Author's Notes: Balls. Balls, balls. Balls.
Okay, I think I'm done with this chapter. This is as good as it's getting because dammit it's sure as hell not getting anywhere else. Jesus.
Two months this took to re-write and each iteration felt like being punched in the mouth.
In any case, I think I've got it now. Will update as usual on Friday.
Yukari was sure that she had never met this boy before. He seemed normal enough, he was pretty average looking save for his too deep under-bite, and as he jogged up to her he seemed far too smiley and too happy to see her.
And he knew her name, and she was pretty sure they never met before.
"This isn't a nice area to be in, are you lost?" His voice was kind, but Yukari could smell more than just smoke off him and the stench was acrid in her nose. She wasn't sure what it was but it was vile and he reeked of it. Regardless, she really didn't have time to stay and chat; the more time wasted the further Akihiko (and those idiot girls) got away from her.
His eyes were beet red and he weaved unsteadily on his feet. Whatever it was they were doing, she wanted absolutely no part of it.
"No, I'm fine I just took a wrong turn that's all..."
His friends walked down the ramp up to his side and Yukari really wanted to back away from them, recognizing their faces from school but not knowing any of their names. They were seniors she was sure, all of them a lot taller than she was and suddenly she felt like fighting that group of girls didn't seem so bad. There were two less boys than those Akihiko-crazies, but they were all still towering over her... or perhaps that was just the dim street lamp making them all look bigger-
The boy in front was waving his hand in her face like she zoned out. Shaking her head, Yukari started pacing back, "I gotta go guys, I've an appointment to get to-"
"Awh come on, don't you wanna hang with us?"
"Yeah, we can score you some drink-"
"Hey man, knock it off, we're good guys-"
"Yeah, real good guys,"
The boy with the under-bite approached, smiling, his hands behind his back she noticed with a grimace, "Maybe we can stop and get a coffee on the way, I'm buying," he waggled his eyebrows in what she presumed was supposed to be a humorous gesture but she just found him... leering. Whether it was the effects of whatever drug he was taking or just because he wasn't very polite, his eyes looked her up and down, all over in an abashed way that made her feel a little ill.
Whatever. She could handle a bunch of idiot boys no problem.
"Really guys, I appreciate the offer but I gotta go. I'm meeting someone in Iwatodai."
"Awh, you have a boyfriend?" The taller guy asked, blinking back the redness in his eyes.
"Yeah, sorry," though she really, really wasn't.
That line usually turned most guys off, though that didn't seem to be the case with the tall guy and his whacked-out friends. "But you can still hang with us, right?" He said, stepping closer, "Maybe we could go somewhere a little nicer... chill for a while,"
It registered in her that he was asking her out on a date, and the nature of their location (dark, seedy alleyway with no-one in sight) didn't do much to adhere her to him. While he actually seemed nice in comparison to his guffawing friends, it didn't take away from the fact that they were cornering her in an alley to get a date out of her. Not the most romantic of gestures.
"Really guys, I appreciate the offer but I gotta go-"
"Where are you off to in such a hurry? Don't you want to spend the evening with us?"
... Oh God they weren't going to let her leave without agreeing to a date. A spike of terror stabbed her in the throat, draining her mouth until it was completely dry and sticking her tongue to the roof of her mouth so she couldn't speak. Without really thinking she backed away as he stepped closer, matching him step for step until he reached forward and grabbed a hold of her upper-arm.
"Hey, c'mon don't be like that-!"
She wrenched her arm from his grip, "Let GO of me!"
"C'mon, just... why won't you come out with us?"
She was near a wall, but the three of them had closed in on her, the taller one's easy smile was starting to falter, "What, you're too high-tone to spend time with us?" He said, slurring some of the words, "What's so great about this other guy anyway? Can't you just ditch him? Can't you?"
Raising her hands, Yukari swallowed thickly and tried to think of the best way to calm the situation down-
"Hey," she heard someone say from down the end of the alley, followed by footsteps that increased in speed when no-one answered, "Hey!"
Hey eyes flickered to the source of the noise; through the flutter of her eyelashes she could barely pick up a red, red streak before realizing who it was and then Akihiko-senpai was standing just a few paces away looking less than pleased. Yukari had been so sure she'd lost him down the street that she wasn't sure if he was real or not, especially with the situation she was in.
"Ah... Akihiko-senpai? What're you doing here?"
He didn't answer, just continued his death-glare at the boys in front of her, and if looks could kill she was sure all of them would have dropped to the ground moments ago. Once he tore his eyes away from them and fixed them on her, she prayed like hell he wasn't trying to goad them into a fight.
