Warnings: I don't know what happened to my brain. This part just runs all over the place. Fight scene with some violence obviously and-guess what?-even cruder sex jokes. Attempted rape and assault. Don't feel comfortable with any of the above? Then please don't read.

Feeling a whole lot more confident, Daichi smoothly slipped his hand into Io's as he walked her home. A bit surprised at the contact, Io widened her green eyes to look at him. But seeing him grinning warmly at her, Io couldn't help but grin and squeeze his hand back. Friends can be friends and still hold hands, right? The two of them continued happily like this. Neither of them heard the rapidly approaching footsteps.

Suddenly an arm shot out from behind and wrapped tightly around Daichi's neck. He faintly heard Io screaming as his vision blurred from the abrupt lack of oxygen. Regaining his balance, he elbowed his attacker in the stomach. Hearing wheezing and feeling the arm around his neck loosen, he grabbed the shirt and arm behind him and threw his attacker over his shoulder. A grungy looking guy landed roughly in front of him with a pained groan. What on earth is going on? The teen tried to think with his adrenaline fogged mind. We were just walking back to Nitta's house, but then…Nitta?

"Nitta!" Daichi yelled, looking for his date.

"Shijima!" He spotted her a few yards away screaming and trying to shove off a thickly built man who was attempting to pin her to a wall. But before he could run and throw a punch at the man assaulting her, he felt something cold and thick pinching and coiling around his waist. He looked down and saw a chain wrapping around his torso, and when it was pulled tight, he gagged and fell to the ground. Scrambling unsteadily to his feet, the teen spun around to face his new assailant, but a right hook to his gut brought him falling down again.

Fighting unconsciousness, Daichi's choked before vomiting from the attack. "What the hell…" he mumbled around the taste of bile in his mouth, "is happening…" He was vaguely aware of being dragged into an alleyway along with Io, who was still screaming and kicking at their attackers. As the two were thrown to the ground together, Daichi managed to form coherent thought through the haze in his mind. Noticing that Io was miserably huddling against him, he saw that her wrists were tied behind her back. He also realized that his hands were also secured behind him but with a chain. After hastily giving Io a few comforting words, the brunette turned to their assailants. "Who the hell are you guys?" he demanded, anger suddenly driving his ego.

He could now clearly see that there were three men; all of them wore filthy clothes and identical lecherous grins. They had the two teens caught, trapped and bound in the alleyway. Acting on instinct, Daichi moved in front of Io protectively as the three men approached. "Sick bastards," Daichi growled. "If you so much as lay a finger on my date, I will end you."

Io's green eyes widened. Did she just hear what she thought she did? A date? She was Daichi's date? Did her clumsy, lanky, brunette friend like her? Somehow the revelation gave her comfort and she nuzzled affectionately into his back. This small gesture made Daichi's confidence soar.

But, one of the men laughed at Daichi, beginning to take longer strides. "Ha, who said we came for the girl?"

And then, all Daichi's confidence—and Io's composure—flew out the metaphorical window. "…Oh hell."

"Yamato, someday, I will kill you," cursed a certain redhead currently crouching just at the entrance of the alley. The four of them had seen the whole scene unfold, but they acknowledged it as just part of the plan. Daichi and Io—or rather, just Daichi—weren't really going to get molested, of course. Right? At least, that was what they thought until Airi snapped at Yamato.

"Is something wrong?" Hibiki asked.

"Hell yeah! Why did you send three of them?" As she turned to Yamato, Jungo and Hibiki did as well.

Yamato replied coolly, "Why not?"

"Because Daichi can't take on three gang members, damn it! He was supposed to heroically save Io from just one thug." A scowl was plastered across the red-haired girl's face. "And now, thanks to you, Daichi's going to get screwed up the a-"

"Then, shouldn't we go help them?" Hibiki jumped to his feet, but Airi held him back. "Let go, Airi. This is going too far."

"Just wait," Airi enunciated. "Even though Yamato jacked up the plan, I think they'll be fine."

"'You think?' But you just said Daichi's screwed—"

"Shut up and watch. It's happening now."

Io struggled to stand, using the wall to balance herself without being able to use her hands. Daichi was valiantly resisting, but it was hard to fight back when he was flushing so darkly and surrounded by three grown men. Seeing her friend in such a traumatizing situation made Io's blood boil. Having to stand by and watch helplessly while Daichi was being assaulted with her hands tied together like this. If only she could still summon demons like Kikuri-hime or even Ogre, then she could save him…

Before she herself even realized what she was doing, Io ran into the mass of people, and her leg swung out to connect with the stomach of one of the men. He gurgled before doubling over and coughing up blood. The two others now turned their attention away from Daichi to face the girl. But by then, Io had pivoted and was running back in their direction. The men hurriedly tried to stand, as Io sprinted forward before suddenly dropping and sliding in to trip up another man. Once he fell hard, the strange girl was suddenly above him. She landed rigidly and fully onto his chest with her knees. A strangled scream tore from the man's throat. By then, the third man had fled, shrieking hysterically about not caring how much he was getting paid, leaving his companions behind.

Daichi stared at the scene. "…Dayum," he breathed.

Again, the two teens found themselves strolling down the sidewalk to Io's house. This time, Io was holding almost possessively onto Daichi's arm. Although he thought it was cute, it was a little unnerving, considering the nearly fatal injuries she'd just inflicted on two grown men.

"Nitta, it's okay." Daichi finally said it. "I'm fine. You don't have to cling like that."

Io locked eye contact with him. "But they touched you. On our date."

"D-Date?" the teen spluttered, half happy, half nervous.

"Well, you did call me your date back there." Io held tighter onto his arm. "I'm sorry, but I felt like being protective." Daichi smiled and unwrapped one of her hands from his arm to hold. The pair continued in silence, swinging their joined hands slightly.

Wait a minute, did I just become the girl in this relationship? Daichi thought. He inwardly sighed, as they finally arrived at Io's house. "Well, good night, Nitta. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Io smiled, still grasping Daichi's hand. "Please, you can call me Io." Then, a grin still spread ear to ear on her face, Io leaned in and gently kissed Daichi's cheek. She could practically feel his face heating up under her lips. "We should do this again sometime. Good night…Daichi."

The end

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