Hikari had nowhere to run.
She had reached a dead end.
She turned around slowly to see her chaser slowly approaching with a smile, their bright blue eyes shining like the sun in the dark alleyway they were in.
She didn't know what would happen next, but it all seemed too fast for her liking. All she was able to make out were her own screams for help, to which nobody responded. She had her back against the wall and curled herself into a ball.
The crook put his leg on her foot and looked at her menacingly.
"Cry. Beg for me not to hate you."
The familiar voice seemed to echo everywhere around her as if he was speaking telepathically.
Hikari had lost the ability to produce words and she watched as the boy readied his hand into a fist, twirling it as a cowboy would to their lasso.
"I hate you."
She felt her heart break as a pullet of pain shot through her.
"I HATE YOU SO F**KING MUCH."
The pain struck over and over, her stomach twisting and turning with torture.
She couldn't take it anymore, and she cried for help one last time before the blonde offender delivered the final blow.
She jumped out of her hospital bed in shock and felt a sense of relief once she saw multiple pairs of familiar eyes staring at her.
Just a dream... she said, attempting to calm herself down. Just a dream.
"Are you okay?" Miyako asked, looking over to Ken and Iori to see if they saw Hikari too.
"Yeah."
"Sure?"
"Yeah."
Hikari heard the room turn silent in awkwardness as she turned to see her three friends watching over her. She remembered her brother going to get lunch and her urging her parents to go to work instead of staying for her.
Well, by parents, she meant her mom. Hikari wouldn't and couldn't bring herself to speak to her dad again after that.
She wasn't even past her first day at the hospital and she was already bored. Even homework would entertain her at this point.
"How long will you be here?" Iori asked while writing some notes down. He would do that often, and whenever she would ask why, he would just say it helped him pass the time while also documenting his experiences. He would babble on about how it might allow his future figure to be proud of his younger self, which made her giggle at how serious the short boy was about life.
"About two weeks of staying in the hospital," she said turning to him. "I can leave after that, but a full recovery will take about two months."
"I can't believe a basketball can even cause that much damage." Miyako griped, clenching her fists angrily at the memory of her friend getting hit in the head with a large orange sphere.
"I'm a bit frail." Hikari tittered.
"Still. That bastard should've been punished much more!"
Hikari's face tilted in confusion as she thought about her crush. Did something happen to him?
"What happened to Takeru?"
Miyako looked at Hikari vexedly.
"Why would it matter to you what happens to him? He hurt you! You should hate him!"
She was bemused at her friend's sudden anger before remembering that Miyako had heard the whole story of how Hikari loved the blonde boy. She must have told the others as well, as Ken didn't seem to react.
"Yet you... Ugh!"
"Inoue, calm down," Iori commanded. "you know it's her decision."
"Yeah but..."
"Inoue."
"Fine..."
Hikari frowned at the thought of her one day having to decide between her friends or Takeru.
"Do you guys hate him?"
"Of course we do! Look at what he did to you!"
Hikari felt her head ache a bit as she looked guiltily at her purple-haired friend.
"I will not hide my current dislike for Takaishi," Iori began. "however, if all the stories I have heard today are true, then it seems that he just needs friends. If so, I would be content with giving him a second chance."
"You always talk so solemnly." Ken joked.
"You guys are just too informal."
"Sure buddy." Miyako growled.
"I don't have any personal grudge against Takeru, but he got into a fight with Daisuke, so I'll just follow whatever Daisuke does."
"Ken, you're such a yes-man."
"Am not."
Hikari continued to look at her friend during all of this. Miyako noticed this and began to look back uncomfortably.
"What about you?" Hikari asked.
"Hm?"
"Are you willing to give him a second chance?"
Miyako sighed before grabbing the glass of water on the table across from her and placing the tip on her lip.
"Answer me this, Hikari."
"Ask away."
"Do you really love Takeru?"
Hikari nodded.
"Say it."
"I really love Takeru."
"Like you mean it."
"There aren't enough breaths in my body for me to tell you how much I adore him."
Miyako gave her a look and smirked.
