Assassin! Ishimaru Kiyotaka

Backstory Part 3

"Chihiro! You should not associate yourself with such delinquents!"
"Chi, bro, why are you hanging out with such a downbeat goody-goody bitch?!"
The two yelled over each other, addressing the poor upset Chihiro, looking back and forth between his two angry friends.
"Language Kuwata! How dare you insinuate I am such a phrase!"
"Delinquent! Are you seriously hearing yourself?! What are you, an 18th century scholar!"

At that point, the athletic girl walked over to the two bickering boys, raising both her hands and grabbing each boy by their shoulder, squeezing with incredible strength. This sudden shock of pain cut both of their words off, causing them to buckle under the weight of it.
"Stop it already! Both of you! You guys are supposed to be Chihiro's friends, but neither of you realized you were making him cry!"
They looked over at Chihiro, who indeed was hastily wiping tears from his pink cheeks and being comforted by the other girl with long dark hair.
Kiyotaka felt a pang in his chest, his anger being washed away into disappointment and despair in himself. He mentally kicked himself harder, chewing on the inside of his lip. Leon also held a guilty look.
"I don't know what either of you did, but you better apologize! Right now!"
The girl let her steel grip go, giving the boys a light shove before also going over to comfort chihiro.
Kiyotaka sighed, shifting where he stood, loosening his taut crossed arms and furrowing his brow as he slowly turned his eyes to look at Leon. A fiery determination shone back in his eyes, he was absolutely not going to apologize first. Kiyotaka dropped his arms down to his sides in a loose attention, and closed his eyes so as to not have to look at leon.
"Leon Kuwata, I apologize for raising my voice at you, and for earlier. I let my emotions get the best of me." he bowed slightly, still letting his frustration show on his expression. Leon scrunched up his nose in a sneer, receiving a glare from the athletic girl when he looked for any sign of compromise.
"Fiiinnee!" Leon groaned, slouching and shoving his hands in the pockets of his ripped black jeans,
"I guess... i'm sorry.. That you are such a prude."
The girl smacked him hard on the back of the head, causing him to keel forward before righting himself. While the two of them bickered, Kiyotaka slowly made his way other to Chihiro, the burning shame making the back of his neck and his ears hot. The two girls were occupied with other matters so he could properly apologize to him.
"Im sorry, Chihiro. I've ruined our time together."
His voice was low as he averted his eyes from Chihiro. He was surprised to hear a soft giggle.
"Oh, don't apologize, Kiyotaka. I cry really easily, I've just always been like that. Leon's a total hothead. I kind of expected him to cause some kind of trouble, and it's my fault for not warning you before him."
"I can leave, if you'd like."
"Kiyotaka! I don't want you to leave, silly! We haven't even ordered tea or had introductions yet! Here, you can sit next to me."He patted the empty chair between him and the girl who was comforting him before. Kiyotaka obliged, a feeling of uneasiness settling deep in his stomach as he looked around the small group. He had made a horrible first impression, no doubt one that would stick with them. The athletic girl was still griping at Leon, who was drilling holes in Kiyotaka's chest with his eyes, as if he thought he stared hard enough, Kiyotaka would die. The long haired girl was on her phone, scrolling calculatively through social media apps. And the other boy glanced nervously at Kiyotaka, flashing him a quick smile before looking away in a fluster.

As soon as everyone was settled, a peppy server came over with some menus and extended questions. At this point, Kiyotaka was so mentally drained he just stared at the piece of laminated paper given to him, his eyes scanned over the words, but nothing would stick in his mind. He couldn't understand what any of them meant. Eventually when the server turned to him, he just said whatever name his eyes had landed on first.
"The green dragon, please"
Chihiro smiled up at him, beaming with almost a ferocious light to it. It was... cute.
"That's what i always get too!"
Kiyotaka snapped out of his state, blinking a couple times before forcing himself into a right mindset to reply.
"It sounded interesting. What do you like about it?" His voice shook slightly, no matter his control. He felt tired. Much too tired to be here. But somehow, focusing on what Chihiro was saying helped him ground himself, and being in Chihiro's presence relaxed him.
As Chihiro rattled on about the balance of flavors color and the aroma of said tea, Kiyotaka found himself hanging on every word, nodding along as Chihiro absolutely beamed at him.
When the tea finally arrived in small white ceramic cups decorated with small blue and pink flowers, the aroma was truly how Chihiro had described it. The color was like a stagnant river in the middle of a shaded forest. The light dusty green faded to a darker shade near the bottom as it sloshed around the pastel ceramic. It smelled vaguely of chestnut and a soft honeyed fruit.
Chihiro looked over expectantly at Kiyotaka as he raised the cup to his lips, lightly blowing on its surface. Kiyotaka let the warm scent wash over him as he lifted the cup closer to his lips, letting himself truly experience the infused liquid as it touched his lips.

