Open, Warm Arms

¹²

You visibly tensed up. You shoved passed Kiyoko and grabbed Itami by the collar of his shirt.

"How aggressive? I didn't know you were so protective." Itami mocked. "You might want to be careful what you do to me. I have your brother, remember? I can kill him if you're not careful."

"You won't do shit to him, Itami." You glared up at him.

"Won't I? You know what I'm willing to do to you if I don't get my way, how could you be so sure of what I'll do?" Itami said, smirking down at you.

You glared at him for a few seconds before pushing him back as you let go of his shirt. He only stumbled back before straightening his posture.

"Where is he?" You said more as a statement than a question.

Itami walked towards you and towered over you. He leaned down and went next to your ear.

"Meet at the tree where we first met at 2:45 A.M. next Saturday. If you don't show up, your brother is dead. It's you or him, Y/N." He whispered into your ear, making your eyes widen.

He smirked as he stood up and saw your reaction. He took a step away from you and stared at you for a few moments.

"This is your one and only chance. Choose wisely." He said before turning to walk to his classroom.

It was quiet for a moment.

"What did he say to you?" Kiyoko immediately asked. "What did he mean? Is your brother okay?"

"My brother is okay." You said. "He was just saying some stupid threat."

"Oh, okay." Kiyoko said, unsure. Asahi gave you a concerned look.

"Let's just go to class." You gave a nervous smile.

~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~

You woke up at one. You turned off your alarm. You sat up and looked around. You got out of bed and took a quick shower, putting on a plain outfit. Jeans and an oversized shirt. You snuck into your brother's room and grabbed two of his hoodies. You put one on and tied the other around your waist for your brother. It was supposed to be the coldest night of the current month and you didn't want him to be too cold.

You walked to the door and put on a pair of shoes. You walked to the exact spot Itami said. You were 30 minutes early. You got a call from Asahi. You answered. 

"Hello?" You said into the phone.

"Hey, Tsukishima-chan. Did I wake you up?" Asahi asked. He sounded tired.

"No, I couldn't sleep." You gave a partial lie, leaning against a tree.

"Okay, I'm glad I didn't wake you." Asahi muttered. He sounded really tired, like he just woke up.

"Is something wrong, why did you call this late?" You asked, a little worried.

"I wanted to call to ask if I could come over." Asahi said.

"Why? Are you tired?" You looked up, seeing faint stars in the sky.

"I kinda just wanna hang out with you and we don't have school tomorrow so I thought you wouldn't mind." Asahi said.

"It might not be a good idea, I don't want to wake up my mom or brother." You muttered.

It was silent for a moment.

"Asahi?"

"I heard Itami." He said.

"...what?" You tensed up and your eyes widened.

"I heard what he said. I'm worried about you, Tsukishima-chan." Asahi confessed. "You shouldn't trade yourself for anyone else's safety. You've been through enough."

"And what should I do? I'm not going to leave my brother to die." You claimed. "There's nothing else I can do. By doing this, there is a small chance that Kei and I both make it out alive. Kei will die if I don't do this."

"Yeah but what if you die?" Asahi asked. 

You were quiet for a second. You took your phone away from your ear and sighed.

"It'll be worth it. Kei may be an asshole but he doesn't deserve to die at 16." You said into your phone. "I have to do this, Asahi. I'll see you soon, if I'm lucky. Bye."

You hung up before he could respond, feeling a little bad. You put your phone on silent and put it in the pocket of the jacket around your waist.

A car soon drove up, the gravel and the car road being the only sounds you heard. You heard a car door open and someone walk towards you.

"You're early." Itami stated, coldly.

"I've been here since 2:15." You said back, looking up at Itami. "Been up since 1:00."

"Hm." Itami hummed in acknowledgment. "Well, since it's only in 5 minutes..."

Itami walked to the back door of his car, opening the door and revealing Kei. He had a tired, broken look until he saw you. You watched his eyes widen with hope and surprise.

"...as promised, Y/N." Itami said, grabbing a knife and grabbing Kei's wrist. You got worried for a moment but watched him only cut the generous amount of zip-ties around Kei's wrists. Kei instantly got out of the car, and ran over to you, pulling you into a tight hug.

You both fell to your knees, you taking Kei's weight due to him leaning on you. You heard him start to sniffle, making you assume he's starting to cry. He buried his face into your shoulder.

"He was roughed up a little. My sisters came back and... you know why they were sent off." Itami said, a little amusement in his tone near the end of his statement. 

"How bad are you hurt, Kei?" You asked, lifting his head out of your sister. "Where were you hurt?"

Kei sniffled a little bit and rubbed the tears from his eyes. "Um... there's a cut on my left arm... and my left thigh." He said, pulling up his short sleeve and showed you the cut on his arm. "And a lot of deep cuts around my chest and stomach... those were bandaged a bit though."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Kei." You whispered, feeling a lump in your throat. "Oh! Uh..."

You grabbed the hoodie around your waist and untied it, handing it to Kei. He let go of you and looked at it for a moment.

"I know it's cold and I don't want you freezing to death." You muttered.

"Thanks." Kei said, taking his jacket and putting it on. "It is pretty cold."

"Y/N." Itami said. "You know your end of the bargain, right?" 

You paused for a moment. You nodded and stood up. Kei seemed a little bit frozen in shock.

"What does he mean, Y/N?" Kei asked, worried.

"I gotta go, Kei." You said, walking to the car. "Get home safe or I'll tell the 'annoying gang' that you like dinosaurs... check the pockets after we leave."

You got into the passenger seat of Itami's car. He drove off after a few seconds.

Kei stood there for a minute and put his hands in his pockets. He didn't even need to feel around to feel your phone, yet he gasped anyway. He quickly pulled it out of the pocket. He knew your phone password by watching over your shoulder a few too many times. He looked at your recent contact list and saw Asahi as the first one. He only thought of embarrassment for a half of a second before calling him. It only took one ring.

"Tsukishima?" Asahi asked, a little frantic.

"Hey. Right name, wrong person, sorry." Kei spoke, hating how pathetic his voice sounded from him crying a bit ago. "Quick question, do you have a driver's license?"