▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

𝟑𝟕 || 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 ||

•

•

•

    For Takemichi, dating Yuzuha was like inhaling fresh air for the first time.

    She's always been a lovely friend to have, but after they began dating, her liveliness seems to have multiplied tenfold. The smile she sends him are so genuine that it makes his heart skip a beat, she's so considerate of Takemichi and doesn't make him do anything he isn't comfortable with doing, and each conversation they share leaves Takemichi feeling calm and relaxed, a stark contrast to when he's with Keisuke or Mikey.

    Whenever he's with those rambunctious boys, They always make his veins tremble with adrenaline–never minding Takemichi's comfort zone when they take him out on dangerous adventures around Shibuya that leave them all laughing and sore by the end of the day. However, with Yuzuha he can allow his heart to slow down and truly relax for the first time in forever.

    However, the longer Takemichi hangs around his girlfriend, the more details he begins to notice about the brown haired girl.

    Takemichi always knew that she was overprotective–He's seen the way she protects Hakkai from bullies, seeing herself as his designated protector, but somehow–some way–that same treatment was also transferred over to Takemichi. At school, when kids laugh at the couple for something silly like holding hands, Yuzuha would scream and chase them away, leaving Takemichi baffled. Whenever they walk the streets hand in hand, she'll glare at whoever looks at them for too long even if the strangers were being friendly.

    And, of course, there's the small injuries.

    Yuzuha, for some reason, always seems to be decorated with scrapes and bruises. Takemichi has asked her about them, but–each time he brings them up–she brushes him off with a silly excuse like accidentally running into a pole, or falling off the swing set, or tripping and falling on the pavement. Takemichi never wants to push her, but he can tell by the way that her body tenses up and her quick answers that she's probably lying. It saddens Takemichi to watch Yuzuha lie to him, but he figures the girl will tell him eventually–he just has to be patient, is all!

    Today Takemichi and Yuzuha are going to their favorite spot: the abandoned playground with the creaking swing set. The sun sets slowly behind their small figures as they walk hand in hand to their destination, Takemichi's voice filling the empty space around them with excitement as he tells Yuzuha about his day at school.

    "--and then Hakkai threw the boy over his shoulder and tossed him into the trash can!!! Can you believe it?!" Takemichi exclaims, his eyes switching between Yuzuha and the swingset they're steadily approaching.

    Yuzuha giggles and nods, her brown eyes lighting up with amusement as she listens to Takemichi's story. "Of course I can–Hakkai has always been amazingly strong for his age!" she says excitedly. "He helped me open a jar of pickles the other day. Isn't he awesome?!"

    Takemichi's mouth hangs open in surprise. "A jar of pickles?! No way!!!"

    "I Know!!! Soon enough, he'll be able to lift a whole fridge with me on top of it!" The couple laugh, amusement bristling beneath Takemichi's skin as he tries to imagine a lanky Hakkai lifting a whole fridge.

    They eventually make their way to the swingset. Takemichi doesn't hesitate to take a seat on the rusting seat, his girlfriend doing the same with a pleasant smile sitting nicely on her lips,

   "Well, that kid did have it coming..." Takemichi mumbles, his voice barely loud enough to be heard above the loud creaks of the old swing. "He was making fun of Hakkai's scar–If Hakkai hadn't done anything, then I would have clocked that stupid jaw of his!" Takemichi declares, raising a fist in the air that makes Yuzuha laugh cheerfully.

    "And I would have given him the worst beating of his life," Yuzuha adds, a menacing look dancing across her eyes. Before Takemocho can call attention to it, it's gone in a flash when her lips tug up, her smile widening. "I'm really happy you and Hakkai have stayed friends...He's always had a problem with making friends, so i'm glad he was able to befriend you–if he hadn't I don't think I would've been able to meet you..."

    There's nothing Takemichi can do about the blush that spreads wildly across his face. "I-I–Yeah, I'm happy I'm friends with him too!" Takemichi stutters, still not able to fully get over the words Yuzuha easily spoke to him. How can she say such intimate things without stuttering?!

       
    Desperate to change the subject, Takemichi looks around until his eyes land on something dark. Squintinghis eyes, he stares at the dark bruise that's blossoming on Yuzuha's pale shoulder.

