Till I'm Gone
Sora Matasuki
Chapter Twenty Four
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS VERY HEAVY. IT ALLUDES TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND OTHER NASTY THINGS. IF ANYTHING TRIGGERS YOU IN THIS WAY, DON'T READ THE CHAPTER.
"Hey, Mr. Arwald?"
Hiro glanced up from his notes to see Tadashi's really creepy friend leaning against the doorway, interrupting the mentioned teacher's outlining of the next project they would be doing.
In between the office TA's fingers was a green slip. Hiro easily identified the paper as an office excuse pass. He glanced over to Will and shrugged when the other boy made a confused face. Did he know who the pass was for? Ha. As if.
Mr. Arwald sighed and took the slip, quickly looking over the paper to see if it was legitimate. Hiro flinched in surprise when the adult's gaze suddenly locked with his.
"Hiro? The office needs you." the teacher waved the slip in his hand towards the young student.
The twelve year old blinked, uneven teeth worrying at his chapped lips. "Okay… Should I bring my stuff?" he asked cautiously, hand already going to grab his backpack.
"You can always get them after class. If you're late, I'll write you a pass. I'm sure it won't take you very long."
Hiro nodded, taking the slip of paper and glancing over it. It just had his name and the class period with Mr. Arwarld's name on it. The boy visibly hesitated. He was supposed to go to the office, but why?
Mr. Arwald took Hiro's hesitation as something completely different. "Hiro? Do you know where the office is?"
The boy blinked, brain still locked on trying to puzzle out why the green pass seemed so wrong. "Uh…"
"I can take him." Thomas offered, "I don't have any other passes to deliver and it's on the way. Plus isn't your TA out delivering stuff?"
Hiro shot the senior a look that he hoped screamed, 'no, not you.'
But neither adult or senior noticed the look as Mr. Arwald conceded the point. Thomas pushed off the door frame, a little smile on his face. "C'mon kid. Let's get the thing taken care of."
Trapped in the expectation that he had to go, Hiro followed the eighteen year old out the door. Something was definitely off, he could feel it.
As the minutes passed, the sickening awareness in the boy's stomach grew. He didn't know why the office had decided to pull him out of his favorite class, and not knowing left a familiar sense of fear in his mind. The twelve year old's pulse quickened. Was something wrong with Aunt Cass - Tadashi? Did something bad happen back at the cafe? Did the office decide he'd done something wrong - was he really in trouble for breaking that window with the catapult? Though Mr. Arwald had promised that Hiro wasn't to blame, he still felt guilty for the catapult's spazz attack. It'd chucked its counterweight right through the glass, and the poor window had already suffered enough at Hiro's hand.
The boy was so consumed with his worries, he barely noticed when Thomas began leading him away from the office and towards the lesser traveled and rarely occupied areas of the campus.
His subconscious, on the other hand, took note of the new path instantly. Instincts newly honed by bot fighting under the tutelage of Aine pricked their ears, whining in the back of the twelve year old's head. The sick feeling traveled down into his gut as warning flags started waving their red cloth frantically.
"This looks like a good spot." the tall blond senior purred. Hiro's stomach dropped with a lurch.
"What do you mean? Thomas, the office is in the opposite direc-mmpph!"
The twelve year old's startled questions were cut off as the boy was slammed up against the wall by the senior, a knee pressed against his stomach and lower regions threateningly. A warm hand clamped down over his mouth, palm gross and sweaty against his lips. The pressure kept him quiet, discounting the initial cry of protest. An arm pressed against his chest, keeping him pinned.
The eighteen year old leaned closer as the boy started to struggle, hands clawing desperately at the hand holding him mute. Defiant brown eyes glared out from under the twelve year old's bangs, locking with Thomas' cold blue.
"Oh Hiro…" the senior purred. "Do be a dear and stop struggling. It'll do you a lot more favors later on."
Hiro twitched, a muffled snarl full of bared teeth beneath that sweaty hand.
"But then again…" Thomas continued conversationally, "I always did enjoy it more when they fight me tooth and nail.
He's sick. Hiro's mind whimpered, Completely sick. How did Tadashi ever befriend a guy as twisted as Thomas?!
He tried to vocalize his thoughts, even though he knew it would be futile. "MRPHABSTR!" the insult came out muffled, but his intent was clear.
