(Y/n) pulled herself away from her tutor and squirmed back in her seat to put as much distance as she could from the ticking time bomb that was Bako. He kept on glaring at her with his shaded denim eyes, looking beyond her soul. "What are you doing, (Y/n)?" He calmly repeated, flexing his fists to relieve the tension building up in his muscles. Kaito carefully watched the boy's actions, expertly picking up on the malice undertone emerging from the atmosphere.
"I asked her to come here. And she kindly accepted to be tutored." The intellectually stepped in front of (Y/n)'s paralysed form and protectively shielded her from his friend's gaze. This time around, it was his turn to be glared at by the aggravated male.
"Didn't look like any tutoring when I came in." Bako's words spilled out through clenched teeth and weren't making any attempt to hide his disgust. No matter from what angle Kaito could put it, it wouldn't work in his favour and neither would Bako believe him. The pair of them isolating themselves in an empty room and then being walked on in a frenzied state, with the two holding each other. The pieces seemed to lead on to something else in the azure teen's mind. 'How could the two of them do such a thing. When did (Y/n) become like this....no, (Y/n) would never do something as tasteless as this on her own accord. It his fault, he probably said something to her, he probably did something to lead her on. I would never have expected this from you Kaito.' He approached his friend with a bold stride, "Kaito? You still have good reflexes right?" The boy spoke out the enquiry in a threatening tone, stretching and clinching his fingers to warm up for his upcoming confrontation.
"No, he's right!" (Y/n) finally emerged into reality and caught onto her classmate's interpretation and quickly stood in front of Kaito, much like the way he did for her.
"(Y/n)?" The scarlet male looked at his partner with surprise at her sudden show of courage. Even Bako seemed taken aback by her retaliation and determination.
"I can promise you were actually were studying, look." She held up the note book that was filled with notes and scribbles done by both her and Kaito. "And don't get the wrong idea by what you saw when you came in. I started getting bored and restless, so I began messing around and dragged him into it as well. So if it's anyone you should be scolding, it's me." Bako stared at her for a few moments and then hung his head as every sense of aggression and intimidation dissolved from his body.
"I see....then I'm sorry for making such assumptions, it was wrong of me to do so." Once his words were spoken, the bell chimed to announce the begging of today's last two lessons. Bako walked out of the room with an untouchable bubble surrounding his mood. Kaito secretly smirked at his defeat, but his satisfaction diminished as the girl he had set his eyes on also began leaving for her own lessons.
"Hold on. Will I be expecting you back here to tomorrow?" He hoped for a 'yes' to the question.
"Hhhmmm....." She considered the offer for a few seconds. "Nah, I think the notes you gave me are fine enough. I'll survive, plus I just missed my lunch and I simply can't keep doing that for another few weeks." She waved and smiled at him, leaving the boy to attend to his own class room.
For a few heartbeats he was silent and calm, making no movement. However, the bubbling sensation circulating through his body caused him to punched the wall, leaving a slight dent in it as well as scraping his knuckles. But he didn't feel the pain, he was too drowned out in disappointment to really pay attention to his bleeding skin. "So you won't agree to my conditions. No matter, your co-operation will come in time." He pleasantly smiled to himself and closed the door to the reading room.
"What don't you understand by 'keeping your distance from them?' It's not a hard task." Hiroko began scolding the girl upon entering the classroom. "When you get your head cut off, I won't be crying for you." He bitterly sat down next to his Geography partner, sending glares to the people who were staring at his outburst. They immediately went back to minding their own business the moment they locked eyes with the gang leader and (Y/n) irritably sighed at the guy.
"I can do what I want. It's nothing horrible to make new friends so I don't get your beef with them, I know what I'm doi-"
"You know nothing!" Hiruko cut her off before she could finish her claim, but then caught himself when realising the volume of his voice was attracting unwanted attention. When he made sure everyone had continued to focus on their own work he spoke to the girl in a hushed manner. "Listen, I've heard things from my members and some shady people that I don't necessarily like, and these fellas seem to be getting a bit too clingy."
"You were spying on me?!" (Y/n) whispered angrily. She couldn't believe the precautions the boy had taken just to prove a point.