It reminded him of his childhood, when his mother would bring him tea during his study sessions. He would barr himself in his room for hours on end, studying every piece of material he could until his eyes were bloodshot. Many times he would skip meals and forget to drink for extended periods of time, so his mother would bring him hot meals and refills on his drinks. He would be forever grateful for her care. Which was just one more reason he had to excel in his studies and show the rest of the world an Ishimaru was a name to be proud of!

With that thought, he glanced up at the clock, nearly choking on his tea. It was 3 minutes past his due time to leave. That was 3 minutes less he would have to study tonight! Plus the extra 6 minutes it would take him to walk back to the dorms and the extra 3 it would take him to settle down and begin working and-
Kiyotaka jarred his train of thought, standing up abruptly and reaching into his bag.
"I am sorry to cut this time short, Chihiro, but i need to get back to the dormitories." he muttered quickly, fishing money out of his bag to pay for his tea and placing it on the table before turning to leave.
"W-wait! Do you really have to go?" Chihiro stood up after him, grabbing the cuff of his shirt and pausing him in his tracks.
"I...uh.. could i walk with you?" It was an innocent question, but with each word he spoke, it was another second chipping away at Kiyotaka's psyche. Another second he was wasting.
"Yes.. that's fine, i guess." Kiyotaka hurriedly replied, already heading off again with a short 'it was a pleasure meeting you all' and a stiff wave before he slipped through the crowd and out the door, Chihiro fast on his heels.

"Kiyotaka! Slow down!" Chihiro called behind him as he marched down the sidewalk. He grabbed at Kiyotaka's sleeve again, pulling him back. "Why are you in such a hurry! I-is.. is it something i did?"
If his mind wasn't in a panicked state and if he was thinking clearly, his current actions and everything he said would have been completely organized and calm. But he was on the verge of a panic attack and NEEDED to get back to his dorm room

THIS.

INSTANT.

He grabbed Chihiro's hand, practically dragging the smaller boy behind him.
"Chihiro, I am on a very tight schedule every second of my life. I set the exact amount of time I need for everything. Right down to the second. And right now, I am late. I have never been late a day in my life and right now I am late. I am 4 minutes late, Chihiro. That is 4 minutes I will not be able to study, that is 4 minutes I will have to study extra today, 4 minutes I will not be able to sleep, 4 minutes I will not be able to eat. 4 minutes off my schedule and the rest of my LIFE! Chihiro, do you understand that?!" His voice was cracking as tears were beginning to well up in his eyes. He tried to stop them, to take deep breaths and center himself, but every second he wasn't where he was supposed to be was another second he was failing. He was a failure he was worthless and pathetic he was late and a goddamn-

It wasn't until Chihiro jerked his arm hard enough to get him to stop and held Kiyotaka's face in his hands and forced him to look into the tawny haired boy's eyes that he realized he had been muttering all his thoughts out loud and his tone was growing louder.
"Kiyotaka look at me." his voice had a hard tone of authority.
"Ch-Chihiro-" the smaller boy squeezed his cheeks a little harder.
"Stop, and take a deep breath."
"Ch-"
"Just do it!"
Kiyotaka blinked slowly, breathing slowly through his nose and slowly letting it out through his mouth.
"Chihiro-"
'Breathe, Kiyotaka'
He did as chihiro said, taking slow deep breaths as his heartbeat slowed down ever so slightly, and the clock striking spears into his brain reduced to the gentle ticking of a pocket watch in the back of his mind.
"Better?" Chihiro asked, smiling the same way he had when Kiyotaka had asked him the same thing just a few days ago.

"Better."