"I knew there was something wrong with you!!!" Taro says looking at her with shaking eyes and then at the passed out body of the delinquent. "Osana...was right...you....You are a monster!"
Ayano gasps as soon as she heard the word monster, it felt like her whole world shatter just now. She stares at Senpai was tears rolling down her face. Senpai saw her for who she really was....a monster.
Patter Patter
Rain drops hits the ground from the dark, starless sky. It began to rain lightly as if it was crying too. Before Ayano knew it, Taro runs past her and pass the school gates into the empty streets. The fear and hate in his eyes said it all.
Ayano would never have Senpai.
____________________________________________________________________
It started to pour hard at Akademi High, the sound of the raindrops seem to drown out any other sounds as it pelted the ground. The raindrops were so icy cold that it could probably numb your hand with some time. The rain was harsh just like a broken heart.
Ayano fell to her knees with her hands pressed against the wet concrete. Tears started to come down from her shaking charcoal eyes. The one she had loved so much in this world had saw her for what she really was and fled. Just remembering that cold hatred in his eyes caused her to cry out harder. She brings her hands to her face and sobs into them helplessly.
Budo stares at her from where he was and felt his fists clench in anger. He couldn't believe that Taro had the nerve to say that to her after she tried to save him. Yes, it was true that Ayano had went too far but that didn't excused the amount of pain the delinquents brought to them. They had damaged Ayano's hands, her knees and now her back, he felt like the delinquents deserve what they had coming to them in all honesty.
"Sen....Sen....Senpai!!!" Ayano cries over and over, her voice seemed slightly louder than the roaring rain around them and her form shook violently against the cold of the pain drops.
The Martial Arts Leader stood up from his spot. He could see the delinquent with purple streaks slowly crawl back into the school to most likely alert her comrades. He needed to get Ayano out of here, fast. Budo walks over to Ayano's crying form, his shoe's smashed against the puddles of rain on the concrete making a tap-tap noise as he walks over to her. Once he was standing before her delicate form, Budo carefully kneels down to her.
"Sen..pai...Senpai....." Ayano sobs brushing her tears away with her hands. Her eyes glistened with tears and her face was flushed red. She was soaked from the head to toe from the rain. It pained Budo's heart just to see her in this state. Broken and sad.
"Ayano..." Budo says to her softly, he slowly reaches out to touch her shoulder but she smacks it away as soon as she sensed it.
"Don't touch me!!!" Ayano says angrily with tears and raindrops rolling down her flushed face. "This is all your fault, if only I had stayed away from you..!!"
"Ayano...." A hurt expression appears on Budo's face.
"If only I didn't..care...!!" Ayano continues as she covers her face again and sobs. Why was this happening to her? Taro the one who made her feel so many wonderful emotions had made her feel a very painful one. Heartbreak. Then there was Budo Masuta who just confused all those emotions and ruined everything for her. No, this wasn't Budo's fault, it was all those delinquents who started this. They dragged Taro here to lure her. Ayano felt her hands clench in anger, she should have ended all of their pathetic lives when she had the chance. Yet, she couldn't forget what Taro had said to her.
"Osana...was right...you....You are a monster!"
She could still hear Taro's sickening sweet voice haunting the very depths of her mind. That hint of fear and anger in his voice told her that he was afraid of her now. She would never be with him.
Budo stared at her as if he was trying to read her mind and find some way he could comfort her in this dilemma but none came to mind. He wanted to hold her but he knew Ayano would push him away if he attempted that. So, instead of actions he decided to use his words instead.
"Ayano...despite what Taro had said...you saved my life." Budo says softly, he knew it wouldn't do much for her but he was internally grateful for her, even if she took it far.
"......" Ayano was silent, she just stared at the concrete with broken eyes, she was not moving at all.
"Thank you...Ayano." Budo whispers as he lets the rain drops from the very tips of his bangs.
