Scream (Open~)

[Suzuki Keiko]

ooc: Just an emo post to go along with my mood.


She had to get out. Just... away. The school day hadn't started yet, the halls weren't very crowded but being near people... She couldn't stand it.

Keiko also knew she couldn't just return on home, as if everything was normal, as if she didn't just... witness what she saw.

A shiver ran up her spine, the events of not even two minutes ago racing through her head. She quickly shook them away, making her way through the corridors, until she found stairs. Not waiting another second, she proceeded to climb the stairs, finding a sign hanging in front of door. She paid it no mind, stepping over the chains that held it, opening the door behind the sign, a bout of fresh sea hair hitting her straight on.

Keiko let her feet carry her near the edge, her hands resting on the railing. Her eyes scanned the view, her thoughts returning.

Her fingers clenched around the rail, eyes closing shut as anger built itself up within her gut.

After all this time.

Two years passed as if they were nothing, as if her life wasn't ruined by one person and his gang.

By the same person she saw standing outside her school gates.

A shudder made its way down her spine.

No sooner had she saw him did he look up and... and smirk in her direction. As if he was waiting for her to show up.

Walking past him like they were strangers was difficult, too difficult, but somehow she managed, the uneasy feeling in her stomach making way for the anger she had towards him, towards all Yankees.

It couldn't be possible that he was allowed back in the school, after everything he put her through. There was just... no way. Not after she managed to befriend Ryosuke, the only Yankee she trusted.

Her eyes still shut, she took in a deep breath, the anger and rage and just pure frustration inside her ready to burst.

"DAMMIT!!!"

Keiko let out the curse, not really caring who heard her, she just needed to let it out, to scream until her voice was hoarse--

The sound of the door she had just walked through opened with a bang, Keiko freezing where she stood. She slowly opened her eyes, not yet ready to turn around and face whoever was behind her.

"Oh, it was you."

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

Bag slung over his shoulder, his other hand in his pocket, Kiyama Ryuichiro trudged up the staircase to the school roof.

The team had just split after morning practice; in lieu of goofing around with the rest, Kiyama opted to do his normal thing and hopefully a quiet moment before he'd have to head to homeroom. He'd see the guys there. And probably for lunch. Then afternoon practice... so on and so forth. As he neared the end of the familiar stroll up the staircase to the top of the building, he noted that he heard quite the unfamiliar noise.

He raised an eyebrow. Was someone already up there? Circumstances had changed, with the tumbling thing and all, but with the apparent dissolution of Wataru's gang the worry of some... less noble delinquents taking his place always lingered. Among other implications, strangers on the roof didn't sit well with Kiyama and his regular escapes there to maintain his sanity.

With that thought, Kiyama reached the final landing. He took a moment to hope there wasn't anything fishy doing on there before he opened the door. And the very second he did, he heard it:

"DAMMIT!!!"

It was a girl's voice. There was a girl right in front of him. On the roof.

Again.

Kiyama stroked his temples. Now, not long after the school year started, he'd had the... privilege of bumping into one Watanabe. Although one might doubt her authenticity as a female yankee, she had at least one delinquent quality -- always causing some damn trouble. Kiyama had had the fortune of seeing that tendency play out a few times already.

It wasn't until she turned around that he realized who she was...

Suzuki.

Although he was a bit thrown that yet another girl was gracing the school roof, it didn't quite surprise him that it was Suzuki shouting to herself and making a fuss. The last time he'd seen her, it had been during a long, particularly uncomfortable stint being stuck in the local library. Though they deduced they were schoolmates, a lot of Kiyama's actions that night were made with the presumption that they'd never interact after that. If they crossed paths again, well, Kiyama fully intended to ignore the... quirky librarian. Add that to the fact that good girls just don't hang out on the Karasumori roof...

This was totally the part where Kiyama would turn around and march down the stares without a word, but his feet were rooted firmly to their spot.

He grimaced.

"Oh, it was you," he pretended to muse out loud. There. He'd acknowledged her. Kiyama moved to take his place at the desk he usually read at.

Then he got to thinking. Suzuki was usually quiet, so it would seem that something substantial would've happened to get her yelling at the top of her lungs out here. Somehow he knew he would regret asking, but he just couldn't stand here and not say anything about it.

Placing his bookbag on the desk, Kiyama flashed a sidelong glance at the girl. Despite his policy of staying out of other people's business...

"What happened," he went. It wasn't quite asking; his voice lacked that intonation was supposed to mark questions. He crossed his arms and opted to sit next to his bag instead of a chair, looking to the girl again.

