écriture fatale
by crisis rain
Disclaimer: Kaichou wa Maid-sama!/Maid-sama! belongs to Fujiwara Hiro. Fiction plot & originals belong to crisis rain. No infringement intended.
The soft clicking of the pendulum clock tore away at the dark silence. Within the heavy evening, Kogarashi Hisui sat in the large, empty study by her lonesome with a worrying expression upon her face. She had informed Hanagata about Tora's condition, and he had to plead for her father to see the young heir as well. Despite her father's specialisation, he has dealt with a schedule of regular patients from the hospital where he worked, and thus it wasn't a problem for him. He didn't mind at all either; and thus he was probably off seeing how the little tyrant was, now that he was bedridden from a nasty cold from overworking.
She was fraught with insecurities and worries. She wasn't sure why, but to top of everything she had been stressed over the past two weeks, he went ahead and gotten himself ill.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Hisui let her head hang tiredly before jumping up slightly in startled alarm when the door suddenly opened. Hanagata Joichirou, a familiar figure, entered the room with a file tucked in his hands. He looked a little bit stern and serious; possibly feeling worried for his own master as well.
"Thank you again for your father's hospitality." He started off kindly.
"N-Not at all; it's our pleasure." She responded quickly, turning to her open laptop to resume business. "Ah… for the appointment date…" She trailed off, watching the footman set his things upon the table without any wasted motion.
"Book for next Saturday, 9pm. The usual." He replied firmly. A look of surprise came over Hisui's eyes.
"Ah… understood. I just thought there might be a bit of rearranging in order, especially since next week will soon be the Christmas holidays…"
"The President will feel better if he sees Kogarashi-sensei every week, I believe. This is for the best; I apologize for the inconvenience if your family was planning to do something special for next week."
"No… not at all…"
And then the quick pattering of fingers pressing keys systematically upon the keyboard resumed. As Hisui quickly finished saving her changes, she closed her laptop shut and got up from her seat.
"Ah, just another moment please, Kogarashi-san." Hanagata stopped her in mid-tracks, and obediently Hisui sat back down in her seat in wonder. "I have something to discuss with you."
"Ah… yes. What is it?" She answered carefully, all the while surveying him closely. Hanagata neatly placed his files back together in a stack, before glancing at her firmly.
"It's the matter about the young master…"
Hisui's hand clenched.
"Er… about Igarashi-kun…?"
Hanagata merely nodded. "I believe that he's been out of line with you recently… and for that I profusely apologize; but I'm afraid the fraternizing must stop."
Hisui paled. "F-F-Fraternizing? I-I… it's not like we're…"
"I know. Most of it I'm sure was unwarranted, given your position." Hanagata reassured the young girl as she sat there, swelling with a redness that was growing darker in her cheeks. "But right now, is a crucial time for the young master. Due to the President's absence, the young master has more or less been managing things in his father's place."
She gripped the hem of her uniform skirt uncertainly. His fever, the poor condition he was in – she knew he had been overworking himself the past month. She couldn't deny that he was an incredible person, but even if he was incredible, he was still human. His physical body needed the essential basic needs everyone else required.
To be able to overexert himself and last this long, was truly amazing.
"Also…" Hanagata seemed to appear a little unsure at this moment, as he averted his gaze away from the doctor's daughter. "…the young master is already engaged to a daughter from another family whom we the Igarashi Group are close with. If the young master were to be caught, involved in some form or implications of a scandal…"
Oh right, how could I forget? This guy is like a celebrity.
"…I'm sure that would be… troublesome for the Igarashi family." Hisui murmured back, unable to bring herself to gaze at Hanagata in the eye. So much had happened already… but it wasn't too late. She wasn't even sure what she would call her relationship with Tora. Perhaps it was something akin to a demon and his plaything? It was far from friendship. But it seemed more than that. But everything is muddled, grey and unclear. She didn't know where to begin and make heads and tails of it. It's better to turn back.
It's better to turn back now.
Hanagata let out a small sigh, before smiling slightly back at her. "To be frank, I sometimes find myself in awe of the young master and how capable he is; and then there are times I find myself thinking how lucky he is to have people like you and Maki-sama by his side."
"Huh?"