"Hushshh…. none of that." Thomas soothed, gaze steely and emotionless. Hiro felt like he was going to lose his lunch as his stomach twisted into another impossible knot. His clawed fingers were slowly and methodically being uncurled despite how deep he'd dug his nails into the flesh.
Thomas didn't even flinch, his eyes never showing any hint of the pain he must have been feeling at the crescent shaped trenches Hiro left in his wake.
As his mind went into overdrive, Hiro thrashed, brown eyes wild. He fought to free himself from the older male's grasp, and when he discovered an opening, he used his desperation as motivation to act on his plan.
Uneven teeth dug deep into the assaulting hand, and Thomas yowled, yanking his hand away from Hiro's mouth and his surprisingly sharp teeth.
Sharp blue eyes bored into terrified brown. Thomas' neck popped sickeningly as he squared his shoulders, face set into a dark glower.
"Fine. You want it that way? I can give you that." He said sweetly. ...except it wasn't sweet at all. The eighteen year old's voice was filled with dark malice and laced delicately with a rage so cold, it was like fire licking at Hiro's throat.
The loud crack his head made when it came into contact with the wall rang in his ears, and Hiro let out an agonized cry as his head pounded with the beat of his own heart.
The gaps in his memory started right afterward. It was black, and then, he found himself on the floor. Everything blurred, drifting in and out of focus in time with each painful pulse. Thomas quickly pinned his torso down with his own weight and slowly, methodically stripped the boy of his jacket.
Hiro squirmed, trying to prevent the inevitable, but Thomas moved with him and gripped his wrists in one hand, drawing them to the twelve year old's chest and pinning them there. Hiro choked back an angry sob.
Thin fingers traced the scabbed wounds and faded red scars littering his arms and Hiro shuddered, fear seeping into his hazy mind. An awed giggle sounded in his ears.
"They're beautiful." Thomas murmured.
The boy flinched, "N-no, don-!" But the rest of his protest was cut off by the senior smothering his cries behind that sweaty hand. Hiro was left to kick his feet in useless protest.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Stay quiet, now." the eighteen year old cooed, the glaciers in his eyes chilled the boy to the core. "You played right into my hands, Hiro."
The twelve year old stiffened, brown eyes wide.
Thomas continued on mercilessly, a dark sort of humor in his tone, "All that pain, all that torment..." His fingernails delicately traced the scabs, "All of that was me." With no warning, he ripped the healing skin off and Hiro inhaled sharply behind Thomas' hand, eyes watering from pain and shock.
A trickle of blood dripped down his arm and onto his shirt. The boy stared down at it, eyes glassy and wide as a tear fell down his cheek. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Black spots danced along his vision as he struggled for air.
All of this… all that Hiro had gone through… it was because of Tadashi's psycho friend? Bile rose in his throat and more tears burned at the corners of his eyes, threatening to join their brother in solidarity while anger burned even hotter in his chest. Fingers kept tracing the scars and all Hiro wanted to do was run away, run away until he hit the bay and could just drown himself in the sea.
Thomas leaned down and Hiro tensed even more as hot air ghosted over his ear. "By the way, the Forget-Me-Nots are on me." the office TA breathed and the boy was left to stare up at his assaulter in horror.
Hiro tried to shake his head in denial, managing only a minute twitch either way.
The older male's face twisted. It was the only warning Hiro got before he was seeing stars again and his vision filled with bigger black spots than ever before. And they kept growing. Hiro clawed at consciousness but it was like clawing at air, slipping through his fingers.
Shock and his pounding head won over any drive to preserve his tenuous safety.
Cool air brushed against bare skin and Hiro shivered as awareness filtered into him slowly. He was sitting, propped up against the lukewarm metal of the lockers his head had slammed against earlier. The twelve year old was sure he was covered in gooseflesh from the combination of metal and the cold AC. Dimly, his mind observed that his shirt and shoes were gone.
He slowly opened his eyes, praying that whatever Thomas had done, it was over and he was free.
That hope was dashed when he noticed the duct tape that covered his mouth and bound his wrists. This kind of thing went way past an unhealthy obsession. Thomas was just insane. Tears began to leak from his eyes again.