[Suzuki Keiko]

ooc: This took forever, I didn't really know where I was taking this and... I'm so sorry XD



It was a low tone, like one of a man. One she knew very well.

She had to turn around, it was only a matter of time before her anger ceased and she’d have to return to the rest of the world, to her classroom… to her reality.

Keiko took a deep breath, finding herself facing the other person… and Kiyama was there, standing beside the lone desk that was left up on the roof.

It really hadn’t felt like it was that long ago, since the two were stuck in the library. Sure, she knew they were practically classmates, going to the same school and all, but she never expected to run into him again.

Especially when she was having a particularly crappy day, one that wasn’t about to get any better.

He was staring at her, as if trying to not look interested at why she just screamed until her throat hurt. His bag was placed on the desk and he opted to lean against it, instead of sitting down.

"What happened,"

At the simple… question? Keiko turned her eyes downward. She didn’t know if she should mention her troubles to Kiyama, having one person know about them was enough…

But the source of everything that went wrong in her life… He was there, in her school once again, doing who knows what, planning who knows what, and Keiko didn’t have any protection. Ryosuke was in another class, Kiyama… He probably didn’t want to deal with Keiko’s problems.

But then again…

She risked a glance up; Kiyama was still trying to not look like he just asked her what was wrong. She bit her lip. He asked, that must mean… he was a little bit curious? Maybe he could help her after all. Maybe…

Gripping the railing behind her, she took a deep breath.

“I…”

A hitch caught in her throat, and Keiko lurched forward, a cough erupting from her lips. She wasn’t used to yelling…

With a forced swallow, she rubbed at the water that appeared from her eyes, thanks to the coughing fit, “Ah…” She gulped again, this time licking her parched lips. “I… ran into someone. They…” She paused again.

How to explain this without offending Kiyama? Wasn’t he a Yankee too? Ryosuke didn’t exactly jump for joy when she told her story to him… But then again, Kiyama wasn’t like normal Yankees. He was… too quiet.

Keiko kept her gaze on the floor, “They were expelled. I thought they were gone for good. They caused a lot of trouble for me. I…” Her vision started to blur, and it only took until she felt water trailing down her cheeks to realize she was crying.

“I…” Her knees buckled and Keiko slid to the floor, her arms useless by her side, “I thought I was over it. It’s been two years. Two years. Why now? Why couldn’t he just… go away and stay away?”

Her arms came to life then, her hands covering up her face as sobs rocked her body.

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

As soon as Kiyama had asked the question, Suzuki's face went downcast. He uncrossed his arms and adjusted his himself on his makeshift seat, wondering if she'd ever start talking and if he'd be able to read this week's new chapters of the pirate manga.

"I…"

Kiyama looked to the side as the girl started hacking. Her voice was probably hoarse from that whole yelling at the top of her lungs thing that just went on. But when it was looking like the answer to both of those questions would be "no", he noticed that Suzuki was visibly making efforts to say something.

"Ah… I… ran into someone. They…"

The girl paused again. From what little he could see of her face, it seemed to be less of a nervous issue and more that she was thinking about something this time. But eventually she did start to speaking again.

"They were expelled. I thought they were gone for good. They caused a lot of trouble for me. I…" Kiyama had furrowed his brow, trying to focus on what Suzuki was saying when he noticed it.

There was water.

Coming out of that girl's face.

She... she was crying.

Kiyama had been through a lot. He'd seen things and done things been through he'd never wish another human being, ever. But he had never felt this frantic sense of discomfort before. This awful mixture of dread, this urge to just run away, the sudden desire to start screaming himself. This was a new one.

But again, he found himself unable to do anything as he kept focused on Suzuki. "I…" His eyes followed the girl has she stooped to the ground, her voice growing more distressed and shaky. "I thought I was over it. It’s been two years. Two years. Why now? Why couldn’t he just… go away and stay away?"

And then she started sobbing.

Kiyama jumped to his feet, as if he could get a better look at the girl and confirm that she was actually... laughing really hard or something. But she wasn't. He swore to himself and looked around, as if he'd actually find someone else to help out on the roof, but all he saw were the stray chairs and cleaning equipment that had been there for about forever. He bit his lip as he slowly turned his gaze back to the girl on the ground.

Maybe if he tried talking to her? "Hey," he called, but there was no answer.

Perhaps she just didn't hear? He took a few steps forward and spoke a little louder.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

Nothing.

"Hey, Suzuki..."