"He doesn't show himself to many people. I can only hope you continue to support him from now on… as a friend. I just wanted to make it clear to you that there is a line you cannot cross… no matter how strongly you may feel about the matter."
He then left the study, leaving her behind in the ticking silence once more. Hisui placed a trembling hand over the laptop bag; feeling jumbled and mixed up about everything. She didn't know whether to feel relived or to break out in tears, torn in the middle.
Taking in a deep breath, she exhaled everything out, calming herself down. This was for the better. This way, she wouldn't have to worry about his advances or his pleasure in terrorizing her to no end. The days where she worried and hated and vented and raged over the Igarashi heir were coming finally to an end.
"Hisui!" Her father called from the corridor. "I've finished seeing Tora-kun. It's time to head back!"
"Coming." She replied, before gathering her things and returning back by her father's side. Everything seemed to blur together as she found her coat being handed to her to her feet slipping into her school loafers. The door opened, and a blast of icy-cold December wind came from the darkness of the night.
The warmth of everything she had felt from this house was beginning to melt away.
"Then, we shall see you next week again, as promised. Please have a safe trip back home."
As the maids and footmen bid her and her father goodnight and farewell, she turned back one last time to gaze at the massive mansion that was quickly departing from her view.
The boy with the golden eyes was there no longer.
The afternoon sunshine was surprisingly warm for this particularly cold winter day. A certain health representative sat thoughtlessly in her seat, staring back at the notes on top of her desk all the while unaware of the clamour around her. In the midst of this, a fellow Health Committee member plopped himself down in his seat in front of hers, waving a hand to catch her attention.
"Hello, hello…? Is the Health Rep there?"
Hisui jolted back to attention. "Ah… it's you, Teranishi…" She replied tiredly, gathering her notes together absentmindedly. He gazed back at her, eyes narrowing before turning around to face the class as everyone busied themselves in their work… or were slacking off. The girls were chatting animatedly in their respective groups while the guys stood around the few, sparse materials they had brought, but otherwise seemed to be engrossed in goofing off rather than getting any work done.
"At this rate, I don't think we would have a booth for the Culture Festival…" Teranishi commented gloomily on the lazy scene in front of him.
Hisui bit her lip, before grabbing her notes and making her way to the teaching podium in the front of the class. She had never exerted her voice in the classroom; and she had never taken charge of classroom affairs. It was only in the health committee she was able to play out her role as the leader effortlessly, but before such a large class…
Swallowing her hesitance, she placed both palms on the desk firmly and gazed at the class with a firm expression on her face. By this point, she had caught the attention of several students who were all wondering what the heck she was planning to do.
"U-Uh…" She started off weakly, before swallowing back the nervousness once again. "If I could have everyone's attention, please…"
Most of her busy classmates continued on with their merry-making, their chatter and roughhousing overlapping her voice. The ones who had paid attention became disinterested at her lack of presence and went back to their conversations.
"C'mon, inchou…" Teranshi gripped the edge of his desk.
"I said, if I could have everyone's attention!"
Her loud voice cut through the ruckus like a blade cleaving away and leaving only room for silence. By now, her classmates held their attention back on her, speechlessly surprised at her vocal exclamation.
"As you know… we only have less than five days left before the Culture Festival. I believe we should start focusing on getting work done." Hisui continued, albeit slightly shakily, but held power in her voice. "I just want everyone to know that they all have duties to fulfill and that our deadline is quickly approaching."
"Yeah, but it's not like we have anything to work with." Someone complained. "Like, we don't even have materials to work with!"
"I really don't want to make my own costumes, it's gonna take too long and we like, totally don't know how to work a sewing machine!"
Complains began to accumulate and pile. Hisui trembled in the wake of their accusations and dissatisfaction; finding herself unable to think on what to do.
"Well… I made a list of materials we could buy but no one has yet to go buy them…" Hisui countered angrily, but was cut off once more.
"Yeah well, we didn't get printouts or anything…? So I dunno what we're supposed to buy."
A loud slam broke the bickering immediately. Hisui glanced sharply back at the source of the commotion, and was alarmed to see Teranishi having kicked down a desk in angry protest. The boy glared back at his classmates vehemently, evidently disgusted with their attitude.
