Chapter Four

"How did this little butterfly find her way into my web?" I snapped back into reality and stared at the man before me. All the anger I had just felt seemed to have drained away and I was left standing somewhere in this building, empty.

"Hm?" The boy who had stopped me in my tracks had been standing a distance away, but he seemed to get closer and closer each second I failed to respond to his question until his face was mere centimeters away from mine. "You came here to see me, right? You are right in front of the boys locker room." His grin grew wider.

"…Oh." I responded automatically. I started looking around me and I saw a sign indicating that he was indeed telling the truth, but I still had no idea how I had gotten there. I looked back at the face in front of me and said, "I guess I must have gotten lost on the way out," almost as if I was answering myself.

I started to walk away, still stunned by the whole situation, until he called out to me, "What? You aren't going to congratulate the winning team?"

I stopped in my tracks and stood facing away from him. Everything came rushing back to me the moment his sarcastic tone found its way to my ears. All the emotions that he seemed to push out of me, he pulled right back in with even a stronger force, and I found myself laughing at the whole thing.

"What's so funny?" The man replied in a rather annoyed tone.

I turned around to face him, laughter still spilling out of my lips. Of course, out of all the places for my subconscious to take me, it took me here. To see the exact person I had 0 desire to see.

"Yo crazy bitch, what's wrong with you?"

I finally calmed myself down, tears still in my eyes from laughing and replied, "I never would have guessed that you could become even more disgusting than I originally thought, but here you are." Normally, when people get insulted they tend to get upset and defend themselves, but this boy that was right in front of me, he couldn't ask for anything more. His face had gone from a look of annoyance and confusion to a smirk that I would quickly grow accustomed to.

"Don't act all tough now, I saw you crying in the crowd earlier," he walked toward me once again, closing the gap between us, "you are scared of me and I know it, Baka."

"Who would be scared of a scrawny little basketball player like you? You obviously wouldn't have to play the way that you do if you were actually strong." I was playing tough, but in reality I knew what he did to my brother and I knew that it took strength to make that happen. I was scared shitless.

"Yeah, I might not be the tallest or the buffest player in the league, but I assure you," He paused, got up close to my ear, and whispered, "I am the strongest and I have no problem giving you a taste of what I can do." All of a sudden, I felt his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I tried to push him away from me, but it all proved futile; he was completely overpowering me.

"Let go of me you freak! Or else I'll–"

"Or else you will what?" 'Or else I'll beat the shit out of you' was what I was going to say, but how the hell was I supposed to do that if I couldn't even get him off of me? I felt our difference in strength, my will to fight poured out of me making my body go limp under his grasp. When ever I had been picked on or harassed my brother had been there to protect me. I relied on him so much and now he wasn't here, leaving me defenseless.

I could feel my skin go pale and Hanamiya must have noticed cause he loosened his grip on me.

"See, baka. You can't do anything to stop me. Not you and not Kiyoshi Teppei either." Kiyoshi Teppei? My brother?

My face shot up and I looked him in the eye, "How do you know I was his sister?" His grin grew wider at my response.

"I am head of the disciplinary committee. It's my job to know every one in our school and make sure they stay in line." I ignored the snide tone he gave me and just stared at him. This whole time he knew whom I was, how I felt about him. He knew. "What I did to your brother last Inter High was a master piece," he continued, "I heard he is still not back in school. Who would have thought that I would have been so successful? It excites me to see protégées turn into garbage with just a snap of a finger."

"You are repulsive." Is all I manage to say. The lump that was forming in my throat from holding back tears was making it hard to speak. All I could think of was my brother in the hospital. How his usual out going self was trapped in that barren room, with the leaky faucet.

"Even now, watching the girl who was so snarky just a minute ago break into an emotional mess," He tightened his grip around me once again, "is invigorating." I felt so weak in his grasp. The tears overtook me and I found myself crying into his chest, unable to push myself away from him, making me even more upset. "Now, now, don't cry. " He said mockingly.

He continued on, saying something that I can assume was intended to humiliate me but I couldn't hear any of it. All this time I felt so angry toward this man. I wanted to hurt him, kill him even, but now all I have left to do is cry. I am weak. I have nothing on him. I am just some dumb girl who is completely defenseless.

The faces of the players that had just tasted defeat under the hands of this man and his army came into mind. I became one of them; completely defeated and hopeless.

"Let me go." I whimpered. I had to leave. Staying there would only make things worse. I just wanted to go home.

"What's the magic word?" He teased.

"Please. Just please let me go." And he did. I wiped my tears and walked away. Head hung low, in utter defeat.

~x~

"I'm home!" I called out as I walked into the house, taking off my shoes immediately. A bunch of different smells caught my attention and lead me over to the kitchen where I saw my grandma cooking away at the stove.

"Obaasan, watcha cooking?" I asked, leaning on frame of the kitchen entrance.

"Oh, welcome home Chouko," She smiled warmly at me, "I am making a beef stew with some rice. Your Ojiisan isn't feeling so well, so I thought it best to make something hearty."

"Oh jeez, is he in his room?"

"Yes, your brother is up their with him. I think they are watching basketball."

"Go figure." I rolled my eyes and my grandmother chuckled softly. "Alright, well I gotta go get some work done, call me when foods ready!" I called, making my way up the stairs to my room.

I locked the door behind me, not bothering to even turn on the lights, and slid down to the floor with my back against the door.

"Dammit." I mumbled to myself, wrapping my arms around my knees and pulling them closer to my chest. The tears I was hiding from my grandmother found their way to my cheeks once again.

I remember sitting on floor in silence for what seemed like an eternity. The only sound to be heard was the occasional sniffle. The events of the day kept playing over and over in my head.

I was a train wreck on the way home. The walk to the bus stop, the bus ride, and the rest of the way home were just me trying to hold back my emotions but failing horribly. My friends had tried contacting me the whole way back trying to figure out what happened and at some point I just muted my phone. Now I am here and I don't know what to do.

I hated this. I hated that innocent people were suffering because of him. I hated that my brother had to endure what he did because of him. And most of all, I hated that I couldn't do anything about it. I was so useless, but then again, I always have been. Since I was a kid, I never stood up for myself. I always let people pick on me until some one else came in and helped me. All I could do was cry, and that hasn't changed a bit.

There I was, I could have said something, I could have done something to stop him, stop the way that he played.

I still can.

It was like another voice in the back of my head had spoken. It was 's not like that was the last time I would ever see Hanamiya. I could still do something, I had no idea what, but it wasn't the end. I could still fight, even if it was practically hopeless.