    "What happened to your shoulder?" He asks, worry seeping into his tone as he jumps off the swing to get a closer look–

    Yuzuha flinches and rears her shoulder back, trying to keep it out of sight.
   

    "Oh–I got hit with a dodgeball today at P.E., its nothing," she explains quickly wit her eyes averted elsewhere.

    He knows that look...

    It's the same look she makes whenever she gives Takemichi each excuse about every scrap or bruise that litters her skin.

    She's lying.

    Rather than calling her out, Takemichi just nods.

    He doesn't want to push the girl into telling him something she isn't comfortable with sharing. When the time comes, She'll open up and tell him the truth.

    So he pretends nothing happened. He jumps back onto the swing and rambles on about his day, the dark bruise a constant image that flashes within his mind.

    But hey–he keeps it to himself.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

    "Hey Haru, were yall playing dodgeball today at P.E.?" Takemichi asks the blonde boy while putting together a new puzzle Wakasa bought them.

    "No? We had some stupid fitness tests. Where'd you hear dodgeball from?" Haru shoots back, his eyebrow arched up curiously as he grabs a puzzle piece.

    "From Yuzu-chan."

    Haru immediately rolls his eyes at the mention of Takemichi's girlfriend. As much as it hurts to see Haru openly disliking her, Takemichi keeps it to himself and busies himself with trying to put together two puzzle pieces.

    "Ugh, of course that rat would lie to you–"

    "Someone's hurting her, Haru," Takemichi interrupts, his teeth grinding together at the conclusion he's come to after swinging with Yuzuha on the swingset.

    Out of his peripheral vision, he catches Haru opening his mouth and closing it, as if he's trying to figure out what to say to Takemichi's declaration. "I–huh? Where the hell did that come from?" Haru asks, adding a piece to the puzzle they've been working on.

    Takemichi takes a deep breath and explains everything to Haru. He tells him about the bruises on her skin, the bloody scraps on her knees, her silly excuses, the painful look in her eye everytime Takemichi brings them up, he tells him everything. Thankfully, Haru doesn't interrupt his spiel. He sits quietly and listens to Takemichi, a thoughtful look crossing his face as he goes about paying attention to the curly haired boy and the puzzle sitting half completed on the table.
   

    By the time Takemoichi finishes, he's out of breath. He takes a few minutes to get his breathing under control and–once he does–he shoots Haru a pleading look. "So? What do you think?"

    Haru tilts his head and moves to grab another puzzle piece. "Well Shiba's definitely lying about her injuries," Haru says after a moment of silence. "And I don't think she'll tell you the truth anytime soon, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see if she'll fess up."

   ...what?

   "Wait and see? She's always hurting, Haru! She's always covered in bruises and she smiles like everything is fine when she's not fine!!!"

    "I don't know what to tell you, Takemichi! You can't make Yuzuha confess to something she doesnt want to talk about! Remember how long it took me to come to your apartment for help when Takeomi was neglecting me?"

    "Yeah, but–"

    "Then you can't rush her, Takemichi. You just gotta be there and wait for her to be honest."

    Silence engulfs Takemichi's room and the curly haired boy can't find the strength to keep the conversation going.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

    "Yuzuha's being abused?" Mitsuya asks, his voice full of concern as he grabs two bowls of ramen for Takemichi and himself.

    Takemichi, who's sitting at the low table with a sleeping Mana in his lap, nods his head slowly. "I think she is...She keeps lying to me about her bruises and scratches..."

    Mitsuya steps up to Takemichi and carefully places the bowl of ramen down in front of the starving boy. When Takemichi had arrived at Mitsuya's apartment, he had caught the boy in the middle of preparing dinner for himself.

    "I already fed Mana and Luna and–If you want–I can make you something too, Takemichi."

   Takemichi had taken him up on the offer and–while the boy was making their bowls of ramen, he told Mitsuya the same thing he told Haru. The older boy listened with the same attentiveness as haru, but his brow furrowed in worry for the girl.

    At Least there's one person who doesn't dislike Yuzuha...
  

