Chapter Twenty Eight - Redux

"Just go ahead and do it! Beat me to death if that's what you want! I don't even care!" The scream came from the same location as before. At least Midori-senpai was consistent, I thought. I rounded the corner to find Aria sitting against the fence, her head bleeding, fists clenched at her side defiantly. Midori, Otoha, and Shuko arranged in a half-circle between her and I. Otoha sensed rather than heard me and turned, swinging the bat instinctively. I stepped in close to her, ignoring the pain from where the bat hit my wrist and quickly disarmed her, my leg swept forward as I dropped low and Otoha hit the ground hard. I was up in an instant, the bat held easily in my uninjured hand as I faced a thoroughly surprised Midori and Shuko.

"K-Kasumi-chan?" Midori stuttered nervously, glancing fearfully at Shuko. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Give me my bat, bitch!" Otoha demanded from the ground. I swung the aluminum head down until it was a centimeter in front of her nose.

"Never bring a weapon to a fight unless you can afford to lose it," I growled. "If I give this bat to you, I guarantee you won't like where it'll go. Still want it?" Otoha clambered backward quickly, shaking her head. I turned to Midori and scowled. "We have got to stop meeting like this."

"This doesn't concern you, Kasumi!" Midori snapped in frustration.

"Three people and a bat against one person absolutely concerns me," I shot back.

"Do you know what this bitch did? The entire fucking school is making fun of me because this fucking slut can't keep her legs shut!" I noticed Shuko edging to the left and pointed the business end of the bat at her, moving to the right to stand between Aria and them.

"I will Ichiro you right in the gut if you don't stay where you are, Shuko-senpai," I warned. Shuko stopped and stared at me wide-eyed. "I know what she did, Midori-senpai. What I don't know or understand is what the actual fuck you think you're doing. Everyone knows she fucked Daishi and everyone in school knows you took her to the roof with a baseball bat. Do you think the school or police will just look the other way?"

"I will not have my honor smeared!" Midori was shaking she was so angry.

"You aren't a goddamn Samurai," I growled. "You're acting like a fucking moron. Get your head on straight. You beat her with a bat, even if you don't kill her, you're going to fucking jail!"

"I don't care! This bitch owes me a debt and I will collect!" Midori took an angry step forward.

"If you want to get to her, you'll have to go through me, and all three of you together can't make that happen and we all know it," I warned her. "Back off or you're going to get hurt, Midori-senpai."

"She needs to pay!" Midori screamed, pointing a shaking finger at Aria. "She fucking humiliated me! Again! How can you protect that piece of shit? She's a fucking slut and a goddamned tease shaking her tits and ass at everything that comes her way. I mean, fuck, I saw her cuddling up with Akito in the art club last week for fuck's sake!"

"It takes two," I sighed miserably, not taking my eyes off the trio. It looked like they had backed down for the most part, but I'd be damned if I lowered my guard. My whole body was shaking, and I had to struggle to keep my voice from wavering as the adrenaline raced through me. "She may be all the things you said, and she may be fucking everything in school with a pulse, but this isn't about them, is it, Midori-senpai? Were you dating Daishi?"

"No, we broke up," Midori snapped. "Because of that cock tease!"

"You can't do this to yourself," I sighed again. Midori wasn't a bad person. She was just stupid as hell. But, hey, I guess I was in the same boat, just on the other side of the deck. "Just let it go. Forget about Daishi, he's a bitch anyway. Take Otoha and Shuko and do karaoke or buy clothes or whatever you do and just give Daishi and his drama up for good. You're better than this."

"Why should I?" Tears streamed down her face and dripped from her chin, each drop a piece of a shattered and aching heart. I felt her pain more keenly than I could ever fully express.

"Because he's just going to hurt you over and over and over again," I shook my head. "If it's not her it'll be someone else and then someone after that and on and on and if you let him, he'll come back and use you for awhile and then do it again. He's no different than my brother. I've seen it before."

"Jun-kun?" Midori blinked at me.

"You remember what he did to Himari-san, right?" I asked, knowing she was intimately familiar with what my brother had done.

