Chapter 8: The future ahead?
I slowly woke up, my whole body aching and my cheek tender. My hands were both being held, a hot hand holding my hand with an aching fist, and a comforting hand holding my hand that felt like I had twisted the wrist wrong. I let out a soft groan, peeling my heavy eyelids open, blinking at the blinding light. "Kimiko! You're awake!" Aima says, her voice echoing as my head throbbed. "Ow, my head hurts…" I croak, my jaw aching as I whimper, pulling my hand away from the hands to cup my tender cheek. The hand I pulled away from stops me, taking my hand and gently squeezing it. "Don't speak yet, your jaw took a hard hit and your throat and cheek is bruised." Kozu says softly, and I wait for my eyes to adjust, glancing around. The whole gang was here, even Kozu and Kuroo- they were holding my hands. Aima was by my side, and Misaki stepped out of the room to get a nurse. Ryu had a patch on his cheek, Noya having bandaids all over; what happened to them? That's right, I had been running from the man- Nen! "Nen!" I gasp, bolting up though Aima grabs me and forces me to lay down. "He's safe, he's with your uncle." Aima says, and I let out a sob of relief.
"Your uncle would have come, but he knows you wouldn't want Nen to see you like this. He's at home calming him down, he was pretty freaked out." Aima says and I slowly nod, licking my chapped lips. "And him?" I whisper, referring to the guy. "Noya and Ryu knocked him out, we tied him up until the police arrived. He's being held right now, we all gave our statement and now they're just waiting to get yours." Daichi says and I let out a surprised laugh. "I can't believe you two actually managed to knock him out!" I croak, wincing as my jaw ached. "You better believe it, because if he ever tries I'll do it again!" Ryu says, pointing a proud thumb to himself. "Yeah, and I'll be there to knock him down as many times as it takes!" Noya says just as proud, making me smile. "Thank you, I'm so sorry I got you dragged into this though. Look at you, you're all scratched up." I croak, feeling terrible. "This is nothing! We get worse playing volleyball!" Ryu says, letting out a hearty laugh. "Yeah! If it's to save you, we'll do it anytime!" Noya says, setting his fists on his hips as I feel tears gather in my eyes. "Thank you." I whisper, my throat feeling like a frog was in it.
"Excuse me, I'll be checking on her now." The nurse says as she steps in, sliding her way through the group. "Come on guys, let's give her some space." Daichi says, grabbing Ryu and Noya when they protest, dragging them out as the rest of the volleyball team follows. That just leaves me, Aima, Kozu and Kuroo behind. The nurse performs a cognitive test before checking my blood pressure, nodding her head before she smiles at me. "Whenever you're ready, I'll send the police in to take your statement." The nurse says, and I slowly nod. "Please, just a moment so I can gather my thoughts and prepare myself." I whisper, the nurse nodding before she grabs her cart. "Okay, when you're ready just press your buzzer and let me know." She says before exiting, just leaving us be. "So, it really was him huh… it's only been a day! That's freaky!" Aima says, making me grimace as I looked up at the ceiling. "I'd expect nothing less when it's him. It took 11 hours for him to get here by flight, so..." I whisper, Kozu giving my hand a tight squeeze. "What are you guys doing here? Don't you have practice?" I ask Kozu and Kuroo, and Kozu shakes his head.
"I couldn't let you deal with this alone, I came as soon as I could and Kuroo decided to tag along." Kozu says and I shake my head lightly. "But I'm not alone, I mean, thank you for coming, I appreciate it, but… I have everyone here, and I know that you guys are rooting for me from afar. That alone gives me courage to do everything I possibly can to overcome these obstacles, knowing that people want to see me without fear, to see me fly. I'm strong with you guys in my heart, and today is only proof of that. We got through this all together, and I plan on finishing it." I say, and Kozu stands up and hugs me tight. "But you were still scared, weren't you? Look what happened, you were thrown around and hurt. We couldn't do anything to help you, so we're here now." Kozu whispers in my ear as I wrap my arms around his neck. "Of course I was scared, fear is something you can't just make go away when you're in the path of danger. But I wasn't scared of what he would do to me, I was scared of what he'd do to Nen, but Nen is safe. As soon as I knew he was safe, I felt calm, and everything was worth it." I say, Kozu clicking his tongue as he squeezes me a little tighter.
