. He would just use me like a sex doll, then toss me aside like a piece of garbage."

Natsuki suddenly stopped talking, and all anger in her face was gone. A tear came out of her eye, then another one, then another one. Eventually, a torrent of tears came forward, accompanied by a slew of sobs.

"I-I was nothing t-to him!" She wailed. "I don't want to live with him anymore! I don't want to see him anymore! I just... I just..." She struggled to get the words out.

"I just..."

"Want..."

"To be..."

"Safe..."

Natsuki buried her face in her hands, sobbing violently. It nearly broke me to see her like this. It was one thing to be told 'she cried violently' in text, but it was another thing entirely to be right there next to her. This girl that I'd technically only known for a week was pouring her heart out to me, and she was crying because it. I wasn't just going to sit there while she suffered.

I brought my right arm around and pulled her into a hug. She gasped in surprise as she suddenly found herself in my arms.

"A-Alex... I-I d-don't..." I shushed her.

"Nat, you aren't alone in this. I want you to remember that." I reassured her. "I promise you that no matter how tough it gets. No matter how difficult it is, I will stay by your side and help you out of this. Do you understand?" Natsuki was stunned silent, shocked by my forwardness.

"T-thank y-you." She said at last as she buried her face in my shoulder and continued sobbing. I patted her back to calm her down.

"We can take another break, if you want." I whispered. "I know this much be hard for you." Natsuki nodded in agreement, crying into my shoulder.

*Twenty minutes later*

"O-okay." Natsuki said as she slowly brought her face out of my shoulder. "I-I t-think I'm r-ready to c-continue." I nodded, then brought my right arm back to my side, keeping my left arm firmly around Natsuki's shoulders and listening and she continued her story for the final time.

"I was never able to make any friends on my own in high school. My interest in manga combined with my young appearance made people tease me. I was always lonely, and always thought people were insulting me because of it. My father kept telling me to just 'get some friends', but whenever I tried to explain the situation to him, he would beat me. My school life suffered just as much as my home life because of him. I had barely any money to get food, I couldn't talk to people, and I always had bruises that I needed to hide because my father didn't want anyone to see them."

"I used makeup to hide my bruises from everyone as you saw earlier. It's the only thing my father pays for that's related to me. The only thing he buys for me... are the things that hide the fact that he abuses me. He treats me like a slave. Using me whenever he feels like it, hitting me whenever I do something to defy him, and forcing me to cover up everything he does to me. He controls everything about me. Whenever I come home from school, he literally pats me down for anything more than what I brought to school. My life was hell. Then... you came along."

I snapped my gaze to Natsuki, who was looking away with a blush on her face.

"W-what?" I was confused. "Then... I came along?" Natsuki did a weak attempt at a laugh.

"Just a week ago, I almost lost hope that my life could get any better. Last Tuesday was when that began to turn around. The day that I met you." Natsuki explained. "Okane and Chad were annoying me constantly before second period. Then, as I walked through the doors of the science classroom, I saw you."

"I wasn't sure about you at first, but your first impression was so much... nicer than I expected. After that, you kept being nice to me, despite all the times I was rude to you. Every day, you spent time with me, you defended me and the others, and you even indulged in my hobbies with me, despite not being a fan of it beforehand. So... what I'm trying to say is... thank you, Alex. For all that you've done for me."

Natsuki smiled at me, the blush still on her face. Instinctually, I smiled back. Then, Natsuki's expression changed slightly. She looked... different to me. Before I could know what was happening, Natsuki's face began to move slowly towards me. My face was involuntarily doing the same. Our faces got closer... closer... until...

Our lips touched. Natsuki and I were kissing. She tasted sweet, like candy. It sounds cliché, but that's what it was like. Our eyes were both closed, so we couldn't see the other person, but we didn't need to. From what I could tell, all that mattered at that moment was us together. Natsuki and I... together.

After almost forty seconds, Natsuki began to slowly pull away. I opened my eyes to see Natsuki's staring right back at me. Her adorable pink eyes that I'd come to love...

'Love...' I thought. 'Is this love? Am I in love with Natsuki?' The answer was yes. I loved Natsuki, and I saw that Natsuki was having a similar dilemma in her own mind. We were both stunned silent by the moment, and it felt like an eternity had passed before either of us said anything.

"So... um... that was... something..." Natsuki said.

"Yeah... it sure was..." I responded. Natsuki smiled sweetly.

"Let's not mention this to the others yet, okay?" Natsuki requested. I smiled back at her.

"Sure. Let's keep it between us for now." I abided.

Natsuki maneuvered back to sitting next to me, putting her arm around my shoulders to mirror me. We looked at each other, grinning like idiots for almost five minutes. Finally, Natsuki suggested something.

"Hey, do you think that Mc and Yuri are 'done' yet?" She asked.

"Probably." I answered.

"Could you maybe go ask Mc if we could borrow his Sword Art Online manga?" Natsuki gave me the puppy-dog eyes to assure my agreement, but she didn't even need to do it. I would've agreed either way.

"Alright, I'll be right back." I said as I got up from the couch.

I made my way up the stairs, down the hallway, and stopped in front of Mc's bedroom door once again. I couldn't hear any more moaning from the other side, so I assumed they were done. Cautiously, I brought my hand up and rapped on the door with my knuckles. There was a sort of surprised gasp from the other side, and I eventually heard footsteps coming closer. The door opened slightly, and Mc peeked out.

"Oh, hey Alex. What did you need?" He asked without opening the door any further. It was suspicious, and even kind of funny. I would've savoured this moment, but I had a time limit before Natsuki had to leave.

"Nat wanted to know if you would let us read your Sword Art Online manga for a bit." I answered simply.

"Ah, okay... just let me... go grab it..." Mc stepped away from the door, leaving it still slightly peeking open. My curiosity getting the best of me, I lightly tapped the door. Not enough to make it open quickly, but just enough to make it slide a bit further inward.

As it was opening, I peeked through the gap in between the door and the wall. I was eventually given a small glimpse of his bed, which Yuri was laying on. However, she was wearing only her underwear. Not wanting to seem like a pervert, I quickly retracted my head from the gap and stood outside normally.

After five minutes, Mc came back with three volumes of manga in his hand.