"Be a good boy, Hiro and don't test me again. I'd just hate to hurt you~." Somehow, the words Thomas cooed as he knelt in front of the captured pre-teen were hard to believe. "We do have a schedule to keep, after all."
Those frigid eyes pierced his soul. "Schegwl?" he dared to ask, but right after he blurted out that muffled question, he knew it was a mistake. A sharp SLAP echoed through the hall.
Thomas gripped him by the shoulders, fingers digging deeply into pale flesh. There was only a muffled cry of pain that turned into a whimper as the older male gently cupped Hiro's reddening cheek in a mockery of a caring caress.
Hiro wanted Tadashi. He wanted Tadashi to somehow magically realize that he was in trouble and burst out like the secretly dramatic person he was. More tears escaped his eyes and his shoulders shook.
He closed his eyes and willed for the world to stop.
Hiro heard footsteps an uncountable time later and hope flared. Please, please notice something's wrong! he begged in his mind, eyes hidden by his curtain of black hair. He took in how Thomas was practically hiding him from view from whoever was approaching and that hope grew stronger, brighter. And at the same time, dread grew heavy in his stomach.
"You're gonna be alright." Thomas murmured quietly and Hiro let out a muffled snort full of snot and tears. How anyone could believe his act was beyond him. Several other false sentences of comfort were muttered in Hiro's ear as the footsteps grew closer.
"...T-Thomas?" Hiro felt his stomach drop. It was Mr. Arwald's TA. No. No. No. He CAN'T see me like this - I can't - no, NO.
Hiro saw through his dark curtain of hair as Thomas turned around slightly. "Oh, it's only you, Freddie. Done standing on the sidelines? You can always join the fun, you know."
Hiro flinched, despite himself. J-join IN? Even his mental voice was squeaky with terror. But he seems so nice!
"You're sick, Thomas. I'd have to be insane to even think of doing THAT with a creeper like you. Stop harassing whoever you've got pinned. They don't need your abuse."
Hiro felt the hope that had nearly died surge back to life. "H-hemmph-"
"Now now, dear, don't go trying to make a scene." Thomas' fingers trailed down Hiro's neck and the boy shuddered in disgust. "Though I do love how you struggle."
"Let. The kid. Go."
"Hmmmm…." Thomas pretended to consider it. For a minute Hiro actually though the senior would agree. "How about… No. I like this toy. Go away, Freddie, I'm busy." The hope withered a little as Thomas returned to Hiro once more.
"... Take me, then. You've always wanted me, well… here I am."
Hiro stiffened. W...what?
Silence ensued on Thomas' side and Hiro peered up at his tormenter, flinching slightly at the expression on the eighteen year old's face. It was equal parts surprise and a twisted form of delight, all wrapped up in one little package of strange emotion.
Then Hiro found his world spinning as he was eagerly shoved aside. His bare shoulder hit the cold tile and his cry was muffled by the duct tape. He could hear the slamming of a taller body against the lockers reverberate all the way down the hallway, a hissed sentence nearly lost in the noise that he couldn't make out.
"Thomas." the TA's voice was even, even though Hiro's would have been shaking at this point. "Let me help him, then you can do whatever you want."
"Fine, but then you're mine, Freddie. I've waited too long for you to come around to fall to your useless tricks now."
Hands smaller than Thomas's gently grasped at his shoulders and the twelve year old flinched. "Mnoh!" he hissed, trying to jerk away. No one should see him like this!
Not even Tadashi.
"Hey… hey… it's okay… I'm here to help."
Hiro shook his head, vision swimming. "Mnoh!" he repeated, hugging his duct taped hands close to his bare chest, feeling absolutely miserable and ashamed.
"Can I just take the tape off of your mouth?"
Hiro closed his eyes. On one hand, he wanted the tape off, but on the other hand, if that happened, Fred would know who he was and who Thomas was… Thomas was…
The need for speech and giving the TA all the reasons why it was a really bad idea for Fred to take his place overrode his pride and he nodded his head, opening his eyes.
"Okay… I'm just going to reach over your shoulder, okay? I'm not going to hurt you, little guy."
Hiro tensed as gentle fingers grasped the duct tape and pulled. The boy yelped in pain, then blinked as he realized that the gag was gone. On legs numb from sitting on them for so long, he whirled around and nearly face planted into Fred's lap as the older teen swore softly.