"Are these guys bothering you?" It had been the most he'd said to her since she ran away from him at the kitchen table those few days ago. He looked ready to kill, and as he jabbed his thumb at them she was sure he had no qualms with fighting them either.
But that was the last thing she wanted. Yukari definitely did not want Akihiko to get in trouble or get hurt for trying to defend her. "No, I'm fine," she said, "I was just leaving."
"Yeah, we're cool," the boy with the under-bite said, "... what the fuck is it to you anyway?"
Akihiko's eyes narrowed.
Just go, Yukari thought, just go and get yourself out of trouble. I can totally handle this on my own. Even if this guy is trying to bully me into a date. And he's out of his mind on who-knows-what...
"So, like," the boy rounded her on again, getting in her face in a most uncomfortable way, "whad'ya say? You gonna come with us?"
"Look, I already-"
"Yeah I know what you said an' all, but you didn't give me a reason,"
Yukari's nostrils flared in annoyance. Her heart was already in her throat because of the shitty situation she was in and this guy totally wasn't doing himself any favours. Sure, she could argue that he wasn't really in his right mind but he really was wading into foolish territory, especially with Akihiko there like he wanted to knock a few heads together, and the guy was going on like that wasn't even a problem.
"Why do I need to give you a reason?," she said, "I already told you I was doing something else-"
"That's enough," Akihiko said calmly, gently but firmly pushing the boy back and standing in between him and Yukari. The sheer, albeit slow, indignation that passed over the boy's face was more than enough information to predict what followed, and sure enough before Akihiko's palm had even left the boy's chest his fist was already swinging heavily for the boxer's face.
There was some struggle, though she couldn't really see it because she'd flinched and covered her eyes with her hands.
I can't handle this, she thought, I just can't. She'd been so sure she could calm the situation down but really, in the back of her mind she knew those boys wouldn't have let her walk away completely unscathed. It seemed so surreal that she wondered vaguely if she'd just imagined Akihiko showing up at all.
"She said no," came a steady, unbelievably commanding tone from the boxer, like it had been buried, deep, deep down somewhere inside, "now back off."
Peeking out from behind her hands, she could see Akihiko had the boy against the wall by his neck, the boy's friends all pleaded with Akihiko to let him go as his choking and flailing intensified, the boxer leaned in until his forearm was crushing the weak wind-pipe and the boy's face started to purple, his lips turning blue. Letting him drop and crumple to the ground, the boxer moved back, barring their path to her so all she could really see was his back.
If he was hurt, he didn't show it.
A stream of colourful swear words tumbling out of the boy's mouth, "You fucking asshole, what the fuck was that for?!"
But Akihiko didn't say anything. Didn't need to. The way he was standing said everything; he was a wall and they were loathe to try and move him. Coughing, spluttering and heaving, the boy tore himself up from the ground and started weighing up his options; looking from her to the silvery-haired boy in front of her and deciding if he'd had enough.
"Just. Walk. Away." Akihiko ground out from behind his teeth, his knuckles cracking audibly under his leather gloves when he clenched his fist.
Clearly the boys were thinking along the same lines, the one with the under-bite tutted and spat at Akihiko's feet, "Fuck this, I'm done."
They walked off, the leader hunched and rubbing his neck from where her senpai's arm was against him. When they finally rounded the corner and a few seconds passed, Yukari saw Akihiko's shoulders relax and he sighed deeply, his stance falling into something less aggressive.
"Are you okay," he threw over his shoulder, and Yukari looked down to see her hands were shaking badly.
They could have hurt him.
"I-I'm okay," but she was so not okay, though she was aware that nothing happened to her, she was on the verge of a panic attack even before those boys showed up and it was rolling into full swing. Two hot tears dripped down her cheeks without her ability to stop them, blurring out the shaking of her hands in a dizzying wave until she felt ready to topple over.
They could have hurt him. They could have hurt her. All because she'd been... stalking her senpai like those stupid, self-obsessed girls, all because she'd been following him to the gym just like they had; she'd nearly been hurt. She could have gotten him killed.
"Hey..." a warm hand landed on her shoulder; she looked up through tear-filled eyes to see Akihiko looking worriedly at her, "don't... c'mon, don't cry..."
What if one of them had a knife? What if they'd cut or stabbed him? What if they'd stabbed her? What if they really had forced that date out of her and tried to get her drunk, or raped her?
Yukari never really thought it would happen to her until a few breathless seconds ago.
"It's okay," Akihiko's hands were on her shoulders, shaking her a little like he was unsure if she was still with it, but she was reaching out to hook her hands around his back, fingers against the soft wool of his turtle-neck, burying her tear-streaked face in his chest because she didn't want to be exposed.
