The Great King -「大王様」

Chapter 19

止まって
Stop it

-x-

The thought of going to school kept me uneasy, so Tooru urged that we stay at home the following day. He didn't tell anyone about what happened. All he told our parents was that I'm sick, and he had to take care of me. Of course, they won't interfere in any way when he says that. They want that to happen anyway.

With the memory of the incident keeping me awake, Tooru decided to sleep beside me. His touch made me feel safer than his jacket. He told me to only wear a spaghetti top and shorts to bed that night, so that he'll tend to my wounds while I sleep with his love. It was a cute joke, but I knew that he was only torturing his own conscience, reminding himself that this was his fault, when it's really not.

In the middle of the night, I woke up to Tooru's low serious voice. He was sitting on the edge of the bed. His hand held his phone near his ear as he muttered words in the quietest, most natural way possible.

"落ち着くて！俺も心配だ！(Calm down! I'm worried of her too!)" he flinched upon realizing how much he raised his voice. With a much calmer tone, he rubbed his temple, then continued, "作戦を覚えてる、いいか？(Remember the plan, got it?)" It was so quiet in the room, I could hear the multiple replies from different voices across the line. Was it a group call?

Tooru hung up the call, and I fidgeted my way to a position, facing away from him, pretending to sleep. I heard him place his phone on the bedside and his low chuckle as he hugged me in bed. "御免ね、起こした。また寝るよ(Sorry, I woke you up. Go to sleep again)," he whispered into my ear.

Unable to control my frown, I shifted my body to face him. "何で知ってる？(How do you know?)"

He closed the gap between us with a soft kiss on my lips. Tooru broke away, just an inch away from me to answer my question. "ただ知っているぜ (I just know.)" His lips met mine once again. Unlike the usual, his kiss felt almost as if he was searching for a way to calm himself. To help, I moved my lips against his in a pace that matched his.

I felt guilty knowing that even he's problematic because of a situation that should concern only me. However, love is, something between two people. Everything is shared from here onwards. This can't be helped. All I can do now is to help the both of us forget the problem temporarily, just to put ourselves into ease for bed.

--

Tooru was already on a call when I woke up. When he noticed that I woke up, he smiled at me and briefly gave me a kiss. "おはよう(Good morning)," he greeted shortly, then sat back up, returning his attention to the call.

I sat up and asked him with just my hands whom he was talking to. Instead of tellinf me, Tooru put it in speaker mode instead, laying his phone down the bedside, before lying down in bed with me. The voices heard across the line was Iwaizumi's, Matsukawa, Hanamaki, and the rest of the volleyball team. From the quick glance I had on his phone screen though, they were all in separate locations, just talking through a group call.

"優衣、どう？(Yui, how was it?)" Kunimi's voice was audible. I tried my best to listen to what Yui said, but Tooru distracted me with the butterfly kisses he placed on the bruises all over my body. I can't believe Yui's in on this as well.

"辞めて(Stop)," I whispered to Tooru, but he ignored my command. The voices from his phone continued to talk amongst themselves, yet I failed to pay attention because of Tooru.

His hands went under my shirt, moving around my torso. "まだ痛いか？(Does it still hurt?)" His lips touched my ear as he whispered. I couldn't answer him when my mind was focused on his careful touch on each of my bruises. If any sound was to come out of my mouth now, it will be heard in the group call. Tooru lifted my shirt and planted kiss on my bruises. One by one, and slowly.

He only stopped when a familiar, but unfriendly voice was heard from his phone's speaker. He didn't move from his position as he listened attentively to the voice. From what I could decipher, Iwaizumi was talking her into visiting the volleyball club with some solid alibi for doing so. The rest of the team's voices could be heard, teasing Iwaizumi with the girl. Sometimes, their plans can be so out of this world, yet still manages to work out in the end.

Their talk was all over the place from there as they headed to the gym. But the moment Yui called out to Kunimi, the group cut their conversations off to greet her. It was only a friendly chat at first, until Yui took notice of the girl's presence.

"ハーイ！(Hi!)" Yui greeted. "君はサラさん、でしょ？俺は小泉優衣(You're Sara-san, right? I'm Koizumi Yui.)" Her voice was cheerful i would say, but from Iwaizumi's mic —I'm guessing— a feint gasp could be heard.

Tooru and I sat up as we both concentrated to visualize the situation in our head as they spoke. Yui's voice became quiet, like a whisper. "及川さんもう。。知ってるだぞ(Oikawa-san.. already knows, you know.)" What exactly are they planning? "止まらなければ、俺たちは我慢しない(If you don't stop, we won't hold back.)" A little rustle was heard, and this time Sara's gasp was loud enough for her to choke herself.

"どうして？(How?)" She shrieked, a little softer now, moving away from the team. "お前ら誰だ？！(Who are you people?!)"

"御免なさいサラさん(I'm sorry Sara-san)," Kindaichi said. Wait, why is he apologizing? What exactly is going on?

Matsukawa's voice followed. "もうやったぜ (We've done it already.)"

My attention turned to Tooru, who was scrolling in his social media account on his tablet with a smile pasted on his face. I leaned close to peek and found him looking over the news twitter account of the Seijoh students. I couldn't believe what I read.

青城ニュース @seijohseinyuusu
二年生石川サラが及川徹の私生活をこじ開けた。もしかしてストーカーか？

Seijoh News @seijohseinyuusu
Second year student, Ishikawa Sara, pried into Oikawa Tooru's personal life. Could she be a stalker?

"徹 (Tooru)," I called. He was calm when he turned to me, but broke into sweat when he realized the level of annoyance there was on my face. "悪のだ (You're evil)," I commented.

He caught me off guard when his face turned serious. "守りたいから(I want to protect you, that's why)," he answered back.

It's a sort of brutal way to protect me, but I appreciate the extent he would go to just to keep me safe. I just hope an incident like this won't happen again.