Masashi shook his head as he walked away. He had no idea what he had just seen in the gym, but his chest had burned when he had seen that strange mark appear on Akihiko's neck. He tried not to think about it, just as he tried not to think about anything regarding Akihiko. Ever.
Masashi walked home, his head bowed and his bag held over his shoulder. When he was younger, he had done it to mimic the cool older boys. Now, underclassmen did it to mimic him. That made him as uncomfortable as his feelings for Akihiko, but habits were hard to break and his bag felt stupid just dangling in his hand when he carried it like a briefcase, so over his shoulder it remained.
He shivered a bit in the cold weather- it looked like snow, which struck him as a little strange. Ahead of him, two girls were giggling in the crosswalk as they started across. He tried to decide whether or not to go or wait for the light. Just as he decided to stop, he heard the squeal of breaks.
That car wasn't going to stop in time.
Masashi didn't even pause to think. He threw himself forward, jumping between the girls and the oncoming car. Something in his mind clicked, and he set his shoulders firmly to take the brunt of the force, his hands outstretched in front of him. For a moment just before impact, the car was a racing carriage and the girl was his sister...
Sister? What sister?
...and then with a crunch, a painful jolt ripped through his body. He grit his teeth and dropped his weight.
And the car settled painfully on his foot.
Masashi swore, lifted the hot metal off his foot, and stepped back.
"Are you OK?" He asked the girls, who stared at him in shock.
Then he realized himself what had just happened. He had stopped a speeding car cold. With his bare hands. And then lifted that car off his foot. He looked at his hands, which were bright red and looked like they had burns, then at the crumpled front end of the car and the shaken occupants. He shoved his hands in his pockets and limped towards the sidewalk, one single thought in his mind:
What is happening to me?