Her...and Me

Chapter 4

{Aomine POV}

We walked in silence outside, my hands in my pockets. I felt jittery.

"Aomine-kun."

"What?"

"How long do you think it's been happening?"

"..." I gulped. "I don't know."

"She came by my school earlier."

"Huh?"

"It looked like she was crying." He said. "She had puffy eyes. Did you two fight again?"

"...She just yelled at me." I said. "It wasn't really a fight..."

"She saw something...upsetting at my school, it seemed, so she ran away." He said, twitching his fingers. "And then...a few hours later, you called. And she was like that."

I looked at him, my eyebrows furrowing. "Are you accusing me—"

"I never said that. I know you wouldn't do that. Please don't be ridiculous." He said almost immediately. "I was just saying that I'm sorry. If she hadn't seen what she did, maybe she could've gone back to your school and made up with you, and this wouldn't have happened."

"...Tch." I looked away, "'s not your fault. Shut up."

"You should get some rest, Aomine-Kun...Would you like me to buy you something? A vanilla shake?"

"Hell no." I said, tweaking his forehead. "Imma stay here for a few then drop by my house to get some stuff."

"Are you going to stay the night?" He asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Probably. She doesn't have a place to stay, maybe I'll let her stay over a few nights."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "...Don't do pervy things to Momoi-san, Aomine-Kun."

"Like hell I will!"

. . .

"Satsuki!"

She groaned, flinching when she realized she was laying down. "What...Huh?"

"Momocchi!"

"Momoi-san."

She blinked, before making eye contact with me. "Daiki-kun...?"

"You good?"

She sat up, clutching at her stomach. "Feels uncomfortable...Where am I? The hospital?"

"You shouldn't sit up when you've just woken up." Akashi said. "Lay back down."

I pressed the button on a remote that controlled the bed, and it slowly lifted up with a low whirrrr...

"What happened...?"

"Why didn't you tell me about your parents?" I asked, the question spilling out of my mouth before I could say anything else. A firm slap made my head fall forward. "Ow!"

"Please don't say such insensitive things when she's just woken up." Tetsu said. "She is still trying to grasp her surroundings."

I looked back at her. She didn't really look like she was...here. Like, her body was, but SHE wasn't.

She was staring at her hands, her fingers trembling. For once, she wasn't smiling. Her eyes weren't shining. They were as dull as yesterday.

"Are you hungry?" Kise asked. "Or do you want water?"

She didn't respond for a bit, before muttering, "...Why..."

"Huh?"

"Why'd you bring me here?!" She yelled all of a sudden. "You...Do you realize...!"

"Hah?"  I asked, in disbelief. "You were bleeding and unconscious on the floor, why wouldn't I bring you here?"

"Now I have to pay for bills, go back home because I have nowhere to go and I'm sure the hospital's called them by now, and I'll just be hit over and over again because they don't give a fuck about me and I'll just be in this endless, stupid cycle with no—!"

"Satsuki."

She stopped almost immediately, because that's what you do when Akashi calls you. She was crying, sobbing into her hands.

"We're not letting you go back there." He continued. "Never. Not until your safety is ensured. Understood?"

With a whimper, she replied, "Mm..."

"Good. I'll join everyone to request for some food." He motioned for all of us to leave. When I stood up, he stopped me. "Not you, Daiki. She can't stay alone."

I sat back down, sighing heavily. "Fine. Go."

They left the room, the door shutting behind them. I turned to Satsuki, who still had her face covered with her hands. An awkward silence filled the room.

"Ugh, move your hand." I reached for a napkin and pulled her hands away from her face. "Cmon, blow your nose, dummy."

She leaned into the napkin and blew all the yucky snot away. She sniffed, wiping away her tears.

"Thanks." She said. "Sorry for yelling at you...When you helped me..."

"It's whatever."

"...It was since elementary school." She said, leaning back into her pillow until she was laying down. "When they expected me to work and earn money."

"Elementary school?" I asked, furrowing my nose in disgust. "Geez, what the fuck."

"The hitting started around middle school. When they found out I was the manager for the basketball team." She said. Her eyes seemed to glaze over, as if she was actually falling into the past. "Said I was a useless whore who doesn't know her worth.

"My mom cut my hair a few days ago. When I was bleeding. Said I looked unsightly." She continued. "And yesterday I was hit for dirtying the floor with mud."

She said all this as if it were normal. As if that's how everyone lived. As if... As if she was fine living like this.

As if reading my mind, she said, "I know it isn't normal. I know. It's difficult sometimes. But...I think I've gotten used to it. It's so simple...just get the beating over with and move on. What good will it do to tell someone? What can they do anyway? Fate chose this life for me, I'm sure there's a good side to all this."

I clenched my fists until they trembled. Just the thought of Satsuki laughing so brightly all this time while going home to those demons made me burn to my core.

"Fuck..." I angrily wiped at the tears that fell from my eyes. "You're so..."

"I'm going to move out once I graduate and get into a decent college." She said. "I have to find a part time job soon so that I can earn enough for tuition. Until then, I'll have to deal with it."

She looked over at me, coming out of her trance. "Wha...Why are you crying?"

"'S nothing." I muttered, standing up. "Satsuki!"

She flinched at the sudden call. "Huh? What?"

"Move in with me!"