BEYOND REACH

Final Exams

"Hah, look at that litlle brat fleeing from me... But where is he going so late at night? Don't tell me he's going to buy snacks at a store at this hour. I better follow him, just in case..." He mubled to Akane to give her an excuse to being following her son before discreetly leaving the house and following after him.

The rain was pouring heavily, but Tachibana kept walking in the dark, with a destination on mind. Tsunemori was a bit behind him this whole time, watching him as he kept walking with no lights on. He was confused as to where you were going, as well as worried since there was such a heavy rainfall.

"Seriously, where is this brat going, and why now? Damn, I knew I shouldn't have let him go off alone. This isn't safe at all..." He mumbled as he continued to follow the boy, keeping a relatively safe distance so that he couldn't notice him sneaking behind.

When Tachibana stopped walking he finally was in his safe place, where he went everytime he was feeling down or needy of affection. It were long stone stairs  that faced the sea. He sat there and threw a small rock into the ocean, letting away all his anger.

Tsunemori was still looking him from afar, but he could faintly see hsi student's figure sitting on the long stairs. He was relieved when he saw that he was at least somewhat safe there, before moving in closer quietly so that the boy couldn't feel or see his presence. He leaned against a tree and watched the other from a distance with calm expression, but his eyes full of concern.

Moments after, two big men approached to the young student, with no friendly intentions.

"You kiddo, what are you doing here"

"It's our territory, get out if you don't want troubles, brat" 

Tachibana opened his eyes in shock at the moment he heard that words "Trouble"? "Brat"? He was deadly sick of hearing that concepts from Tsunemori, and he didn't need anymore idiots to keep telling him that, his blood boiled and he got up from the stairs, facing them.

"I KNOW I'M A TROUBLEMAKER AND A BRAT EVEN WHEN I DON'T TRY IT I FUCKING KNOW IT WELL BUT I ALSO KNOW THIS IS A PUBLIC SPACE AND I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE"

The men looked at him angrily, stretching his fists.

Tsunemori watched from the trees in the distance as he saw the two bears approaching to his student, clearly trying to pick a fight with the smaller kid. He felt anger as he heard what the men had to say and was tempted to step in and interfere, but he decided to hold back and let him handle the situation by himself. He observed the anger in Tachibana's eyes as he stood up defiantly at them.

They began to kick Yuma's face so hard, his ribs, his arms... Everything was becoming a mess on him... But at least he gave them a fight and proved to himself his true nature. A couple of minutes after, the bullies got tired of him and he was left on that place alone again, under the rain, laying on the floor, with a butchered face and feeling nothing but despair.

His teacher watched the men kicked him multiple times, causing him to clench his fist tightly in response, wanting to step in and stop it all but forcing himself to stay where he was. However, as he saw Tachibana's blood starting to drip from his face and the men walked away, it was his last straw. He inmediately rushed over and kneeled down next to the injured boy, his expression with a mix of anger and regret as his eyes widened at the sight of his bloodied, hurt face.

When a half-conscious Tachibana noticed the presence of someone else he gave them a smirk.

"What? You didn't have enough yet?" But his smile vanished when he realised who he was putting his hurt head above his thighs. "What are you doing here? Tsch."