Akasuki grudgingly turned through the gates into an empty courtyard, yawning from the excessive reading she invested in the night before, brewing over the words of the author rapidly. She had decided, that a confession was often either voluntary to help the protagonist deal with their emotions, or a compulsive forced confession during a pressure sensitive situation. Now, Akasuki is just trying to decide which one was most suitable to her situation. She glanced up from the ground sighing. Her eyes catching a familiar face, golden eyes glimmering in the early sun, Kenma, should she call out to him? Bridge a connection? Fuck, she lifted her hand calling out to him,
"he,"
Her words were suddenly cut off by shadowing figures, snickering arising from them as her eyes narrowed. Fuck sake, she didn't have time for this shit. Her eyes laid upon the devilish face of Rei, her voice, snaking through her brain,
"already hitting on another boy?"
What? Is she serious? She parted her lips with intent to speak, yet one of her minions shoved a finger in her face abruptly,
"no one said you could speak!"
Akasuki took a step back, what the fuck? What is her problem? Rei stepped forward leaning down into Akasuki,
"just face the truth, slut Suki," she parted her lips dramatically, the truth, "no, guy, could, ever, truthfully, love, you," she growled, those exact words brought back the memories of last year, "do you not understand?"
She only had one choice, she always only had one choice. She nodded dropping her eyes to the ground, her words burning into her mind, 'no guy could ever truthfully love you', she wasn't wrong. Every time Akasuki had any boy in her life, it had always been a lie, a twisted truth, nothing real, and Rei, Rei knew that. Rei turned on her heels with her group before suddenly stopping, a mischievous look growing on her face,
"actually," she spun around grabbing Akasuki's wrist, her eyes widening as Rei's fingers snaked around her wrist, "I have an idea."
What the fuck? Akasuki immediately yanked her wrist away in disbelief, memories flooding through the cracking dam locking away her past. Who the fuck does she think she is? Rei's face tightened growing in anger, her hands reaching out to grab Akasuki's shirt, her minions egging her on as she warned her,
"you'll do, whatever the fuck I want you to do."
Fuck this shit, Akasuki grabbed her hands, her furious energy kicking in prying Rei's hands off. Ever since last year she hated the feeling of someone's fingers around her wrist even the simplest of touches,
"don't fucking touch me."
She watched the humanity snap in Rei's eyes, her hand lunging out to firmly plant a strong slap against her cheek. What the fuck? Rei leaned in jamming his finger into Akasuki's face, eyes fierce and lips taut,
"you dirty whore," she hissed, "all you fucking did was take, take, take," her fingers gripped around Akasuki's shirt, splatters of spit flying into her face, "and you took, him, from me! You took Da,"
No, Akasuki's anger had been boiling up since the start of everything to do with Rei and this, this was the end of it. Hearing the start of his name broke her. Snapped her two. Fuck this. She grabbed Rei's shirt. Rei had done nothing but torture her since the day things turned sour. The day Akasuki lost faith in everyone and everything and now, now Akasuki was striving for good friendships and a prosperous life in silence. Rei was here to ruin everything. Akasuki's reality kicked in, fuck her, her hand pulling back in a fist, Rei squirming in Akasuki's well practiced grasp. Thanks to volleyball and the boys, Akasuki had spent a lot of time building unknown muscles, though she didn't really put any use to them, she thought maybe now was the time. Her fist flew forward. She did this. This is Akasuki's fault. Rei stumbled back through her minions as Akasuki's fist collided loosely with Rei's cheek. What? No, she swore her aim was perfect. Suddenly Rei grew a metre away as the invisible grasp of another restricted her. No, no she was not letting her get away. Akasuki slipped like a fish through their fingers, lunging towards Rei. She felt a breath of air as a hand flew under her attempting to grab her again, no, not this time she brought her arm back, unexpectedly connecting with something, the hand retracting, as her fist perfectly connected with Rei's jaw. Fuck yes, this rush, her heart thumping loudly in her ears, this, felt good. She hadn't felt this since, eyes widening, since him. Suddenly a strong pair of arms wrapped around her chest restricting both her arms, pulling her away. What the fuck man? She wildly swung towards Rei; he must've sent her. It has to be him.
