Hitomi sat patiently on the bleachers, laying beside a sleeping Jirou while she buried her head in her script.
"What're you doing here at morning practice?" Gakuto leaned over the railing to ask.
She looked up, and tried hard not to yawn, "Jirou would've missed practice entirely if I didn't sleep over last night."
"You were over at his place? For the night?" Gakuto's eyes widened, "And your dad was okay with it?"
Hitomi laughed.
"What would Jirou do? Sleep on me?" She asked with a giggle; Gakuto pictured Jirou accidentally rolling onto Hitomi. Truth be told, she'd never stand for it, so his worry over her virtue lessened.
"I wouldn't put it past him." Oshitari came over and leaned against the railing during their break. The other night Hitomi had stayed overnight at his place, and now Jirou's? Something was definitely up, he thought, "We should be getting back to practice, Gakuto."
"Oh come on, Yuushi, we've been working our butts off and Atobe's not even here yet. Let's relax before his highness gets his royal rump to school."
Hitomi laughed again, and before Gakuto could crack another joke to make her laugh there was a rather irked and forceful cough that commanded their attention.
"My 'royal rump' says you should be getting back to practice rather than acting like a clown to entertain a bystander." Atobe crossed his arms from the top of the bleachers.
Hitomi hid half of her face with the movie script she held, hiding her wide smile (though they could tell by her eyes that she was), and watched as Gakuto gulped and scurried off to the court. Oshitari shook his head at his friend, and followed the scared redhead for a practice match against Shishido and Chotarou.
"Jirou," Hitomi poked the side of the narcoleptic and giggled, "Atobe's here for practice."
"Wha- our match! Atobe~!" Jirou jolted awake, sitting up in excitement quickly and waving his arms for a match with his captain. His erratic movements surprised Hitomi, and as a result she fell off the bleacher they were on, having been hit in the shoulder by Jirou's wild arms.
"Ow!"
"Jirou!" Shishido was the first to scold. The whole club had stopped their activities- it wasn't everyday that Jirou would be awake and hyperactive, let alone in the morning -and saw Hitomi land on her arm.
"Hitomi-senpai, are you okay?" Ootori asked in concern, it seemed like she had taken quite the fall, especially with how she reacted. Her face had contorted in pain, and she cradled her arm carefully after sitting up.
Jirou looked down from his spot, and his eyes widened, "Hitomi-chan! Gomen'ne, I didn't mean to hurt you!"
He helped her up, gripping her other arm to pull her to stand, but he stopped when Hitomi waved him away. He hadn't noticed that she had cringed in the process of doing so.
Shishido rolled his eyes, "Be more careful with yourself, Jirou. Geeze, how lame can you get?"
"I'm fine," She began to laugh, "Does sleeping that much make you that strong? It felt like Kabaji had bulldozed over me."
"Heheh, well..." Jirou's hands went behind his head sheepishly at the comment. He was always one for compliments, and loved it especially when his friends gave him one.
Oshitari noticed how she was turning the conversation away from her as Jirou spoke about how he and Kabaji had been having practice matches.
"Speaking of practice matches, I think you have one this morning." Hitomi laughed at Jirou, "Careful now, you wouldn't want to hurt the captain, now would ya?"
"Like I could even touch Atobe! He's too awesome at tennis." Jirou grinned, "But I can always try!"
"Good luck!" She nodded, laughing as Jirou grabbed his racquet and headed over to the court.
Hitomi turned her back to the courts, and faced the bleachers, where her script had fallen over during the debacle. Now that no one could see her she let her smile down, and couldn't help but hold her hand over her injured arm. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw that no one behind her was looking. She rolled the sleeve of her school blazer up slowly, careful not to touch the injury. Before she even got to her elbow there was a dark red band around her forearm, and some bruises splotched in random areas. She let out a soft sigh, and pulled her sleeve down to hide them once more; trying to see the injury now would be useless.
She closed her eyes, 'Not one of the best nights I've ever had.'
"Oshitari, take her to the nurse."
Her eyes opened at the voice beside her. God she was so stupid! She forgot that Atobe still had to walk down the bleachers to get to the courts. He must have seen her!
"It's nothing, really." She laughed off.
"If my team is responsible for causing injuries we'll make sure to help take care of them as well." Atobe replied without missing a beat in his step. It was as if he was talking to her in passing.
"But I-"
Atobe watched his club carefully from the front row, not bothering to listen to Hitomi's protest as Oshitari passed by him.
"Ore-sama will pay for any of the expenses if it leads to a trip to the hospital." He told the tensai.
Oshitari nodded, and was careful in guiding Hitomi away from the courts by placing his hand at the small of her back. She moved forward quickly to avoid contact.
"God, I was so stupid I forgot he was there, Yuushi!" She hissed on their way to the nurse. Hitomi glanced back, seeing that the Ice King was still observing his courts.
"Keep walking forward, you can explain when we reach the nurse's."
"But..."
Atobe's eyes looked to where the two had disappeared to, unable to hear anymore of the conversation when they'd gotten farther away. He focused his attention on the courts in front of him again.