"Daishi's not like that!" Midori insisted, not sounding remotely convinced.

"Isn't he?" I shook my head. "Was it all Aria's fault the first time? Was she seducing him, and he was just a hapless victim? Did she call him twenty times a day and show up at his house late at night? Did she send nudes all the time and sex videos?" I could see by the look in her eyes Daishi had made all of these claims in one way or another. "Jun told Himari-san the same things, Midori, senpai. I've heard all of that bullshit before. People like Daishi and Jun are great at making themselves seem like the victim. Himari-san bought the lies for a long time and where is she now?"

"But what about her?" Midori tilted her head to Aria crying quietly behind me. "She just gets away with doing whatever the fuck she wants to do with whoever she wants to do it with?"

"Who cares about her?" I shrugged. "Why should she be your problem, senpai? No matter what she did I promise you she didn't rape Daishi. I guarantee he was a willing participant." I winced as the words left my mouth. Saying them out loud hurt far worse than the pain radiating up my arm from my wrist.

"Kasumi-chan's right," Shuko said, taking Midori's sleeve in her fingers. "Let's just go. This isn't worth it. She isn't worth it."

"Neither is Daishi," Otoha chimed in.

"Fuck both of them," Midori finally said with a sob. She wiped her face slowly with her hands before sighing. "Yeah. Let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry." The three picked up their discarded bags and walked toward the roof door. As they were getting ready to step inside, Midori turned to me. "Thank you, Kasumi-chan. Again, I guess." I smiled wanly and nodded as they disappeared inside.

I flipped the bat across the roof. It bounced along the concrete before coming to rest against the fence. I glanced down at my wrist and shook my head. It was already bruised. It wasn't broken but it was definitely going to swell and look pretty ugly. If I hadn't been so intent on not hurting anyone, I could have disarmed her without getting hit most likely. It was too late, now, I supposed. I flexed my hand and winced. Too careless, I chided myself.

"You came," Aria whispered behind me, her voice barely audible over the chill wind. I stiffened at the sound. In the heat of things, I'd nearly forgotten about her. I sighed and turned around reluctantly. She was bleeding from a small cut on her head and another on her arm, but it didn't look like she was hurt too badly.

"It really should have been your boyfriend saving your ass," I managed, the words sounding forced and strange.

"It's not like-"She began. I raised my hand to stop her and shook my head.

"Just stop, Aria," I sighed. "I don't want to hear it. It's none of my business. I was wrong to tell you not to talk to me anymore. I was childish and hurt and I apologize. I said we could still be friends and I'm sure Mizuki and Emi could use your help on the costumes and café as I'm pretty useless at that sort of thing. Besides, it looks suspicious like this, so if you want to hang out with us at lunch and stuff, I'd appreciate it."

"I really wish you'd listen to me and give me a chance to explain, Kasu-"

"Please. This hurts, ok? I seriously considered leaving you to get your head bashed in and that's not me. I don't like this at all. I don't like feeling like this and I hate that you're the one who made me feel this way. So, I need you to stop. This whole thing was a mistake and I just want to move on." I interrupted her again, the dull ache from my wrist now radiated up my arm, colliding head-on with the throbbing in my chest. Aria nodded glumly and lapsed into silence, lowering her eyes from my face, her mascara running in rivulets down her face as tears slipped from her eyes.

"You're hurt," Aria said suddenly, rising to her feet. "Let me take a look, please." I held my uninjured hand up to stop her. "Don't be like this, Kasumi! Even if you hate me, now, at least let me help! I owe you that much at least."

"I don't want your help," I shook my head and chuckled mirthlessly. "Just…come back to the group if you want. I promise I'll behave. If not, I won't twist your arm." I turned on my heel and, picking up my discarded backpack, walked toward the door to the school.

"I wish you'd just let me explain," Aria sobbed behind me.

"You've got a boyfriend," I said, aware what I was saying was designed to hurt us both. I wasn't able to stop myself, though. The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "Go explain it to him. I'm sure you'll be fine after he's helped you walk bow-legged again." I hefted my backpack onto my shoulder, the wind cold on the tears trickling down my face, and left Aria alone on the roof.