"You can't take my place - you can't!" Hiro's words tried to run together in his panic and tears welled up in his eyes. "You don't deserve to be hurt-"
"As much as I don't deserve it, this kind of thing is twice as bad with you in the mix, Hiro." Hiro froze, breath catching in his throat. "You've never deserved any of this."
"Fred-"
But Fred was busy tugging at the duct tape that held his wrists captive. "Hiro, you have to get help, okay?" he murmured. "I'll buy time, but you need to go. I'm counting on you."
"B-But-"
His world slowed as Fred smiled, something so soft and tender that it made more tears well up in Hiro's eyes.
By this time his hands were free and Fred guided Hiro up onto his feet and ruffled his hair. "Run. And whatever you do, whatever you hear, don't look back. Can you do that for me, Hiro?"
Hiro stared up at the teen and with fresh tears streaming down his cheeks, he nodded and whirled around, bare feet slapping against the tile. He'd get help. He'd promised. He had to.
The silence was calm and still, the only true sound being the shuffling of papers being turned and pencils scratching out answers.
Tadashi sighed through his nose and struggled to focus on the test question he had read about four times now. Despite the stillness, the sixteen year old couldn't help but feel that there was some charge to the air. It set him on edge.
He started reading the passage over again for the fifth time, hoping that maybe this time, it would sink in. The silence was shattered by the door slamming open.
"TADASHI!"
Tadashi's head shot up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. "Hiro?"
It really was Hiro. But something was… off. The teen quickly catalogued everything that was wrong with the picture in front of him. His little brother's cheeks were flushed and tear stained, his breath coming out in wheezes like he'd run from one end of the campus to the other. He didn't have a shirt on. Tadashi's brain stalled. Hiro didn't have a shirt on. The kid who'd taken to wearing hoodies and longsleeves everywhere wasn't wearing any of his comfort clothes. Something was wrong. Then, Tadashi spotted the blood and his world stopped.
He was up and out of his seat before he knew he'd moved to the door. "Hiro!"
Hiro gazed up at his older brother, looking wildly lost and still out of breath. "Tadashi - Fred… it's bad." he said through heaving gasps of air, "Fred needs help!"
"Mr. Hamada! If you take one more step you'll find yourself failing that test!"
Whispers broke the silence even further. Tadashi tensed as his mind processed the order.
"Mr. Aquino, with all due respect, I'll take that chance."
The portly man spluttered. "Mr. Hamada, I don't think you understand the ramifications if you fail this test! A school will miss your genius."
His heart stuttered in his chest, memories calling up the fact that this test was worth about 80% of his total grade. If he failed this class… it would make him ineligible for that scholarship to SFIT.
A mere glance at Hiro's desperate and tear stained face solidified his wavering resolve.
"Mr. Aquino, sir, some things are more important than grades. Flunk me, drop my grade to a D or an F, I don't care. But if you think that for one second I won't walk out that door, you can go and eat that wig on your head."
Aquino let out a pig like squeal of shock as the school's science star stepped over the threshold of the door and to Hiro's side. The entire classroom erupted in an uproar. Some cheered, some whistled, while others merely cackled at the flummoxed expression Aquino had gained.
Tadashi shrugged off his sweater and placed it on trembling boney shoulders, bending down so he was eye level with his little brother. "Hiro? What happened?"
Hiro glanced to the side to avoid meeting Tadashi's eyes, making the elder Hamada's concern grow. "Fred needs help."
"Hiro please." Tadashi begged, gently turning his face that was surely going to bruise so he could look at his brother in the face.
Hiro shuddered, slamming his eyes shut. "I don't know, okay!? He - I -" he choked on air, breathless in horrified agony. "I passed out, I don't know what happened to me!"
Tadashi's eyes narrowed further, rage beginning to boil in his chest. "Did Fred do something-"
"No, no, you've got it all wrong!" Hiro shouted, clutching his older brother's shirt in shaking hands. "He saved me! And now he's getting hurt and it's all my fault!"
Tears welled up in the younger boy's eyes and Tadashi swallowed. "Who's hurting him, Hiro?"
Hiro sniffles and shook his head miserably. "You won't believe me if I tell you."