"That's because you didn't care what happened to you, huh?" Kozu grumbles, sounding like he wanted to scold me. "No, it's because I knew Nen wouldn't be hurt or caught in the crossfire if I fought back. Of course fighting is a last resort, but I wouldn't want Nen to see me resort to that. With him out of the path of danger, I felt calm because I knew if it came down to it, I could fight back with everything I had. I know you guys have been worried about me, and I know just giving up wouldn't change anything. I needed to show him I was prepared to stand my ground and fight with everything I had." I say, Kozu seeming to stiffen as he hugs me even tighter. "Oh… I'm proud of you." he whispers and I fiddle with the hair on the back of his neck. "The fight is not over yet. It's barely begun, and I've got a war to win." I say before he pulls away, raising an eyebrow at me. I click on the buzzer, clearing my throat. "Excuse me, Nurse? I'm prepared to talk with the police." I say softly, pulling my hand away as I nibble on my bottom lip. "Alright, I'll send them in now!" The nurse says, the police coming in after a moment. I tell them everything that happened up until I passed out..
I let them take pictures of the bruises and scrapes left behind, including the light bruise that was forming on my back. "Would you like to press charges?" The officer asks and I nod my head. "Yes, and I'd like to file a restraining order on behalf of me and my family as soon as possible." I say with no hesitation, the officer seeming startled. "Oh, we'll need to speak to a parent or guardian to proceed with the charges." The officer says, and I look around for my phone. "Um, can my uncle do it? My mother is very busy taking care of my brother, my uncle is my lawyer." I say, Aima handing me my phone. "Oh, yes, that'll do." The man says, so I give him his work contact info and text my uncle letting him know the police will get ahold of him. We finish the final details before the officers leave, though they promised to keep the Man so he wouldn't try anything again. After all, he had beat up a bunch of kids and had previous problems with me, though they had to request the records. I was glad I was able to keep my mom out of it so far, but what was I going to do about the hospital bills and the bruises I'd be sporting for quite a while? I suppose I could have my uncle sue for hospital charges...
I took a deep breath, fiddling with the bag in my hands as I glanced back at Aima, who was sitting at the table with Toru and Iwai. They were chatting casually as we waited for Kyo, ready to give him the news of the competition. I was nervous as heck, and so was Aima, but Toru and Iwai both seemed oblivious to the tension. I don't know why Aima thought it was such a big deal to get Kyo involved in this, letting alone telling him that it was her idea. She was going to talk to him privately after I broke the news, which was why Iwai and Toru were here. Kyo would definitely try to rip her throat out if there wasn't someone to stop him, and even if I begged him he'd just see it as her taking advantage of me and my kindness. Of course, then again, Aima had dressed me up all pretty and helped cover all my face bruises, having asked Kiyoki for her advice and what product she had used. Luckily the puffiness was all gone, and it was just a nasty dark purple bruise that covered the majority of my cheek. With the help of makeup and concealer, my face looked just like it normally did. In fact, I had a playdate set with Nen after we told Kyo, since he had been worried sick about me.
"Oi, I'm here." Kyo says from beside me, making me jump as I turned to look at him. "Kyo-kun! Thank you for agreeing to meet me today! Um, this is for you, I made them to thank you for watching my mom while she was in the hospital. I never got to properly thank you for that." I say, offering him the bag of goodies I had made for him. He grunted, taking the bag as I cast an anxious look around. "Is that all?" He asks, slinging the bag lazily over his shoulder. "Uh, no, I've been meaning to tell you something Kyo-kun. It's very difficult to say this, but I'd like to get it off my chest, I hope you can understand." I say, taking a deep breath as I begin fiddling with my fingers. Kyo's cheeks turn pink as he stares down at me, and I blow out my breath. "My friend, Aima, is having a competition and I've been helping her out on it. You see, I agreed to this competition with full knowledge of what we'd be doing, and I agreed to it with intent to follow through. I really hope you'll hear her out, because she's a really good friend of mine, I trust her fully, and I know you'll probably think badly of her for the context of the competition." I blurt, pausing as I look up at him.
