Chapter 7 – Anthrophobia & Admissions (Part 2)
Sakurako's POV
I have to be honest...I screwed up. BIG TIME. I did something so idiotic, so stupid, so regrettably moronic...that I think it's going to ruin my friendship with not only Akari, but with everyone else too.
I know, I know. Me doing stupid stuff is a completely normal thing. And feeling guilty about doing stupid stuff ISN'T a completely normal thing. But in order to understand why I feel this way, I'll have to go back a bit. Around the time I ran into Akari and Chitose in the shopping district.
I remember that moment clear as day…mainly because it happened a few hours ago. But that's beside the point. The important part of that was that I felt extremely happy to be with Akari for some reason. I mean, Chitose was there too. She did end up following us…despite getting left behind a couple of times. Either I'm faster than I thought or Chitose's really bad at running...
...
GAH! There I go getting distracted again! Explains so much as to why I'm failing my classes...
...
A-Anyway...what happened a few hours ago was...
*A FEW HOURS AGO...*
"S-Sakurako, please slow down! Wh-Where are you taking me anyway?!" Akari asked as she was being dragged around the neighborhood.
"HERE WE ARE!" I shouted. We were standing in front of the one place that could make anyone happy. Even Akari with her depression.
"Th-The arcade?"
"Yep! This oughta cheer you up a little!"
"B-But…"
"*HUFF* I…I-made it! I *HUFF* c-caught up! YAAAAAaaaaa…" I was so excited about bringing Akari here that I forgot that I was just with Chitose, who managed to catch up to us. Although she looked exhausted as hell.
"Chitose…you okay?" I asked her. "You look like you're about to pass out."
"D-Don't *HUFF* w…worry…S-Sakurako. I-I'm...f-f-fine. H-Hey, wh…what are we *HUFF* d…doing at the *HUFF* ar-arcade?"
She's clearly not fine. But I'm pretty sure that she only ran this far just to keep an eye on me. So, I might as well tell her what I'm doing.
"I gonna try to cheer Akari up a little!"
"O-Oh, r…really? Th-That's *HUFF* n-nice of you, Sa- *HUFF*...S-Sakurako…"
"You sure you don't need any water?"
"I-I'm p…p…positive." Chitose then walked over to the nearest seat in the arcade and collapsed on top of it. Dropping the shopping bags she had in her hands. "I-I'm just gonna ta…ta…taaaaaa…"
*SNOOZE*
Sh-She fell asleep…
...
...
...
"A-Anyway, Akari…I'm gonna help you regain your confidence!" I said to her.
"Th-That's really nice of you, Sakurako. B-But like I said...I-I don't want to be out here. P-People are just going to stare and say horrible things about me like I'm some sort of monstrosity."
"So what if they do? They're just stuck up pricks that don't like anything different!"
"A-And they have a mean way of showing it, too..."
"Well, if they do have anything to say, I'll kick their ass right then and there! Nobody's going to bully my friend!"
Akari didn't respond and just stared at me with total shock. Tears eventually started running down her eye...making me think she was going to cry again. But then she said something that caught me off guard.
"S-Sakurako…Th-Thank you."
For some reason...what she said...and how she said it…it made my heart beat like crazy. I was blushing so hard that people could mistake my head for a tomato. I've never felt this way before.
G-Geez, is this what Ayano feels like when she talks to Kyouko?
"Uh…n-no problem, Akari. Th-That's what friends are for."
"Y-Yeah...I-I guess. Th-Then I'm really glad to have you as a friend, Sakurako."
"Y-Yeah…me too."
We both then went inside the arcade, past the row of chairs where Chitose fell asleep, and went to have fun with each other…
As friends...
Just friends...
Nothing more than a pair of friends...
Friends...
Friends...
Fr-Friends...
...
...
...
OKAY, SCREW THIS! I CAN'T KEEP UP THIS BULLSHIT LIE ANYMORE! I have to be honest about something! Yes, it's a truth in the middle of another truth. It's my part of the story! I can explain it however I want! So shut up and listen!
Y-You see...th-the truth on top of the truth is that…th-that I'm in love with Akari!
And it's not "all of a sudden" either. I've been in love with her since we met on the first day of attending Nanamori. Her short but shining red hair, her sparkling purple eyes, her kind and innocent smile whenever she's happy...with all of that, it was love at first sight for me.
Sure, we became friends...but I wanted to confess my love to her since day freaking one. And make her mine forever.
Unfortunately...I was too scared to do such a thing.
So, I sat back and watched. Watched as Akari kept getting ignored, forgotten, left behind, and now bullied. I now hate myself for not doing anything about it before. And I completely blame myself for it.
...
Well okay, some of it I blame Himawari, but most of it's my fault. I'm sure you already know this, but Himawari and I knew each other when we were younger. But then something happened between us and now we're, how you say...rivals, in a way.
With us two constantly bickering at each other, I've haven't been spending time with Akari much. That's the part where I blame Himawari for. I seriously don't get how or why people believe that we're in love with each other. Those people over on those fanfiction sites don't know what the hell they're talking about!
...
*sigh* I'm going off-track again, aren't I?
