Crazy Love

Chapter 6: Fateful Encounter

"It's already this dark?" Akiko says to herself, startled after looking at the clock in the classroom.

She's been in the classroom for a while after telling Akia and Kikumaru to go on ahead without her. Akiko makes her way out of the school, noticing that the sun's almost completely set.

"This is not good..." Akiko mutters.

She's always been a bit scared of walking around at night. She walks past the tennis courts, getting closer to the station.

She starts hearing footsteps behind her. Overcome with panic, her breath becomes shorter and panicked. Her heart starts beating faster as she picks up her pace. The footsteps behind her also start getting faster and closer to her. They are definitely following her, she thinks. She then decides to break out into a run. She runs as fast as she can, but the footsteps just keep getting closer.

Her heart then starts pounding painfully. Her heart condition was not helping her case. The doctors always advise her against any excessive physical activity, since it can be very dangerous for her. Even though she knows all of this, she also knows that worse things might happen to her if she stops running. Someone then suddenly grabs her wrist from behind and yanks hard on it, making her almost trip over.

"Hey, hey, no need to run from us," the man who's holding her wrist says in a mocking voice.

Akiko's heart is now beating faster than ever, from both fear and exhaustion. Last time her heart acted up like that, she fainted and had to be brought to the hospital in a hurry.

"P-Please, I just w-want to go home," Akiko whimpers.

Relishing in her fear, the men start laughing, mocking her.

"Go home? Sorry girly, you're coming with us," the man who's grabbing her wrist says to her.

He then starts dragging her along. She does everything she can to resist, but it's no use. She's not nearly strong enough, especially against all these men.

Horrifying thoughts start going through her mind. She shakes and whimpers in fear. Just as she's thinking that it's all over for her, someone comes up and punches the man who's holding her wrist. Before the others can react, they meet the same fist. Akiko loses balance, due to her knees being all wobbly from fear and relief.

"Get up," the one who came to her rescue commands.

As she tries to get up, a paralyzing pain pierces through her heart. She lets out a choked cry and clutches her shirt at the area causing her pain.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself," the guy gets closer to her, with his arms up to catch her in case she falls.

Akiko brings her gaze up the lean muscular arms, and her eyes meet with her saviour's. They fall upon sharp honey brown eyes. Akiko notices that he doesn't look like he's much older than she is. His silver hair is put up, giving her a clear view of his face. His pale skin almost shines in the moonlight.

The pain in her chest brings her back to reality. She used up too much of her energy earlier. If she does any more effort, she might end up in the hospital. She grimaces, and the guy notices it.

"Your heart?" He motions at her hand that's still clutching her shirt.

"Uh... Y-Yeah, it's nothing... I'll manage..." Akiko stutters, not really convinced by her own words.

"Tch, stupid woman," the guy mutters.

Akiko drops her gaze in shame.

"S-Sorry... waaah!" Akiko let out a scream of surprise at what the guy just did.

It took her a few seconds to process what just happened. The guy lifts her up in his arms, princess style.

"W-w-what are you doing?" She stutters even more, her face a deep shade of red.

"You don't seem like you'll be able to walk. This way it's faster to get out of here before these assholes wake up," he dismisses her reaction and starts walking.

Akiko unconsciously takes hold of his shirt. Even though she doesn't know him at all, she feels safe and at ease with him. She closes her eyes, and his scent wafts to her nose. The smell of mint, sweat, and a hint of tobacco envelops her senses.

"Where do you live?" The guy's voice snaps her out of it.

Even though his voice sounds forceful and aggressive, Akiko feels like he's more caring than he shows. Not anyone would do what he's doing. She gives him instructions on how to get to her place. He rides the train with her and walks her to her house.

He then, without a word, turns around and starts leaving.

"Um! Wait!" Akiko says in a clear voice.

He then turns his head around.

"What?" He says in annoyed tone.

"T-Thank you for everything..." Akiko lowers her gaze and blushes.

"I won't be there every time. You better not go out this late again," he then prepares to leave again, but Akiko calls out to him once more.

"Sorry, but... can you tell me your name?" She mumbles the last part, too shy to say it out loud.

"Akutsu. Akutsu Jin," he answers her flatly.

"Thanks again, Akutsu-san. My name is Echizen Akiko, by the way," she says to him with a smile.

"Didn't ask," he snorts and leaves for real this time.

Akiko's heart starts beating fast again, but, this time, it's not painful or out of over-exertion. It's a warm tingling feeling that spreads over to her stomach as well.

"Akutsu Jin..." She whispers his name to herself, "I wonder if I'll ever see him again."

She then goes in her house. As soon as she steps inside, Akia runs to her, screaming her name.

"Why are you so late?!" Akia sobs, "I was so scared something might've happened to you!"

"Well... Something did happen to me," Akiko says with a smile.

Akia looks at her sister. It's the first time she sees her smiling this way. She smiles a lot, yes, but this smile's a bit different from her usual smiles.

"You're coming with me up to my room, and I'm not letting you sleep before you tell me EVERYTHING!" Akia drags Akiko up to her room where the latter starts telling her all about what happened.

Akiko never had the intention of hiding anything from her twin. They always tell each other anything. This time it's no exception. Akia listens to her sister as she recounts both the bad and good things that happened to her.