"Jirou, let's have that match, ah~n?"
"This is just a touch more serious than I thought it'd be, little lady."
Hitomi watched as the nurse's plump fingers held her right arm gingerly, examining that and the left.
"Is everything okay at home, Ito-chan?"
"Home?" Hitomi blinked with wide, surprised eyes, the blue in them gleamed with such a sparkle that she gave off the appearance of innocence.
The nurse coughed to cover up how uncomfortable she felt, "You've not gotten into any trouble, now have you?"
"Trouble..." Hitomi could only repeat. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Yuushi staring at her, waiting to see what she would say. She straightened her back in realization and laughed, "Oh! Of course not, Haruno-sensei, you should see the other children involved; I was lucky."
"You were in a fight?" The nurse asked.
Hitomi shook her head sheepishly and laughed once more, "Not a fight, sensei, we were just playing a game and it turned out to be more than I expected it to be. Is there anything I can take for the pain?"
"Ah, yes, yes," The nurse nodded, turning around to exit, "I'll get some acetametaphine for you and an ice pack. Sit tight, little lady."
"Thank you, Haruno-sensei!" Hitomi smiled sweetly, and Oshitari politely moved out of the nurse's way, opening the curtain for the woman and closing it off from the rest of the room as soon as she walked out. Once the curtain closed Hitomi stopped smiling, and frowned at her friend when he spoke.
"A fight with children?" He asked, "I suppose it's true someone fought with you, I don't believe you fought back, though."
"A good lie is one that is closest to the truth." Hitomi shrugged, she held her hand out for her school blazer, and Oshitari's brow rose. She sighed, "Please?"
"Does Jirou know?"
Hitomi tried not to reply, seeing the look of disappointment on Oshitari's face annoyed her, but she finally gave in, "No. He fell asleep after I told him that I came from a match not too far off. I'm retired, remember? I don't play any matches anymore so I can focus on auditions."
"Rather than focusing on that you should be taking care of more important matters. Matters such as, perhaps, your father?" Oshitari asked as he ignored her outstretched hand, holding her wrist and moving her arm up. He wanted to see just how bad this injury was.
She winced, feeling the sharp pain in her arm, and swat his hand away, "It wasn't his fault, Yuushi. He was having a bad day and I offended him while he was drinking- he had no idea what he was doing."
"I'm assuming he had no idea what he was doing all those other times this happened." Oshitari crossed his arms and leaned against the table next to the bed.
"He didn't! ...he didn't. This one wasn't so bad, okay? I just need to stay over at your place till he's sobered up for his next meeting." She fixed the folds of her skirt and began to play with the buttons of her shirt, trying to appear absent-minded so as not to look at Oshitari. He was always disappointed after this happened, she knew.
But she couldn't help herself, her father provided for her, albeit stingily, and he was so charming in front of other people. He was so charismatic and she believed that he could still be like that behind closed doors, though the marks on her body proved otherwise. He worked too hard, and had too much money to manage- that was what she blamed it on. He had to drink so as to not crack under the pressure and she was at home when he was drunk. He was always aggressive when he was drunk, she knew that well. But it wasn't his fault. He was aggressive only because he worked too hard at his job and he was good at pushing deals for more money. If only he didn't have to work or show off all his money to impress people, then he would be okay.
"No."
"He'll be oka- wait, Yuushi, what?"
"Oi, Atobe, you just got here! Where ya goin'?" Gakuto asked.
Atobe looked over his shoulder, "Oshitari has been gone far too long for ore-sama's liking. We'll be checking to make sure everything is alright, na, Kabaji?"
"Usu."
Jirou grinned and ran up to the two, "Ah! Then Hitomi-chan will be there, I can say sorry again!"
"I hope she's alright." Ootori said with concern. He knew how some people would get hurt because of Jirou's carelessness.
Shishido crossed his arms and scoffed, "Che, she'll be fine. It was just a fall from her seat. It's lame to think that she'd be injured from that after seeing her play tennis with those street kids."
"Shishido-san!" Ootori was quick to berate his senpai's crass attitude, "She could have fallen on it wrong, after all she looked very hurt afterwards."
"Yeah? Then let's go see how bad it is!" Gakuto grinned, pulling along Hiyoshi, "Atobe, wait up!"
Atobe should have predicted this, and he knew he should have when the regulars were suddenly at his side, "Taki, you're in charge while we're gone. Make sure everyone is doing well; exceed ore-sama's expectations!"
"Hai, buchou!" Taki turned to the non regulars and began doing the exercises, and Atobe was satisfied enough with that to begin heading to the nurse's office.
It wasn't very far from the tennis courts, or the gym, and when they'd opened the door they saw the nurse walk out.
"Ah! Atobe-kun, kids, what can I do for you?" She asked.
"We're here to see Hitomi-chan, she in there?" Gakuto asked.
"He didn't!" They all turned to glance at the back of the room after hearing Hitomi. Once it died down Haruno-sensei nodded.