Budo reaches out to her again and this time he was able to touch her shoulder without her slapping his hand away. Ayano did not react to the touch, it was like she was shut off from the world or just simply didn't care anymore. "I'm...going to take you back to my house now...okay?"
"...." Again, Silence. Nothing but dull grey eyes staring at the wet concrete below her.
Budo gently lifts her form onto his lap and pulls her up into his arms and stands up. He knew Ayano was well capable of walking on her own but the state she was in, was something he had never seen before. He had to take this situation into his own hands. With a quick jog, Budo gets Ayano out from the school and passed the iron gates.
************
Budo stops running once he knew they were a safe distance from the school. He slowly walks down his street where Ayano laid in his arms, keeping him warm with her body heat.
Ayano's once charcoal eyes that seem to carry a certain glow to them, had faded to a dull grey color that almost looked like the grey sky raining down on them. Ayano's small form would not even move in the slightest that sometimes Budo was scared that she passed away in his arms if it wasn't for her eyes blinking here and then.
He spots his dark silhouetted house a couple of feet away and felt himself jogging up to the driveway. He felt so relieved to see his wonderful house, even if it was a rental he knew they would be safe in there. He walks up to the porch of the apartment complex and gently puts Ayano down so he could retrieve his key. As soon as he puts her down, Ayano fell to her knees once again, Budo quickly kneels down to her and grabs her shoulder so she wouldn't fall backwards off the porch.
"Hey...Hey..." Budo says softly as he looks into her faded grey eyes. "Its okay...Its okay..."
"...Sen...pai...." Ayano whispers under her breath causing a small cloud to escape her dry pink lips.
"Ayano..." Budo looked at her worried, her eyes were on him but it felt like she was seeing right through him. He helps Ayano up and carefully takes her to his apartment. He takes the key out of his pants pocket and held the silver key to the keyhole. He inserts the key and turns it making the door open with a ghostly creak. It seemed like forever since he had been in his house even if it was only this morning where he last left it. He turns back to Ayano sitting on the hallway floor, he outstretches his hand to her but her eyes remained fixed on the ground. He walks over to her and takes both of her hands in his.
"C'mon...lets get you inside..." Budo says with a reassuring smile on his face, but Ayano wasn't even phased. He takes both of her hands and helps Ayano onto her feet. Once she was standing, he led Ayano into his unlit house and shut the door behind them.
_____________________________________________________________
Taro kept running trying to wash his brain away of all the terrible things that had just happened on this night. The rain hit against him like miniature bullets and the wind whipped his hair back as if it wanted him to turn back.
Deep down, Taro knew that Ayano girl couldn't be trusted. She tried to act innocent around him back at the nurses office but that was all a mask to get close to him. He didn't know what that girls intentions were but deep down he knew it was nothing good. As soon as she left the room to 'find' an exit he knew he had to escape from her, no sane person would just stay there and wait for this lunatic to come back. As soon as he heard her leave, he reopened the door and fled to the back doors of the school to the garden. After cautiously looking around, He notices a bunch of delinquents at the garden digging up something. He didn't understand why they were doing that but he didn't want to stick around to find out. Taro had went back into the school to figure out another way to leave and was eventually successful even though he had a run in with that deranged girl.
As Taro ran his footsteps hit against puddles that caused his socks and shoes to be drenched in cold water. The only sound he could hear was his heavy breathing and footsteps that seem to echo in the streets.
All Taro wanted to do was go home and call the police. He wanted to wrap himself in a warm blanket and try to forget everything that happened but only to be pestered by his worrisome little sister, Hanako. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if he didn't make it out of there alive, his parents and sister would definitely be devastated.
Taro's eyes glanced around at each house he passed and none of them struck familiar to him. He wasn't use to walking this late at night so of course he would get lost and stupidly run in any direction to get away from that bad situation. If only he had his phone he could have called his father to pick him up.
"Wait, a payphone." Taro suddenly thinks to himself with widen eyes. He had leftover change in his pocket from lunch he could use. All he needed to do was find one. Taro quickly runs around the corner to see if he could spot one. His hands immediately goes into his pocket to feel that he still had the change in his pocket. His fingertips brushed over the small metal coins telling him he still had the change.
