Nana walked behind me with his fingers laced behind his head. He talked about school and didn't seem to register that my answers were short and I was not interested. Once we got far enough away from school, my mind stopped focusing on everyone around me, and began to sort through what happened on the roof. "You skipped gym today. Igarashi covered for you."

"Good. I'd hate to have another missed gym class on my record." The sarcasm in my voice made him laugh. I had skipped gym more times than I'd attended. The class bored me because one, I wasn't good at any sports, and two, when I tried to participate, someone always ended up hurt. That someone usually was me.

We fell into a comfortable silence the rest of the way to my house. Turning the corner onto my street, two boys stood at the entrance gate of my house. Takeshi and Futo. My stomach jumped up into my throat. Why are they here? When I stopped, Nana ran into me.

"What are you doing?" Nana asked, annoyed. It wasn't until he walked around me that I realized he wasn't talking to me. "The hell are you two doing here?" No one really liked either of those boys, but Nana had always been at odds with them.

Takeshi shrugged. "Forgot Igarashi had practice today." He and Futo passed us on the street, giving me dirty looks.

My legs moved before my mind. Running past Nana, I ran my door. My keys fell out of my shaking hand as I pulled them out of my bag. "Dammit," I cursed under my breath. I knew they were gone, but it didn't help to shake the feeling that they were here to hurt me.

"What's wrong with you?" Nana asked, stooping down to pick up my keys. The door swung open and he went straight for my kitchen. "You hungry?" This boy was always hungry. I had no idea where he stored half the food he ate.

I stood in the living room and watched him. He'd been here so much that he knew where everything was. After he'd heated up some leftover pasta, he set it on the coffee table to cool before collapsing on the couch. Stirring my fork around in my bowl, I halfway listened to him tell me about what happened with Serinuma in gym class. Concentrating became hard. All my head could focus on was what would have happened if I'd walked home alone.

I set the bowls in the sink before returning to living room. Nana grabbed my arms, pulling me down on to his lap. "You're acting weird." When I didn't answer, he reached up to touch my hair, saying, "You have the prettiest black hair."

Still trapped in my nervous state, I squeezed my eyes closed and turned my head away.

"Kari… Did you think I was going to hurt you?" His words came out slow. We'd gotten past the awkward stage of our strange relationship. Nana and Igarashi were the two I trusted the most in my life.

The confusion and anger on his face made me sad. "No… I just-" I can't tell him what happened with those two… I know he would overreact. The wheels turned in his head as he tried to puzzle out why I'd reacted that way.

"Was it those two? Takeshi and Futo? What did they do to you?" Nana asked, anger in his voice. "You have to tell me."

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"Is that how you cut your leg?"

"Nana, please!" I couldn't even begin to tell him what happened. If he knows, then Igarashi will find out, and then they'll both end up in prison. That's how I knew this would end.

Nana stopped questioning me and took my hands. "You're shaking."

I let out a shaky breath. "This is so stupid. I don't want to think about it right now." I need a distraction.

"Okay then." Nana kissed me.

It startled me and the image of Takeshi forcing his kiss on me came back. This wasn't the same. I know that. He isn't here. He can't hurt me right now. That didn't stop the memory from taking over and paralyzing me.

"Kari," Nana rested his forehead against mine. "Who are you with?"

I took a deep breath. "You."

"Would I ever hurt you?"

"No." This was something he used to do a lot when we first started sleeping together. Like then, he wasn't impatient. He didn't push me too hard. It never felt like I had to be a certain way or pretend to be in a state that I wasn't.

"Good, because I wouldn't. Ever," he said. His green eyes met my purple ones, still waiting for me.

He won't hurt me. I repeated it over and over in my head until finally the thought registered. Occupying my mind would do me some good. Finally, I leaned forward and kissed him. Nana and I had been friends who sort of look like they're dating but really not. Acting like a couple…

After a while, I thought this might turn into something more, but Nana didn't push it. Instead, he insisted I go take a bath to relax while he made me some real dinner. So, I did. The warm, bubbly water helped. Sweatpants hurt my leg so I opted for shorts and tank top.

As I got to the bottom of my stairs, I could hear Nana talking with someone. "Hey," I said from the doorway to the kitchen. Igarashi stood beside him, and they'd been keeping their voices down. I hoped that Nana hadn't said anything to him about Takeshi and Futo.

He smiled. "Hey yourself. How's your leg?"

"It's okay. Wanna wrap it for me? I failed in my attempt upstairs," I said, offering the bandage and wrap out.

With a laugh, Igarashi knelt down and started to wrap my wound. Nana, on the other hand, stared at me. He wanted me to say something about what I'd said. Shaking my head, I tried not to make it too obvious that I didn't want that. I already had Nana to worry about. Let's not drag Igarashi into the mix. "All done," Igarashi said, standing back up.

Thankfully, Igarashi didn't seem to notice our subtle exchanges. He stayed to eat, and kept the conversation going. I still couldn't stomach much food. I'm sure he noticed that, but he didn't comment on it. Finally, Igarashi went home, leaving Nana and me alone again. Now, I should avoid him until I go to bed, but he followed me around like a lost puppy, and insisted on staying the night.

"Kari," Nana sat on the edge of my bed, watching me in the bathroom.

I had a routine. Brush teeth. Put hair up. Wipe the makeup off. But I ignored him.

"Kari," This time he whined. "Please tell me what happened. It's killing me."

Sighing, I said, "Fine. Let me finish this first." I had to tell him eventually. We had no secrets, and this one was already half out. So, I sat down on the bed with him and through my crying, I told him the whole story.

Nana didn't get mad. He didn't curse them or threaten to kill. Instead, he held onto me while we fell asleep. It was a little weird. I'd never seen Nana this calm after I'd confessed something to him. He slammed a boy's face into the locker three times for them calling me names. This boy had no off switch that I knew of. But as I fell asleep, he stayed calm. The next morning at school, however…