    Picking up the chopsticks on the table, Takemichi begins digging into the ramen, instantly relishing in the divine taste that explodes on his tongue.

    "What about Hakkai? Is he being abused too? If so, then they're probably getting beaten by a family member," Mitsuya suggests, his chopsticks poking at his ramen as he stares at Takemichi from across the table.

    Takemichi swallows the food and sets his chopsticks down, thinking back to the younger Shiba. Despite having the scar on the corner of his lip, Hakkai's never injured. Takemichi never sees any bruises or scratches on his skin like he does with Yuzuha.

    "No...from what I've seen he doesn't have any bruises..."

    "So maybe someone outside their family? Someone in her neighborhood?"

    The thought of a mere stranger doing this to Yuzuha has Takemichi's blood boiling. The curly haired boy hangs his head and nearly topples over the bowl of ramen Mitsuya made for him.

    "...What do I do, Mitsuya? I don't want her to suffer anymore, but she won't ask for help..." He mumbles, his eyes boring holes into the bowl of ramen.

    "I wish I could give you better advice, but there's nothing we can do until Yuzuha decides to tell us herself," Mitsuya sighs, his voice full of disappointment. "Yuzuha's strong and stubborn so it's gonna take awhile to get her to admit to something like abuse, but I believe if anyone can get her to soften up and confess, it'd be you, Takemichi."

    Takemichi finds himself looking up from his bowl of ramen, his eyes immediately landing on a sheepish Mitsuya. "I–Thank you, Mitsuya. I'm glad at least one of my friends cares for Yuzuha as much as I do."

    Once the words leave Takemichi's mouth, Mitsuya's smile becomes strained, almost forced. "Just because I see Yuzuha as a friend doesn't mean I like it that she's dating you."

    Takemichi hangs his head in defeat.

    Poor Yuzuha–will there be anyone in his small makeshift family who'll approve of her?

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

    "Hey Chifuyu–"

    "SHHH! Peke J is sleeping!" The blonde hushes, his index finger placed over his lips to keep Takemichi silent.

    Peke J, the adorable black cat, is curled up to Chifuyu's side as the blonde boy finishes his homework from school, his back resting against his low mattress. Takemichi, who's sitting on the blonde's floor with a manga in his hand, pouts.

    "You're being louder than me though–"

    "Gosh you're noisy!"  Takemichi rolls his eyes at Chifuyu's comment and crawls up onto Chifuyu's bed. He earns a halfhearted glare by the blonde, but he doesn't tell him to move so Takemichi stays, the manga held tight in his hand as he contemplates his next words.

    "So...You know I have a girlfriend, right?" Takemichi asks quietly.

    Chifuyu scoffs and resumes reading the problems on his math homework. "Yeah, I do. That brown haired girl, right?"

    "Yeah..."

   Chifuyu fixes him with a weird look, his eye twitching slightly out of...irritation maybe? "ok...You tryna brag or something?"

    ...Irritation it is...

    Takemichi immediately shakes his head no, his hands letting go of the manga out of surprise. "Of course not!--"

    "SHHH!"

    A bead of sweat rolls down Takemichi's face, a nervous smile breaking out across his face. "Ah, right, sorry...but no, I just–I need some advice."

    Chifuyu perks up, his green eyes lighting up with unhidden excitement. "Oh? With what? You need dating advice from a dating expert?" He asks excitedly, waking up Peke J, but the cat stays cuddled up beside Chifuyu. Before Takemichi can interject, Chifuyu continues his babbling, voice high pitched with joy. "Well you came to the right guy! I've got a million pick up lines you can use, a million scenarios to help make your girlfriend swoon, and–"

    "I'm not here for dating advice!"

    Chifuyu's shoulders slump in disappointment, his eyes narrowed in a half hearted glare. "Tsk...Then what kind of advice do ya need?"

    "I–I think she's being abused by someone, probably someone in her neighborhood..."

    Chifuyu's eyes softened at the confession. Without much care for his homework, Chifuyu chucks it off to the side so he can properly face Takemichi. "How do you know she's being abused?" Chifuyu asks quietly.

    "She–Yuzuha keeps lying to me about how she gets injured."

    "Dark bruises? Bloody scratches? Stupid excuses like I tripped and I'm so clumsy?"