"Not ｙｏｕ, spying on ｔｈｅｍ. It just so happens that most of the time they do something of 'interest' when you're around. And it's not all the time, I have information on them outside of school too." The male made it seem like this was more of a hobby for him than a real task, which turned (Y/n)'s stomach upside down.
"Why are you doing this? Is this supposed to be some sort of game?" The girl glossed over her text book, pretending she was lullingly talking about the work when the teacher turned their way.
"It's my job to keep the school safe from dangerous looking people. That includes protecting its students as well. I won't let some punk a**es disrupt the piece I worked hard to keep. Nor will I let them hurt you." (Y/n) always showed some incredulity at how the gruff and butch looking gang leader would have the exterior of someone who's an experienced juvenile or had seen the cruel and fruitless side of life to have a very justice built mind set. He constantly thrived to keep a calm and prosperous atmosphere around the school and would do a better job than even the security guards or staff members themselves. Due to his general attitude, none approached him unless they wanted to either fight, join the gang or ask for a favour, which is why Hiruko was more than surprised when on the first day of his Geography lesson, (Y/n) began chatting him up without hesitation or the slightest inkling of fear. Of course, she hadn't known at the time that he was in a gang -no less the leader- so she was more than surprised to hear how the opinionated and passionate guy she acquainted with, was involved in such a group. But that didn't falter her view on the boy and they ended up becoming quite close friends.
"I'll be fine. Trust me, I'm a big girl." She put a thumbs up to secure her determination but did not tip his suspicions 100%.
"You know best....." Hiruko began endeavouring with his weakest subject when another thought crossed his mind. "Oh and...I heard what happened with one of my newer members yesterday. Don't worry, he won't be bothering you anymore." The tough male gently patted the girl's head and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Aaawww, you really are my bestie~" she mocked, forcing the corners of the boy's mouth to twitch rhythmically with his left eye. He profusely increased the grip on her head and began arduously rubbing her scalp. "Owowowowow." (Y/n) silently sounded out her discomfort.
"You just had to ruin the mood." He annoyingly told the girl.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-Ow!"
Time Skip
When she had finished off her English lesson, (Y/n) was more than happy to know that after Friday, she would have the weekend to herself and probably waste another two days of her life. However, her happiness was cut short by the horrible rumbling of her empty stomach. 'Oh yea, I didn't have my lunch....' She took out her lunch box and thought about where she could eat it before going home without any energy. Eating it on her way seemed like a no-brainer, but she didn't feel like being that one person who just eats while they walk, for the day. So, she made up her mind on eating it somewhere around the school.
Her indecisiveness got the better of her and the female couldn't decide on a location, so she agonisingly began wondering off to wherever her feet could carry her.
She suddenly spotted a distracting colour out of the corner of her eye and passed by the door before she could turn to see what was hidden in the -supposed to be- empty class room. Coming to a halt, she walked backwards to the door and was a bit surprised to see a certain blue haired boy.
She lingered at the doorway to make sure it was really her class mate that she was seeing, and sure enough it was. He had his head prompted on his left hand while the other was creating strokes and scribbled with a pencil on a pice of paper. There was a deplorable and sorrowful mood looming over him, and seemed in deep thought about something.
(Y/n) wasn't sure how or if she should approach him, however her curiosity soon took over and she quietly crept up behind him to see what he was drawing. When she felt that she was close enough not to get spotted but to also get a good look of his work, (Y/n) stopped in her tracks and peeked over the boy's shoulder. The first thing that struck her was the expert way he had drawn the person in the picture, with all the tones, shading, contours and detail in the right places, making it look almost three dimensional and done by a hand with years of practice. The other thing that pricked her interest her was that the person in the picture was (Y/n), herself. She recognised every well crafted and drawn detail of her own features and she raised her eye brows in admiration of the show of talent. "Make sure to get my good side."
Bako jumped in his seat and spun around to look up into the girl's (e/c) eyes, taken completely by surprise at her sudden presence. "H-how long have you been there?" He stumbled on his words, attempting to hide the portrait.
"Not long. So what was that?" She pointed at the sheet.
"I-it's nothing. Just a-a project." She sarcastically hummed at him and speedily snatched the drawing. Holding it at the right angle, she had a proper opportunity to examine the piece of art and appreciate it from up close, while Bako silently looked away, embarrassed by his discovery.