"Um..."
Finally, Yukari started crying in earnest, clinging to him like he was a lifeline because she knew some seconds ago he could have gotten himself seriously hurt but he was okay. And she was okay. And he was awkwardly stiff and rigid in her arms but he wasn't hurt and that was more than she could have asked for. After some time eventually he leaned in towards her and put one strong arm around her shoulders while the other hand cradled the back of her head.
"Yukari, it's okay..."
His voice was so soothing, the smell on his clothes filled her lungs and gave her so much comfort she couldn't even begin to describe just how safe she felt. If he had any problem with her clinging to him like a sobbing child, he didn't show it. Sighing into her hair, she was still shaking life a leaf and clinging to him like he was her lifeline, weeping into his chest and he was just holding her, gently rocking her and soothing her by murmuring things she didn't quite hear.
She didn't know how long it took her to finally calm down, but when she did she pulled away and quickly wiped her face, gulping down air.
"Oh jeeze, I am so sorry..." she tried to laugh it off but the sound just hiccuped out of her throat, her already red face burned even hotter the more she made an ass of herself.
"Don't be sorry. Hey," he angled her face upwards so she could look at him, finding her hands held on to his arms as his thumbs gently pressed in to her jaw. His eyes were so serious, but so kind and warm she was in danger of getting lost in them, "You don't have to apologize, none of that was your fault."
Another hiccuping laugh and a sniffle, "I meant I'm sorry for crying all over your sweater,"
Akihiko just laughed and shook his head, his hands slipping from her face to squeeze her shoulders again, shaking her a little to make sure she was steady. His brow furrowed as she continued to breathe hard, her hands were still shaking though she was starting to calm down.
"C'mon, the best way to get rid of a panic attack is to get something to eat," he gently urged her forward on feet growing steadier with each step, stooping at the end of the alley to pick up his bag and coat.
Her face soon returned to it's normal colour and temperature, despite her unbelievable embarrassment, so they walked on in silence to Iwotodai strip-mall. When she began to shiver she felt a shift beside her and a warm smelling coat was draped around her shoulders, Akihiko stopped for a second to fix the collar around her neck, muttering about how he didn't want her to catch a cold.
They were quiet, but they didn't need words, and Yukari felt she didn't have much to say anyway.
Akihiko was so furious he could barely breathe.
He hoped Yukari didn't notice his shaking fists or the fact that he had to keep swallowing just to do something with his mouth to keep him from screaming; she was in shock and if he showed any emotion other than worry for her, she would take it on board and it would probably make her worse. The glassy, vacant look in her face the whole way to Iwotodai strip-mall was enough information to let him know she needed time to rebuild her barriers and lock herself away again. So he didn't speak much, not that he was capable of speech anyway.
He was relatively calm by the time they arrived in front of Hagakure, which was an immense relief because there was no way he would allow himself to get angry in front of Yukari when she was in such a fragile state. He would have taken her home, but he had to get her to eat something to help her calm down, or she could faint.
They were a few paces from the door when she grabbed his arm, he swiveled his head around to look down at her, looking so tiny with his long white coat draped over her shoulders.
"... Thank you."
Her hand was squeezing his arm so tightly the skin started to prickle, he wondered if she noticed. "Don't worry about it, I'm glad you're safe."
And it was genuinely true, he didn't want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't decided to take the short route to the gym. The thought sent a cold spike through him, he swallowed out of reflex, choking the feelings back, trying not to give it away just in case she took the burden.
"Uh... I don't have any cash on me..." Yukari looked down at her shoes, kicking the dirt underneath her feet.
"I'm buying," he said, and raised his hand to stop her when he could see the argument formulating in her head, "don't worry about it. You can buy next time, but right now you need to eat."
Pouting adorably and looking torn between giving in and making a fuss, Akihiko contemplated how Yukari kind of reminded him of-
No. No, she wasn't Miki. Never mind shifting his emotions on to her, making a comparison like that definitely wasn't fair on her. The pain was still there and still fresh in his memory, but he wouldn't keep her alive vicariously through another person. Yukari was Yukari, not the dead sister he couldn't save, and definitely not his family. He had to make sure he saw her as her own person from now on, because that was a very dangerous route to start taking and he didn't think he could keep pulling himself out of that stupor.
Holding his gym-bag to the side and pushing the glass door to Hagakure with his palm open, he inclined his head for her to enter, and she did after a moment of hesitancy, pulling the collar of his jacket tighter around her chest.
Author's Notes: Right. Now let's never do that again.