    "Yep..."

    "Then yeah, you're probably right," Chifuyu confirms with a sigh. "Those are the same excuses kids in manga use when they're being abused by someone."

    "Well what should I do? I don't wanna push her and force her to tell me whats going on–"

    "Yeah–That's a terrible idea–"

    "And I don't want to make her feel nervous around me either! So what do i do? Should I tell an officer about it?" He asks, eyeing Chifuyu carefully as he watches the blonde think of a response.

    "Hmm...I don't know, Takemichi. I don't think you can go to the cops about it without like...Evidence? I think that's what it's called..."

    "Evidence? What's that?" Takemichi asks with a tilt of his head.

    "It's like proof."

    Takemichi narrows his eyes at the explanation. "Proof? Aren't the bruises and scratches proof?" he questions, thinking back to all the purple hues that blossom across Yuzuha's fair skin. The scratches the trail along her frail shoulders. The bloody scrapes presented on her legs. Surely that's more than enough proof to show that someone is abusing her, right?

    "I don't think so. There needs to be like...a suspect and a confession from the victim? I don't know..."

    Takemichi purses his lips at the thought of Yuzuha confessing. Like Mitsuya said, she's very stubborn and prideful–she'd never willingly admit to something like that.

    "Yuzuha would never confess to being abused, and I have no idea who's doing this to her..."

    "Then there's nothing you can do. Unless you can get Yuzuha to explain everything to you and admit that someone is hurting her, then you can't do anything."

    He's right...

   
    Takemichi leaves Chifuyu's apartment that day with a sickening feeling in his stomach because–as much as he wants to help Yuzuha–it looks as if Takemichi can do nothing but wait.   

    And that very thought scares the fuck out of Takemichi.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

    "Hey, Michi, you gonna eat that?"

    Haru's voice snaps Takemichi out of his trance. He blinks his eyes a few times to get them to focus again, and finds himself staring at a bowl of freshly cooked Oyakodon. Lifting his eyes, he's met with a confused look from both Wakasa and Haru. The curly haired boy blushes in embarrassment.

    Just how long was he staring at his bowl of food? God, he must have looked like an idiot!

    "Ah–yeah–I am!" Takemichi exclaims bashfully, picking up the wooden spoon next to the bowl. With their eyes still pinned on Takemichi, the boy picks up a piece of fried egg and chicken and places it into his mouth. He hums with satisfaction at the taste, earning a reassuring smile from Wakasa. "This is awesome! Thank you, Wakasa!"

    "Yeah, no problem kiddo," Wakasa says before digging back into his bowl of food. Takemichi heaves out a sigh of relief ;thank god that suspicious gaze is off of him!

    Haru, however, is still looking at Takemichi like the curly haired boy is seconds away from declaring that he has a bomb in his pocket.

    "...You still upset about Shiba?" Haru asks, startling Takemichi so much that he nearly drops his wooden spoon into the bowl.

    Is Takemichi that transparent?!

   "N-No! Of course not!" He lies, his blue eyes darting from Haru to the blue bowl of food sitting half eaten in front of the blonde.

    "Then why do you keep spacing out like an idiot?"

    A small piece of chicken flies across the table, smacking Haru directly on the forehead. Takemichi gawks at the scene with a hanging jaw–his gaze switching from Haru to Wakasa who's wearing a mischievous smirk.

    "Oi! Don't push Takemichi," Wakasa scolds, his voice low but playful as he picks up another piece of fried chicken. "If he doesn't wanna talk about it then leave him alone, yeah?"

    Haru slouches in his seat and tsks loudly. "Yeah, yeah, I got it..." He mumbles, picking up his wooden spoon and digging back into his bowl of Oyakodon.

    Takemichi allows himself to relax now that Haru isn't prodding takemichi about his girlfriend. Yeah, of course Takemichi is still upset about the fact that someone is hurting Yuzuha, but what can he do?

    Nothing.

    He's powerless.

    Useless.

    And that makes Takemichi feel like absolute shit.

    How long does Yuzuha have to suffer before she decides to tell him the truth?

    Takemichi goes back to eating his food, letting his mind wander back to the brown haired