"Sorry that took so long. I'm not that organized." Mc apologized as he handed me the manga through the gap. "Now if you'll excuse me, Yuri and I need to get back to work." He closed the door faster than was necessary for obvious reasons. Satisfied, I left the scene and made my way back towards the living room

"What took you so long?" Natsuki asked me as I entered the living room. She had no trace of annoyance in her voice. She sounded legitimately curious, which made sense considering our previous interaction.

"Mc isn't that organized." I answered simply as I sat down next to Natsuki. Just as before, she instantly clung to my side and put her arm around me. I mirrored her action, putting my arms around her.

Natsuki rested her head into me, and I did the same to her. We opened up volume one and began to read.

*Two hours later*

"So, what do you think?" I asked as I closed the third volume of Sword Art Online. Natsuki shrugged.

"I'd say I enjoyed it." She answered. I looked at my watch, which read the time 6:00.

"Nat, what time do you need to be home by?" I asked, slightly panicking. Natsuki looked confused.

"6:30. Why?" I slowly brought my watch over to her to show her the time, and she instantly panicked.

"Oh crap, I need to go!" She exclaimed. She bolted up from the couch and rushed out of the living room. Me, knowing it was polite to see your guest to the door, followed her.

"So, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?" I assumed as Natsuki got ready to leave. I couldn't help but feel sad. After telling me about all the shit that she goes through at home, she was just leaving for home. It hurt me to see her rushing to go somewhere she clearly hated. Natsuki seemed to notice my worry, as she instantly stopped what she was doing and looked at me. She stood up straight in front of me, looking at me with a smile on her face.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I promise you." She made a small hop and kissed me on the cheek, making us both blush. "Besides, now I have something to look forward to." She gave me a toothy grin.

"Yeah, I guess there's that..." I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Well... I'll see you tomorrow, Nat. Bye." I waved as she opened the front door to the beautiful sun-setting sky.

"Bye, Alex." She turned to leave but made one last statement before leaving. "And thanks for the help. It means a lot to me." She turned back and left, closing the door behind her. That smile was the last I saw of her when she closed that door. Her beautiful smile...

'I'm not losing you this time, Natsuki.' I thought. 'Not this time...'

*Two hours later*

"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU HIT ME?! I WAS BLOCKING!" I screamed in complaint as Mc beat me once again in My Hero One's Justice.

I had told Monika and Tiffany about what was going on with Natsuki immediately after she'd left. It hurt me to do it to her, but I had no choice. We had to be ready for anything, and any information was important to saving Natsuki.

An hour after that, Yuri left. Her and Mc had taken a bit longer than usual to make the decorations (gee, I wonder why), so she left later than she normally would've.

Anyway, there we were. Mc and I, playing My Hero One's Justice, with me getting curb stomped by Todoroki yet again. I'd played literally every single character in the roster, and I was still unable to beat Mc.

"Screw it, I'm going to bed." I surrendered as I stood up. Mc looked disappointed.

"Why? You can't get better if you don't practice." He said.

"I'm just... tired." I admitted. Mc nodded.

"Okay, see you tomorrow. I'm going to stay up for a bit longer." He went back to his Xbox as I left, making my way back to my room.

As I walked towards my room, I had this uneasy feeling in my gut. It was like something bad was about to happen. Natsuki and were as close as ever that day, so, why did I feel so worried? I chocked it up to me just being tired.

Opening the door to my room, I caught a gaze with the bed in the corner. Driven by my only current instinct, I rushed over to my bed as fast as I could and laid down in it, closing my eyes and letting sleep consume me

...

*GASP*

I bolted upright in bed as I suddenly awoke in a cold sweat. I remembered having a dream, but I couldn't remember what that dream was. I remembered the whole day with Natsuki. We baked cupcakes, she told me about her parental abuse problems, we... kissed... but I couldn't tell why I felt so panicked. Suddenly, I had another excruciating headache tear through my skull, and the images that I saw scared me beyond belief...

Natsuki in her room. She's laying on her bed. There are no covers, pillows, or anything on the bed. It's just a mattress. Her clothes are torn. She's shivering. The glass in the window is shattered, but there are iron bars in front of it. Her room is completely empty of any belongings except for torn-up manga pages and a strange white container next to her bed. The container is a pill bottle. It's empty. It was prescribed two days ago...

I came out of the vision as suddenly as I had gone in it, my fear growing immensely by the second. I knew exactly what that vision meant. My worst fear had come to life. The one thing, the one mod that I didn't want to occur, and it did.

Exit Music

I heard my phone buzzing, giving me a shock. I pulled it out of my pocket as fast as I could and looked at the screen. Tiffany was calling Monika and I. I answered the call and put the phone up to my ear like my life depended on it.

"Hey, Ale-" Tiffany started, but I interrupted her.

"Natsuki's in danger." I stated frantically.

"Alex, what are you talking abou-" But she was interrupted again, but this time by Monika.

"Natsuki's in danger." She stated, just as frantically as me.

"Guys, how do you know this? I just called you two to tell you that one of the windows is shattered." Tiffany explained quickly. I froze. I couldn't find the words to talk, but luckily, Monika could talk for me.

"Tiffany, which window is shattered?" She asked, sounding exceedingly worried.

"The one with the bars over it. Why?" You could practically feel the tension and fear through the phone line. All of us were speechless, but I eventually acted first.

"Tiffany, text us the address of her house. This isn't just some random event going on in there. Natsuki's life is in peril!" I exclaimed.

"Alex, what are you talking about?" Tiffany inquired.

"Monika, you rush over to her house. I'll do the same. Tiffany, don't do anything until we get there." I ordered. I hung up before anything else could be said, then jumped out of bed as fast as I could. I rushed of my bedroom, down the hallway, down the stairs, and towards the front door. I could hear Mc's voice from the living room as I did this.

"Alex, what's gotten into you?!" He sounded alarmed, and he should have. I couldn't waste time explaining everything. I needed to give him the gist of what needed to be done, and that meant taking every possible precaution. I couldn't imagine Hiran would be all that tough in a fight, but you could never be too careful.

"Mc, listen to me." I said as I got my shoes on. "When I go out, lock the door, and don't unlock it until we get back, and ONLY when we get back. If it's anyone else, don't let them it. Do you understand?" Mc sputtered for a few seconds.

"B-but what are you doing?!" But I was already out the door.

*Five minutes later*

I dashed down the street at full speed, making my way towards Natsuki's house. I glanced at my phone as I ran to make sure I was going the right way. Over the course of my sprinting, the fear that I had gradually turned into anger. Anger towards Hiran, specifically. He had put his own daughter through so much shit over her life, and I was going to put a stop to it. I was going to put a stop to HIM.