The girl just sat there...

"..uh, hey..."

...and she wouldn't stop crying.

Kiyama just stared at the Suzuki as she continued to weep. Part of him was hoping she'd eventually stop and move somewhere else, but she stayed exactly where she was. He wanted her to stop. Why wouldn't she stop? Reluctantly, he moved over to the spot were she sat.

"Here... let's, um..." He lifted the girl to her feet and led her over to his seat, before carefully sitting her down again. Throughout the whole transfer, she'd kept wailing as if he wasn't even there, but now she wasn't on the ground anymore. That was... better...?

He crouched on the ground in front of the girl cleared his throat. She still didn't acknowledge him. Kiyama considered leaving again.

Yet, apparently, there were guys around. Guys that caused trouble for Suzuki. Enough to make her cry uncontrollably... after two years. Something really bad must have happened.

Something like...

Kiyama's eyes went wide. He'd gotten the feeling that he would regret asking the girl that question, but... He wasn't the type who was inclined to trust authoritative types with problems, but... maybe he was biting off more than he could chew. Maybe it was time to get a teacher? Or at least, maybe he should go and get one of the guys. Anyone could handle this better than he could. Tsukimori was good with girls, and didn't they have a thing going anyway? Or maybe Wataru, he was good at cheering people up... and then Takenaka was a levelheaded voice of reason. Usually.

The yankee groaned, running a hand through his hair. If there was someone like that lurking around campus, then... he couldn't just leave her here. And big scary crazy yankee Kiyama was not going to deal with the repercussions of dragging a sobbing girl across the schoolyard.

He started frantically looking through his schoolbag, looking from the insides of it to the hunched over form of Suzuki every few seconds. After what seemed like an hour, he finally found the handkerchief he'd stashed in his bag for preparedness's sake. "...uh... just... here."

He held it out, hoping Suzuki would take it before he'd have to shove it in her face or something. Meanwhile, he tried to think of things to say. He wanted to ask what exactly had happened, but recounting trauma always sucks, and... especially if that was the case...

"If you could..." Kiyama shook his head. This was usually the part where he'd try to be calm and reasonable and all this, but crying girl was making him inexplicably nervous. He took a deep breath and tried starting again. "...explain things a little more, then maybe I could..." He could do what? Kiyama wasn't sure what he could do, or even the exact reasons of why he'd be doing it..."...at least tell me these guys' names, or what they look like."

He'd start by asking that. It was a good as place as any to start, right?

[Suzuki Keiko]

It kept repeating in her head, the torture she was inflicted with, up until that fateful day when the teacher finally caught them in the act, and just as quickly, that morning took its place. She could still see the sick grin on the guy’s face, the glint in his eye that she knew all too well… As she walked passed him she knew, she knew, he was watching her, enjoying the obvious discomfort radiating from her.

And now, as she sat on top of the roof, all the hurt, pain, frustration and anger that had been pent up were being released with each sob. It had been so long since she really cried, and as crazy as it seemed, she felt lighter that she had ever been before…

She hiccupped, opening her eyes, even though the tears blocked her vision. She was… being lifted off the ground and moved to… the desk? Kiyama had picked her up and made her sit on the chair.

It was so… unexpected, that Keiko started to cry again, much harder than before, leaning forward so she was hunched over.

She would have expected that Kiyama would just leave her, leave her alone until… someone found her. Though, knowing her luck, it would be him.

Kiyama was saying something, but her ears… Everything was muffled. She sniffed, swallowing and wincing when her ears popped. Suddenly she could hear everything, the wind blowing gently through the sky, the rustling of someone going through their bag…

A hand appeared in her field of vision, it was holding a handkerchief. "...uh... just... here." Sniffing again, she glanced up at the Yankee’s face. He seemed to be in deep thought, but his hand was still outstretched, the cloth limp in it. Hesitantly, she reached up, fingers almost touching the handkerchief when Kiyama spoke again. "If you could..." Kiyama shook his head. "...explain things a little more, then maybe I could..."

A shiver ran up her spine, but the man before her continued.

"...at least tell me these guys' names, or what they look like."

The hand reaching for the handkerchief fell back onto her lap. Ryosuke asked her the same thing, all that time ago. She shook her head, her mouth opening but no words coming out. She rubbed her eyes, but the water still made its way down her cheeks.

“He… had white hair.” Her sobs were getting steadily quieter, thus making talking a little bit easier. She rubbed her sleeve against her nose, “He was… still is… by the front gate.” She shuddered, “I can still see that… stupid smirk on his face.”

