22. How The Tables Turn

'What the hell?' I wanted to yell.

I got glued stuck in place by those few words. She grabbed a knife out of the area of her panties, and pressed it to her throat, spilling a few drops of blood onto her knife. She had already lost it.

"You retard! What are you doing!? Stop that already."

Why the hell did she bring a knife to school!?

"Your choice... if I live or not."

"My choice? Of course it isn't my choice, it's yours!"

"Stay, or leave. Leave me like everyone else does, and I don't want to live anymore. I need you. Please, help me."

At this melodrama my brain starts to shut off. As she wanted, I came closer. 10 metres... 5 metres... I looked at her in the eyes. She gave a surprised look, and then looked gleeful. Were I to give her the time she would've probably spout some inane happy-go-lucky nonsense as usual.

Instead I kicked her in the hand, making her arm fling backwards and having the kitchen knife fly out of her hand.

"You're not listening, Yamatsu."

I grabbed the arm that I kicked tightly, making her face twist in pain. She tried to struggle away from me but I didn't let her gain any ground, simply swinging her arm upward to pressure her frail body even more.

"Let go!"

"Playtime is over, you've had your fun. Just give up."

Her expression became more and more bitter when she realized how futile it was.

"I... I'm going to scream."

"Oh really now, and who's going to hear it? Class is almost starting and we're all the way out here. I dare you to try."

I felt some enjoyment as I stared down at her, in full control of the situation. I started to interrogate her.

"So, why do you keep harassing me? Can you explain that for me?"

"..."

"Hello? Have you forgotten how to talk?"

She tried to jerk back her hand to make a run for the knife but I held her back. Then realizing that she won't cooperate, I dragged her away from it.

"You need to get admitted into a psychiatric ward, how have your parents not noticed that?"

It seems my words seem to agitate her, but she still refused to speak. She shut down from me completely once I showed no intention to play along anymore.

I sighed aloud, what a mess this is. What did she foresee would happen when she did her stunts?

I plopped myself down to the ground, and as I was still pulling her, forced her to do the same. I looked at the blue sky and the shapes of the clouds.

"... My parents did notice."

She suddenly started talking to me, even though she didn't want to. I looked beside me to see her in a huddled up position, she looks very uncomfortable, and her voice trembles. Still, she keeps speaking.

"... That's why they're not together anymore, and why dad hates me..."

I leaned back a bit, patiently awaiting what she was going to say next.

"See, here's the funny thing," She said while holding back tears, "People either don't know me, or hate me. And... It scares me, I don't know what to do. You helped me so I- I-... I don't know what to do. Anything I do is always somehow wrong."

She let out a torrent of emotions, while trying to still conceal the details of her life by being vague about it.

"Yamatsu, I don't want to hate you. I just simply can't trust you."

She gave a defeated smile at me.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a habit by now. Hehe~"

"Well, we can always start of fresh. But before that, let me tell a little story myself."

She looked at me curiously, but stayed silent.

"It was a long, long time ago. Me and Chiori were also the weird kids in the class, always off to be in their own little world. As such, we basically only had eachother for most of kindergarten. So, we pretended to be husband and wife, inseperable until death, we vowed. Quite funny how it ended up nowadays then, with our whole thing and all. Anyways, one day a teacher took note, I think she was only there as part timer for a little bit, and she didn't like us pretending to be lovers at all. In all fairness, I can't really blame her for it, but what she did was not acceptable. She pulled us to the front of the class and gave a great moral lecture about how we shouldn't ever be together. Those words stuck with me, and with the rest of the class too, as after that our otherwise uncaring peers started to suddenly harass us. It did work for a while, we were too ashamed to want to stay together, and we weren't happy by doing it. So eventually, we just went back to it. Just kept playing, and deciding that once we're old enough, we'll stop doing it. The teacher had lots to say when she saw us together, and the other kids mocked us for being so close, but we had an agreement that held stronger than that. In that sense I am very lucky."

I stared Yamatsu in the eyes now, catching her off guard.

"I promise that if you stop with trying to manipulate me, I will earnestly help you with whatever problems you may face. If you are a friend to me, I will be a friend to you, no matter who is against you. I'll even make sure that Chiori will help you as well."

She looked away, and mumbled "Will you keep listening to me, then?"

"I will, I'll hear you out as much as you need."

"...I'm not going back home. I'm not going to let dad hit me again. I'm already out of options, and I have noone to save me. So it doesn't matter what I say. I can't go to my mother either, I have no idea where she lives."

"What about living with us then?"

"That's just nonsensical, I can think of at least 15 issues with that immediately."

"But at least we can try it, even if for a few days only."

"No, it's alright. I just want to talk away the hours at this point. I... have no hope in life. Even if I were to be saved suddenly, what's after that, you know? Simply be a constant burden to everyone, just like I always am?"

She gave me one last meek look, before suddenly standing up and turning her back to me.

"You've helped me more than you needed to, Takumi. So let me tell you a story in return."