"Just hang on, Nat. I'm coming..." I said to myself as I ran.

Finally, I arrived in front of the address Tiffany sent me. The house I was looking at was quite large, but not quite a mansion. It was definitely for people with higher income, though.

The property itself was guarded by a large metal gate. I didn't see any locks on the gate, so I assumed it was electric. I didn't have any time to deal with it, so I did what any sane person would in this scenario: I broke it down.

Yes, it was stupid, but sometimes stupid ideas work out. I took a few steps back, readied myself in a 'shoulder tackle' position, and ran forward towards the gate. I had a few seconds where I doubted my ability to get through, but all those doubts vanished when I collided with the gate.

The ability to enhance my strength was really coming in handy, because I felt nothing when I hit the gate. The part of the gate that I shoved through crumpled in on itself, creating a hole to run through. I didn't have time to debate what I'd just done, and I just kept on going to the front porch.

I ran onto the front porch and stopped at the front door. The door was made of pure metal, which seemed weird for a place like this. Suddenly, a voice called out from apparently nowhere.

"What do you want?!" The voice was that of a middle-aged man. I had no doubt in my mind that I was listening to the voice of Natsuki's father.

I looked around to find the source of the voice, and my gaze rested upon a security camera on the wall in the corner of the porch. I looked up at it with pure anger. He knew that I was here, but he didn't know who I was. That sucked for him, because I knew exactly who he was.

"Hiran Kurushimi!" I yelled at the security camera. There was a short pause, then the voice responded.

"Yes, that's me. What about it?!" The voice was constantly sounding old and bitter. He had no right to be angry. He had no right to be annoyed.

"Where the fuck is Natsuki?!" I yelled again. There was another pause, and Hiran responded again.

"I have no idea who you are talking about, boy!" He snapped. "Now get the hell out of here before I call the police!"

'You can't threaten me, you abusive son of a bitch.' I thought.

"Oh, YOU'RE going to call the police on ME?! What will you tell them when I tell them you've been abusing your daughter since she was eight?!" I was starting to get seriously pissed off.

"Oh, I think I know who you are, now..." Hiran lamented. "You're that Alex boy that Natsuki told me about, aren't you?" I was stunned. How did he know about me?

"How do you know who I am?" I asked.

"I always get Natsuki to tell me about all her friends whenever she comes home. It lets me know what she's up to!" He admitted. "That's really sneaky, how she lied to me about going over to Yasori's house for the day."

"Her name is Sayori!" I yelled.

"Yes, yes. Sayori, whatever." Hiran grumbled. "Anyway, I must say, I'm very disappointed with the decisions Natsuki has been making recently."

"What decisions? You never give her any freedom. She told me herself!" I complained.

"I'm going to ignore that little stab at me you just took and answer your question." Hiran said. "When I found out she was becoming friends with two lesbians, an eskimo, and a n****r, I was very disappointed. She should've known better."

'Two lesbians? Who could that be?' I thought.

"Now, I'd suggest you GET OFF MY GODDAMN PROPERTY BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE, YOU GODDAMN FILTHY CANADIAN!" He screamed. This put me over the edge. I wasn't going to take shit from this guy.

"This is you final fucking warning, Hiran!" I yelled. "If you let Natsuki go, then we will leave peacefully. But it you don't I'm coming in there, and only one of us is making it out alive! Do you understand, you drunk asshole?!" Hiran grumbled in rage.

"YOU CAN'T EVEN GET THROUGH THE DAMN DOOR! DON'T MAKE THREATS WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE LEVERAGE!" I was fed up with his shit. I wasn't wasting any more time talking. He was going to fucking die. Right here, right now.

"Okay, then. That's your decision." I said. "You have no idea how fucked you truly are!" I reared my fist back and punched the door full force. It left a large dent in it, and a gasp of surprise came from the camera. I ignored it and punched the door again. A crack formed in the metal. I looked at the camera.

"Do you surrender? Last chance." I threatened. No response. I shrugged, then lifted my leg up toward the door. I kicked forward, and the door completely buckled inward, breaking off its hinges. The barrier between me and the inside now destroyed, I took a step inside the house and took in the immediate scene.

I was in a long hallway. A bit down the hallway to my right was a pair of double doors leading into a living room. At the end of the hallway was a kitchen that extended off to the right, presumably connected to the living room. Looking to my immediate right, there was a display case holding a katana with a gold hilt. A little further down the hall was a similar display case, but this time with a silver-hilted katana.

Suddenly, a flash of movement at the end of the hallway caught my attention. A man in his forties appeared from the left of the doorway into the kitchen. He was a bit taller than me, with short brown hair and purple eyes. He had a bit of a stubble, and a tired but angry look on his face. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with gray jeans and black shoes, and he was holding a gun. I instantly knew who I was looking at.

"Hiran." I muttered hatefully. This was the man who'd been abusing Natsuki for years. The man who I came to save Natsuki from. The man who I came... to kill.

"Yes, I'm Hiran." I was surprised he heard me from that distance. "Now tell me, boy. How much do you know?" He had that hateful glare in his eyes. The glare that I probably also had at that very moment. I probably shouldn't have responded, but at that moment, there wasn't anything that I cared about more than saving Natsuki.

"I know that you moved here exclusively to abuse your daughter." I claimed. "I know that you beat her, starve her, and sexually abuse her! She told me everything! I know that she's up in her bedroom, probably barely alive! I know that's your doing, and I'm not leaving without her!" I almost felt proud of that speech, but Hiran seemed less than impressed.

"Listen here, boy!" He yelled. "I know it was that little n****r bitch that told you about the broken window! Ever since those foreigners moved here, they've been nothing but an eyesore to me! The fact that my daughter made friends with them is pathetic. SHE IS NO DAUGHTER OF MINE! SHE CAN DIE FOR ALL I CARE!" Then he pointed the gun at me and fired.

Time slowed down as I saw my death approaching. Was this the end? Was I going to make it this far, only to be shot down by a middle-aged drunk? No. That wasn't happening. I didn't care if I got hurt. I didn't care if I was alone in this situation. I wasn't going to let Natsuki die here. When I said that time slowed down? That wasn't exactly true. I just enhanced my speed.