Taro looks down to see that he had the right amount of coins for the payphone. Perfect. Now all he had to do was find a payphone. He quickly looks up to see a metal pipe flood his vision.
WHAM
Taro Yamada's body fell limply on the cold wet ground of the streets with a THUD. His head had been hit hard knocking him out of conscious. His perpetrator stood over him and nudge his face with her shoe. No response came from him.
"Now you won't tell." The girl with blue streaks in her hair mutters under her breath making a small cloud escape her lips. She had stealthily followed him while he was in a panic run. She knew that her leader, Osoro, would be mad at her for hurting him like this because she was quite fond of Taro for some reason, but what she didn't know won't hurt her. It would be her own little secret.
The delinquent grabs Taro's leg and throws his unconscious body into the rain soaked bushes nearby. Taro's body fell unceremoniously into the bushes with his legs sticking out of it. Hopefully the police would suspect a mugging took place here instead of the kidnapping. The rain would surely wash away her fingerprints and any other lingering evidence this boy had him.
The delinquent walks away from Taro's body with her cold metal pipe in her hand and stops in the center of the vacant street. She breathes in the cold air and exhales and looks up to the raining dark sky.
"Now...where are those two...?"
_________________________________________________
Silence.
The two of them sat in complete silence on the couch.
Ayano stares blankly at her lap, her mind far away. Budo glances over to her worried. She wouldn't move at all not even when he stitched up her wounds up or patted a wet cloth to her open wounds. She was still like a doll, emotionless and empty.
Both of them remained in the same damp clothes. He had offer to let Ayano shower first but she did not reply to his request. So instead Budo tried to lighten up the situation.
"Hey, Ayano...do you wanna hear a funny story?" Budo says with a light smile on his face as he turns to her.
"....." Again no reply came from her.
"Alright...I guess your not in the mood for that...how about some tea to warm you up then?"
"......." Ayano continues to stare blankly at her lap.
"....Ayano...?"
"....."
"C'mon I know you're cold."
"....."
"It wouldn't be a problem to make it."
"...."
"....Ayano..."
"...."
"Ayano....please talk to me..." Budo says with pleading eyes as he touches her shoulder. He hated this sickening silence between them, he wanted to hear Ayano's voice again, even if it was just a sigh, he would be satisfied.
"...." However, silence came from her once again.
He wasn't surprise at this point, maybe she just needed some space, after all, this whole mess just happened only two hours ago. Yet, Budo had never seen someone so heartbroken and gone like this, when he had rejected Mina it was different than this. She accepted it. However, he knew this situation was a whole lot different. It was obvious that Ayano had deep feelings for Taro based from the way she was acting right now. It made Budo a little mad knowing this, however, she was heartbroken right now and he didn't want to push her.
"I'll be right back." Budo says cheerfully, he leaves Ayano there and walks into his small kitchen.
Budo grabs the black kettle from the dish rack and fills it with water. Once the kettle was filled, he puts it on the stove over a burner and turns the burner on. The kettle immediately starts to heat up.
Budo's mind wanders a bit as he watches the kettle. He wondered when Ayano would talk to him again and he pondered how he could solve this problem.
Why was Ayano so fond of Taro? What about him made him so appealing? Sure, he was a rather decent guy but he was very distant when it came to others. He could see Taro having no interest in Ayano at all, which was his loss. Ayano was unique.
Budo grabs two cups and fills the bottoms with two teaspoons of sugar. He then goes in the refrigerator and takes out a carton of milk. He pours the milk into the glass when he suddenly hears his phone go off in his pocket. Budo sets the carton of milk down and fishes his phone out of his pocket and answers his phone.
"Hello?"
"You asshole..." A voice laced with venom replied from the other line.
"Huh...who is this...wait, Sho?" Budo blinks as he comes to the realization that it was no other than his friend, Sho Kunin on the other line, and he sounded pissed.