"You should learn to control your beast!" One of Rei's minions exclaimed suddenly.
Beast? Now they're asking for it. Akasuki tried to slide out but the voice holding her, spoke catching her attention.
"Beast?" the arms loosened around her, Taketora's face appeared as he lunged towards the guy, "I'll show you a fucking beast!"
Akasuki couldn't help but let out a satisfied whoop encouraging Taketora. As he grabbed the guy's jacket throwing him around. Yaku appeared abruptly between the pair shoving his palms against Taketora's chest magically managing to split the pair up, but, he's so small, how is he that strong? Yaku threw a weak look over his shoulder,
"what are you still doing here? Scram!"
What, no way! Akasuki watched as Rei's minions glanced at Rei, clutching her jaw, tears brimming in her eyes nodding at them, the group began to back off. No, no, she wasn't letting her get away. Akasuki stepped forward, however further steps were restricted by a grasp around her arm until the group had disappeared, no, no, no. Fuck! The grasp dropped, Akasuki pulled forward spinning around to yell at the one holding her, tears threatening to spill. In a ragged helpless yell leaving her lips,
"why does she get to run?" her lips parted, for a desperate breath of air, a whisper leaving her lips, I never ran."
"Akasuki," Nobuyuki spoke, concerned eyes watching, she never ran, "what are,"
A groan from the ground caused her eyes to drop to Kuroo sat upon the ground, his chin high in the air, holding his nose. Holy shit, did she do that? Pushing back her tears, Akasuki dropped to her knees beside Kuroo, guilt flooding over her as she pulled his hand away, she couldn't have.
"I'm so sorry!" she began to pinch the bridge of his nose closest to the tip, a heavy wince leaving his lips.
"It's fine," he tried to pull back but Akasuki used her other hand to press against his head keeping him in place.
"What fucking arseholes," Taketora grumbled brushing himself down, "I would've destroyed them."
He's not wrong, they were arseholes but right now, her whole vision had been changed, Kuroo was hurt. This wasn't about her. She pulled his body up removing the elbow he was leaning on for support, carefully lowering his head down slightly, instructing Kuroo closely,
"take deep breaths, tell me if you think you're gonna pass out."
"Suki," Kuroo grumbled, "I'm fine," he pulled her hands away lifting his head staring at equal level at her, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Akasuki blurted, "but are you,"
Kuroo furrowed his brows lifting his hand to shush her,
"shut up, give me your hand."
She couldn't say no to him. She reluctantly lifted her hand placing it into Kuroo's grasp, his fingers trimming over her knuckles, the redness burning as he did. Wow, the sensation was like nothing she's ever felt before, the burning, the adrenaline, her heart was still racing.
"Thank god for Kenma's reaction time," Yaku exclaimed with a sigh.
Kenma? Her head lifted to glance at the boys around her and Kuroo, where's Kenma? Nobuyuki was sternly speaking to Taketora, Yaku hovering around Kuroo, Kenma? Her eyes shot to a couple of metres away Kenma was hunched over using his knees for support clutching his throat. Kenma. She pulled away from Kuroo, scrambling to her feet throwing her bag off, hastily scattering her things to grab the water bottle. Sprinting over to him, she pried the lid off holding it out to him, he's so stupid,
"drink it."
He shook his head, forcing his eyes shut as he let out a dry cough, why did he do this to himself? Angrily she growled,
"drink it."
He went to shake his head, eyes opening to show tears brimming. Kenma. She wasn't taking no as an answer. She grabbed his face with one hand pinching his cheeks together as she brought the bottle to his lips pulling his head back carefully,
"you need to stay hydrated."
His eyes slowly closed as he started to gulp the water, slightly pulling away to take deep breaths. Seeing him in pain hurt her.
"Thanks," Kenma whispered bringing his hand up to cover hers lifting it to drink again.
Her eyes fluttered to his hand covering hers like casual friends, but that wasn't what they were, it was a complete mind fuck for Akasuki. She reluctantly slipped her hand away, she didn't want a negative situation to be spread to him, or the boys.
"You shouldn't have gotten involved," Akasuki muttered.
"We're a team," Kenma quietly muttered looking away, "I, was worried."
Huh? What did he say?