Because of my enhanced speed, time around me seemed to slow down. I could see the bullet traveling toward me. With the power in my body and the hope in my heart, I leaned to the right and the bullet sailed past me and out the doorway. Time went back to normal, and I was met with a confused and sputtering Hiran.

"W-what?!" He exclaimed. "H-how did you...?!" He didn't stay stunned for long and began to fire again. I dodged again, but this time to the left. The bullet struck the display case containing the gold-hilted sword. The glass shattered, but I chose to ignore the now-accessible sword. Instead I rushed at Hiran at full speed.

He wasn't even able to fire another shot before I tackled him with my full body weight, sending us both into the kitchen. He dropped the gun when we collided, leaving us both unarmed. We both landed next to each other on the floor of the kitchen, scrambling to get up. I stood up and faced a fully recovered Hiran. He was surprisingly fast and hit me instantly across the face with a punch. I reeled back, and he advanced.

When he was within striking distance, I walloped him back across the face. Before he could back up, I grabbed his arm and threw him behind me, in the direction of the main cooking area. That turned out to be a mistake, as he quickly grabbed a knife off the countertop. He brandished it, but I wasn't intimidated. I ran at him, completely unarmed.

He thrust the knife out, but I dodged to the right and grabbed his arm. He tried to use his left arm to free his right from my grip, but I grabbed that one too. We found ourselves in a grapple, each one of us struggling for dominance.

"Why do you treat your own daughter like this?!" I yelled. "Why do you hate Natsuki?!"

"She has no respect for anyone, just like her whore of a mother. I told Kojin I didn't want a child, but she didn't listen! I deserved control over that disgusting creature, but she wouldn't give it to me!" He sounded like a maniac.

"Then why do you sexually abuse her?!" I was angrier than I'd ever been before. "If you look at her as a 'disgusting creature', then why do you basically fucking rape her?!" Hiran laughed maniacally.

"Sometimes you need to take drastic measures when punishing your children. My daughter's existence itself is something to be punished for!" He let out more insane laughs.

At this point, I wasn't even talking to a human being. The creature I was talking to was as if someone tried to create an A.I. from only research on the dark web. It was disgusting.

"Well, if that's how you feel..." I said. "THEN THIS IS THE DAY YOU DIE, HIRAN! FUCK YOU!"

I let go of his left hand and punched him in the stomach a few times, followed by a solid headbutt. He staggered back, and I used that opportunity to reach forward at the knife. However, it seemed like I had misinterpreted just how focused he was, as he quickly turned the tables by thrusting the knife forward once again. This time, it grazed my right arm.

A line of blood appeared down the length of my forearm, but I didn't stop moving. I dodged to the left and grabbed his wrist, but even that wasn't enough to constrict his arm from moving. He swiped the knife towards my body and stabbed me in the side. I screamed out in pain, and he took this moment to grab my head and force it down onto the countertop. He had the complete upper hand as my head was pushed down against the countertop, unable to look anywhere but to the side.

"You know, boy... I'm going to be really happy once I'm finally able to get some peace and quiet..." Then he stabbed the knife down towards my skull.

'I'm not dying here.' I told myself. 'If I die here, Natsuki will die as well. I'm not dying. I'm NOT dying... I'M NOT FUCKING DYING HERE!'

Using immense strength, I wrestled my left arm around and grabbed Hiran's wrist right before the knife's tip penetrated my cranium. I then grabbed the nearest object-a frying pan-off the stove to my right. As I held the knife just away from my head, I swung the frying pan behind me, aiming for Hiran.

I successfully hit him, and he staggered back in pain, allowing me to move. I snapped up from the countertop, then faced Hiran. He was rubbing the side of his head with his eyes closed in pain. Without giving him a second to recover, I swung the frying pan to the right, whacking him across the face.

"YOU!"

I swung back, whacking him once again, but this time to the left.

"MOTHER!"

I brought the frying pan down, then swung it up with all my strength into Hiran's chin, sending him flying backwards.

"FUCKER!"

Hiran landed on the kitchen floor, most likely unconscious. I walked over to him and stomped his face a few times, followed by me throwing the frying pan at his face, just to be safe. I stood triumphantly over his unconscious body for a few seconds, but then turned towards a staircase located out the left of the kitchen as I remembered why I was there.

"NATSUKIIIIIIIIIIIII!" I dashed over to the staircase as fast as my legs would carry me, ran up them, then found myself at the end of a long hallway.

Without thinking, I sprinted as fast as I could down the hallway, determined to find Natsuki. It wasn't long before I found myself in front of a pink door, decorated similarly to Sayori's door back at her house. It was without a doubt Natsuki's room. I grabbed the doorknob and turned it, throwing the door open as fast as I could. The scene that I was met with... was horrible.

The room was almost completely empty, all except for a single, plain bed. There weren't any sheets, blankets, pillows, or anything like that on the bed. Natsuki was laying there, shivering and looking away. Her clothes were torn, so much so that her t-shirt looked more like a crop top. She looked unusually pale, then it hit me.

Not only was this a recreation of the events from Exit Music, but it was also an addition. The window was shattered, and there wasn't anything in the room that could've been used to keep warm. The empty pill bottle was still by Natsuki's bed, but it seemed to me that Natsuki was also in great danger of freezing to death, most likely courtesy of her 'father'.

"Natsuki!" I ran over to the bed and crouched down at the side. "Natsuki, are you okay?" No response. I was beginning to panic, so I touched Natsuki's back to try to get a reaction. Thankfully, she began to stir. I looked on in worry as she slowly turned around to face me. When I saw her face, I gasped.

The life seemed to have drained out of her. Her skin was almost white, and there was a small cut on her left cheek. Her eyes were only half-opened, and they were unfocused. That feeling of dread only got worse when she spoke.

"A...lex?" It was barely a whisper. "I-is that you...?" It broke my heart to see her like this.

"Yeah, Nat. It's me. I'm here." I said. "Listen, we have to get out of here. Can... can you walk?" Natsuki's expression didn't change.

"So... cold..." She whispered. "Can't... move..." I thought about ways to warm her up, then remembered the hoodie that I was wearing.

"Here, put this on." I offered as I took off my hoodie.

With a bit of difficulty, I was able to get Natsuki into a sitting position on the bed. I then maneuvered her body into the hoodie, then carefully zipped it up. It was a bit cold in the room, but not too much for me to handle. I was from Canada, after all.

