Tenhimi: Before The Game

Chapter Two

"Ngh..." I murmur. I try and open my eyes, but everything is incredibly blurry. I can see the shadows of people above me, but I have no idea who they are. Someone from above me leans down and picks me up. I feel myself moving through the air, and out of the cafeteria. Slowly I'm starting to come to my senses, and the person holding me's face comes registers in my consciousness.

It's Shuichi, looking as timid as usual. He seems serious and determined though, set on where he's going.

"Shuichi, wait up!" A voice behind him says, so I shut my eyes again, curious of what's happening.

I feel Shuichi's pace pick up.

"Shuichi, damnit, come here. It was on accident."

He kind of shifts me around a bit, trying to free a hand. Presumably he's trying to sign to the person behind him but to no avail. He makes a small exasperated noise.

"I was just blowing off steam man! Kaede was pissing me off, and I needed some coin! That girl was just in the way."

I can feel Shuichi's heart beat quicken. He breathes in like he's going to say something a few times before, surprisingly, he does.

"B-b-bullshit." He says in a very soft voice. I can tell he's struggling to speak.

"I'm taking her to a hosp-, I'm taking her to a hospital, Kaito."

Wait, so Shuichi somehow knows Kaito? Knows him well enough to speak to him? I have no idea what's going on.

"Oh you little-" I hear Kaito start to walk faster, and I decide to try and divert the attention from Shu by directing the attention to me. I make a small whimpering noise and inhale sharply. I hear Kaito freeze.

"Damnit, just take her to the damn hospital already." Kaito says after a few moments of silence. He then storms away, muttering quietly to himself.

After a few seconds of Shuichi still walking with me, breathing fast and heartbeat rapid, I open my eyes.

"Shuichi." He stops walking and widens his eyes.

"Put me down, I'm fine I think. He didn't hit me very hard." I tell him, and he obliges, still panicky- looking.

He points to his ears, and then his mouth.

"Did I hear you talking?" He nods, telling me that's what he was asking.

"Yeah. It's no biggie though. I won't tell anyone, not like I have any friends to tell."

There's a moment of awkward silence. That was kind of a weird thing to say, I realize. Stupid Himiko.

I want to ask him about that conversation, but I have a feeling he won't talk again. That talking to Kaito seemed like a lot of work. I pull out a sheet of paper from my pocket and a pen, and hand it to him.

"Can you tell me why you don't like to talk?" I ask him curiously. He writes down something on the paper and hands it to me.

"I've got really bad social anxiety, and high functioning autism. It's enough work to go to school, much less talk. I get asked this a lot." Well that makes sense. I hand the paper back to him.

"Okay, thanks for telling me. Um, and what was that conversation with Kaito earlier? You don't have to tell me if it's too personal." He sighs, writes something down, and hands the paper back.

"It's fine. Kaito and I are kind of old friends, and I've been trying to get him to stop bullying people and being so mean. He used to be nice, but one day he just changed."

"Oh. I'm sorry." I say. I give him the paper back, and he starts writing something else.

"If you're okay, I've got to go to class." I nod, and he starts walking away.

"Wait!" Just say it Himiko. Just say it. My mouth opens, and I try and will myself to speak, but instead I just make a weird voice cracking sound.

"Never mind." He looks at me oddly and then walks around the corner and out of view. Dang it!

I just wanted to ask to be friends.

I bury my face into my palms and sit there, blind to the world.

This is useless. Why am I even here? I only have today left, and I'm spending it at dumb school.

"I'll get home and start preparing." I tell myself. When I stand up I feel a bit woozy, but when I touch my head there's no blood. Only a minuscule bump. I make my way to the front hall and walk out to the cloudy day. It's cooled since this morning, and a chilly wind bores straight through my uniform.

I start walking home, eyes glued to the ground. I would read my book, but I left it somewhere in the lunch room. Oh well. No point in it anymore.

Suddenly I feel another human run into me. I look up in surprise to see a girl with long greenish hair in a ponytail, wearing leggings and a t- shirt.

"Tenko?"

"Ah! Himiko! Um, hi!" She says nervously, with a half smile on her face. She immediatley backs away from me, pulling down her shirt sleeves.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"I usually go running during lunch hour." She blushes and pulls down her ponytail, so her hair falls into a thick glossy curtain, almost covering her face.

"No need to be so insecure." I say tiredly. I just want to go home and do this thing.

"What?" She says. She looks confused. I'm never going to see her again, so I might as well be honest.

"You're chubby, and you're insecure. That's dumb. Being chubby just means you should be proud your family has enough to eat. And you're already good looking so it doesn't matter." Silence from her. She's just staring at me, shocked.

"Sorry but I've got to go." I start to push past her, but she softly puts her hand on my shoulder.

"No one's ever been honest to me like that." Tenko blushed.

"Can we be friends? I need more honest people in my life." She laughs. I can tell she's still a bit shocked.

"Friends..." I murmer quietly.

"Yeah!"

Her hand feels warm on my shoulder, and somehow i'm not recoiling from her touch like I usually do.

"S-sure..."

She smiles her crazily infectious smile, which makes me do the same.

"Well friend, wanna skip the rest of school today? You look kind of tired."

I nod sleepily, still stunned from the turn events. I was going to go home and kill myself before she showed up, so I this is a major plus. I feel my knees buckle and almost fall into the pretty girl in front of me.

"Ah, Himiko!" She holds onto me tightly.

"Or I can take you home so you can sleep...?" She says nervously.

"Not my house..." She's so warm. Like a teddy bear.

"Ah... here, I got you."

I feel my body being hoisted into the air. Tenko slings me onto her back and starts walking in the opposite direction of my house. I feel warm, and safe, so I find myself drifting off in her arms peacefully.

EDIT: Forgot to put a chapter title.