A little calmer now, though tears still streamed down her face, Keiko reached up again and took the handkerchief from Kiyama’s hands. She let her hands rest on her lap, her formed not so much hunched over now, and she sniffed.

And then she said it, probably the one thing that wouldn’t help her predicament at all because she thought he was gone for good and she would never see him again.

“I… don’t know his name.”

If only she did, maybe she would be able to report him, or… something. This small fact, this simple thing that could have been dealt with two years ago, was all her fault. If only she knew his name… A jolt in her chest caused her to freeze, as if realizing something once she calmed down.

“No. He’s… gonna be after me now.” Her hands dropped the handkerchief and instead reached up, grabbing her hair, “No, no no no no.” Her eyes shut and the tears, which were slowly starting to cease, started up again. “I can’t go through that again!”

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

Suzuki's face seemed to fall after he'd asked the question, and Kiyama found himself wondering if he'd get any answers again. But it seemed that the girl's sobs were starting to slow and grow more quiet. She was still... crying... but not as much. That was good?

"He… had white hair. He was… still is… by the front gate." A shiver seemed to run down her spine. "I can still see that… stupid smirk on his face."

White hair?

Like, dyed white? If he was older and had naturally white hair, Suzuki would've just said that, right? Dying your hair to that extent, especially when you're a guy...

...it seemed like a really yankee thing to do.

Kiyama bit his lip. Yankee he may be, but he certainly wasn't the social type. He never rolled in gangs or sought out fights... he didn't even keep up with whatever Wataru and the others got mixed up in unless he was directly confronted with the problems. Kiyama had but only a weak grasp of the delinquent scene of Miura, and if there was a white-haired yankee roaming around, he didn't know of one.

At that realization, Kiyama felt something in him sink, and he felt very disappointed in himself. The idea of walking over to the edge of the roof, and trying to spot the guy in question if he still was in the schoolyard crossed his mind, but the girl started to speak once again.

"I… don’t know his name." Suzuki was quiet after she admitted that, and something about the way she said it made Kiyama think it was something really difficult to admit. Still, he could watch as the girl seemed to think, looking very much as she'd forgotten that he was sitting right in front of her.

But then, something seemed strike Suzuki. Whatever it was froze her features for the briefest of moments.

"No," she went, her voice sounding much more tense and urgent than it did just before. He’s… gonna be after me now." The girl grabbed her head, looking as if it might just pop off or something. Tears started stream down her face again as she went on. "I can’t go through that again!"

Then it started again.

The outburst came so quickly, that it startled Kiyama. The realization that Suzuki was once again bawling didn't help his nerves much, either. Feeling completely off-kilter, he looked from side to side again, trying to think of something he could say or do... the only thing that came to mind was trying to get her attention. He lowered his head a bit to get a better look at the girl's face and waved his hand. "S-Suzuki..."

It was a no-go. She was lost in her tears again, and Kiyama found himself lost, too. He suddenly found himself looking to the ground, where his handkerchief hand fallen. No, she's supposed to be using that. She's not supposed to be crying.

All the awkwardness and the sheer strangeness of the library fiasco ran through his mind, but... through all of that, Suzuki still struck him as the quiet, hardworking type that certainly wouldn't have anything to do with that type of her own volition. And... no one ever deserves something like what he sincerely hoped hadn't happened to her.

It's not supposed to be like that. He's supposed to be... doing something.

Kiyama's hands balled up into tight fists. The more the Suzuki cried, the more he couldn't think, and it wasn't like he knew what to do in the first place. Thoroughly unnerved, he stumbled back to his feet, and looked down at the girl in the chair. He stared at her with all the intensity of the lowest delinquents and gangsters he'd encountered over the years. He stared at her until his eyes hurt and he started twitching.

Then he took the girl's shoulders in his hands, eased her to stand, wrapped his arms around her.

"It's gonna be fine," he proclaimed, and looking off to the side. Situating the girl in his arms, and tightening his grip on her, he continued in a much more hushed voice, "so don't cry, alright? I'll--"

At that moment, Kiyama noticed several things at once, but the most urgent was that the door to the rooftop had creaked open.

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

OOC: Well first of all guys, my IMMENSE apologies for being so slow. I did love this post, though!!!! But I did a bit of godplaying, so please let me know if it's all okay! In addition, sorry this post is not so hot! ><

Ryosuke felt glum.