"There, is that better?" I asked. The colour was already starting to return to Natsuki's face, but still not to the point of a normal skin tone.

"Alex... why... here...?" Natsuki was still a bit disoriented, but she could at least get her point across.

"Tiffany saw the window break. I'm here to save you. We need to get out of here." I explained. Natsuki slowly shook her head.

"Can't... walk..." She begged weakly. "Leave... behind..." Was she... was she telling me to just leave her there to die?

"No, Nat." I ordered. "I'm not leaving you here. I fought your father. I'm not going to leave you here with that abusive son of a bitch." Natsuki seemed to be thinking the idea over, as if it needed thinking over.

Without waiting for another response, I hoisted Natsuki to her feet, slinging her left arm over my shoulders for support. I tried to get her to move her feet, and was eventually successful to the point where she could take step after step at a decent pace. It wasn't quite walking speed, but it was good enough.

Then, not even halfway out the door, Natsuki threw up. A stream of bile and drugs flew out of her mouth and landed on the other side of the hallway. A little bit got on her shoes, but nothing too bad. Suddenly, she began to speak.

"Alex... I don't want... to die..." She squeaked. "Please... help... me..." She was now looking at me with desperation in her eyes. There was no need to ask me twice. I did my best to get Natsuki out of that house.

Somehow, we eventually got to the kitchen where Hiran and I had our scuffle, but something didn't seem right to me. I disregarded the strange feeling and continued on, not wanting Natsuki to die. I quickly realized that was a horrible mistake, as when I turned the corner, I felt a stabbing pain in my right thigh.

The pain caused me to trip and drop Natsuki, and she stumbled over to the case holding the silver katana. I fell to my knees and my vision darted over to my leg, where I saw Hiran holding the golden katana firmly inside my flesh. He retracted the blade, then took another stab at the same spot. I screamed out in pain again, then lunged down and grabbed the hilt of the sword.

With a lot of pain, I wrestled the blade out of my thigh and pointed it away from me. I twisted Hiran's wrist, causing him to drop the sword. Using all my strength, I picked up Hiran with both arms, held him above my head, and threw him into the living room. With my thigh throbbing in pain, I picked up the katana and limped after him.

As soon as I entered the room, I was tackled to the ground by Hiran from the side. I dropped the sword and screamed out in pain caused by my thigh wound.

"FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU!" Hiran chanted as we fought on the floor. We were both trying to get the upper hand, with Hiran being a little more successful than me. Suddenly, he was kicked to the side by an unknown person.

Hiran flew to the side from this kick produced by this person, but my vision was too blurry to see who it was. The person ran at Hiran to begin a fight of their own, leaving me laying on the ground in pain. There wasn't much to do but sit there and wait for my vision to come back to full strength, but when it eventually did, I was revealed the identity of the person who saved me.

Tiffany was now a part of the action, punching and kicking Hiran whenever possible. She fought surprisingly ferociously for someone like her, considering she was technically sick. I looked on in amazement as she fought, but Hiran eventually got the upper hand. He grabbed her by the neck and choke slammed her onto the floor, but then decided to leave her alone, instead opting to advance on me.

There was nothing I could do. I couldn't see the sword, I had no strength left, and I was completely helpless on the floor. Hiran grabbed me by the neck and hoisted me up. He was now holding me in the air like a ragdoll. I couldn't even move my body. Then, Hiran began to talk.

"I must say, I'm impressed by what you were able to do here. I mean, you successfully knocked me out, found Natsuki, and almost escaped. However, this is where it ends, boy. Say goodnight." He reared his fist back, and I was sure that was the end. My life flashed before my eyes, and I saw all the people I'd come so close to.

I saw Monika standing outside the school as I comforted her on my first day there. I saw myself protecting Yuri from Okane and Chad. I saw myself and Mc playing My Hero One's Justice. I saw Tiffany running towards us as we left school. I saw Shiro smiling at me from inside the math classroom. And finally... I saw Natsuki and I kissing for the first time.

'I'm sorry, Nat...' I thought. 'Looks like I couldn't keep my promise...' I closed my eyes and waited for the end...

But the end never came. I was confused. Was I dead? Why did I still feel pain in my thigh, then? Cautiously, I opened my eyes, and was greeted with a scene that I'll never forget as long as I live.

Monika was standing right behind Hiran, holding the golden katana. The blade was stabbed into his back and came out just in front of me. It was covered in blood. I looked at Hiran, and his face showed an expression of pain and anger. There was blood spewing out of the corner of his mouth. He eventually collapsed, leaving me to fall on the ground.

"ALEX!" Monika screamed in worry. She crouched down to my side and inspected my thigh wound. I averted my eyes from it, but I could tell it was bad.

"Don't mind me." I said. "Is... is Natsuki okay?" Monika gave me a look of disdain, but it quickly changed to something softer.

"She's no better, but right now we need to treat this wound." She opened her purse, but I held up a hand.

"Not until we get back to Mc's house. I'm not just going to let Natsuki die while we clean this goddamn wound." I ordered. Monika looked like she wanted to argue but could see the worry in my expression.

"Very well." She agreed. "However, at least let me bind it." I nodded weakly in semi-agreement, mostly because I knew I wouldn't get anywhere by arguing.

Monika ripped off a section of her skirt and wrapped it around my thigh. It still hurt when she was done, but I'd at least be able to walk for a while. On wobbly feet, and with Monika's help, I was able to stand up. I looked over to where I last saw Natsuki to see her being supported by Tiffany. Suddenly, Natsuki completely collapsed, barely being caught by Tiffany. Tiffany looked at her for a few moments, then turned to us.

"She's not going to survive long without food." She stated, causing me to panic. Using Monika for support, I limped over to them.

"Let's get her back to Mc's house. If we're quick, we can save her." I explained. They nodded in agreement, then Natsuki began to stir.

"Tiff...any? Mon...ika?" She had her eyes mostly closed, and her voice was barely there. "Is that... you?"

"Yes, I'm here." Tiffany responded softly. "And so is Monika." Natsuki smiled lightly.

"So... you knew?" She asked.

"We had our suspicions." Monika responded. "Now don't speak. You'll need that strength to stay awa-"

"Look out!" Tiffany screamed. A yell was emanating from behind Monika and I, and we instinctually dodged to the sides. I lunged to the right as Monika lunged to the left. I instantly regretted that decision, as that left Natsuki wide open.