Anyway...when Akari suffered that injury a couple of days ago, I figured that it'll be my chance to get closer to her. I even had the chance to walk her home after school for a couple of days when Chinastu got sick. But thanks to my scatterbrained memory, I ended up forgetting and…well you know what happened after that.
So this time, I'm going to screw up! I already failed Akari twice, and I'm NOT going to let it happen again! I'LL SHOW YOU ALL!
"So what game do you want to play first, Akari?" I asked her.
"W-Well…I-I'm not sure. I'm not really good with arcade games. Or any games for that matter."
"It's okay. You're looking at the Master of Games right here! I can teach you any game you want!"
"R-Really? Thanks, Sakurako. Uh…how about this one?" Akari then pointed to the first game she managed to see with her one eye.
"Guitar Rhythm? Ooh~...that game recently came out. It's super popular...but also difficult. It has a Super Expert difficulty that requires real good hand-eye coordination and..." I then covered my mouth after realizing what I had just said.
"Oh. So, I'll just suck at this game. Much like everything else in this world..."
Damnit! Why did I say that?!
"L-Let's just look for a different game, Akari." I quickly changed the subject as I searched for another game to play. "Aha! This one should be fine, right?"
"Uh...Ridge Racer?"
"It's a game Namco made back in the 90s. It's so good that it even rivals SEGA's Daytona USA."
"Really? Wow...the only racing game I've ever played was Mario Kart."
"What?!" I yelled in total shock. "I mean, no hate against Mario Kart or anything...but there are a TON of racing games that are better than that. And I'll prove it right now with Ridge Racer!"
"B-But...why this game specifically?"
"Because, Akari...it's Ridge Racer! Riiiiidge Racer!"
"Uh...okay." Akari gained a huge sweatdrop.
I couldn't help it. I just love that meme.
We sat down at two of the machines, each picked out a car, and eventually, started the race. And to my surprise, Akari was really good. We were neck 'n neck the whole race and she actually beat me by a few milliseconds.
It was the first time I lost in a video game in a while. But I was willing to let that sly.
Better her than Kaede...
"Wow, Akari! You're really good!" I cheered.
"Th-Thanks, Sakurako. That really was fun. Thanks for playing with me."
"N-No, problem, Akari." I felt my heart skip a few beats. Akari praising me really made me feel good inside.
...
K-Keep it together, Me! Now's not the time for that kind of stuff!
"S-So...you wanna play again?" I asked.
"Sure, let's g-
"Hey, squirts! Get off! We want to play!"
Suddenly, we heard a voice coming from behind us. It belonged to some boy and his friend. They both looked like they were in high school, judging from their height and how deep their voices were (one of them was even clearly overweight for his age).
"What?! Why the hell should we?!" I yelled. "There are two more machines right there!"
"I said GET OFF! We want to use these machines!"
"Yeah, so get lost!" The other boy said.
"Or…We could stay here and play the game while you two can go fuck yourselves! Sounds like a good idea to me! Hahahaha!"
"S-Sakurako..." Akari nervously said.
"Tch! You got quite the mouth for such a little brat!" The first boy yelled in anger. "Fine...if you won't get off willingly, then we'll just DRAG YOUR ASSES OFF!" He then managed to grab Akari by her hoodie and proceeded to yank her off the cabinet.
"Gah! Pl-Please, stop! D-Don't grab me there!" Akari screamed in fear as she tried to hold her grip with one hand on the wheel and the other holding on to her hoodie.
"Hey! Let go of her, asswipe!" I shouted while trying to help Akari. But was stopped midway through.
"What do you think you're doing, girly?" The second boy asked. "You're getting on the floor, too!"
"L-Let me go, damnit! This is fucking harassment!"
This struggle went on for about 5 minutes with no one else in the area willing to help us out. I managed to break free from the other guy. But when I tried to get to Akari, she lost her grip on the steering wheel and was yanked off to the floor. Making her hoodie fall over in the process and revealing her face.
"Yo, dude! Check out this freak!" The first boy said.
"Whoa...this chick only has one eye!" Replied the second boy. "What a freak of nature!"
Everyone in the arcade then began to stare at Akari with looks of disgust. Some were whispering mean things to each other while others were just straight up pointing and laughing.
"I…I…I'm not a freak!" Akari yelled while tears ran down her single eye.
"Aw~…is the little monstrosity of a girl gonna cry?" The fat boy teased.
"Look, you ugly brat! Why don't you go back underground where you belong and stay down there with the other freaks!" The other boy said. "Or better yet, why don't you just kill yourself already! Society will be better off without your crappy face roaming around! HAHAHAHAHA!"
It was then that everyone else watching joined in on laughing at Akari as she was crying full tears at this point. Seeing firsthand how she's been bullied these last few days made me feel sick to my stomach. And it also made me pissed as hell! Nobody should treat other people like this! Nobody should enjoy making others feel like crap just to make themselves feel better!
NOBODY WAS GOING TO MAKE MY AKARI CRY!
I walked over to one of the boys filled with rage and stood in front of him.
"What do you want now? You ready to start giving your senpais some respect?"