"Akasuki," Kuroo spoke wandering over with the others, staring at Akasuki dead in the eye, wow, he's all scary again, "your family to us, and family have each other's backs whether you like it or not. Understand?"
She was like family to them, her heart growing in long-desired joy, nodding in response,
"I'm sorry for getting you guys involved."
Kuroo shrugged lightly touching his nose,
"least we know you have a strong arm on you."
The team chuckled, Akasuki joining them, but there was a distant feeling of uncertainty haunting her.
"Still, I shouldn't have resorted to physically confrontation," she frowned, "they haven't been bothering me much lately," it felt suspicious to her.
"Lately?" Taketora grumbled questionably.
Right, they still weren't familiar with Akasuki's past, and that was the way she preferred it.
"It's a long story," Akasuki muttered, "I'll tell you one day."
Taketora nodded,
"I don't care," he lifted her hand in his own, his fingers running over her knuckles, the pain now spreading through her hand, "as long as I'm here, I want you to let me do the hitting."
Of course, she chuckled lightly with a nod,
"only the strongest of the lot is capable of doing so," she caught Nobuyuki's loose glare, right, she shouldn't encourage him, "Taketora," she firmly spoke, "that was a demonstration of what you should never do, okay?"
He nodded sensing the importance of her word, slipping past her with a grin,
"oh," he squeezed her shoulder, "don't call me Taketora, it's Tora, okay?"
Wow, she nodded with a smile as he continued towards the gym with Nobuyuki. Tora, that, improved her mood. How did punching someone put her in his good books? Crazy. Yaku suddenly spoke up,
"the pair of you, are going to the nurse, grab your shit and leave."
Huh? Yaku softly shoved Akasuki's shoulder towards the school, what, she didn't need to go to the nurse. She furrowed her brows, Yaku raising his eyebrows at her,
"do not, use that attitude with me, I said go to the nurse, you are going."
Fuck, she loosened her brows nodding, she knows arguing against him was pointless so she gave in instantly to his demands. Yaku had become like a mum to her. Kuroo had already obliged heading towards the gym to grab his things.
"Kenma," Yaku spoke causing Kenma to lift his head, "nurse's office, now."
Kenma nodded slowly joining Akasuki's side as she made her way to the school, the pair sliding through the doors. The silence simmering the awkwardness between, slowly bubbling the many questions on Akasuki's mind. What did he think about her now? After seeing the way, she truly acts. How did he actually feel about her? They're alone, and they always seemed to get along better alone. There was no better time than now, her heart began to slowly thump aching from the previous adrenaline rush,
"Kenma," Akasuki spoke slowly glancing at him noticing the distant gaze in his eyes, whoa, something's wrong, "are you okay?"
She noticed his lips curl into a tiny smile humming satisfied, what is going on? Did she miss something?
"The way you hit her just reminded me of your character," Kenma quietly confessed.
That, wasn't what she expected but she was going to work with it,
"only if I had the double damage and resistance," chuckling loosely as she glanced at her knuckles.
Kenma chuckled. Wow, her eyes lifted to his face the smile obvious to the world, he's actually smiling like he means it. And that chuckle, fuck, she's never heard anything sweeter. Her face grew red, a strand of hair falling over his eyes as he gazed at her hand,
"you're crazy."
"What?" Akasuki blurted her dream state disrupted by his claim, frowning in disappointment, "I'm not crazy, I promise."
Kenma, wide-eyed, looked away, blurting out,
"I meant, it's crazy cool, and it,"
She reached out, her fingertips touching his shoulder, why does he turn away?
"I know, I'm only teasing you, Kenma."
Kenma glanced at her loosely, a weak sparkle in his eyes as he hastily looked away once more,
"you won't be after I take back my items."
What? Take back his items? The silence of confusion caught Kenma's attention,
"you, haven't been online?"
Yamaguchi must have taken items from him under her name. Akasuki shook her head,
"unlike you," she smirked at him as she lifted her hands, "my hands aren't glued to the screen."
This was the most conversation they have ever had when sober, it's, making her want more. A want for more words, small smiles, quick glances, she wanted more of him, even if they were stupidly tiny things. Was this going to be a voluntary confession? Her lips parted,
"Kenma, I,"
"Kuroo told us," Kenma whispered interrupting her.
