Ushijima Wakatoshi looked at the strange site— your friend, Ayaka had just been taken by a shady guy to a very shady location behind a school building.
He catches you looking but you only looked at him after you saw the whole thing.
"Let's head to the gym then?" You say and he narrows his eyes. What was happening was as clear as daylight. You were pretending as if you haven't seen anything.
The way he looks at you was basically saying it all. He wanted to know what was happening or why you were acting this way. You didn't take him as that type. So he could be concerned if needed.
You sighed. "She'll be fine." You brushed him off. But it looked like he was genuinely concerned.
"You don't get along with one of your friends?" He suddenly asked. It must have been something that popped up in his head when he's trying to think of justification for what you were doing. After all, he had seen you and Norrie interact more most of the time.
You only laughed. It must have looked that way. But you wanted to assure him that what he was thinking wasn't the case.
Plus, you didn't want to tell him the entire thing.
But the way his brows furrowed only made you sigh even deeper. Oh gods. "Fine. Fine." You say and had him trail behind you as you follow the direction to where Ayaka had been brought to.
Chiyo Ayaka is a student from the Architecture Department, a foreign exchange student who you became acquainted with through Norrie when you were a sophomore.
Norrie had been addicted to anime and manga in high school and was ecstatic to meet the Japanese. And their personalities vibed pretty well so they automatically became friends. Before you knew it, you were thrown in the mix and the three of you had been buds ever since.
It was a pretty convenient friendship as Ayaka had taught you and Norrie Japanese. It was the reason why your circle of friends could easily communicate with Ushijima compared to the other students here. Sure, they were plenty who were interested in the athlete, but they couldn't really talk to him because of the language barrier.
And now, that same athlete was thinking that you were playing favorites with your friends. You take a deep sigh.
Contrary to what he was thinking, you do care for Ayaka. It didn't need to be announced, given how you had vented your anger towards Ushijima's teammate before.
And strangely enough, he was thinking of the same thing. He remembered the whole thing perfectly, reminiscing the terror you brought upon the team. So why were you acting like this now? Letting your friend be in a dangerous spot?
Ushijima Wakatoshi was rather easy to read right now. You knew where his thoughts were running off to. After all, the disappointment was all over his face.
You didn't want to tell him the reason why you were ignoring this ominous situation, all right. You just needed to show him.
When you got there, the shady dude that spelled danger all over him from his tattoos and piercings, had Ayaka cornered. He was pinning her on the wall and had this nasty and disgusting expression on his face.
Ushijima looked like he wanted to go there like he was a hero but you instantly stopped him.
"What are you doing?" You could see the confusion all over his face. But you glared at him to shut him up. He does as what he was told, although he was clearly against your decision.
You inhaled. "You're in the way." You say with a stern voice.
"What?" He looks at you confusingly.
And the moment he looks back to look at your friend, the shady guy was suddenly sent flying.
He blinked.
"ふざけんな (You're fucking kidding me)."
The two of you hear Ayaka suddenly curse in japanese as she looks down on the poor guy.
You groan, facepalming, knowing it really was this time of the month. Especially when the girl makes her knuckles crack.
"Ahh, Fuck." She says, brushing her hair with her hands as she looks at him in irritation. The curses she was saying was so emphasized that anyone could tell that this wasn't the first time she'd spoken like this.
"You dare threaten me? I haven't even entered your territory and you want to mess with me?" She suddenly grinds her foot on the guy's face, a glint in her eyes appearing.
"Now..." She suddenly says as she looks at him again. "Who else have you told, you shit?" She says, picking the guy from the ground with one hand.
She collars him, the position of who was being cornered and who was cornering instantly reversed as easily as a light switch.
Ushijima looked like he was having second thoughts on which one he was going to save.
This doggo. You internally cried.
You backed off in a distance you were sure Ayaka couldn't sense, dragging your pet with you. He looks confused at the whole thing but he only watched.
You needed to show him more after all.
You needed to show... that out of the three of you, Chiyo Ayaka was the most dangerous in your group even if she seemed the most normal. Especially when the reason was clear as daylight— from the tattoos that riddled her arms as she rolled her sleeves to her seasoned nasty glare and language.
Yes, your friend Ayaka was a japanese "yankee", a delinquent.
You had always found it ironic. Sure, her name, "Ayaka" means a beautiful flower. And she is known for being one... Although only in this country.
But her last name says otherwise.
...When (血夜) Chiyo literally translates to "Bloody night".
She had even earned herself numerous infamous titles in Japan, this being the most common— A girl known for hair and eyes that were as black as midnight, the night's bloody flower, "Yoru Chika".
It explained everything— why she was very eager in trying new hair colors and styles so that no one could recognize and judge her, why she was a boy-hungry girl because boys usually stay away from her back in Japan, and why she had this overflowing confidence. In anything she says and do, no one had ever told her otherwise and even if they did, they wouldn't live to tell the tale.