"It's really good! I've never really known a person that can draw like this." The female handed it back and the boy bashfully accepted the offering. "So, what are you doing here so late?"
Bako's mood changed from one of self-consciousness to his previous bubble of grief and despondency. He hung his head in shame and didn't dare look (Y/n) in the eyes. She didn't know how to react to this type of change and wondered if she had done something wrong. "Hey, you ok? I didn't upset you did I?"
Bako profusely shook his head, "I made you upset...." He sounded genuine with his comment and made (Y/n) wonder about what he meant. It then dawned on her of the events that happened at lunch. She let out a sound of realisation and looked back at the burdened male. "I made you angry and hurt you. Then you made me realise how ridiculous my claim was...."
"Hey, come on now. It's alright, things got sorted in the end and everyone moved on. No harm, no worry." She put a hand on his shoulder to ease his grief but only seemed to increase his guilt.
"It was wrong of me to think that you out of all people would try and do something as inappropriate and ludicrous as that. That was very, very stupid of me." He moped and slouched in his own regret.
"....Yeah, it was stupid. And I do stupid all the time." She moved herself to kneel in front of the grief stricken boy. "It was understandable to make assumptions about what happened. You made a mistake, it got sorted, you trusted me enough to believe me and forgive and forget, right?" The girl patted his knee and flashed him her usual grin. The student's eyes lit up with relief and hope, glad to see the smile that had been haunting his dreams for quite a while. He returned the expression, filled with even more warmth than her own.
"Yea...." Bako unexpectedly got on his own knees and embraced the girl, filled with gladness that his conscience had been cleared. The alleviated boy then realised this had been the very first hug he shared with the girl, which only added to the memorable moment. He couldn't even tell how long he had stood there with (Y/n) in his arms. Bako finally pulled himself at a short distance from his class mate, "I'll never doubt you. " It was a vow he meant to keep, so to finalise his words Bako added in the end: "I promise."
Despite it being unnecessary, (Y/n) found the pledge trusting. She detached herself from the boy's arms and stood up. "Alright, I guess I should be going home now. Are you coming?" Bako stood up with an apologetic smile.
"I would, but I have to sort some things out here. But I'll catch you tomorrow." (Y/n) nodded and offered her help but left when he declined her assistance. When she was fully out of ear shot, Bako walked back to the table and picked up the drawing he had worked on. His lips formed into a smirk, directed towards none in particular. "You're too vulnerable (Y/n), so gullible and trusting...." He recalled back to when he had her enveloped in his arms, her form pressed closely to his own, sharing each other's body heat. "How long will you continue relying on others like this, my (Y/n)? Don't worry, I'll become the only one you can depend on. You don't need anyone but me."
(Y/n) walked outside the chilled, autumn air, with a downcast expression due to her lunch ending up untouched in the end of all of this. So, with great regret, she threw away the cold content of the her goods in one of the bins. With last mournings to the desist meal, the girl finally left the school premise and walked out of the gates.
"So you finally showed up." A monotone voice startled the girl and realised who it belonged to. (Y/n) gave the stone-faced boy a confused expression while he was casually leaning against the wall. Alex stood up properly and indicated for the pair of them to go.
"What are you doing here?" (Y/n) couldn't explain where the male appeared from or as to why he would be waiting for her so late after school.
The boy barely seemed to regard the girl as they walked on and for a few moments, she thought the male hadn't heard her.
"I won't let you get in trouble." That seemed to be his finale answer and gave no inclination for a continuing point. However, that just left the girl with even more questions.
"So, what? Are you my guard dog now?" It was meant in a joking manner but the boy didn't change his neutral expression to deny anything. "What if I was sent out earlier? Then you wouldn't be very happy with sticking around, waiting for none." (Y/n) attempted to catch him out with his flawed plan, but Alex didn't alter his manner in the slightest.
"I would know." When questioned by the girl on how he would get that type of information, he didn't answer and simply walked on with ought a care in the world.