He was never alone in school, not like this anyway, and never this early either. He'd gotten to Karasumori maybe close to an hour before school started, and truth be told, he wasn't even sure why. His mother had been particularly nagging this morning, telling him what a slob he looked like with his blonde hair hanging loosely about his face. He hadn't had the willpower to gel it out like he usually did; just a quick brush-through or two had been enough for him, though evidently not for his mother.

"It looks even worse than when you spike the stupid thing," she'd said angrily. "Better off looking like a demented dinosaur over a skulking hobo. I don't even know how I let you stay here..."

Ryosuke hadn't wasted a second taking off from the house, even despite Naomi-chan's quiet urging to ignore their mother's words, telling him that she'd gotten in trouble too for dropping breakfast earlier, but he'd taken off. Anyway, he hadn't given it much thought. That had been the most emotion and attention his mother had shown him in quite some time, at least since Kiyama had come to his house threatening to beat him up.

And that was also on his mind. Shuffling through the schoolyard alone, his hands in his pockets, Ryosuke felt quite bitter about his situation with Kiyama. Things had taken a turn in his life, new realizations brought to light since his last encounter with the other Yankee, but it hadn't much changed the fact that he'd been alone a lot recently. It was probably more of his own making than anything else, he didn't want to be around his classmates with a negative attitude, practically announce to them that something was wrong, but he felt the weight of it on his spirits. Today was no exception. Glancing around at the other students all milling about with their friends before class, even if there were only a few of them around at this hour, Ryosuke felt a tad bitter to be alone. Why had he ever let Kiyama get on his case like that?

Ryosuke caught sight of a white-haired student loitering by the school gates and stopped in his tracks. He didn't recognize the guy, only the look on his face, the kind of look that meant he had some unfinished business to take care and nothing that could be all that pleasant. The guy couldn't have been much older than Ryosuke himself was, but it was unnerving enough seeing him standing there like he was waiting for someone or something. More than that, Ryosuke couldn't place where he'd seen the guy before. Had they ever been in school together?

Deciding he would be picking trouble if he tried anything, the blonde Yankee pivoted on the spot and continued on his way for the school building, fishing around in his pockets again for something comforting. His hands touched the cellphone he loved so much, and he quickly moved to grab something else, his keys, when the former object reminded him of his recent lack of a social life.

The school building was no less dull. Ryosuke was almost tempted to go to the club room and see if any of the guys were around, but as it was, despite his promises to himself not to let any of the guys think anything weird was going on, he found he didn't want to go. He didn't feel like pretending everything was peachy or that he wanted to practice tumbling. In fact, nothing was peachy and tumbling was not all that fun at the moment and....his hair looked like crap. If that wasn't a dead give away to how he was feeling...

Ryosuke's glance turned down the length of the main school corridor, towards the stairwell that led up to the rooftops, a stairwell which had once been one he'd used at least once every day while in school to hang out with his other Yankee friends. Akabane had been around during those times.

Well, no one will be up there to bother me, anyway.... Sighing, Ryosuke moved for the empty stairwell and began his ascent, thinking he'd take the opportunity to catch a lot of fresh air and just relax a while before class. In fact, if he felt like it, he figured he could possibly keep an eye out on the creeper by the main school gate, see if the guy tried anything. He still couldn't place where he knew him from, but it was beginning to bother him.

Moments later, Ryosuke had made the climb, and as he pushed open the door to the roof, climbing carefully over a warning sign he'd tripped on plenty of times before, he saw them.

Them.

Keiko....and Kiyama. Hugging.

Ryosuke blinked. Was he....was he really...? No, he was seeing...But that was....

Since he didn't even seem capable of managing his own thoughts, Ryosuke was sure his words would make about as much sense to the two in front of him as much as if he started inventing a language of his own and speaking it to people he didn't know.

And then it dawned on him. Keiko crying, Kiyama hugging...? Kiyama never hugged. That seemed the equivalent of Kiyama singing Disney tunes and prancing around with little forest animals. Impossible.

Ryosuke found his determination.

"What are you doing?" The blonde Yankee moved down the stairwell from the rooftop door towards the two, narrowing his eyes. He didn't want to pick a fight with Kiyama again, especially when their last one was still a scab in his mind, but if he was messing around with Keiko and making her cry.....It didn't seem like a thing Kiyama would do either, but Ryosuke was just uncomfortable that the other guy was there with Keiko, alone, at all. And anyway....why did he have to go find all of Ryosuke's friends and spend time with them? Could he not get friends of his own? As far as Ryosuke knew, everyone on the Tumbling team knew about his fandango with Kiyama the night they'd fought, and if they didn't, he felt like they were catching on. He didn't need Keiko knowing about that "fun" time either.