I quickly turned around to see that Hiran wasn't dead, and was now holding the gold sword again. He was holding it above his head, ready to swing downward. Tiffany stared in shock and fear as he barreled towards them. This lasted for only a second, however, as Natsuki grabbed the silver-hilted sword from the nearby shattered display case and thrusted it at her father.

I was surprised to see that the case was broken, having not noticed it before, but I was even more surprised too discover that Natsuki still had enough energy in her body to do that. Hiran didn't stop in time, and he quickly found the blade impaled through his torso one more, this time slightly off to the left. Without hesitating, I got back up to my feet and rushed over to Hiran. I put my hands on his back and pushed him further onto the sword, which eventually peeked out the other side.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me." Natsuki spat at him as his head slumped forward. Natsuki's grip on the sword loosened, and it freed from her hand. Hiran fell backward, hopefully finally dead this time, and hit the ground heavily. Blood covered his face and torso, shining in the light of the ceiling fixtures.

I almost celebrated, but then I looked at Natsuki. Her entire body was limp, and her eyes had closed completely. My heart stopped.

"Natsuki! Hang in there!" I yelled as I limped over to her. "Tiffany, come on. Let's get her back to Mc's place. We can still save her!" Tiffany, who had been shocked frozen this entire time, suddenly snapped to action.

"O-okay. You lead the way." She stuttered. Monika came over and propped me up. Using her as support, we made our way out of the house and off that damn property.

*Five minutes later*

"Come on! We're halfway there!" I encouraged determinedly.

Because of my thigh wound, we weren't able to go as fast as I had when going to Natsuki's house. We were going half as fast, which even at that speed made my thigh throb with constant pain. Monika and I lead the way, us being the two who actually knew where Mc's house was. Tiffany followed behind, still carrying the hopefully just unconscious Natsuki in her arms. I was half tempted to just tell them to leave me behind so they could move faster, but I'd told Mc to only unlock the door if it was me.

'Why the hell did I tell him that?!' I scolded myself mentally. 'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!'

"Hey, Alex?" Tiffany's concerned voice yanked me out of my mental self-punishment.

"What is it, Tiff?" I inquired.

"Natsuki's getting colder. I don't think she has much time left." Her voice was filled with despair, but I was filled with hope.

"Have faith, Tiff." I told her. "Natsuki's going to make it. Now come on!" I felt like I was being a bit too pushy, but I couldn't allow us to slow down for even a second. Every second that passed was a second that Natsuki was in danger, and I couldn't let her die. I made her a promise. I wasn't going to break that promise.

*Five minutes later*

"Here it is! Come on!" We finally made it to Mc's house. Monika and I entered the property and went over to the front door, Tiffany trailing behind. We stopped in front of the door and I began to knock on it frantically.

"Mc! MC! Let us in! Natsuki's going to die!" I yelled.

I kept knocking and yelling, and I eventually heard the door unlocking. We looked on in baited breath as it slowly opened. Eventually, the face of Mc peeked out cautiously. He looked at us in worry, but his expression of worry worsened tenfold when he saw my injuries and the unconscious Natsuki being carried behind me. He opened the door all the way.

"What the fuck happened?!" He screamed. "Are you okay?!" I didn't have any time to talk, so I let go of Monika and limped forward, Tiffany and Monika following behind me.

"There's no time to explain." I said. "Natsuki is starving and freezing! We need to get her some food and a blanket!" As Tiffany and Monika filed inside, Mc nodded frantically, then burst off towards the kitchen.

"Monika, there are blankets in the first room on the right up the stairs! Go get some!" Mc ordered from the kitchen. "Tiffany and Alex, get Natsuki in here!" We all looked at each other, then nodded in agreement.

Tiffany and I rushed into the kitchen as Monika broke off towards the stairs. We entered the kitchen and sat Natsuki down at one of the chairs around the table. We knelt down on either side of her and began to check her body.

"She's still alive, but just barely." I stated as I checked her pulse. After about five (long) minutes, Mc came over with a bowl of soup.

"Here, feed her this." He said. I looked into the bowl and saw that it was tomato soup. Simple, but quick to make. I kept checking Natsuki's pulse as Tiffany trickled the soup down her throat. Monika came back holding a very thick blanket.

"Come on, put the blanket around her." I ordered. We paused the force feeding for a few seconds to get the blanket around Natsuki's body. When she was fully wrapped in it, Tiffany continued to feed her the soup, I continued to monitor her pulse, and Monika and Mc looked on in worry.

We continued this for a while until the bowl was empty. Natsuki's pulse was still weak, but it was strong enough for her to live. In fact, it was stronger than it was when I found her in her room.

"She's okay. She's going to be fine." I stated with a relieved smile.

Everyone let out an almost collective sigh of relief, with included me. Then, I began to keel over to my right. My right leg buckled, and I began to feel the full pain of my injuries. The cut along my right arm, the stab in my side, the wound in my thigh, and all the bruises across my body were starting to hurt due to the loss of adrenaline. Right before both my legs collapsed, Monika caught me from behind.

"I think it's time we healed your wounds." She explained. "Mc, where do you keep your medical equipment?" Mc snapped out of his shock and answered.

"In the upstairs bathroom. There's a first-aid kit attached to the wall." He answered.

"Thank you. I'll go treat Alex's wounds." Monika thanked. She then hoisted me up and carried me away towards the stairs.

As I was carried away, I couldn't help but look back at Natsuki. I'd found her barely alive not thirty minutes before, and there she was, nursed back to what could be considered perfect health compared to her previous situation. Her skin was still pale, and she was still shivering a bit, but she was alive. With this image of hope burned into my brain, I was carried out of sight, and Natsuki was no longer in view.

"I should really thank you for what you've done here today." Monika told me as she sat me down on the toilet lid. "Going to such lengths to save Natsuki... I'm speechless." She slid the first-aid kit off the wall and brought it over. She opened it to reveal a slew of medical supplies, including disinfectant and bandages. She quickly got to treating my stab wounds.

"You don't need to thank me for that." I explained. "I care about Nat just as much as you do." I thought about the kiss we shared earlier, and I felt my face heat up.

That feeling of embarrassment instantly disappeared, however, and was replaced with pain as Monika uncovered my leg wound. I looked at the carnage, and instantly regretted that decision. The wound had stopped bleeding, but the amount of blood remaining still made me a little woozy. It was like a hole all the way through my leg. Monika didn't seem to like it any more than I did.

