The One Who Never Told | P5

03

"I heard you've got a criminal record. Everyone's talkin' about it." Ryuji said, his clothes rustling a bit as he moved. "No wonder you were so gusty."

Suzuki moved out of the way of the window and listened in.

Akira was sitting on the top of one of the discarded desks as they continued to talk. Ryuji learned forward, his voice becoming softer, probably not wanting unwanted listeners like Suzuki listening in.

Not like that was going to stop him any.

It felt wrong, but Suzuki had nothing else to do at the moment.

Although he wanted to stay clear of whatever they were doing, it was like the saying went: curiosity killed the chat.

"What was that??" Ryuji asked, his voice more muffled behind the door. "You know, how we almost got killed at a castle...." Ryuji paused for a moment.

"It wasn't a dream... right? You remember it too, yeah?"

Akira's deep and much softer voice responded with, "Yeah" as an answer.

"Well, just because we both remember it doesn't really matter much." Ryuji's voice picked up a bit, Suzuki could literally hear the smile on his face.

Oh, how he missed the bleach blond haired male.

They had been friends, long, long ago. But that was all history now. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but crack a small smile too.

"Heh, I mean, even if it was a dream, you saved me from Kamoishida." Ryuji said his thanks.

Suzuki continued to listen. His small smile had fainted away, just as quickly as it had appeared. Now he was confused.

Castle? Kamoishida?

He wondered how the two were connected.

Surly that much couldn't have happened on someone's first day. But the two already did seem close despite one of them being a transfer from the country.

Ryuji seemed to rant on about Kamoishida's rumors, bringing Akira up to date on the situation, something every Shujin student knew of but many turned a blind eye too.

How could you talk about Kamoishida and not mention the abuse?

"No one says anything against him 'cause he's some medalist that took the volleyball team to nationals. The way Kamoishida was king of that castle felt crazy real 'cause of that..." Ryuji brought up the castle again as his spat out Kamoishida's name over and over again.

There was a brief pause as Ryuji muttered something. In a blink of an eye, Ryuji was up and standing, surprising Suzuki.

His heart nearly stopped in the fear of being caught.

"Ugh, forget it. Must've all been a dream! It has to be!" He exclaimed.

Ryuji turned back to look at Akira who had been silent the entire time. Suzuki took this chance to quickly run down the stairs.

He didn't want to be seen by either one as they made their way back down again.

He didn't get it. Well, Suzuki probably wasn't meant to understand.

During work, Suzuki naturally forgot the conversation he had "overheard". He had more important things to think about, and before he knew it, his shift at the convenience store was over.

He walked home with a frown.

Suzuki entered his own house by climbing up to the second floor window.

Letting his father see him now would have only been a death sentence.

Although the old man knew he worked, he was violent at night. Getting caught now, meant  another night of hardship for him.

Suzuki pulled up one leg and then the other one before falling onto his bed with a soft sigh. He laid on the mattress, completely drained with all the energy sucked out of him.

It was a miracle that he managed to work despite his ever increasing stress.

His eyes fell to a close as his breathing slowed.

Suzuki tried to force himself to sleep, but his eyes flew open as his door slammed against the wall, leaving a newly created hole in it's place.

In fear, Suzuki quickly jumped towards the still open window which he climbed in come from.

His father was faster though.

He pounced and punched Suzuki hard. He knew there would be bruising later.

Suzuki's skin ran cold in fear as the smell of booze filled his nose.

Yeah, this was gonna be one of those nights, he thought to himself.