"What are you doing up here with her?" Ryosuke reached out and nabbed Kiyama by the back of his school jacket, pulling him off of Keiko. He turned to the girl. "Are you okay?"

[Suzuki Keiko]

I feel bad for not writing this sooner. But uh... yeah.



She had forgotten her notebook. It was the first time for everything, and this was definitely a first for her.

The school was nearly deserted, a few students doing chores for teachers while everyone was either at their respective clubs or at home. It would be a piece of cake for Keiko to go to her classroom and retrieve her notebook from her locker.

She came upon her class room, slowly coming to a halt when she heard voices… coming from behind the door. Her hand froze just as it reached the door handle. No one else should be in the classroom. School was over for the day, so who…?

Taking a deep breath, Keiko gave the door a shove to the side, before walking into the room. Whoever was in the classroom, she could just ignore them. She was only in there to get her notebook, and nothing else. She kept her head down, giving a small nod, “Excuse me…”

“Heh, look who’s here.”

After her small entrance, Keiko started the small trek near the back of the room, but the sound of that voice stopped her in her tracks.

She knew that voice.

She blinked, biting her lower lip. Just ignore them, ignore them… Keiko didn’t move from her spot.

The voice got closer, “We caught ourselves a mouse.” A hand dropped itself onto her shoulder, forcing her to jump. “Skittish.” He said mockingly, digging his fingers into her shoulder. “I thought I told you…” Another hand came up, grabbing her by the hair, “never show your face to me again.”

Keiko winced at the double helping of pain, her voice lost in her throat.

He was stronger than her, his buddies were around, surrounding them, trapping her in a predicament she never thought she would be in.

He drew his face closer to hers, his breath foul, “I’m gonna have to teach you a lesson.” He smirked, “Wasting all that paint on your desk, tch. I have something even better in mind…”

With that, he released her shoulder and hair, pushing her into the clutches of someone else.

“Hold her still.”

Slightly frazzled, Keiko glanced around, wishing, hoping, someone would come to her rescue. There were about five other guys in the room, and she was only a lonely girl…

He leaned in closer, that sickening smirk still present on his face, “You’re gonna enjoy this.” He reached up, grabbing fistfuls of her blouse.

And then pulled.

Keiko watched with wide eyes as the fabric tore, ripping in two in his hands. Fear bubbled up in her. The need to get away, fight back, kick him where it hurts came to mind, but she was frozen, shocked at what could be happening to her.

No…

Water filled her vision, blurring the image of the white hair in front of her. The hands holding her tightened, as the man who made her life a living hell took hold of her skirt.

NO!

Keiko shook her head, her legs beginning to move, her head going back to try and give the guy behind her a backwards headbutt, but it only met flesh. The fingers digging into her arms were leaving marks on her arms; she knew it, but this type of thing…

“NO! STOP!”

Her voice came out, the surge of energy in her startling them all.

The guy in front of her clicked his tongue, “Shut up, no one’s gonna hear--”

The door to the classroom slid open, a head poking itself in.

Keiko hiccupped, feeling arms encase her, a soothing voice over her sobs. “It's gonna be fine," The arms around her tightened, “so don't cry, alright? I'll--”

Just like that, the tears started up again, not on purpose, but because of relief. She wasn’t in her old classroom, with… HIM, but on the roof of Karasumori High. Kiyama was trying to comfort her, in his own way. It didn’t make the tears stop, but a feeling of safety had settled over her. She slowly released her hair, even though they were trapped in the embrace she was in. Instead, she buried her face into his chest, wanting to feel some more of this strange security.

It didn’t last long though.

A voice broke through her hazy dreamlike state, the sudden burst of reality leaving her reeling.

"What are you doing?"

That was… That voice belonged to…

"What are you doing up here with her?" Suddenly, Kiyama from pulled away from her, leaving Keiko shivering. Ryosuke was up on the roof, yelling at Kiyama. But Kiyama was only trying to help her, Keiko sniffed, rubbing her hands against her eyes. When her hands dropped back to her sides, Ryosuke had turned his attention back to her.

"Are you okay?"

The sudden arrival of Ryosuke left her shaken. She tried to swallow, the lump in her throat unbearable. “I…” Tears began to well in her eyes again. “I…” The water fell down her cheeks. No one truly knew about what had happened, but Ryosuke had been one of the first in her new group of friends to find out about it. He was… special.

