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hiding spot
jack howl. ジャック・ハウル
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YOUR FOOTSTEPS ECHO quickly on the school floor, avoiding the small groups of students that populate the corridors, trying to move through them as quickly as possible.
Your breath leaves your throat in short bursts of air, your heart races as your gaze desperately searches for an escape route.
Some students give you dirty looks, others whisper among themselves, but you don't care at the moment, you'll have time to wallow in shame later.
You look over your shoulder, immediately spotting the reason for your behavior in the crowd, just a few meters away from you. You thought you were running fast enough.
You bring your attention back in front of you, and think. Think, think. You could go to the mirror hall, and jump into a random dorm and hope he gives up his search then and there.
But it's too far away, you're sure he will reach you before you can set foot in the corridor that leads to it.
Your eyes finally catch a familiar figure, soft white pointed ears popping up, surpassing everyone present in height. You mentally breathe a sigh of relief, rerouting your course towards him.
You don't want to involve him, after all it's your fault that you ended up in this mess. No, in fact, it's that asshole's fault.
Your hand wraps around Jack's arm as you hide behind him, your skin touching the black material of his uniform jacket.
A confused expression makes its way onto his face as he tenses up a bit; he starts to look back but you clutch his jacket, as if to make him understand that you need him to stay still.
"Why are you hiding behind me?" His voice is dry as usual, but you know not to take it to heart, he's just like that.
In the meantime you are catching your breath, your other hand resting on your chest. Your cheeks are red from running and your hair is slightly messy.
"I may, or may not, have someone chasing me, and he's not exactly friendly." You finally answer him with your voice breaking from the effort.
"I had guessed so on my own."
"What did you do?" He encourages you to talk already.
How can you explain it to him? You had just left the last class of the morning, delighted to be able to go have lunch and then potentially laze around in the comfort of your room because, for once, you have nothing to do.
Yet, leaving the then noisy classroom, your ears could not help but unintentionally hear the words of some students present. You're not nosy, maybe just a little, but in that moment it was inevitable that you heard something.
And, initially to the boy's misfortune but now to yours, it was precisely the words of a student intending to badmouth his friend about yet another student, who was within hearing range.
Well if that wasn't even that subtle bullying, you don't know what could be.
So, with the justice complex that you've been forced to develop over the last few months in this school, you naturally intervened.
Everything was going well, you were just talking some sense into him, his expression had finally changed from amusement to mild irritation. His friend had stopped laughing too.
But his face had quickly started to show pure anger. And from wanting to limit himself to answering you in kind, he was clearly considering moving on to stronger ways.
You know when to throw in the towel, and that was the time, especially when the boy turned out to be much more imposing than you. And, one thing led to another, here you are, behind Jack.
"I see you, you scumbag."
Well, you don't even have time to explain everything to the wolf, so one less problem for you.
You flinch, but not at the boy's threatening tone; Jack moves his arm back, his hand resting on the small of your back, bringing you closer to him.
"How about you drop it and leave?"
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"The way you were standing, I thought you were going to beat him up." You walk next to him, holding his arm - and he doesn't seem to mind, in fact he was the one who offered it to you - as you walk away from the principal's office.
"No, I would have ended up in trouble too." He answers you with a shrug. "I just wanted to keep him from hurting you."
"Fair enough."
"You owe me anyway." He adds in a firm voice, you feel him tense up a little as you move closer to him.
"What? You're telling me you didn't do it out of the goodness of your heart?" You ask him teasingly, looking at him with a little smirk on your lips; his reaction is more obvious than he would like. His ears twitch and you're sure that's blush on his cheeks.
"No." The word is only muttered and he continues to look forward, avoiding your gaze.
"I know you're lying." You continue, growing happier the more he tries to deny it, poking his cheek.
"I'm not."
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