"How could you just leave Mina there!?" Sho shouts into the phone causing Budo to wince a little at the volume of his voice.
"I had to- Wait how do you know this?"
"Answer the damn question!"
"Tch...something important came up, okay!"
"Liar, Mina was your main priority for tonight, what could possibly be more important!?"
"I don't need to explain myself to you."
"Like hell you do, I wanted Mina to go on a date with you because I knew that would make her happy! You were suppose to make her happy on this date."
"I didn't want this date in the first place, you kind of forced the date on me, so don't blame me for not fulfilling your expectations. I was never interested in Mina in a romantic way, but apparently she did. She forced her feelings on me, and I didn't like it so I left."
"You son of a gun...don't act like the victim here, you left her all alone!"
"It wasn't my intention."
"Fucking liar!"
The kettle started to whistle out hot steam from the spout. Budo closes his eyes tightly, he really didn't want to deal with Sho right now, he was sure Sho would keep arguing with him until he felt like he won.
"Sho, I have to go, bye."
"Don't you dare han-"
Budo presses the end button with his index finger and sets his phone on the wooden table. He knew he was going to hear the rest of Sho's banters on Friday anyways. He would probably have to hear what his other friends thought of the situation as well. It stressed Budo out thinking of all the explaining he had to do. Maybe Saki could help him explain the situation to them.
Budo removes the kettle from the burner and pours the hot liquid into the cups he had prepared. Once he filled them to the top he sets the kettle back onto the stove and stirs the cups with a spoon.
"Hey Ayano, the tea is done!" Budo calls out to the living room. He heard nothing as he expected and grabbed both of the cups of tea. He walked into the living room to see that Ayano was gone.
"Ayano...?" Budo says again a little worried this time. He looks around for any traces of where she was but saw nothing. He sets the cups down on the coffee table and just stands there confused. She couldn't have left, he would have heard the door open and close from the kitchen or any door for that matter.
Budo scratches the back of his head until he notices that down the corridor his bedroom door was slightly opened. Budo felt himself automatically walk towards the corridor. He was almost expected his room door to move away from him again just like in his dream but it stood completely still as he walked towards it.
"Get a hold of yourself Budo, this isn't a dream..." Budo says to himself as he eventually reaches his room door. He grabs a hold of the handle but stops himself quickly. Ayano could be changing her clothes, it would be rude to just open it on her. Budo removes his hand and gently knocks on the door.
"Hey...Ayano can I come in, I finished making the tea." Budo waited for a reply but none came from his room. He waited for a couple of more seconds but there was still no reply.
"...Ayano I'm going to let myself in now..." Slowly, Budo's hands wrapped around the door knob and opens it out further.
Immediately, Budo's charcoal eyes widen in shock. There before him sat Ayano on his bed with a knife pointing at her own neck. Her eyes were dull as she gazes at the knife with shaking hands, ready to end her life.
"STOP!" Budo cries out as he tackles Ayano down onto the bed with both of his hands pinning down her hands. Ayano drops the knife in surprise from the tackle and looks up at him with broken, dull grey eyes.
"Please..." She pleaded, her voice was drained of emotion but her eyes showed it all. Pain, absolute pain.
"Why...Why were you going to do that!?" Budo cries out with a shaky voice. He couldn't believe Ayano had tried to end her life, it all seemed unbelievable to him.
"Because...." Tears roll down Ayano's face as she spoke. "If can't have Senpai...then I am nothing!"
"Ayano..." Budo felt tears running down his own face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I love Taro...he is my world...but if he doesn't love me then its gone...all gone."
"Ayano...You...You...." Budo's bangs covers his eyes making a shadow underneath. He grips Ayano's wrists tightly causing her to whimper in pain.
"...Budo...." Ayano says softly with tears continuing rolling down her face, she didn't know what else to say in this situation, she had been caught by him and there was nothing else she could so but just watch.