"You know... if I decide to give that scumbag another chance... then I'm going to tease you to hell and back about him."
"I know," she said smirking back. "I've prepared accordingly."
Miyako grinned and sat up straighter. "It's a deal then!"
Hikari smiled back as Taichi came back in carrying bags of food.
As she ate her meal her brain tracked back to Takeru. Is he okay? Miyako implied that something happened to him...
"What happened to Takeru?"
Everyone was too busy with their food to notice her question except Iori.
"He got a two-week suspension," he reported, causing everyone to stop their food and focus on what he was saying. "and after he comes back he'll have to clean the school every day for another two weeks, as well as apologize in front of you during our next assembly."
"In front of the entire school?!" Hikari gasped.
"Hikari, everyone in the school already knows about the incident. Even some people from other schools."
Hikari's heart fell and her face shook with panic.
"...Everyone...?"
"Yes, Hikari. Everyone."
Hikari thought about how much Takeru hated getting attention for his wrongdoings. He would always be visibly pissed off or irritated when many people would witness him getting scolded. He deserved it for the problems caused, of course, but the entire school? His head was probably bombing with anger!
"Oh my god he probably hates me!" she cried, looking down at herself in disgust and sadness.
"I would too." Miyako mumbled.
"Miyako you're not helping!"
"Hikari, the fact that he hasn't beaten you to a pulp means that he doesn't have you," Taichi reassured her. "but I suppose if he had then he'd already be dead."
"Or he just has respect." she sighed.
"Then apologize and explain everything and his respect will force him to forgive you."
"It's not that easy."
"You'll never know 'till you try."
Hikari looked at the mirror directly opposite her and turned her attention to the white bandage covering half of her head. She was angry at him, obviously, but more than that, she was curious. She wanted, no, she needed to find out what was going on in the head of the boy she loved.
»»————- ✼ ————-««
Takeru lifted the blanket from over his head and slowly got up from his small bed. He glanced at the clock to his immediate right and sighed in irritation.
9:19 PM... I was supposed to nap until 7:00.
He made his way to the front door, through the living room, and into the kitchen. He opened the cabinet on the corner and pulled out a bag of chips from the seemingly endless pack of snacks hidden in the small space.
He grabbed a book from their shelf and jumped face-first onto the couch in the living room. He always did that, and it always felt so soft. He knew someday he would end up missing and getting hurt from it, but he didn't care.
His mom had been contacted by the school and she said she would have a long talk with him when she was back. She's supposed to be back around now...
Takeru heard the sound of someone struggling to put a key in the apartment door and sat up straighter unconsciously. He hid his chips on the pillow behind him and continued to stare at the doorway until a familiar figure popped out.
Takaishi Natsuko, Takeru's mother, was a woman of below-average height with dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She had half-Japanese and half-French ethnicity.
Natsuko placed her shopping bags on the kitchen counter and turned to her socially struggling son.
She walked over to him and stared at him. He did the same. No words were exchanged, but Takeru could tell she was angry.
"Hi mom."
"Don't 'hi mom' me," she snapped. "what has gotten into you?! You got a two-week suspension!"
"It was an accident."
"You're lying."
"The throw wasn't, but the damage done was genuinely an accident."
Natsuko stared at her son in disbelief.
"Are you serious? That's like stabbing someone and saying it wasn't your fault they died!"
"It wasn't supposed to hit her head."
"Aren't you supposed to be good at sports?"
"I wasn't paying attention."
"Why?"
"Dunno."
"And what about the other boy? You nearly fractured his jaw!!"
"And he broke my nose. He started the fight."
"It doesn't matter! You've caused so much trouble for everyone! Everyone already knows about the incident!"
"They said they're gonna make me apologize when I come back, in front of the entire school."
"Why did you throw the ball? When I talked to the girl on the phone she seemed nice! Why?!"
Takeru shrugged.
"Tell me!"
"I said I don't know."
"As soon as I find time to have a day off from work, then the two of us are going straight to both families to apologize privately!"
"No need. They hate me anyway."
"You don't have a choice," she snorted as she got up to the door leading to her room and swung it wide open. "and you're grounded. Leave your phone on the table. Now."