She pitched forward, wrapping her arms around the blond, burying her face in his chest. It wasn’t the exactly same as Kiyama, but being near Ryosuke…

That safe feeling was there.

[Kiyama Ryuichiro]

What the hell?

Kiyama had the precence of mind to scold himself as he held Suzuki; he'd just freaking surprised himself. But hugging comforts people, right? He wanted to help, he didn't know, it seemed so weird... and stiff almost nostalgic in a way he couldn't put a finger on. Kiyama couldn't follow one thought for wanting to pursue the other, but it ended up being that he wouldn't have to. Everything going on in his head became irrelevant when he looked up and saw that Tsukimori Ryosuke was right in front of him, looking... Kiyama didn't quite know what to make of it, but damn it even his hair looked grumpy.

What in the world could be wrong with--

Oh, yeah, that.

"What are you doing?" Tsukimori demanded.

Kiyama inwardly flinched, cursing his luck. On top of everything else, it had to be that guy, now, after that had happened.

The last time he'd spoken directly to the other yankee, he'd been threatening him. To be honest, he had never removed "kick Tsukimori Ryosuke's ass" from his to-do list. It wasn't that he wanted to fight -- because frankly, he didn't. It was just something he'd said he'd do, so he wanted to follow through on principle. He wasn't sure if Tsukimori thought he'd still intended to do so, especially for such a stupid reason, but in any case the blonde insisted on still acting stand-offish with him. Kiyama knew he deserved it, but he didn't really to push things further and... the circumstances just kind of stayed that way.

Kiyama was quite sure that the fact was he was latched onto his teammate's sobbing girlfriend wasn't going to help matters.

He didn't have the time to think another thought, or even breathe before the blonde had stomped over in his direction and grabbed him by his coat, yanking him away from the girl. Kiyama's gaze lingered on Suzuki before Tsukimori moved towards them, scowling.

"What are you doing up here with her?" Tsukimori repeated, sounding every bit as pissed as he looked. After stumbling backwards a few paces, Kiyama watched as the blonde turned to Suzuki. "Are you okay?"

Kiyama swallowed hard. To be honest, he didn't know what he'd been doing. He'd just wanted to have a moment before class and read a damn comic and... not smoke when the girl had appeared and threw all her personal issues in his face. He still didn't understand all those issues, but apparently they were pretty serious... enough for her to break down on the spot. How the hell was he supposed to deal with that?

He wanted to apologize, because he really did feel guilty -- not just about this, but for everything. Saying something like "it's not what it looks like" came to mind. But really, how contrived was that, especially when he was already on Tsukimori's bad side? No matter what he said, he was pretty sure that the blonde would take it the wrong way.

Kiyama was still racking his brain for an explanation when he saw Suzuki move forward and grab hold of Tsukimori. That stopped his train of thoughts again.

For some reason, that surprised him, though he felt distinctly like he should have expected that. Since seeing that text message at the library, he'd had some vague notion of the yankee playboy and the bookish girl in the back his head, but actually seeing it -- them -- in front of him... it was different.

What was he doing there?

Kiyama was confused, and he found he still didn't have an answer for him. Mere seconds before, he'd been incapacitated by Suzuki's hysteria. He was utterly useless at dealing with the girl's crying, so how did he expect to deal with whatever massive problem she had? Moreover, he'd butt in between her and this guy that hated his guts, doing something stupid and spontaneous and...

And above all that, the way that Suzuki had run to Tsukimori... it was obvious that he really didn't have a place there.

Tearing his eyes away from the pair, he moved back towards the desk, latched his bookbag closed, and swung it over his shoulder. It had seemed... really tough for Suzuki to admit what little she had to him. Would she have gone through all that trouble if she'd told Tsukimori that before? Could she tell him? Catching another glance at the girl, Kiyama wondered if she'd really be alright if he just left like that.

Was it even his business?

"Suzuki..." Kiyama's eyes lingered on the dirty surface of the roof. "I'm sure Tsukimori can handle things, alright?"

Then Kiyama raised his head slightly, just enough to meet Tsukimori's eyes.

"I ran into her. She was having some trouble and..." Kiyama trailed off. Even if he did know how to articulate what was going on, it wasn't up to him to divulge Suzuki's personal issues. He barely knew the girl, after all. Instead, he adjusted his bag, trying to find something else to say. "Sorry I intruded," was all that came out.

He then turned towards the door, hoping he could find somewhere on campus to get a few seconds of peace before class started. At that point, he needed it.


