A/N: I really should be working on my other projects...
Gateway
Kazuto stared at what was happening in the center of the classroom with a blank look on his face. Why were these guys doing this again? He vaguely remembered them talking about a movie or something. Were they reenacting a scene?
The teen leaned his chin into his hand as his classmates continued their finger-gunfight, turning his head to stare out the window. The sky was overcast today, adding a grayish tinge to the world. It wouldn't be surprising if it rained soon.
The boy continued to stare aimlessly, his mind wandering to random things.
Suddenly, a loud noise caught his attention, it sounded like a chair scraping against the floor. Kazuto whipped his head around in surprise. The first thing he noticed, was the empty chair behind him. Then, he heard the door into the classroom slide open. His eyes slid toward it, and he looked just in time to see Shino Asada rush out of the classroom.
He froze for a second, unsure of what he had seen.
Shino…she had looked afraid.
Her eyes had been wide, her pupils were dilated, and once she had turned to go down the hallway, she had roughly bumped her shoulder into the doorframe. She hadn't seemed fazed as she disappeared, leaving the door wide open.
Kazuto shook his head, his hand going up to his temple.
No. That didn't look like the intimidating, scary girl that he had come to know. She couldn't have been afraid, he was probably just imagining things. She probably just had to go to the bathroom and rushed out. Yeah, that was it.
Kazuto looked out the window again, trying to fixate his mind on something else, something more realistic. He tried focusing on the weather again, really just anything, but for some reason, his mind kept drifting back to the girl that usually sat behind him.
Finally, he stood up, his efforts utterly leading to nothing. He was too bothered by what he saw to just let it slide.
Maybe he should just check on her.
Trying to not rouse any suspicion, Kazuto walked to the door and slipped out into the hallway. As he quietly shut the door behind him, he glanced around at the empty space around him before heading in the direction of the nearest bathroom. She was probably in there. He would just lean against the door to listen for anyone inside, and if he did hear someone, he would just wait outside to see if she came out alright. Yeah. That was a good plan. But she should be fine anyway, right?
As the dark-haired boy reached the bathrooms, he stopped for a second, noticing something odd. Just to the left of the bathrooms, was the door leading to the staircase.
And it was hanging open.
Kazuto found that a little weird. Normally, those doors would either be all the way open or completely shut, never in between. But really, how much of a difference was that? Just slightly open? Was that really worth looking into?
Without consciously coming to the decision of checking it out, Kazuto walked forward and opened the door, allowing himself to slip inside before shutting it behind him.
A quick peek wouldn't hurt.
Onyx eyes glanced to either side of him, trying to decide whether to go upstairs or down. He decided up first, since the roof would be quicker to check. He held onto the railing with each step he took, looking up to the next landing as he went.
As he reached the door leading onto the roof, Kazuto's eyebrows furrowed once he realized that this door was halfway open as well. He slowly pushed it open and stepped onto the roof.
Looking around, the boy didn't notice anything completely out of the ordinary. The roof was off-limits, so no one was really supposed to be up here. But that was why he visited it so often. It looked just how he had expected it to: the wire fence around the edges, the generators and vents scattered here and there in the corners, but other than that, the place was pretty empty.
"Hey. Anyone up here?" Kazuto called out, but not much louder than his inside voice. He glanced around, again, not seeing anything. He walked around in a quick circle, trying to see if he could notice anything from a different angle. Finally, just as he was about to leave, he glanced at the small alcove between the staircase and fence.
He was shocked to find that someone was actually there.
And it was none other than Shino Asada.
Kazuto froze up for a second, seeing her there like that. She looked like she was in pain, curled up in the fetal position with her back against the wall. She had her palms tightly pressed against her temples, as if she were trying to block out pain. Her body was shaking and her eyes were wide and unseeing as they stared at her knees.
What…happened?
Bringing himself back into the present, Kazuto hurriedly knelt down next to her, taking her by the shoulders.
"Asada! Hey, Asada!"
She didn't answer.
He shook her slightly, his heart clenching in his chest. "Asada!"
And then, she looked up at him, her eyes wavering as she put her hands down ever so slightly. Kazuto let out a small breath, relieved that she was at least responsive.
Apparently, his relief came a little too soon.
Before he knew it, his back slammed into the diamond-patterned wiring of the fence. A gasp escaped him, and his eyes briefly shut due to the unexpected flash of pain. When he opened them again, he was stunned to find himself once again staring into intense grayish-brown eyes. Shino's face was right up to his now, and she was kneeling over him, her hands fisted in his shirt.
Her eyes were wild as she addressed him. "Why?"
The boy stared in confusion. "Wha—?"
She got closer to him, her fists clenching tighter. "Why? Why you? Why of all people did you have to find me this way?"
"I-I—"
"Do you think this is funny? Do you think that you can just take advantage of me in my weakest state? Is this a joke to you?"
"No. I—"
"Then what? Why are you here? You just think that I'm crazy now don't you? You've probably known it all this time and now you're happy that you found proof!"
"Asada…"
She roughly shoved him into the fence. "No! Don't you dare! Don't you dare talk to me! I hate you! Did you know that? I really freaking hate you!" She shook him some more, but Kazuto was too stunned to react. "How? How do you do it? How can you act so normal yet piss me off with every little thing that you do? What do you know about anything?"
Tears began to well in her eyes as she continued. "And how can you just sit there? Why don't you try to push me away, or tell me that I'm insane and that I need professional help? Where's the fear?"
It was quiet for a long moment, as the two of them searched each other's eyes.
"…It's because I'm not afraid."
Those words felt like a blow to Shino's chest as she just stared at him.
Kazuto's face remained calm as he continued. "And I don't think that you're insane either."
There was another long pause as they stared at each other. Shino's eyes were wide while Kazuto remained calm, looking evenly passed those oval-shaped glasses and into that girl's eyes.
Finally, she gave a laugh. A laugh devoid of humor.
"That's impossible. You probably do hate me. You're just too afraid to admit it."
The girl's body slumped slightly, and she leaned into Kazuto's chest. She suddenly felt drained, she just didn't have the strength to quarrel with him right now.
"I know that I'm supposed to hate you, but let me lean on you, just for a little bit." As she finished speaking, she let her head fall against his chest. Her eyes closed from exhaustion, but she didn't fall asleep. She really hated him. Why did he have to find her now of all times, him of all people. And what was with this crap of not fearing her? Everyone else felt that way, why didn't he just admit he felt the same?
On top of that, one thought surfaced that annoyed her to no end:
Why is he so warm?
Kazuto stared down at her for a second, her ebony hair catching his attention as the wind softly blew it across his neck. Hesitantly, his hand lifted and hovered for a few seconds over her back. The boy inwardly struggled with himself, wanting to comfort the girl that was obviously suffering in front of him, but doubting that he was the one that she wanted comfort from. In the end, his hand went back to settle on the concrete beside them. It clenched into a fist as his anger with himself flared in his chest.
Knowing that this was no time to be kicking himself, Kazuto took a deep breath and relaxed his body instead, trying not to disturb the girl that may or may not be asleep.
His head went to lean back against the wiring behind him and his onyx eyes flicked to look up at the sky. The world was still gray, and the normally vibrant blue sky was still overcast, but his earlier prediction had failed to come true.
Looks like it didn't rain after all.