"Be quiet while I clean and bind these. I need to concentrate." Monika ordered. I nodded, then prepared for extreme pain as Monika grabbed the cleaning agent out of the first-aid kit.

*Ten minutes later*

"There we go. That should do it." Monika stated as she finished taping down the final bandage on my right arm. The cut along my right arm wasn't all that bad compared to the other injuries to my thigh and abdomen, but it wasn't pleasant either. I experimentally flexed my arm and leg. My arm didn't really hurt at all, but my leg was still quite sore.

"Good as new." I joked as I stood up. I winced in pain as I put weight on my right leg, so I redistributed most of my weight to my left leg. Monika put the first-aid kit back on the wall, then turned around and hugged me. She was sobbing.

"Thank you... so much..." She spoke between sobs. "You have no idea... how long I've been trying..." I put my hand on the back of her head to comfort her. After a few dozen seconds of crying, Monika got a hold of herself enough to pull away. I didn't want to ruin to moment, but I just had to ask.

"Monika, I wanted to ask you something." I got her attention. "When Hiran was taunting me earlier, he mentioned Natsuki making friends with 'two lesbians'. Are you...?" Monika blushed and looked away, embarrassed.

"Um... well... bisexual, actually." She admitted. "When I was at Sayori's today, I squeezed in some time to help her with her depression at the end. We were just talking on the couch, and I asked her something like 'do you still have feelings for Mc?' to which she replied with 'I'm starting to have my eyes on someone else right now'. And then she leaned in and kissed me."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Not exactly... we'd technically been... 'together' for longer than that, but that was when it was officially decided." She explained. I felt like there was a bit more to the story, but I didn't want to pry.

"We should probably get back to the others." I prodded. Monika nodded in agreement and wiped the tears from her eyes. She smiled warmly, and for the first time since I'd gotten here, I could tell that she was completely, truly happy. With a smile on my face, I left the bathroom with Monika following close behind.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw that the kitchen was oddly empty. There was only one other place they could be, so I turned to the left and entered the living room. When I walked in, my eyes instantly gravitated towards Natsuki sitting on the couch next to Tiffany. Mc was sitting on the couch across from them.

Without any hesitation, I quickly limped over to Natsuki and knelt down in front of her. I looked her in the eyes and put my hands on her shoulders. They had an almost empty look to them, with something hiding behind. Natsuki took a second to focus on me, then gave me a soft smile. Mirroring her smile, I threw my arms around her and pulled her into a hug. I could feel tears soaking into my t-shirt, and I quickly realized that I was crying as well.

"I was so worried..." I said silently. "I thought you were going to die..."

"Same here... I thought my father was going to kill you..." She was clutching onto my back like I could disappear any moment. We stayed like that for a while, until I noticed that eyes were on my back. I reluctantly ended the hug and sat down next to Natsuki to face the others. Mc looked confused, Monika looked interested, and Tiffany looked happy.

"So... you two are together now?" Monika observed. I could feel myself blushing, and Natsuki turned as red as my hoodie she was wearing.

"Y-yeah..." I admitted. "We're together." Everyone smiled, including Natsuki and I. The happiness didn't last long, however, as Natsuki broke the silence.

"How did you guys know I was in trouble?" She asked quietly. Her voice was still a bit weak, probably due to her just barely being alive a few moments ago. Of course, Tiffany was the first to answer.

"I saw that your window broke from my room, so I called Alex and Monika to come help out." She explained. "We knew there was something going on between you and your father, so I was keeping watch just in case." Natsuki looked down dejectedly.

"I assume you want to know what happened, don't you?" She inquired with a few tears.

'How did she Segway into this?' I thought.

"Only if you want to, Nat." I reassured her. "We're not going to force you." Natsuki suddenly snapped her head up. She had an expression of trying to look tough and determined, but the tears in her eyes pulled away from the illusion.

"No... no... I owe you all this for all the trouble I've caused you." She wiped the tears from her eyes and did her best to keep a neutral expression, but all the trauma she'd gone through in the past few hours made that quite difficult. Nonetheless, she powered through and told us.

"My father called me into the living room as soon as I got home. When I saw him, I could instantly tell he was drunk. More drunk than usual, anyway. He said he wanted to talk to me. I walked up to him cautiously, and he lunged at me. I was expecting that, but I still couldn't do anything about it. He knocked me to the ground and began to 'feel me up'." Mc made a 'woah woah woah' gesture.

"He began to WHAT?!" Monika put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something into his ear. When she was done, Mc's face went completely white. I assumed she just told him about Natsuki's sexual abuse, but I couldn't be certain. Anyway, seeing that the situation was dealt with, Natsuki continued.

"I tried to get away, but he had a strong grip. It's horrible, but this was a normal occurrence in my house. He picked me up and took my phone out of my pocket. He threw it onto the ground and crushed it with his foot. He dragged me into the kitchen and took a bottle of pills out of one of the cabinets. He forced them down my throat, one by one, until it was empty. By that point, I was terrified. He then dragged me upstairs and threw me onto my bed. It was at this point that he began to take things further than he'd ever before. H-he tried t-to... he tried to..."

Natsuki was struggling to get the words out.

"H-he tried to r-rape m-me..." She burst into tears, and everyone collectively gasped. So that was why her shirt was torn.

Unbearably hurt by this news, I pulled Natsuki into a hug to comfort her. Natsuki clawed her arms around me, desperate to not let go. She was crying a literal river, and I could feel the tears soaking into my shirt. I put my hand on the back of her head, and her grip tightened. I could literally feel her fear. I'd always known that Natsuki was secretly much more fragile than she'd let herself known to be, but this was beyond anything I'd ever expected. I didn't care that everyone was watching. I wasn't going to let her suffer alone.

"Natsu..." Tiffany muttered as she scooted closer. "I'm so sorry..." She put a hand on Natsuki's back in comfort. Other than me, Tiffany was the closest to Natsuki. It made sense for her to be so worried about her.

"W-when I resisted," Natsuki continued, barely hearable," he beat me. H-he b-beat me to the point where I c-couldn't even m-move. He took all the b-blankets and p-pillows in my room, then s-smashed the w-window in h-hopes I would f-freeze to d-death. He said I was as b-bad as my m-mother, then he l-left and l-locked me in."

