Take My Hand

Chapter 14 - Locker

Mitsue made a beeline for the lockers, clutching her books tightly to her chest as she hurried past the flow of students. She wanted nothing more than to get out of school as quickly as possible, away from the torment they were putting her through. All the whispers and stares, the sarcastic remarks and hurtful jokes, the silent treatment from her own classmates. She wanted to get away from them all.

'Mitsue.' someone called from behind. 'Let's walk home together.'

Mitsue turned to see Madara regarding her earnestly, hands in his pockets.

'Eh? It's okay, Madara. I'm fine walking home by myself. Besides,' she added quickly, 'Your house is in the opposite direction. It would inconvenience you greatly.'

She had barely finished her sentence when a group of girls walked past. 'Oh? Madara? What are you doing? I know school's stressful and stuff, but you really don't have to talk to thin air. You're scaring us.' their leader remarked. Her friends laughed and snickered as they continued their way, not really caring for his response. Again, that simple statement pricked her. But Mitsue refused to let it show.

'Thanks for the offer.' she said quietly, quickening her pace as she walked on ahead. She appreciated his thoughtfulness, but no- she didn't want to implicate him. No, it was enough just knowing that he believed in her.

Nearing the lockers, Mitsue didn't need a double-take to register what had happened. It was an all too familiar scene. Amidst the rows of identical lockers, it was obvious when one had been tampered with. She felt a tinge of sadness, disappointed that things had to turn out this bad even in her new school. Was there really no escaping from it? Was there really no way she could reverse the situation? 

She missed the times when she didn't had to worry over such things. She missed the times when she didn't have to hide her face as she walked down the corridor, the times when she could laugh and smile whenever her heart wished to, the times when she was accepted for who she was. Those two short years... she wanted them to last forever. How cruel. She cursed the Gods. Why let her have a taste of Heaven only to throw her back into Hell once more? 

Mitsue took in the damage- her lock forcefully pried open as it hung loosely from the door that was deliberately left ajar. Tens of possibilities clogged her mind. Drawing in a deep breath, Mitsue flung open the door fully, experience preparing her for what she might find.

Ugly words and obscenities splashed across the inner walls, their angry, irregular strokes a crude display of the loathe and disdain her vandalists harboured as they worked on their art piece with spray cans and permanent markers. 'LIAR, HYPOCRITE, BETRAYER, CHEAT, SCUM.' 

Mitsue wasn't particularly upset by the hateful words that stared back at her in mockery. Those words, she had heard enough- so much they didn't bother her anymore. Mitsue reached for her shoes, her face impassive to the heartless joke played on her. Now what? Her hand fell limp at her sides as she regarded the space where her right sneaker was supposed to be. 

Her eyes glazed over at the remaining one, uncaringly stuffed with garbage. Mitsue vexed, anxious and frustrated at the loss of her shoe and the little treasure hunt she was expected to participate in.

 Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply in a bid to soothe her nerves and clear her racing mind. She thought hard, trying to convince herself that she would reach something if she thought hard enough. But no matter how she looked at it, logic told her that it was an almost impossible task. The whole school to one shoe? It was like finding a needle in a haystack! It would take her hours to comb the whole compound, to search every nook and cranny, every classroom, every forgotten corner. And what if it wasn't even in school to start with? Mitsue didn't even know where to begin her search.

Her head hung low as she bit her bottom lip. What exactly had she done? If only someone could tell her. Just who had she unintentionally offended? Mitsue haven't even caught wind of the one who had sent that email to the school, that demon that opened her gates to hell. But she did know that whoever that person was, whatever the case, they must have disliked her so much as to turn the whole school against her, without even needing to show their presence directly. It was harder to cope when she didn't know her enemies, when it could be anyone behind a smiling face.

A whole minute passed before Mitsue snapped out of her self-pity. She assessed the situation once more and gave a mental shake of her head. It was going to be useless. There was no way she could find her shoe in the 4 hours to closing. 

Well, I guess I'll just... 

Sighing, Mitsue cleared her locker, emptying its contents into her bag- her vandalised textbooks, torn-up notes and ink-stained P.E T-shirt. She flung the garbage out of her her dirty shoe, her mind working to locate the nearest place she could go for an affordable replacement. The spoilt lock rattled noisily as she slammed the metal door shut. Mitsue sparred it a glance. And yeah... a strong iron number lock.