ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ

୨⎯ It's Quite a Haze... ⎯୧

"Ow!" I blurted out as I was woken up by a super cold can of soda being pressed against my cheekbone which apparently had a swirly blue bruise on it.

"Sorry, I was starting to freak out when you weren't waking up after I tried to multiple times already." Seishu explained as he placed down the freezing soda can beside him on the grass we were sitting on.

I looked around with a confused expression on my face before I gazed back at him and replied, "What time is it?" He then answered, "It's around 7 PM. I didn't know how your brother would react if I dropped you back at your house, so I just brought you here."

I took the can of soda and opened it. "And where are we exactly? Are we near the school?"

He shook his head and said, "Do you remember the match from 2 hours ago?" I had my mouth open as I quietly gasped. Seishu continued, "Yeah. We lost the match. When you got knocked out by one of the Haitani brothers, I immediately picked you up and left that area. I mean... we're kinda close to where that is."

"I'm heavy, huh?" I chuckled as my lips lifted and formed a cheeky smirk. However, Seishu disagreed and went with, "Nah, I just don't have the stamina and enough strength to drag someone for a long amount of time."

I bumped his shoulder with my elbow as I said, "You're a jokester. To see you smiling after losing a fight is unexpected. I guess you just hated those guys."

He exhaled a sigh while answering, "You're on point with that one. They weren't taking their lives seriously and were getting too cocky at the end. I wouldn't enjoy that."

I continued to lightly chuckle but he then placed his hand over my mouth while showing a serious, alert expression. Seishu whispered, "Can you stand up?" I just gently nodded my head as I had my eyebrows furrowed.

Before this, I did hear a bit of a rustling sound in the background and just thought of it as nothing. Who could it be? Haitani or our foes? The leader must have taken my statement too seriously a while ago.

Seishu grabbed my hand and we sneakily walked our way out of that premise. I had my attention glued to our backs while he was leading us to our escape. The sounds of the grass we were stepping on weren't helping. "Seishu, are you feeling alright?" I spoke in a quiet voice as we were moving steadily through the dark grassy area of the field.

He replied with a whispery voice, "Yeah. I guess this is my fault for not bringing us farther away from the danger zone. Promise you won't hold a grudge on me if we ever get beaten up?" I scoffed and said, "What the hell? I won't-!"

"They're gone!""Don't worry, I found 'em already."

"Fuck..." I blurted out as the leader spawned in front of us, coming out from the void of shadows. At that moment, I felt Seishu's grip tightened, squeezing my bony hands to the extent.

I straightened my back and struck him a glare, saying, "What do you want from us? You're being a real creep, you know that right?"

The leader answered, "Come on, Y/n! Tell us you're joking. You're not gonna leave us, right? Heck, I would even beg for you to stay. You are our only hope!" His members began to gather and circle around us. It wasn't a fair fight to begin with.

I replied, "Why are you so obsessed with me? I would have reconsidered it but hearing you and your desperate act made me throw that decision away. I hate those who act like dogs."

The leader then grabbed my head with force, his people separated Seishu from me. "What about now? You're losing, Y/n. You and your friend are. You know we won't stop until we completely have you within our reach."

Putting aside the immense pain throbbing on top of my head as he was pulling my hair, I forced a devilish grin at him paired with a glare as I continued to provoke him further, "If you are this strong, why so desperate in claiming me? Do you think so little of yourself for a woman to dominate you? This is making me want to laugh so hard!"

"Y/n!" Seishu scolded me for being so arrogant. "Tch! Let go of me!" he then shouted at the two people restraining him from coming to my side and helping me get away from this boy's grasp.

I then looked at him with my eyes and said, "Don't worry, Seishu. I can handle this. Don't you have faith in your friend?"

Out of the ordinary, the leader slammed me onto the ground, making me cough out blood. I felt as if my soul detached from my body in that second I collided with the concrete ground.

Within that moment, all of my senses became neutral as my vision went black for a few seconds and my hearing went muffled, though it was clear Seishu was shouting something.

I tried my best to not show any weakness but my body couldn't stop trembling from the impact as I attempted to stand up starting from going on all fours for my knees to support my spine upward.