This was how your friend, Chiyo Ayaka is right now. She had let the Japanese athlete from Ushijima's team be despite the guy two-timing because she made a promise. She had promised you that she wouldn't mess with the team of any athlete you were training, physically.
She was incapable of doing anything because of this promise so you had revenge for her. And the guy had been scared shitless not only because of you but when he realized who Ayaka was eventually.
You had even sent the guy off by kicking his balls at the airport. If you didn't, she'd follow him back to his country and have him monitored until he wasn't a part of Ushijima's team anymore so she can officially kick his ass.
You knew. Chiyo Ayaka has had a hard time trying to act like a girl who boys want to protect, especially if she can even be better protectors than them.
It was why she had particularly dated athletes. These types of men were strong enough for her taste.
She was a scary girl that was an opposite of her entire appearance.
But her past has even caught up to her here in this foreign country. It was what you and Norrie called the times of the month.
They were her withdrawal symptoms, the times where she usually reverts to her former habits. Because even if Ayaka had attempted to be like a normal girl here, old habits die hard.
"Claire, what are you doing there?" Ayaka asks you, suddenly looking at the two of you. Of course, she could sense the two of you. Contrary to you, whose senses are heightened only in-game, this girl's senses were activated most of the time.
She was someone who draws danger towards her in a regular basis. And you had received balls coming her way because of one thing. It was for those athletes' protection.
"Informing Goliath." You reply. "Ah. He doesn't know yet. You haven't told him?" She says with a smile but you could totally see the squirming guy underneath her feet.
She stares at the two of you intently. You wondered why. And you didn't realized it. But Ushijima was in your personal space and to think you subconsciously let him.
"Must be nice." She pouts, looking at the two of you. "We're not a thing." You frown, "Fine, Fine. But you will be." She winks.
You groaned, remembering. Yes, Norrie had let her in on the Ushijima x Claire fanclub and she has the ability to speak normally while still destroying thugs.
"You clean up nice." You sighed, indirectly informing her that you were leaving.
"Yes. Yes." she says, telling the two of you to run off.
"See? I told you it was fine." You said to him as the two of you leave. Ushijima Wakatoshi suddenly looks straight ahead as if he's made a decision after everything he had just witnessed.
"Should I call the police?" He asks sharply.
"You idiot, the guy isn't dead."
"Yet." You added quietly.
"Yet?"
"Shhhh."
—
"You're wondering why the three of us are friends?" Norrie asks to confirm Ushijima's question and the athlete nods quite curiously.
"Because it's interesting?" Norrie answers vaguely.
"Interesting?" He tilts his head slightly.
"It is, isn't it? We're an odd mix of people you'd mistake for ordinary character tropes— a sports idiot, a gossip, and a cute girl." She says and he thinks about it. It does look that way.
"We do, right? It's interesting for people to be mistaken as ordinary character tropes... and all the more when they're actually dangerous." She replies with an ominous grin. She looks like she knows what she was talking about and that prying would reveal a nasty nature she wasn't even discreet in hiding.
But Norrie didn't say more when she saw you approach the athlete. You have just finished with your class and had met Ushijima after so you could practice at home. "What are you guys talking about?" You asked, noticing the strange athmosphere.
"Nothing. Nothing. Go on. Have fun." she winks and the two of you bid her goodbye.
"How'd you know your friend was a delinquent?" Ushijima asks you on the way back. "Ahh. Norrie said she was."
"How'd she know that?" Ushijima asks, slightly confused. "And you believed her?"
"Because it's Norrie. She's great at finding stuff... and a great stalker you know."
It felt like he heard wrong. But you made it sound so natural, as if nothing was wrong with the whole thing. Calling someone a great stalker didn't seemed like a good praise though. It sounded very ominous even.
But of course, Ushijima Wakatoshi wasn't the type to question a person's friend or their company. Even if you appear to not have a single normal friend. And come to think of it, he really couldn't question it.
Especially when he was also one of your friends.
—A few weeks later—
You browsed your contacts, wondering why your chat boxes had been quiet suddenly, as if something was rendered silent all of a sudden. You can't put your finger on it.
But the feeling was there. A feeling that something in your schedule had just been broken.
You thought hard. What is it you usually do at this time?
Until your eyes noticed it and you perked up, remembering.
Yes, it was the time of the day you usually receive Ushijima Wakatoshi's progress reports.
So youwent online and suddenly pressed Ushijima's chat head to see.
Your eyes widened.
To think this day would finally come. Who would've thought? You covered your mouth as you stare, quite astonished.
You've wanted to know if this was something he did by mistake or not. But you know that it wasn't.
It wasn't a mistake.
But the message was loud and clear.
Ushijima Wakatoshi had blocked you.