Takeru rolled his eyes and obeyed.
An Hour Later
Takeru sat at his desk, writing easy equations into his book and solving them. The school had purposely given him a buttload of work to complete during his suspension, but he was planning to finish it all in the next day or two.
Science, done. He thought to himself as he grabbed his science book to throw into the pile of completed work.
But as he lifted it into the air, a small picture frame popped out. It was one of those mini films which would come out of the instant cameras. He grabbed the picture and looked to see what it was.
Flashback
Click!
Takeru's eye's shot up and he noticed a familiar grinning face to his right.
"It worked!"
He groaned and looked back at the science class, only to notice the teacher was not there. The class had ended.
"Gotcha!"
He felt two hands over his shoulders as an easily recognizable figure stood behind his chair, leaning their head over his.
"You want it?"
"No."
"Take it!" she said enthusiastically, quickly slipping the frame into his science book.
"I'm going to throw it away once I'm home."
"Sure!" she giggled, hopping cheerfully to her friends waiting for her by the door.
End of Flashback
Had he forgotten? That must be it.
He wouldn't leave something like that in his book. Especially not from someone like her.
But he hadn't forgotten. And he knew he hadn't.
He kept it in there. Willingly.
Takeru looked at the girl's face in the photo and thought the same thing he had thought over a hundred times in the past week alone.
He didn't hate Hikari.
In fact, he never hated the brunette for even a second.
»»————- ✼ ————-««
"We've contacted the school and have asked them to change your class."
"You can't do that!"
It was nearly midnight and Hikari was with her mom and dad. Taichi had been forced to go to sleep at the apartment because he had school tomorrow and her parents were soon to go rest for a tough time of work the day after.
"Yes, I can. You can't and won't do anything about it. If it wasn't for your mother I would be shouting at the top of my lungs. You love him? Are you insane?!"
"I want to see him!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
"You won't stop me! I'll-"
"No."
"It doesn't matter what you say! I'll see him! I swear!"
"I SAID NO!!"
"I DON'T CARE!"
"I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOU!"
"YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR DAUGHTER'S FEELINGS! SO I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY!"
"YOU LITTLE-"
"Both of you! Stop it!"
Having been between the two the entire time, Hikari and Susumu could sense the anger and disappointment on Yuuko's face which seemed to roar louder than the words she had just yelled.
"You'll wake the whole hospital if you keep at it god damn it!"
Susumu muttered something about waiting in the car and stormed out of the room, taking the car keys with him. Hikari's mother stared in dejection before turning to her, letting out a sigh of calm as she closed the distance between the two.
"Hikari..."
"He's so annoying! Why won't he let me!"
"He's just trying to look out for you... I'm sure he understands as I do."
"He doesn't understand! I hate him!"
"I'll try talking to him..."
"And if he doesn't listen? What then? Are you gonna stop me? Because I am going to see Takeru. You can't persuade me otherwise."
"Hikari... Please don't do anything reckless... I'll try to convince him, but if he says no then we'll just have to listen to him."
"I won't!"
"Hikari, please-"
"'Please' to you! Let me see Takeru!"
Yuuko's coffee-colored eyes squinted in sadness as she gently cupped Hikari's right cheek with her soft hand.
"I'm sorry, Hikari... I promise you I'll try."
She kissed Hikari's forehead goodnight and left the room, leaving her alone.
As a mother's touch should, Hikari had calmed down and she was starting to question why she had been so angry in the first place.
The answer she reached was that she just loved the blonde that much.
The married couple sat in silence as the sounds of tires and engines echoed through their pensive minds.
"She's in 'the phase.' That must be it."
"Why are you so against it? You didn't act the same when Taichi said he liked a girl at school."
"You know for a fact that the two of them are very different. Taichi's much more... carefree, I'd say is the word to describe it. Look at him, he's practically forgotten about the girl by now! But Hikari... thinks to herself, a lot. She's serious about this. Like, probably marriage serious, which is a very bad thing."
"How's that a bad thing? All that tells us is that she genuinely cares about and loves him!"
"She's in love with a madman!"