"You...You are so selfish!!" Budo yells as he looks Ayano straight in the eyes, charcoal to dull grey eyes. Ayano's eyes widen as his yell caught her off guard. She didn't expect this from him at all.
"Do you not care what would happen to your loved ones if you left them like this! Your parents would be devastated, Saki would be destroyed and I ...I ..." Budo's voice trails off as he swallows back all the pain and shock he was feeling from this situation.
"...Masuta...."
"I....I can't...lose you..." Tears roll down Budo face as he grips Ayano's shoulders tightly and buries his head into her neck. "You're important to me....haven't you realized that yet?"
"....I...I" Ayano blinks back a couple of tears but more kept coming. All of her pain and sorrow seem to flood her eyes with never ending tears. "I am nothing... without Taro...."
"Then please, lean on me if you feel this way!" Budo says as he releases Ayano's hands and wraps her arms around her body pulling her into a tight hug. "I'll be there for you, let me be someone you can depend on!"
Ayano felt her eyes widen at his words. No one has ever said that to her before and it made her tear up more. She didn't deserve someone like Budo. He was normal and full of light while she was unusual and full of darkness.
"...Masuta-kun..." Ayano says through tears as she grips onto the back of his shirt helplessly. "..If only I was normal...like you.."
______________________________________________________
Both Budo and Ayano sat awkwardly on the couch. Ayano stares down at her lap, while Budo sips from his cup full of tea taking occasional glances over to Ayano. He wanted to be closer to her and continue to comfort her but he knew he couldn't for Ayano's sake.
"...He was the first one...that made me feel genuinely happy.." Ayano says softly as her hands tighten against her lap.
Budo blinks in surprise as Ayano spoke, he quickly puts down his tea cup and listens to her.
"...I was late for school one morning and I bumped into him on the way there..." Ayano says with no hint of emotion in her voice. "Taro looked so kind and beautiful then...I fell for him almost immediately....he was my key to happiness."
"I see..." Budo says as averts his eyes away. "but Ayano, I'm sure you'll find happiness without him."
"...That's unlikely." Ayano says as her hands clenched tighter against her lap. "Ever since I was young...I was a person born without any emotions... I pretend to act normal so I wouldn't weird anyone out but, when Taro came into the picture...I managed to learn...a couple."
"What are they...if you don't mind me asking.." Budo says as he looks back at her. He was surprised that Ayano had said this, at school she seemed like a shy and mysterious person but now he knew it was all just a wall she put up.
Ayano pauses for a moment, she really didn't want to reveal any of the learned emotions to him since it felt like she was exposing her true murderous self to him. However, she opened her mouth.
"I will tell you only one..." Ayano says as she looks at Budo straight in the eyes. Budo gazes back at her, her beautiful, faded, charcoal eyes looked like they had the blazing winter in them and he felt trapped under her gaze. He nods in reply submissively.
"Attachment..." Ayano says, though attachment wasn't really the right word to use for 'Obession' she didn't want to reveal anymore than that to the Martial Arts Leader.
"Attachment..." Budo says quietly to himself as he thought it over. Ayano was attached to Taro, that explains her weird behavior back at the school, the desperation to save Taro and herself from this mess, it made her actions look deeper than they really were. Ayano genuinely loves Taro.
Budo looks over at Ayano who seem to just sit there in silence, she looked so lonely that it teared at Budo's heart. Budo reaches over to her and grabs her shoulder, Ayano blinks in surprise as Budo pulls her next to him, her head lands firmly on his shoulder.
"What are you doing...?" Ayano asks looking up at him with dull grey eyes again.
"Its going to be alright, Ayano." Budo says looking away from her with a slightly flushed face. "I'll stay with you forever, if that's all it takes to make you feel better again.."
"...Why are you doing this...?" Ayano asks removing her head from his shoulder to get a better look at this strange boy next to her.
"I'm doing this because you're my friend." Budo replies with a boyish smile on his face as he pats Ayano's head gingerly.