OOC: I mentioned this to Marysa, but yeah I felt really iffy about that last part, as I don't feel right about write Kiyama out of the thread at this point though it strikes me as so IC. But at the second, he's not gone. You guys can do as you please with that~

[Tsukimori Ryosuke]

OOC: Lee, don't worry about feeling iffy at all! This is coming quite late, but I had no problem with it, and I thought that made a lot of sense to being with (remaining IC). (And LOL, I loved Kiyama's reactions. XD I missed both your writing styles! >< Please let me know if a little godplaying is okay, because there might be some in here!) But I still can't apologize enough for making you guys wait so long.... m(_ _)m Please take your time responding too, if you're still interested!

Ryosuke couldn't quite explain the look that crossed Keiko's sweet features, though he imagined it had to be similar, if not more pained, to the one she'd caught him wearing all those days before, when they'd first met on the beach and he'd been emotionally busting. He'd just never seen Keiko in this state, even though he'd understood her to have been in the kinds of horrible situations he wasn't sure he himself could completely imagine.

“I…I..."

Ryosuke's eyes widened as Keiko suddenly dived forward, grabbing him tight around the torso and nuzzling her face into his chest.

Taken aback, Ryosuke blinked, though there was some strange sense of comfort in Keiko's gesture. He'd...he'd never been in this kind of situation with a girl, but feeling her snuggling into him, knowing what had happened for her to be acting this way, remembering subtle hints from the private exchanges he'd had with Keiko in the past...he felt more than ever that he wanted to protect her.

The blonde Yankee sighed deeply and returned the girl's gesture, wrapping his arms slowly around her and rubbing her shoulders comfortingly.

Then Ryosuke glanced up and saw Kiyama. With Keiko's sudden gesture, he'd almost forgotten the other Yankee was still there. The look on his face--Ryosuke wasn't sure what to make of it or what to think either. Kiyama was pretty un-readable at times, but the blonde Yankee sensed some kind of definite confusion this time around. It made Ryosuke himself feel more confused.

"Suzuki...I'm sure Tsukimori can handle things, alright?"

Did Kiyama know what had happened to Keiko?

As if reading Ryosuke's thoughts, Kiyama met his eye. "I ran into her. She was having some trouble and..." He paused, shifting his school bag. "Sorry I intruded."

As Kiyama turned to leave, a lot of bitter retorts came to Ryosuke's mind, but he managed to keep all of them at bay. In fact, he was about as speechless as Kiyama at the moment. Truth be told, he really didn't know what to say. He felt he knew Kiyama well enough to understand that whether or not Kiyama knew what had happened to Keiko, probably nothing bad had been going on between them on the rooftop. Keiko's tears, whatever had caused them....They probably hadn't been of Kiyama's making, at least not intentionally. Yet it was possible something he had said or done had reminded Keiko of that time. Because Ryosuke was almost positive that was what the girl was thinking about.

"I'm sure...," Ryosuke finally murmured under his breath in response to Kiyama, not entirely sarcastically, so much as at a loss for what to say to the other guy. "You know, running away isn't the answer to everything, Kiyama." The dark-haired Yankee was already on his way to the roof exit.

Ryosuke had come to understand some time before that his way of thinking was entirely opposite Kiyama's, and that likely neither of them would ever fully or properly understand each other. Maybe that was one of his big reasons for not confronting the other guy about an apology either. That and all the other things on Ryosuke's mind lately.

And then the blonde Yankee was reminded of his feelings for Kaoru, his promise to himself--and her, even if she didn't know it--to reserve himself for her and only her, and slowly backed away from Keiko, hoping she would be okay.

His hands still resting on her shoulders, Ryosuke tried to smile for his female classmate. "I don't....I'm sorry I don't know what happened here or if I just made things worse, but are you feeling better now? I..." Ryosuke paused, glancing sideways at Kiyama, who'd stopped by the door, then continued, "...we won't let anything like that happen to you. If those guys ever tried to bother you again..."

Ryosuke glanced briefly over the edge of the roof to the ground far below.

That was when he noticed...the white-haired guy was gone. Had he left? Come into the school?

Not entirely sure this was the right group of people to bring this up with, but not sure he had much of a choice, Ryosuke cleared his throat, his gaze still settled on the now vacant spot by the high school's entrance. For some reason, there was an uneasy feeling in his gut about the guy...Kiyama was the last person he wanted to talk about anything with, but he almost wondered if he should mention the white-haired guy to him.

Maybe later.

Ryosuke focused his attention back on the girl in front of him. "Keiko-chan?"