"Susumu... you remember when we would sneak out to meet up because we were scared our parents would find out?"
"This is much different!"
"How?"
"Because that son of a b***h is going to f**king hurt her!"
"You saw how he greeted us at Taichi's party! You can tell he at least has some sort of morale. Also, Hikari's classmates say that he claims it was an accident. Clearly he didn't mean to hit her!"
"He won't even admit to his mistake! I am not in any universe going to allow that man to be a part of my daughter's life!"
"Please, Susumu! At least allow her to have one conversation with him. Let her explain the misunderstanding and get it off her chest. Who knows? Maybe they'll kiss and suddenly they're a couple now!"
"This isn't fiction, Yuuko," he growled. "and even so, Hikari is too young for that."
"Your first kiss was at fourteen! She's almost sixteen!"
"Our," he spat with a glare. "and I am not allowing her to date that man."
"I never said they have to date. Please let her speak to him... Once is all I ask! For her sake..."
Susumu pondered the plea of his wife and answered hesitantly.
"Sure." he said rather coldly.
"Thank you..."
Hikari's mom felt a weight fly off her mind and she took a deep breath as she thought about her daughter's situation.
At first she very much disliked the young boy, but once she heard the full story from Taichi, it seemed he was under a mountain of stress and in need of some sort of affection. And the story of that one rainy day in the shack proved her theory.
Ever since her teenage years, she had been a big fan of romance fiction. The way it made her heart pound with pleasure and satisfaction was heavenly.
And her heart was pounding the same way when she had first heard of her child's beloved.
I hope... I hope they find love with each other.
»»————- ✼ ————-««
Two Weeks Later
"Look! It's the girl!"
"She's the one who fought with Takeru!"
"Takeru's just jealous!"
"How dare Takeru hurt a girl!"
Hikari could hear all of it, but she chose to forget about it immediately. By the time she reached the assembly room, she hadn't remembered a single bad thing someone had said about her or Takeru.
Her parents had bought her a phone immediately after she was released from the hospital so she could call them anytime. It kept slipping from her hands when she tried holding it, but Taichi taught her how to use it and she was sure she would eventually get the hang of it.
She walked over to her class's section and sat down next to Miyako and Iori, who both gave her nods of greeting. Hikari was thankful that her dad cancelled the request to change her class, for all her friends were there and it would be hard for her to make new ones after everything that had happened. She could feel a dozen pairs of eyes staring at her, but she ignored them.
Takeru was already on the stage, being scolded by the principal, Daisuke at his side. He would just nod in exasperation, not paying attention to what the adult in front of him was saying.
"-may I please call Yagami Hikari to the front?"
Hikari looked at Miyako who patted her on the back in encouragement, to which she smiled back and made her way to the front of the room.
She couldn't keep her eyes off Takeru. She slowly walked up the small steps, keeping her gaze fixated on her crush's ocean blue eyes.
"I'm sorry." he mumbled, his eyes displaying a visible sense of regret.
Hikari felt her heart drop to her feet as she frowned at him. She wanted to run up to Takeru and hug him, apologizing for all the pain she had caused him. But in front of the whole school? No way!
She extended her arm and to Hikari's shock, he accepted immediately, shaking it gently and firmly.
His warm touch made her heart leap from her feet up to her head, hitting the edge of her skull.
I love you. I love you so goddamn much.
»»————- ✼ ————-««
"Taichi, go home without me."
"No, I'm not going to get scolded by mom and dad again."
"Then wait 15 minutes."
"Why?"
"I'm going to talk to him."
A wave of realization hit Taichi as he realized who his sister was talking about.
"I'm going to the store to buy some snacks, and then I'm coming straight back here. You better be done by then!" he smiled.
Hikari quickly began to look around the school. She started with the outdoors, looking through the windows now and then just in case she would catch him inside.
It was a good idea to start with the outdoors because, at the isolated corner of the school where no one ever went, she saw Takeru cleaning up a pile of leaves, humming some sort of song. His leaf rack made scraping sounds which annoyed Hikari's ears, but she was too focused on him that she didn't notice it.