"Friend..." Ayano had heard that word many times and it had no affect on her in the past, however, Ayano felt differently towards it now. For some reason she couldn't see Budo as a pawn to her game anymore. She looks down to her lap and a small smile appears on her lips. "...Yes...friends..."
"...Heh.." Budo's smile widens, just hearing Ayano say yes confirmed that she had accepted their friendship, and that small smile she gave was absolutely beautiful even if he wasn't meant to see it. She was opening up to him and that gave him hope that she wasn't truly broken like she said she was, and that, she was just a normal girl who was lonely. "You know you're a really mysterious girl, Ayano."
"Am I...?"
"Yes, you always seem to surprise me in the most unexpected moments, I think that quality makes you really unique."
"Hm..." Ayano nods silently to him but somehow that comment made her feel a little normal. It almost made her a bit happy.
"And my uniform shirt looks so adorable on you!" Budo comments again with a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"...!!" Ayano quickly looks down as she remembers that she was still wearing Budo's uniform shirt, she had taken the shirt from the Martial Arts room due to her being under-dressed and desperate from the cold. She quickly looks away with her faced flushed out of embarrassment and anger.
"Heh, didn't think I would notice. huh?"
Damn that Martial Arts Leader.
************
Ayano steps out of the shower and dries her body off with a white towel. The refreshing scent of soap had completely devoured the smell of blood on her leaving her smelling fresh.
Ayano slipped on one of Budo's black t-shirts he had lend to her and puts back on the skirt she had taken from the nurses room. She had declined Budo's offer on pants assuming that it would be too baggy and loose on her. She had decided to just reuse the skirt since it was still clean to wear.
Ayano leaves the bathroom closing the door behind her. She could see that Budo had fell asleep on the couch. How nostalgic this whole scene was.
Ayano walks over to Budo and stands in front of the couch. He was curled up on the couch, his hair was slightly disheveled and his expression was relaxed. Ayano stares at him for bit then goes into her skirt pocket for something. Once she felt what she was looking for in her grasp, she slowly pulls it out.
There, the white bandana laid on the palm for her hand, the one Budo had dropped to fight for her. Ayano kneels down to his sleeping form and tucks the bandana gently into Budo's hand. Budo unconsciously closes his hand around it and Ayano couldn't help but give him a look of amusement, he was so odd.
Instead of going to sleep in his bedroom, Ayano sits down on the ground and leans against the couch. She felt like she needed to be close to another human than by herself right now. She didn't want to be alone. Ayano goes to close her eyes when a quiet knock from the door echoed in the living room.
Ayano stands up from her spot and looks over at Budo, he was still sound asleep. She walks over to the wooden door and opens it a crack.
"Hello....?" Ayano says in a monotone voice, she was quite annoyed to have to answer this late at night but maybe it was one of Budo's friends wanting to check in with him.
"...Hello."
Ayano's eye widen as she sees the delinquent with blue streaks in her hair in front of the door. Before Ayano could do anything the delinquent bashes her head hard with the side of her metal pipe. Ayano falls to the ground with a THUD, the last thing she could see was the haunting form of the delinquent stepping over her body to Budo.
______________________________________________
SHHUP...Crumble..SHHHHUPPP..crumble...
SHHH..PPP....
An odd sound awoken Ayano's unconscious slumber as she opens her eyes to only be greeted with darkness and the freezing cold. Ayano pales a bit thinking that she was in the 'Middle' again, she goes to sit up ready to see the skin-seeking demon only to find out that she couldn't sit up. Confused, Ayano outstretches her hands out and felt a hard, cold surface above her.
Ayano blinks a couple of times then tries to focus her vision on her surroundings but she could see nothing at all. She shivered at the cold that seemed to swarm around her. Where was she?
Ayano felt all over the place only to be greeted with a solid surface against her fingertips. Everywhere she touched was a solid wall, a solid wall around her.
"Wait..." Ayano suddenly realized something that made her blood run cold.
She was buried alive.