"I will, you just gotta trust me." Tadashi looked into Hiro's eyes and let the boy search them before continuing earnestly, "I trust you, Hiro. I know you wouldn't lie to me, not with something serious like this."
Hiro swallowed thickly, wiping away snot and tears on the back of his hand. "It's Thomas, Tadashi - it's bad. It's really, really bad. You gotta believe me, Onii-san!" he practically wailed.
Tadashi has frozen, dim memories of when he first saw Fred in the same room as Thomas filling his mind.
Fred shying away from Thomas.
Thomas' lack of personal space around Fred.
Fred nearly punching Thomas in the face and instead punching him in the gut when the elder cousin got too close.
It wasn't enough, but the near complete picture was enough to make his blood boil.
"That bastard!" he muttered and Hiro flinched back at the viterol in his tone and the fact that he even swore.
"N-Nii-san?"
It was then that Tadashi remembered that he had made it a point to never swear in front of Hiro. ...oops… The sixteen year old thought with a wince.
"Hiro, I believe you." Tadashi said more softly, making eye contact again, trying to convey his sincerity. "But I need you to go get a teacher or a security guard while I go try and break the fight up, okay?"
Hiro paled, swallowing thickly. "Y-You're not… you're not gonna like it, Nii-san." he mumbled, visibly shaking. "You're not."
Tadashi sighed and pulled his brother into a hug despite how tense Hiro became. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Otouto."
"Just save Fred. Save him, okay?" Hiro whimpered into his shoulder. "He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't!"
"No one does." Tadashi agreed, before pulling away.
Hiro started peeling off the sweater but Tadashi shook his head with a wry smile and tugged it back onto Hiro's lanky shoulders, covering the red skin. He gently buttoned it up all the way to the top so it wouldn't fall off.
"Keep it on, please."
Hiro nodded weakly, fingers curling up around the extra fabric that drowned his hands and then he took a few steps forward and buried his head in Tadashi's stomach. "You'll save him, right Tadashi?"
Tadashi put a hand on Hiro's head and carded his fingers soothingly through the small boy's hair. "Of course I will. I promise." Tadashi said before pulling away. "Now, was it by Mr. Arwald's room?"
Hiro nodded mulishly. "It's a bit farther down, no one really goes there right now. I think all the teachers have prep periods."
"The math department then." Tadashi realized. He clapped a hand gently on his little brother's shoulder and nodded at him. "I know exactly where that is."
The two brothers parted ways, feet pounding against tile. Both were confident in the same thing:
Help was coming.
AN: *pops out from behind bulletproof glass to wave* I'M ALIVE! *hides behind bulletproof glass again* Before any of you kill me just know that if I die, Mel doesn't have the rest of the story so you'd get nothing.
How many of you saw this happening, I'm curious.
And yes, A Cage of Fire is still in progress but I'm prety sure you can see why I've been championing for you guys to read her part. She's still a few chapters behind me in plot but she'll quickly catch up, don't worry!
BIG THANKS GO TO MEL BECAUSE WITHOUT HER HELP ALOT OF THIS WOULD JUST BE WEIRD RAMBLINGS WITH NO COHERENCE.
As always, BIG THANKS GO TOOOOO: Melanie-March, DreamGirll, Dani, E, regularshow565, ArianadXaia, DisneyandWildKrattfangirl, narniac4aslan, Sabeloid, DestinyWing, teengens, seems-pretty-legit, KHMugiwaraRocks15, sherlywherlylock, xFaerieValkyriex, Terpischore, KodiakWolfe13, RusYRP, wubtastical, Me (what are you talking about I read all my reviews! Thank you for your kind words *hugs*), Atariel Tsukai, whiteraven, Purpalz Miner, Shiny, Sand-wolf579, Guest (#1), Carson L (I honestly don't trust myself to not botch the culture so I don't risk it with this. Also, in my mind this school is on the outskirts of SanFran Sokyo, and there can be a multitude of other reasons for the kids' ignorance.), Lianne Yoffa, .prevail, Guest (#2), awesometacos, ATRpie, Guest (#3), bibliophilea (*hugs* oh my goodness, I am so glad your Hiro is still here! I hope you enjoyed your reading *cackles*), aaaaaaand Guest (#4).
Thank you all for reading! Here, beat up Thomas on your way out. *throws Thomas out from behind the bulletproof glass*