"Ah, of course you are. Yes, yes, she's lying on one of the beds right now, next to the one you usually lie on, Jirou-kun. Oshitari-kun is being a gentleman by waiting with her. I'll be getting her medicine now, so just go ahead inside."
"Thank you, Haruno-san." Atobe nodded as he walked in. After passing the desk they walked further to the back of the long room, and Jirou happily took his place on his bed and laid down.
"-I just need to stay at your place till he's sobered up for his next meeting."
"No."
"Good. He'll be oka- wait, Yuushi, what?"
'A gentleman, indeed.' Atobe thought.
Oshitari explained bluntly, he and Hitomi hadn't heard any of them enter, and the curtain had blocked their view, "This has happened far too many times; I won't allow you to come back to my place to heal just for you to run back there to get hurt again. Tell Sai." He saw how terrified she had been, had he not been known for shutting out his emotions he would have retracted his words immediately, because he could see tears beginning to form.
"Run back there?" She held them back stubbornly and clenched her jaw, "If I went to Sai he would keep me away from there as long as possible. He said so himself."
There was her home, and how dare he speak of it as if it were a hell!
"I know, I told him to." Oshitari said.
She glared, "What was the point of that?"
"I was testing to see if you can actually hear me. Apparently you can, you just choose not to listen."
The light snoring caught both student's attention, and there was a small thud followed by an even harder one.
"You idiot! Your sleeping gave us away!" Gakuto yelled at, what Hitomi and Oshitari assumed to be, Jirou.
Their assumptions were confirmed once Jirou groaned, "Ow..."
Oshitari quickly opened the curtain, and even he couldn't hide his surprise. Hitomi gasped and pulled her blazer from Oshitari's hands, shielding her bare arms from them all. She looked at her friends.
Oshitari's eyes met with that of Atobe's, who was glaring down at Oshitari with a look that commanded for him to explain. All of them looked at Oshitari to explain, silent because they had no idea how to word their reactions. If they were correct, then it would mean that Hitomi was being-
She began to giggle, "What're you doing on the floor, Jirou? Did karma get back at you for me?"
"Oi! Don't change the subject!" Shishido snapped at her.
Atobe's mouth turned to a grim line, "By all means, don't stop the conversation on account of our presence."
Hitomi was taken aback by how angry Shishido was, even more so because of the venomous tone Atobe spoke with, and tried recovering with a confused laugh, "What are you talking about?"
"What you've literally just said not two seconds ago!" Shishido barked at them.
"Hitomi-senpai, if something is the matter you can tell us. We're your friends." Ootori tried using a calmer approach than his doubles partner.
"You're very sweet, Chotarou," Hitomi smiled appreciatively and laughed, "But honestly, I don't know what's gotten Shishido's panties in a bunch. Oshitari and I were just talking about how he and Sai have cut me out of street matches for my own good. I was getting hurt too much and I need to focus more on my acting roles, anyway."
"Really? Cause to me it sounded exactly like one of Chotarou's dad's cases of child abuse." Shishido pointed out with a rough grunt.
She shook her head, "My father works hard, it's a wonder I even see him at home. Right, Oshitari?"
Oshitari finally broke eye contact with Atobe, and both boys looked to Hitomi. She forced her smile at Oshitari.
"Tell them my father works hard."
The blue haired tensai couldn't believe how stubborn she was. They were clearly caught in the lie and she still refused to admit defeat.
Her fake smile tensed further more when he was silent, "Tell them."
"He works hard for his money."
"Thank you. Now, what were you saying about abuse?"
"Children, I'm back!" A faraway voice called.
Soon the nurse entered the room, and she smiled when she saw Hitomi smiling at her, "Now take this for the pain and apply this ice pack for fifteen minutes- no more and no less. Got it, little lady?"
Hitomi giggled at the nickname once more, and gratefully took the pills with water, "Hai!"
Haruno held the ice pack with a fond smile, "You should apply this to the injury, Ito-chan. And if you could take your blazer off I can see what more we can do for your arms."
"Uhm... With everyone here?" Hitomi asked, she was clearly uncomfortable at the prospect of revealing her bruises to her friends that hadn't seen.
The nurse's eyes lit up in realization, "Oh! Of course not, I'm sorry, boys, but it's time you head to class. Children these days, honestly, playing so rough that it's got a girl icing bruises."
"A little rough play makes us kids stronger, Haruno-sensei." Hitomi charmingly replied with a laugh. She was relieved when the nurse began shooing off the regulars.
"B-but wait-!" Gakuto was cut off by the closed door.
When Haruno had left Hitomi alone, the girl let out a tense sigh of relief. They knew. It was so obvious they knew but maybe, if she kept denying it, they would forget about it. They would forget about it just like she did, and they would think about it in their own homes, without anyone to ask, like she did.
Or so she hoped that would happen.
So I'm hoping these next few chapters will have gotten my timeline in order, which is why this chapter is a little bit extra long! It certainly is the big moving point, for Hitomi's life, anyway.