"What if I had an after school activity? You wouldn't be waiting for me then." (Y/n) thought she had finally had him cornered with that one but a slow realisation began creeping up on her. "Unless....you would wait for me to finish." She took a good look at boy's features for any inference of opposition but saw nothing to contradict it. She sighed and carried on trudging on the fallen leaves of the changing season. Silence was the only exchange the two had and it began getting eerily uncomfortable for the girl.
"It's the least I can do." Alex silently worded and caught the female's attention.
"What do you mean? You already paid up your part of the favour by helping me out twice already. What more is there to do?" She was put in a place of puzzlement as to what the boy was talking about.
".....(Y/n)? Can I ask you something?" The girl was slightly taken a back by a conversation starter coming from the boy's side and nodded her head for permission to the question. "Do you remember who I am?" (Y/n) wasn't sure what to make out of the enquired words that were accompanied with the boy giving her an aspect of his features that was a mixture of hope and worry, only making the girl panic more at the supposed seriousness of the question. She studied him hard, trying to bring back any sort of emotional or memorable response from her brain but after labouring her mind it all turned up in vain.
"Sorry. I this is the first time I've met you." Her heart struck with hurt when she saw the boy's face contort into one of pain, sadness and disappointment but soon enough return to it usual, emotionless state. "Should I? Maybe if you tell me from where I might-"
"No. You wouldn't, it was dumb of me to think you would recall so long ago." Despite his outer layer not showing it, on the inside the fuscia male felt dejected and crushed. His hopes were rendered unfounded and whatever little comfort and security they once gave him were diminished.
(Y/n) felt bad for her lack of memory and tried once again to remember anything, but it ended being a fruitless search. "Well....maybe we can start again!" She ran in front of the downhearted boy and reached out her hand for him. "I'm sorry I can't remember you from my past, but I hope to then make new and more memorable memories with you now." (Y/n) took his wrist and shook the male's hand in a way a person would do when acquainting with a stranger. "I already know that your an animal lover and I'm pretty sure you're the 'silent type,' so that's two things I know. And I hope to find out more." (Y/n) turned around and started a conversation with the boy. Though, to her it seemed only one sided due to the male's lacking response, but he kept note of every word she spoke out. The boy continued to observe her closely and reevaluated her words.
'So I'll get to protect you this time.' When it came time for the two to part, Alex showed strong signs of anxiety and reluctance to leave the girl's side. Seeming to hesitate even when (Y/n) was taking steps towards her property.
"Do you...need something else?" She held his gaze, becoming aware of the boy's unwillingness. He merely shook his head but seemed to keep in words that the he tried to display through his silence. ".....Then do you want to see the dog? I'll get him for you." The female got on her knees and began beaconing for the animal. Soon enough, the frisky little bundle was speeding through the hedges and bounded up to its owner and her friend. "You should have seen him when I first brought the little guy here, he couldn't even stand up straight." She lovingly patted her cheerful buddy's head. She looked back at Alex who now had the two corners of his mouth spread apart to form a mild smile. However it was not directed towards the intended puppy, but towards the girl who went on smiling up at him. He seemed almost captivated over her relaxed state, and by how she seemed to blend into her own environment. "Well, I have to go in now, and put Fenrir back into his hiding spot." Seeing how his expression slowly twist back into a solemn appearance once more. Guilt irked at the girl and she had to clear her conscience before he left regret to eat her up from the inside.
Alex almost reflexively flinched away when he felt fingers gently sweeping his hair in a comforting manner. The girl smiled to ease the boy's nerves. The caresses were soft and rhythmic, seeming to force the boy to melt and lean further into her touch, finally understanding why Fenrir acted so fondly towards this type of treatment. Though when she took her hand away, he left a cold spot on the male's head, yearning for more of her warmth. She instead waved goodbye to the boy and headed for her front door.
Alex brushed his hands back on the spot where her hand had contacted his head and looked back at the girl who was tip-toeing to try and retrieve something from one of the hanging flower pots. Upon closer observation, it seemed to be a small, metallic object that fit into the lock of the front door. He watched on as she unlocked and placed the key back in its place, seemingly not noticing she was currently being watched.
Subsequently to her entry into the house, he thought about the inefficiency of the clichéd hiding spot for the little object. 'Too unsafe.' He shakes his head to display the disapproval of the obvious hiding spot. 'I should really fix that.'