I listened to every word, but it was still just barely believable. With what reasoning I had left, I told Natsuki the only thing I could think of.

"Nat... you're safe now. You don't have to go back to that horrible place." However, instead of feeling relief, Natsuki instead pulled out of the hug and screamed.

"Where am I supposed to go then, Alex?!" She was screaming at me, but there was no anger behind her voice. "I have nowhere to go! I have no relatives to live with!" She buried her face in my shirt again, bawling uncontrollably. I returned my hand to the back of her head to comfort her to little success. Then, Mc stood up and came over. He knelt down and put a hand on Natsuki's shoulder.

"You can come live with us." He offered, causing Natsuki to turn around in shock. "We have a couple of extra bedrooms you can use. I'm sure my parents won't have a problem with it." He smiled warmly. Natsuki blinked a few times before giving off a smile of gratitude.

"Thank you..." She thanked graciously. "I... I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything." I told her. "You'll want to save your voice for the poem reciting tomorrow." I meant that statement as a joke, but Natsuki didn't seem to find it funny, and promptly slapped me across the face.

"Dummy." She smiled, assuring me that she wasn't actually mad. That was the main order of business taken care of, but there was one last thing I wanted to know. I turned to Tiffany and Monika.

"What will you two do? I mean, surely you two need to get home." They thought for a moment, looked at each other, then nodded in some sort of agreement. I didn't see how they could've come to a conclusion without saying anything, but I wasn't going to ask questions.

"Mc, is it okay if we stay the night?" Monika asked. Mc turned a bit red, then made a long "uuuuuhhhhhhh" sound before responding.

"I suppose. Someone will have to sleep on the couch, though." I raised up my hand jokingly.

"I volunteer as tribute." I joked. Everyone laughed, including Natsuki. Afterwards, though, Mc gave me a serious look.

"Are you sure? I mean, we're the only two here with assigned beds."

"I'm sure." I confirmed. "Natsuki can use my room. It's the closest to the stairs, so we'll all be able to hear if anything happens. Just in case." Everyone nodded in agreement, even Natsuki. With everything decided, everyone got to work to prepare for the sudden and unorthodox sleepover.

*Ten minutes later*

You'd be surprised with how smoothly things went, especially with my injuries. Tiffany called her parents to let them know she was sleeping at a friend's house (she lied and said it was at Monika's), Mc showed Monika and Tiffany the guest rooms they'd be sleeping in, and Natsuki helped me get the blankets and pillows for the couch I would be sleeping on.

"I wanted to thank you one last time, Alex." Natsuki said to me before everyone went to bed. "I know I normally come off as a bit of a bitch, but I'm really glad you didn't see me that way. You're the first one in a while." She looked off to the side, blushing. I smiled at her warmly.

"You don't need to thank me, Nat. I'd do anything for you." I just had to end on something cheesy, and Natsuki's laughter confirmed my words were cheesy enough.

"You dork." She joked. "Good night. I'll see you in the morning." She walked away and up the stairs towards her (my) room. I smiled to myself.

'Good night, Nat.' I thought. 'You're safe now, I promise.' I leaned over and turned off the light. Snuggling up in the covers, I closed my eyes and drifted off...

...

What was that sound?

I awoke groggily. This was the second time that night I woke up randomly, and it was really starting to worry me. This time, however, instead of a feeling of dread waking me up, it was a distant sound. I raised my head, suddenly wide awake and peered over at the digital clock on the side table next to me.

It read 12:00 am. Ignoring the obvious problem with my sleep schedule, I closed my eyes and listened closely to the sound that woke me up. It sounded like crying, and it was coming from upstairs.

I got off the couch and tiptoed over to the stairs. I crept up them as quietly as possible and detected that the sounds were coming from my room. The room that Natsuki was sleeping in. A new feeling of dread encompassing me, I cautiously approached the door. Hands shaking, I grabbed onto the handle and slowly turned the knob. Pushing forward, I peeked inside to reveal...

Everything normal, with Natsuki sleeping on my bed. Upon closer inspection, however, it seemed like she was crying in her sleep. Thoroughly worried, I snuck up closer to the bed and leaned in to her. To my surprise, she began to whisper.

"Don't... don't... leave... me... No... don't... touch... him... please... don't... hurt... him..." I couldn't tell what she was dreaming about, but it couldn't be good. I lightly poked her shoulder as she slept.

"Nat... wake up." I said. After a few seconds, she began to stir. She looked me in the eyes, then began to cry.

"Why?" She asked. "Why did you help me?" She was on the verge of breaking down, but I couldn't understand why she was asking this.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm not important, Alex. I'm weak. Why did you help me? I'm only going to weigh you down." Natsuki cried quietly, and I was stunned silent.

This wasn't the Natsuki I knew. The Natsuki I knew wouldn't just say something like that. With the term 'actions speak louder than words' playing in my head, I climbed into bed next to Natsuki. She gasped in shock, but otherwise just let it happen. Laying directly in front of Natsuki, I put my hand on her cheek.

"What are you talking about, Nat?" I whispered. "Why wouldn't I help you?"

"It's because of me that you got those injuries." She sobbed. "It's because of me that you got hurt. Alex, why aren't you angry with me?" I was internally crying, but I hid it behind a smile.

"Nat, I chose to protect you with my body." I told her. "I don't care if I get hurt, as long as you're safe." Natsuki continued to cry.

"I don't... understand..." She squeaked. Knowing what I had to do, I brought us closer to each other. The pain in my body was a fair trade-off for the girl that was in front of me in that very moment. If I had to live through it again just to be with her, I would do it.

"Nat, I've lost so many people before." I uttered. "I'm not losing you as well. Natsuki, I love you..." I pulled her into a kiss. It was just like earlier that day, but this time, I was actually able to say it. Natsuki was stunned silent, but eventually leaned into me.

"Alex... I love you too..." She confessed. We smiled at each other, then held each other in our arms, eventually drifting off to sleep together. I wasn't going to let her be hurt any more. I would die before then. If there was one thing I knew it was that she was going to live. She wasn't going to suffer any more.

Not this time...

End of Chapter 7

(Author's note: Hey, everyone. Sorry this chapter was so much longer than all the others. I was worried that the weekend segment would be too short, so I tried to lengthen it by a bit. As you can tell, I kind of lengthened it a bit too much, and I ended up with a chapter more than 50% longer than all the others. Sorry about that!)