"Look at the lot of you, complaining about this and that. What the hell have you all been doing? Printouts? Hah! Don't make me laugh; if you've actually got brains inside those heads of yours, maybe you might've asked Kogarashi for a list of materials or y'know, make some effort to brainstorm some ideas of your own?!"
The class fell into a hushed silence. Hisui gritted her teeth. She didn't want this growing animosity growing any further. The class was divided enough as it was already. Without everyone's cooperation, the Culture Festival won't happen.
"First of all… I just want to apologize for being such a poor organizer." Hisui stated quietly, her fingers smoothening out her notes she had crumpled in anxiety before. "I should have kept tabs on everyone's progress; and yet I didn't."
"Inchou…" Teranishi started weakly.
"Second, I don't want to blame anyone for the mess we've gotten ourselves in. I just want to know what our progress stands at thus far; and from there, perhaps we can begin to take immediate action so we can get the wheel rolling."
Everyone looked glumly at each other. Endou – the short-haired girl who had borrowed Hisui's notes from the exam – excitedly raised her arm up. "Hisui-san, let me handle with the materials for the costume! Saki-chan's aunt is a seamstress, so we can get some approximations for how much fabric we need!" As if on cue, she raised up Shinohara's arm up as well, who looked slightly surprised.
"Er- well yes, my aunt works a small tailoring shop. I suppose we can ask her for some help on the costumes."
"T-That's great!" Hisui beamed, a smile cracking through her weary expression. "Then if it's possible… can I leave the designs and measurements to you, Endou? And the fabric and materials to Shinohara?"
"Yep, of course!"
"Ah, we're still doing a cosplay café, right?" Yamamoto piped up, raising his hand enthusiastically as well. "There's a hardware shop near my place by the station; if there's any decorating need to be done, just count of me!"
"That's perfect. We would probably end up using four desks pushed together as a large table with a table cloth spread over it as tables for the guests, so don't worry about building things." Hisui began to scribble down in her notebook. "We want a feeling of the late Taishou, early Showa period… if we could get our hands on something really old-fashioned…"
"Ah, like those really grandmotherly lace tablecloths? My parents used to have a whole bunch we don't use anymore; can we use that?" Another student shouted out.
"Yes, yes! Exactly that! If we could, that would be most helpful!"
"Alright!" Teranishi began to rally the guys together for their shopping trip out in town. "Hisui! Pass me the shopping list, would ya?"
Blinking at the unfamiliar way he had addressed her, she stared back at him in frozen shock before nodding wordlessly, handing him the piece of notepaper she had written down. "E-Er… here you go… the budget is 6000 yen… please try not to go over the limit…"
"Ah, thanks." He beamed back at her. "Be back in an hour!"
"R-Right." Hisui bade him farewell, watching him excitedly shoo the boys out of the classroom on their errand. Making sure the rest were out of earshot, he glanced back at her, winking a smile.
"It's okay if I call you Hisui instead, right?"
She blushed slightly. "O-Only when we're not in the health committee, r-remember that!"
As he ran down the hallway to catch up with his retreating classmates, Hisui leaned back against the door, wiping the sweat off her brow that had sprouted from her excitement. She really had to thank Teranishi after all of this was over. If it weren't for his support, she didn't think that the class would be willing to cooperate…
This was good. Being kept busy was good. It'll help her take her mind off a few troublesome things while she immersed herself in her busy school life.
It had already grown quite dark by the time she found herself leaving the school building. Shrugging her coat over her shoulders, Hisui gave the classroom a quick check. Slowly but surely, the decorations were coming together. All that was left was to organize the menu they would be serving to the customers this weekend.
A buzz shook her coat pockets gently. Hisui paused, flipping her phone open. A text message from Gouki, it seems.
Subject: Hey
Are you still at school? The old hag is nagging at me again to come pick you up. It's late and I'm in the area so I'll come right away.
Hisui chuckled at this. Leave it to Gouki to come pick her up when the hours grew too late.
Re: Hey
If it isn't too much trouble, thanks! I'll wait for you by the front entrance.
And she replied back to his text, and clasped her phone shut. It was finally to go home. Stretching her stiff limbs, she flicked the classroom lights off and made her way down the silent corridor.