Hikari took a very, very deep breath and strolled over to him.
She tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump and drop his rack, which made a very unpleasant sound. He looked over and his eyes widened once he saw the brown-haired girl who had put him into more trouble than he could possibly comprehend.
"Hey..." she said with a soft smile, reaching out her arm to help him up. He ignored her open hand and got up on his own, brushing the dirt off his school uniform.
Hikari pulled out a napkin and started to help him, earning a look of confusion from the blonde.
"I don't really know where to start with this..."
She looked up at his eyes. He wasn't angry so that at least meant she was on the right track.
"Please don't leave in the middle of what I'm about to say. I want you to know that I really do mean everything and I'm not pretending to be kind. Can you promise me that?"
Takeru nodded in silence.
"Thank you."
Hikari held his left hand in both of hers as if trying to make sure he doesn't run away.
"I'm sorry... For everything. I never wanted to become your enemy. I never did. All that teasing was not because I hated you... It was because I thought you would maybe open up a little more if you weren't the dominant one in a friendship. I want you to know that I'm genuinely sorry for everything and I want to apologize in any way I can."
Takeru's physical expression didn't change, but his eyes did. His eyes looked to be concentrating intensely on what Hikari was saying, taking in every word and processing the meaning before building the sentences together, as if he was a robot learning to communicate for the first time.
"I'm sorry again, Takeru... Do you forgive me?"
He took his time to respond.
"You're persistent... you know that?"
"Is that a yes...?"
"Yup."
Hikari's face lit up and her eyes sparkled bright red as she looked up at Takeru once again.
He was smiling. A genuine smile.
Her heart melted and she unconsciously wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him into a hug. It wasn't like the hug they had at the shack, though. This hug was one that two normal friends would share whenever they met.
But Hikari was fine with that. It was a start, and that was enough to send her heart flying into a fantasy land.
Takeru awkwardly pushed her away, his cheeks shining with pink. The teenage girl knew what he was trying to say.
We're not friends yet...
Hikari's expression turned to one of smugness as she booped him on the nose.
"I get a favor from you, right?"
Takeru remembered the double or nothing and grumbled.
"Ugh, sure. What do you want?"
"I want to be your friend."
Takeru froze and he stared at Hikari in shock.
"You said you needed friends, right? I want to be your first. I can introduce you to people. I can help you learn how to trust others and build friendships, you know..."
The blonde never imagined for a second that Hikari would want to be friends with him.
"After everything I did-"
"You did nothing wrong. You said it was an accident, right?"
"But... I still made a mistake by throwing the ball in the first place..."
"And I forgive you," she said, leaning in slightly. "please let me be your friend, Takeru."
"Why...? I've never been nice to anyone and yo-"
"You're nice, TK. You just don't know how to show it."
"I'm not... and don't call me that..."
"But I'm your first friend, right? I should have dibs on what I wanna call you!"
Takeru's blush grew harder as he backed away, but Hikari wasn't going to let him run.
She grabbed him by the cheeks and leaned in even more.
Now was her chance. Now was the time she had been waiting so long for.
She knew he wouldn't push away. She knew that if she was to kiss him right there, he'd let it happen. And then, maybe, it could mean a happy ever after.
But she didn't do it.
She didn't want a 'could.' She wanted a 'should.' Actually, not even a 'should' would work. She wanted a 100% chance, and she wasn't going to take anything less.
"Because we're best friends, right?"
The blonde stared into her shining eyes and couldn't help but notice the pure happiness in them. So much happiness that it immediately spread to him.
"Yeah, best friends."
Hikari jumped with excitement and pulled him into yet another hug. Takeru, still mirroring her smile, hugged her back.
Slowly but surely...
Hikari pulled back and looked softly into his eyes. She grabbed his soul with her loving gaze and flooded it with sunshine. His eyes sparkled blue and he was blinded by her seemingly infinite radiation of affection.
I guarantee you, Takeru. I guarantee you that...
Her mind squealed with thrill. Her heart sprung in joy. Gardens of hope bloomed inside her. Her pupils grew with love. Had she ever been happier in her life?
I will be your lover.