"*deep breath* Aite ni kuiaratame saseru noda. Soshite...aite o taoshite. Jihi o koe!"
"What?"
"Getsuei Denko!"
*POW* *POW* *POW* *POW* *POW* *POW*
"Gah! M-My ribs...!" The boy yelled in pain after I punched and kicked him repeatedly in the chest. Breaking most of his ribs.
"Ippon seoinage!" I then grabbed his right hand and used it to throw his entire body over me. Making him land upside down against the very same cabinets we were just fighting over.
"Pl-Please...st-stop. I-I'm sorry. J-Just please..."
"Omae no tamashī o...jigoku ni okutte yaru! Tsuri-gane Kokan!"
*POW*
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
Before the boy could even finish his begging for mercy...I shoved my foot right into the one place no guy wants to experience pain in. Really, REALLY hard.
By now, the entire arcade was dead silent. Everyone was in complete disbelief after witnessing what I did to this guy...who was now crying in serious pain from me basically destroying his manhood.
I then turned to the fat boy and said to him:
"If you want to have children in the near future, then I suggest you get the fuck out of here."
He ran away like the pathetic little wimp he really was. Ditching his friend in the process.
I then grabbed Akari's hand and dragged her away from the scene and away from people in general. Something that she wanted to do the whole time...but I refused to listen. Again.
Damnit. I really did it this time...
I decided to take Akari home after all of that mess happened. It was dead silence between the two of us the whole trip there. Not sure if any of us should bring up what happened back there.
Way to go, Me! I screwed up AGAIN! And this time I made Akari get bullied and cry in public! There's no way she'll forgive me for this! Especially after she saw me nearly murdering that guy! IT'S ALL OVER!
"Uh…h-hey, Sakurako..."
"Y-Yeah, Akari?"
"I...I-I just want to say…th-thank you. F-For sticking up for me back there."
"Huh? Y-You mean you're not scared of what I did?"
"W-Well...I-I'll admit that seeing you THAT angry was definitely not normal. What were all those moves you did on that boy?"
"Oh, um...I started taking Kenpō classes about three months ago. My grandfather runs a dojo here in town and he kinda forced me into it because of how "lazy" I tend to be."
Although, he's totally gonna kill me for using those techniques out in public...
"Wow...Kenpō...that's really amazing, Sakurako."
"Yeah...glad you think so, too." I replied with a small smile.
About 10 minutes later, we arrived at Akari's house. And as Akari was about to go inside, I grabbed her hand without hesitation.
"A-Akari…I-I just…I-I just want to say…I-I'm sorry. For dragging you around when you didn't even want to. You just wanted to come straight home after getting throat medicine but I just flat-out ignored you! *sniff* I'm such a horrible person..."
"S-Sakurako, it's okay. Really. When you really think about it...if you didn't drag me to the arcade, I would be right back to crying all day. You really made my day today."
"I-I did?"
"Yeah...I really did. I'm so grateful to have such a great friend like you, Sakurako."
There's that word again. It hurts every time she says it, but I have to deal with it. I…have…to…deal with it!
"Well...goodnight, Sakurako. See you around."
"WAIT, AKARI!" I suddenly shouted out of the blue.
"Wh-What?! What is it?!"
I stared at Akari's one-eyed face with my cheeks flushed red with nervousness. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her to bring her closer to me. Giving me a close-up view of the face I fell in love with.
And then, I did the unthinkable…
…I kissed her.
It was a long and passionate kiss on the lips. The best feeling in the world. Well...to me, it was. But I felt so horrible for Akari. After everything she's been through…being ignored, forgotten, left behind… now she lost an eye and suffers constant bullying every damn day...to the point where she hides in her room and cries all day! And yet, here I am assaulting her lips as if they belong to me! I truly am a horrible friend!
I eventually pulled away from Akari and stared at her face again, this time with tears running down my own face as I try to not break down in front of her.
"Akari…I'm sorry, but…I-I love you! I've always loved you! Ever since the day we met! I know I've chosen the WORST possible moment to confess my love for you...but I just couldn't take it anymore! I can't stand to see you so unhappy! It hurts my heart just LOOKING at it!
I can understand if you don't want to be friends anymore because of this. I wouldn't want to be friends with myself, either. But please just know this…
…I will always love you! Akari Akaza!"
Those were my final words before I turned around and ran off away from Akari and her home.
"S-SAKURAKO! W-WAIT!" I heard Akari yell out.
But I didn't stop. I didn't turn back. I didn't answer. I just kept running away from the girl I just confessed to. All while crying heavy tears of despair and sadness all the way home.
*sniff* I hate myself...I FUCKING HATE MYSELF!
Author's Note: Sakurako tries her best to cheer Akari up…but kept screwing up to the point where she almost killed a guy in public. And to make things worse for herself, she confesses her love for Akari and doesn't even stay to hear her response.
It's just like her to screw things up…but this time seems different.
This chapter also didn't receive many changes. It was already rewritten back when I was fixing errors for Akari's Depression (the original first story for this series) and I liked it so much that left it as is. With a few minor changes, of course.
Thanks for reading. Later.