Walking through the almost empty school poised a peculiar feeling one won't normally experience during the day. Areas and spaces where it was usually filled with chattering students were hauntingly empty. It didn't bother her too much; it was peaceful in its own way, and it provided a comforting solitude for her to think over her thoughts without interruption.
Having arrived at her shoe locker, Hisui changed into her pair of loafers, and placed her indoor shoes back inside her locker. Glancing at the wide, double-set doors that opened to the front courtyard entrance, she let out a small sigh and made her way outside.
The air was crisp and cold, as expected of a December night. Shivering slightly at the prickling chill, Hisui stood stoically underneath the lamp-lit walls of her school as she waited obediently for her childhood friend to come pick her up. The day was finally over, she had slowly realised, and she began to relax as she grew accustomed to the cold.
A shadow moved at the corner of her sight. Startled, she glanced at the cold darkness out in the fields. Nothing moved. Feeling slightly nervous, Hisui tried to brush it aside. I must be seeing things. I'm tired. That's probably why.
She relaxed once more, letting her eyes wander around aimlessly. Again, something caught her vision – only this time, it seemed to resemble the figure of someone walking in the dark courtyard – towards her.
"Gou…chan?" She trailed off when she realised the shadow was an unfamiliar figure.
When the lamp overhanging from ahead spilled light over the intruder's face, Hisui let out a small gasp and took a step back. The smiling, tragic face of the third-year senior who was expelled two months ago came back – this time, to haunt her.
The same, foul-smelling cigarette hung limping from his bottom lip, and he smiled voraciously revealing a few missing teeth from his scuffle with the Igarashi heir from last time. "Long time no see eh, inchou?"
Instinctively Hisui turned around to make a run for it, but braked to an automatic stop when three other looming figures waited for her from behind, their snickering echoing inside her ears. Hisui whirled around in half-fear, half-rage, facing the still-smiling delinquent who had cleverly boxed her in his little mouse trap.
"Nakata…" Hisui spat his name out, backing up against the front doors. "How are you here? I thought you were in jail!" Her fingers curled around the door handle, and rattled it in a quick attempt to escape back inside the school building. The doors were locked shut. And her mind blanked out in the sudden realisation that the doors were automatically locked after 6pm.
"Juvie… remember? We owe you… a big favour for the number you did on us last time… eh?" Nakata smirked, pinching the cigarette from his mouth and tossed it away – the bright, red embers sailing into sinking darkness. "Not that I ever get a shit about school – but you know… that friend of yours…" He grabbed her by the collar, roughly tightening his hold and savoured at her pained expression.
"Well, let's just say we're gonna pay you back for what you did last time."
"Hughn…! Let me go!" Hisui wildly thrashed back, and managed to land a slap in his face, promptly allowing him to loosen his hold on her for a brief moment. Landing in a crumple on the floor, her schoolbag dropped from her shoulder and she spluttered and gasped for breaths, coughing painfully. Nakata staggered back from the sudden attack, holding his swollen cheek in rage. "You bitch! You've fucking done it now!"
Hands grabbed for her arms and legs. "Don't -!" She elbowed one of them in the face, kicking another. "—touch me!" But it was useless – in this situation, she was overpowered, four to one. As they held her down firmly, she had her arms wrung back painfully, unable to hurt anyone else. Nakata bent down to her eye level, smugly staring back at her panicked face, and rubbed his rough hand over her chin and neck.
"I guess the rich bastard friend isn't here to save your fat ass today, eh Health rep?" He teased with a wheezing gasp of laughter, holding his sides in. Hisui clenched her jaw. If she could, she would bust those chops off personally. But she can't. She couldn't.
Tora wasn't here.
"So I think… I'll help myself to you." Nakata drawled lecherously, eyeing her exposed thighs in the winter air. He had been staring at her pinned body resisting against her captors for a while now; her cries of protest only stimulating his urges to fuck her senseless as his way of repayment for what she had done to him.
"Don't you dare -!" Her sentence was cut short when she felt a hot, wet piece of meat suckling at the underside of her left thigh. The sensation was disgusting; she wanted to scream aloud and kick him to make it go away but she couldn't – a hand was clamped over her mouth and her screams were muffled in the silence.