Huh? What? Kuroo told them what? She squinted at him, Kenma's eyes firmly planted on the floor ahead of them as they walked,
"you and Yamaguchi."
Wow, out of every one boy on the team, she did not expect Kenma to have a remote interest in her life. She expected Sō to definitely make conversation, maybe even Tora. Not Kenma. Akasuki took a small breath of air with a sigh, she wasn't sure what to expect or to say,
"we," fuck, she cleared her throat smiling widely, "he has someone good in his life, who am I to stand in the way of love?"
Kenma stopped walking glancing around before speaking,
"no," he turned to her, his eyes serious and firm, "I'm glad," what, he suddenly slipped into the door labelled with a white plus sign.
Wait, he can't just run away from her like that. Akasuki furrowed her brows, what did he mean 'I'm glad'? She needed to know. She pushed the door open ready to question him but Kenma was already sat on the end of a bed, the nurse asking questions, glancing up at her,
"Ah Miss Au, I haven't seen you since last term, how's the stomach pains?"
Stomach pains? Akasuki gazed awkwardly at them, the nurse gestured to their abdomen, mouthing widely,
"the periods."
Oh, her cheeks grew pink, glancing at Kenma who was mindlessly swinging his feet not paying any attention to her,
"they're, they're okay."
"Good," the nurse smiled, "how come you're here today? Have they flared up again?"
"No, no," Akasuki shook her head, "um," she held out her hand just as Kuroo burst through the door.
"Guess who," Kuroo grinned.
Thank god. The nurse glanced from Akasuki's hand to Kuroo's nose, she's gonna make assumptions.
"About time someone put you in your place," the nurse snickered gesturing for the pair to sit on the bed opposite Kenma.
They obliged. Akasuki hoped this didn't create a bad image for the boys, Kuroo playfully bumping into her as he took a seat grinning at Kenma,
"hey buddy."
Kenma lifted his head with a nod, still swinging his legs loosely. And he's gone back to minimalistic word use. Kenma suddenly parted his lips muttering,
"I don't know if this is contagious or not," he paused waiting for Kuroo to nod his head, "I might have to skip school altogether, again."
"But you just got back," Akasuki frowned, the more time he spends off, the less chances she'll get to figure out if he likes her.
"Actually," the nurse spoke placing an ice pack against Kuroo's nose receiving a large wince.
Ha, that's funny. Akasuki chuckled, the nurse then pressing one against Akasuki's knuckles a wince about to escape her lips before suddenly a shoe smacked into her ankle, a low growl leaving her lips instead, what the fuck? Her eyes shot over to Kenma staring down at his feet, did he just kick her? She dropped her gaze to their feet, oh. Kenma's foot was curved around hers loosely swinging her foot along with his.
"You aren't looking so good," the nurse stated pressing the back of their hand to Akasuki's head, her eyes widening, what?
She can't be ill, that's impossible.
"Looks like you both should go home, to reduce the spread," they glanced at Kuroo, "if Mr Kozume has been around the whole team, they all should take time off till Monday at least," they explained, Kuroo's face paling, Akasuki's dropping, they had to be joking, "and for you," they turned to Kenma, "you should thank whoever your carer is, they seem to have prevented your symptoms more than usual."
Huh, guess she really was a capable doctor. Kenma caught her eye, his cheeks blushing, fuck, her cheeks grew pink, she'd love to be his nurse any day. He nodded in agreement at the nurse. The nurse slapped their knees gesturing for the three of them to leave,
"nothing's broken luckily. I expect the ice packs to be returned Monday and I hope you all get better soon, especially the team."
Kuroo grudgingly got up trudging out of the room, she guessed that news brought his mood down. Kenma slipped off the bed following Kuroo out of the room. She should probably follow them,
"thank you," Akasuki claimed slipping off the bed hurrying after Kenma.
As soon as she exited into the corridor, she noticed the loud mutters becoming further away from her. Are they arguing? Akasuki jogged towards the mutters turning through the corridors to see Kuroo had stopped in his tracks facing Kenma,
"you should've stayed at home, I was too easy on you, like usual."