The leader was furious, saying, "If this isn't defeat, then what do you call this? I see what's going on here. You're becoming superior because of the way my people and I treat you. We're simply feeding your ego!"

"My ego? Aren't you the one who is feeling superior thanks to my help?" I said with a firm tone. I wiped the blood on my lip and continued on as I looked him dead in the eyes, "This gang is nothing without me! Don't forget that I am the backbone of your child's play. Did you really think you would win against those two?"

I was about to continue my award-winning speech however my glasslike body was not having it. That impact really was something else. Ugh, can't you hold on a little longer...?

"Y/n! Tell me you're alright, please!" I heard Seishu with his loud, concerned voice as he saw me falling to one knee. I could feel my bones hurting. They wanna give up, but I don't want to just yet. This bitch in front of me is competing against me. I can't lose to this stubborn kid. Ah... my head's pounding like crazy.

"Y/n... Goddamn it! Fucking let go of me!"

My arms hurt. My legs hurt. My ribs hurt. Just make the pain go away. Just not now.

"Hey! Don't go any closer to her! I swear if you touch her again, I will beat the shit out of you!"

I want to get out of here already... Maybe staying at home isn't so bad after all.

"God, why is it so noisy here? I thought it's way past your bedtime?" Everyone went silent as they heard his voice. Everyone knew who entered the battlefield. Who wouldn't recognize that sly expression on his face and that infamous hairstyle he's got?

"Haitani Rindou..!" the leader blurted with anger spewing from his balled fists. "If we didn't lose to you and your brother, we wouldn't end up teaching her a lesson."

"What's that? If you weren't so fucking weak, you wouldn't throw your anger onto this girl? Right. Maybe you should practice more next time before showing your hideous face to me, got it?" Rindou replied, powering up his fist before he unleashed full force onto the leader's skull.

And just like that, the leader got knocked out similar to what happened to me from earlier. As expected, his people weren't the best. They just ran off out of fear of ending up in the same position as him.

The first thing Seishu did once he was released was to check on me as I was down on the ground. "Y/n, let's leave. We need to get you checked. Can you try to stand up?"

"...I'll try." I said, having trouble speaking as the pain was really getting to my nerves.

I then turned my attention to Haitani Rindou before taking our leave. "Hey." I said, which made him look in my direction. "Thanks. I could've died, but you came." Seishu held around my shoulder, supporting my back with his other arm.

"Hmm?" Rindou noised. "I know you from somewhere. I'm sure of it. I just don't remember where though. I thought I'd take a closer look at your face but... it didn't really help. Well, this doesn't mean we're friends already. If we end up going against each other again, then it will be just like that. This incident won't be brought up. No pity shall be raised." He then took his leave, emerging with the growing shadows as I was left speechless, without a thought in my mind.

I felt Seishu tug my arm a bit as if he wanted to catch my attention since my eyes were fixated on this delinquent. He said with a cautious tone, "Let's get going. You should rest easy, Y/n." I nodded my head and began to walk forward with him following my steps.

This scenario wasn't rare. It usually happens when I get into a fight. Well, what can I say? I guess I have a reckless life. Seishu has been that one person I can truly trust. He's the one who sends me home at times like this. Of course by that time, he knew what it was like back at my house. He's an observant guy and quite straightforward.

Seishu's nothing more than a loyal dog.

"Did you recognize that pretty lady now?"

"Who? Oh. Her. Not really. You know I'm bad at remembering people's faces."

"Haha! You never fail to make your big brother laugh this much!"

Rindou couldn't help but to feel annoyed at his brother's tease. "I gotta go." he abruptly spoke, cutting his brother's laugh. He then replied, "Eh? But you just called."

"Don't you want me to come home sooner?" Rindou asked with a complaining tone.

His brother answered with a chuckle before changing the topic. "You still don't wanna attend school? It's such a waste for you to enroll and not attend a single class." Rindou paused for a moment, thinking to himself a right response.

He then said with a monotone voice, "School's not entertaining enough for me."

♥ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇᴅ...