Never

15. Confessions, part 2

Hitoshi's POV

          I was panting. My lungs were on fire, my feet grated by tar, and I was feeling as if someone was stabbing me everywhere, but I kept going. And finally I reached my destination and like a mirage, I saw her.

          The full moon was reflected by a calm sea, and stars were shining on the water, forming an oneiric background on which, sitting on the top of a pile of rubbles, a white shadow appeared, her black hair floating in the wind.

          I stepped closer and bumped against a pile of metal scrap which fell down in a deafening racket, but she didn't react. I wasn't sure whether she was ignoring me or was completely detached from the rest of the world. I must admit, I was a bit worried.

           I joined the pile on which she was and started climbing. It was a real ordeal, my whole body was hurting and my bloody feet kept slipping. So when, roughly midway, my feet slipped and I fell, I wasn't really surprised. More like frustrated. I really had to talk to her, to understand her, and more importantly to thank her for everything she did for me. And it annoyed me to die like that, without having done anything with my life. Without us becoming heroes and changing this shitty world.

Me : Kitaaaaaa !!!

           As I was falling I felt a gush of wind, then something momentarily stopped my fall, before cushioning it once on the ground. When I got my wits back, Kita was laying on her back and I was sitting above her, my hands on her hips.

          I blushed and was about to leave when she moved and tried to flee. Instinctively I flattened her on the ground by pushing her shoulders, ending up almost laying on her. Our eyes met and we both blushed, but none of us moved.

Me : Why did you fled ?

          She remained silent, but her eyes were expressif enough to answer me. Sadness, culpability, a sliver of fear too. She looked away.

Me : Were you really going to abandon me after what happened ? To leave me to the gangs ? To let the heroes lock me up for beating some Greens ?

          Shocked, she sharply turned toward me, eyes wide.

Kita : What ? No ! Never ! I wanted to watch from afar, I would have stopped them, had they tried anything !

Me : Even the heroes ?

           She nodded, without the shadow of a doubt on her face. A weird feeling spread in me, like a bubble of warm in my chest. It was hard to describe, on one hand I felt... good ? Thankful ? I felt as if for once someone cared for me and it felt really good. But on the other hand I was incredibly frustrated.

Me : Then why leaving ?! Why abandoning me ?! And what about your father, don't you feel anything about leaving him ?! Eraserhead, the only true hero, and his friends from UA, why did you leave me with them if you don't trust them ?

Kita : It's not that ! I know dad will help you ! Him and uncle Mic, and aunty Night will protect you legally, you can trust them !

Me : Then why aren't they protecting you ?

Kita : Because I didn't told them anything... In my former school I had the same problem, it was exactly the same hell. I tried ignoring them, doing what they asked, denouncing them to the teachers and to the director, and fighting, but it didn't change anything. When I fought to defend myself I was the one being punished. If I denounced them nothing happened, but they would hear about it and the situation would worsen. I ended up telling dad, and everything calmed down, to the point that I even thought I had made friends, but eventually they betrayed me. They invited me to hang with them an evening, supposedly to study, but they put the desk of a teacher who was to give us a test the next day on fire, and beat me up, saying that now even a hero father wouldn't be able to do anything for me, and that they would make sure to make him fall for meddling in their business.