Let Me Hear It Once [Akihiko Sanada] -HIATUS-

Round 8: Got A Secret... Can You Keep It?

Momiji Sakakibara's POV

The doctor was stuck in traffic, and I allowed my mind to continue wandering. I felt as though I was on auto-pilot, trying to find the darkest place to hide from him. My body felt numb, and all I could hear was his constant screaming in my ears, echoing to every corner in my mind. I could even fill Charlotte stir within me, shuddering in fear and making squeaks as she attempted to hide. I walked on around the station, not really looking to where I was going in the first place. It wasn't until I heard some dark snickers that I realized I had wandered into the area behind Port Island Station.

There were a lot of thugs and barely-dressed girls loitering about, a rather disgusting taste in music blasting and a heavy cloak of cigarette smoke causing my senses to become dull. I felt a lot of eyes on me as I brought myself out of my depressed and frightened trance, my knuckles brought to my lips as I tried to avoid their gaze. I heard lots of cruel whispers and saw the sneers; I guess no one really liked the fact that I'm a student at Gekkoukan. I fidgeted, recognizing the scent of predators and the thoughts that were swimming in their heads. I felt myself become tense, and I quickly shut my eyes and tried to hide behind my scarf. However, my shaking must've loosened it's grip around my neck as it began to loosen. Before I could stop it, it started to fall, revealing the disgusting scar around my neck. I felt as though time was slowing down because the fates wanted to make fun of me. I heard the gasps and all of the cruel conspiracies around me. I felt Charlotte shudder with fear, and my eyes began to fill with tears. 

Someone had caught my scarf before it hit the ground.

"That's one bad scar." I heard the mysterious person say. I tensed, feeling them come closer to me. I parted my eyes barely to find a pair of black shoes and navy pants. I felt them wrap the scarf around my neck, and I looked up in confusion. The person before me must've been about my age. He had dark blue hair that reminded me of Minato, and eyes that hid behind a pair of orange-tinted glasses held by black rims. He stared at me emotionlessly, as if calculating my very existence. I quickly looked back down, trying to fix my scarf as best as possible with my shaking hands. He sighed in annoyance, and I heard him drop something; it sounded like a brief case. His hands began to replace my own, effectively hiding my insecurities. For some reason, a strange wave of nostalgia hit me, and my heart was pounding within my chest. "T-Thank you..." I managed to murmur out, still wary of the people around us. "A girl like you shouldn't even be here." He scoffed, picking up his case as he began to toss a mechanical ball up and down," Don't you know you're in danger here, idiot?" I didn't flinch at his words. I hid the lower part of my face back down behind my scarf," I-I'm sorry..." His eyes seemed to narrow in disgust, but I somehow found comfort in his angered gaze. "Jeez. Are you the kind of girl that apologizes for everything?" He asked," No wonder you wandered in here. Probably too busy feeling sorry for yourself to realize where you were going."  

I didn't respond this time.

As if he was sick of my silence, he brushed past me. I felt the vultures tearing their eyes into me, and I shuddered. "Hey, you coming or what, idiot?" He called out to me. I looked up, surprised, but I found him glaring daggers at me. So I ducked my head back down, and ran up to follow him away from this place. I kept my focus on the ground in front of me, only using the back of his shoes to lead me. However, sunshine decorated the concrete, and I ran into his suddenly still back. "Watch it!" He snapped. "S-Sorry!" I squeaked, jumping away from him and holding my hands close to me. He growled, his harsh gaze upon me," ... You idiot." I blinked twice, noticing something in his voice had changed. I looked up to him curiously, and saw that his eyes weren't as threatening as before. But before I could say anything, he returned to his cold demeanor and sneered," What do you want now?" I shook my head slowly, signaling that there was nothing. And so, we both fell into an awkward silence.