"I'm not doing this for nothing, in fact, I think this competition has helped me grow a lot as a person, and helped strengthen my relationships with my friends, as well as build friendships with some really great people! I want you to hear her out, please, with an open mind, for me. It really means a lot to me that you know about this competition, because I know if you find out any other way things will go bad." I continued, searching his eyes and seeing he was confused. "It's a kissing competition." I whisper, flinching as his head cocks to the side. "Come again?" He asks, and I clear my throat, my cheeks burning. "It's a kissing competition. I'm the one that gets kissed." I say, and his mouth drops open slightly. "How long?" He asks, running a hand over his face. "It's been going for longer than a week now." I admit, twiddling my fingers as he looks down at me. "How many people have kissed you." He asks, and I brush a strand of hair behind my ear. "8, so far." I mumble, and he tenses at this. "So far?" He asks, sounding like he was about to snap. "Kyo-kun, please, calm down!" I say, taking his arms and gently squeezing them, feeling him shaking ever so lightly.
"She wants to go over the finer details with you, I'd prefer it if you went in calm, she's a very dear friend of mine, and she's not forcing me to do any of this. I've known her a really long time, she's making sure the boys don't overstep their boundaries and that only good guys get in!" I say, and he takes a deep breath, glaring at the ground. "Please, just listen to her. If you're still mad after that, then..." I whisper, not knowing what to say. I know I wouldn't quit, I'd already come so far, met so many people who meant a lot to me. Quitting would mean losing them, and I wasn't quite ready to lose them. Plus Aima needed me to follow through, and I didn't want to fail her after she'd done so much for me. "Okay. I'll hear her out." Kyo says, and I wrap him in a tight hug, feeling him go stiff. "Thank you, Kyo-kun. She's over there, with your upperclassmen." I say, pointing over to Aima. Kyo slips out of my arms, storming over to her. He stands before her, crossing his arms and pinning her with a mean glare. Aima offers him a weak smile, pointing over to the chair and saying something. I bite my lip as Kyo sits, seeming reluctant as he looks between his two upperclassmen.
They begin talking, and though I can't hear anything, from the occasional spare glances I took, I saw they were all shocked, intrigued, invested... Aima pulled out the contract at some point, going over it with Kyo as Toru leaned in, seeming interested himself. Iwai didn't seem as invested as the others, but when our eyes caught, he sat up a little straighter. I turned away, feeling my cheeks burn as I knew they were probably figuring out I was kissing a bunch of other guys. Gosh, what were they going to think of me? Would Kyo even want to look at me after this? I felt sort of humiliated, but at the same time I was grateful for the experience, and relieved I had gotten it off my chest. I pulled out my phone, checking the time- it was almost time for my play date with Nen. I lifted my thumb to nibble on it but quickly stopped myself so I wouldn't ruin my teeth or nails, casting an anxious glance back at the table- to see Kyo signing the paperwork. I paused, staring wide eyed as Aima passed it to Iwai as well, him signing it also. I was shocked, to say the least- for Kyo to actually join the competition? What the hell had Aima said? And Iwai joined as well? Did I miss seeing Toru sign?
Okay, if I started my own company, I would definitely hire Aima to give sales pitches and put her in charge of product advertisement. What kind of magic had she pulled to get them to sign up for the competition? Wait, no, I mean, this was Aima. She convinced me to actually do the competition, as in getting kissed by multiple people. I had to think of that- and the fact that she also was probably going to convince me to do a lot more for this competition, crazy things- would I really do them? How far would she go? This was Aima, for gosh sakes- she could do all sorts of crazy things if she put her mind to it. But me? What kind of crazy things would she talk me into? Kissing people was one thing, but what if she tried to get me to do more? Wait, no, Aima wouldn't do that. I mean, I never thought she'd get me to kiss people, but anything more than that she'd never force me into. I trusted her, she already promised I wouldn't do more unless I agreed to it and actually wanted to. I should be alright, I mean, I had to potentially kiss 5 more people now- which means 11 competitors, and still searching... Would my lips fall off? Could lips fall off if you kiss too much? I don't think so…
Weekly Power Status
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