Nakata gurgled out a low laugh, a hand propping her leg up as he continued on with his sick fetishism, admiring at how beautifully painted her leg was from his saliva. "Now lessee what cha got under that skirt of yers…" Pulling away the fabric that was the only barrier protecting her chastity, his fingers furled around the elastic wrapped around her waist. Hisui screamed again, trying to break her shoulders and legs free from their hold – but they would hold her down like heavy stones, pinning her down under their weight.
Her heart skipped when she heard the sound of him unzipping his pants down. He crouched over her like a wild dog about to lunge without bounds, shuffling closer as his hands fumbled to remove the folds of her undergarments. No. Stop it. Don't do it. Please don't do it. Stop stop stop stop no no no no no no
No no no no –
No no no no no - !
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
And then the disgusting pile known as Nakata was thrown off her crumpled body. Through her blurred tears, she could only make out the few shapes of figures around her being thrown around as shouts and cries of a scuffle ensued.
"Fuck, it's the mad dog from Seisen Middle!"
Within the commotion, a figure blazed without consequence, pummeling the punks down with his bare fist. Hisui got up in her confusion, her skirt still slightly skewed, and realised that she had yet again, been saved. Looking on, she spotted Gouki punching the lights out of the remaining lackey that Nakata had brought with him, his breath ragged with a seething anger that she couldn't comprehend herself.
"…Goucchan…" She called out quietly, placing a hand on her knee as she tried to steady herself in her attempt to stand up. But her attempts to reach him were lost, as she dismally continued to watch him mercilessly beat down her attackers, lost in his own rage.
Turning to Nakata, he didn't hesitate to send the senior hurling down to the floor, his fist clenched like a hard stone. Gouki caught his slumping figure with a fierce kick to the chest, sending the perpetrator rolling painfully on the concrete in a daze. "You bastard," Nakata managed to wheeze out between gulps of air. "Shut up." Gouki snarled back, landing a solid punch against Nakata's jawline for his retaliation. Nakata growled in pain, before wincing back at the younger boy with a bloodied grin. "Huh, so yer not that rich ass from last time? Who're ya, her boyfriend?"
Looking visibly enraged at how Nakata was still able to sprout fresh words from his mouth, Gouki instinctively unloaded another blow at his face upon reflex. Nakata only laughed emptily, before craning his neck slowly to stare at Hisui, who stared back in shock at the scene unfolding before her. He spat out a mouthful of blood, before continuing.
"Well, yer girl's a slut, if I knew any better."
Just when she had dialled for the cops during their scuffle, Hisui heard a loud crack when Nakata was thrown against the metal railing beside the entrance walk, his head hitting against concrete as quickly as his body slumped over, unconscious. Quickly scrambling over to the motionless Gouki who stood over the heaped figure of his victim, Hisui grabbed his arm and yanked him back, away from the unconscious senior.
"Gouki!" She shouted this time, giving his arm another tight pull. He stumbled back, remembering her presence, looking thoroughly disgusted with a sated anger in his eyes that threatened to boil over any second. "Sui… that bastard, he…" Quickly checking to see if she was unhurt, he patted her shoulders as to reassure himself that she was truly alright. "… Did he hurt you? Are you hurting anywhere?"
"I'm… I'm fine…" Her words didn't seem to convince him – she wasn't sure herself, but she wasn't sure what else to say – and Gouki merely looked back at her with a shaking, unreadable expression. "I'm sorry… if I only came to pick you up earlier… I could've…"
Hisui picked up her fallen schoolbag. Although Gouki had arrived in the nick of time, she felt uncomfortable lingering around. "L-Let's go home. I called the cops; they're going to come now and it's probably better if they didn't see you…" She mumbled, shakily carrying her schoolbag in her hands. Gouki bit his lip, before nodded wordlessly and took her hand, pulling her closely behind him as he made his way past the school gates. She stumbled clumsily after him, walking quickly to catch up with his long stride and fast pace.
"Gouki…! Gouki, wait up, you're walking too fast!"
He stopped in mid-stride, causing her to crash into his broad backside. Holding on to her hand, he squeezed it tightly in fear of losing her from his side. Tottering to a stop beside him, Hisui shivered from the cold, and from how odd her childhood friend was behaving.
"Don't you understand the situation, Sui?" He rasped, turning around to face her with a livid expression flaring into life in his eyes. "You almost got – you almost got raped back there! What if – what if he'd gotten to you? I… I'd…" Hisui felt the rough fabric of his coat press against her cheek as his solid arms wound around her tightly. He was shaking – and she was too, as she slowly began to understand what had almost happened back then.
"You're a girl… and there are guys like him out there who can hurt you." His voice was hoarse, his words quivering. "Don't act tough and pretend you're okay… I hate it when you try to keep everything in… it just drives me up the wall looking at you like this." Hisui wanted to retaliate, but the words she wanted to say were lost in her mind, gathering up into a tight knot in her throat and nothing came out. Heat gathered in her eyes until nothing was left but the blurred darkness and his warmth and scent.
Gouki carried the still figure of his childhood friend back home on his back, with her schoolbag slung over a shoulder. The hazy street lights faded in and out of view; the passing traffic kicked up icy dust and wind. Despite the curious onlookers and second glances he gathered from passersby, he ignored the stares from the evening crowd and continued on, careful not to drop her off his back.
She had become much more vulnerable.
No – that wasn't it. She had been fragile to begin with. Like a glass cannon, she was a self-destructive force. Even if she had paved her way through life with good intentions, it was always never enough to warrant happiness.
But she had him – he would always be there to help catch her from falling down. Just like now, he was carrying her on his back, safe from danger, far away from danger…
He felt her hand grip his shoulder, and realised that she was conscious.
"Please don't tell my parents about what happened." She managed to whisper, her voice barely audible. "Please keep this a secret for me… Goucchan."
He merely grimaced. "Like how you told me to keep Mukai a secret as well?"
Surprised, her grip on his shoulder tightened slightly before it slackened. "I just… don't want them to worry. That kind of thing… isn't necessary for them to know about."
Gouki suppressed a heavy sigh. "I won't say anything."
If she wasn't ready to talk about it, he won't mention it either. Most likely, she would take today's memory, and store it away at the back of her mind. Like closing a lid upon a tightly sealed box full of things she didn't want to remember. Memories that were too cruel – memories that were sad; ones that she wanted to run away from.
He'll help her seal that lid.
"Thank you." She simply whispered before gently resting her head against his back once more.
Somehow they made it back home before it grew too late and suspicious of their parents' worries. As he dropped her off in front of her front gates, Gouki watch her dig out the house keys from inside her coat pocket slowly with a worried look in his eyes.
"Look, Sui… just get some rest, okay? And are you really sure you don't want to tell your parents about this? What if that guy comes back for you again?" Maybe somehow he could get her to change her mind. He would feel a whole lot safer knowing that rotten degenerate was behind bars – but Hisui had told him not to say anything, even after half-heartedly contacting the police.
"If I did, then they'd call the police… and then they'll find out you assaulted Nakata and then…" With a frustrated sigh, Hisui wiped her forehead with a palm. "…I got you involved. I'm sorry."
"You need to depend on me – on others, a bit more, you know." Gouki tersely countered, holding her still by her shoulders. "Just to be safe… I'll pick you up after your classes this week. I don't have classes anyway so… it's not a bother for me!" He blurted aloud, unaware that he was causing a ruckus in the quiet neighbourhood street. Hisui let out a snort of laughter, before chuckling in mirth.
"Y-You surprised me there…" She managed to say, her voice quivering with laughter. "Thanks, Goucchan. I'm sorry for being such a burden sometimes."
"Y-Yeah, sometimes I just don't know what to do with you, y-you know!" He flicked her unguarded forehead with his fingers to cover up his embarrassment. "A-Anyhow. Don't worry about it, just leave it to me. If he comes back again, I'll personally make sure he won't." Gouki growled; when he about Nakata it set his blood to boiling point again.
Hisui squeezed his hand to show her appreciation for his thoughtfulness.
"Thank you."
A/n: No Tora this chapter, unfortunately... but there is a certain build-up to our next main event with the next update. Thank you again for your time to read this story, and the time to review if you do!