Whoa. She couldn't see Kenma's face but she could sense the tension through his words,
"I, I didn't want to be alone."
Her heart cracked at the thought of Kenma weltering in his lonely sorrow at home. Kuroo scoffed,
"you say that, but you're alone even when you're around others."
What the fuck Kuroo? That's harsh, too harsh.
"Kuro, I," Kenma started to mutter.
"Enough," Kuroo snapped, his face becoming my red from anger.
That was it, Akasuki couldn't take the unnecessary punishment towards Kenma. It wasn't her place. But she couldn't stand it. She stepped out crossing her arms as she made her ways towards them, Kuroo lifting his eyes to meet hers,
"hey."
Come on Akasuki, this is for the team, this isn't a selfish reason. Kuroo lifted his hands to his hips watching her expectantly. Kenma turned to face her surprised by her appearance. All she had to do was utter a few simple words to make Kuroo calm down. Akasuki moved towards the pair joining their side,
"what's going on?"
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Kenma murmured looking at the ground.
Right, don't worry about it. Akasuki turned to Kuroo for an answer.
"I'm just doing what a captain always does," Kuroo explained grudgingly.
"By yelling at him?" Akasuki questioned.
"I wasn't yelling," Kuroo exclaimed, right.
Unless the definition of yelling had changed, she was unconvinced. Akasuki lifted her eyebrows at him, Kuroo deciding to change his words,
"I was trying to get my point across," once again, was yelling the new way to do this?
Kenma stepped past Akasuki standing behind Kuroo. Is he just going to let it happen? There's no way she can stand here and watch him get away with this. If, if that was her in Kenma's position, she would truly hope for someone to stand beside her and argue for her.
"Kuroo," Akasuki cleared her throat, "you can be our captain, however that does not mean, you stop putting your best friend first," Akasuki softened her expression, a sense of disappointment overcoming her, "he already understood what he's done wrong," she glanced at Kenma, head down and eyes covered, he's already beaten, "so," she glanced back to Kuroo, "try again with what you said."
Kuroo furrowed his brows, a boast of confidence running off his lips,
"no."
What? He turned on his heels to come face to face with Kenma,
"go home, stay home, look after yourself."
Wow, Akasuki actually thought she would be able to calm down the situation, yet somehow, she feels like she's made it worse. Kenma nodded, his presence shattering under Kuroo's, as he strode past Kenma. She guessed that he had no choice but to accept that.
"Kenma," Akasuki frowned stepping forward, her heart rate slowly beginning to heighten, racking her mind for anything that could make him smile, but all she did was slowly reach out to touch his shoulder, "you can,"
Her words were cut off by swift movements, her feet stumbling back, her chest softly impacted, what happened? Her eyes widened, her heart thumping like heavy rain against a window pane, he's, her eyes looked down at the sight of Kenma's head against her chest, hugging her. What is happening? She has to be dreaming, he, he wouldn't do this type of thing, right? He wouldn't, is he acting out because of what she had said to Kuroo? Or what Kuroo had said to him? She can't, control her urges if he keeps doing this. Fuck. Her body began to move without thinking, her hand reaching up to cradle his head softly, while the other pressed lightly against his back,
"I'll call you then you won't be alone."
There was no response but Akasuki didn't care if he did or didn't, she only cared for the fact he knew she was there for him. She was going to stay here for as long as he needed. She wasn't sure if this was a potential sign of requited feelings or a friend desperately searching for comfort. Either way, right now, Akasuki had forgotten her quest for answers and was satisfied with the ability to be seen as a source of comfort for him. Kenma, she twirled a piece of his hair in her fingers, you'll never be alone, Akasuki promised him. Abruptly Kenma pulled away. For the first time with anything to do with Kenma, Akasuki didn't urge for more, this was the first time they had hugged. She had only one hope. That it wouldn't be the last. His cheeks were glowing red as he cleared his throat muttering while tugging at the sleeves of his jumper,
"thanks, I," he turned around, "need to go," and before Akasuki could speak, he was gone.
Right, she smiled weakly to herself, he's gotta go.
"The boy who always on the run," Akasuki muttered sadly to herself, "I can't wait till the day you stop running from me," that day will be a good one.