20 - Emergency

My name is Saki Yoshida.

Recently, I started experimenting with some new makeup with the help of my mom, and it seemed to have a surprising effect: people began to really like me, and I started to become popular.

I thought this would finally be my opportunity to make friends. While I did meet my boyfriend Hayato, who I deeply love, I didn't really become as popular as I had hoped. Just when I thought I was beginning to fit in, the dynamics shifted. The girls I believed were my friends turned against me due to how the boys started treating me after I... did them favors to keep my job a secret. Despite my efforts to keep it under wraps, the truth somehow leaked out to everyone.

I thought Hiroki-kun, who was also alone and ostracized, might understand me. I wanted to reach out and just maybe be his friend. The most I managed was to give him my shirt a few days ago after he was cornered by some seniors in the bathroom. He didn't know it was me... I think.

Me and Hiroki hadn't met again since that incident where he was brought to the hospital.

Today marked our first real interaction. We were finally meeting face to face.

Seeing him now, I can truly say he is different from everyone else...

"So... are we before or after your father railed you in secret?"

...But not in a good way at all.

Yuuto asked casually as he crouched beside the trembling Saki, resting his head on his bloodied baseball bat.

"U-uh... I-I don't... Uhm... W-what are you..." Saki stammered, unable to meet his gaze as she looked away.

'Why would he say something like that...!? How... How does he know..?' Saki thought, shivering in her place, her cellphone in her palm.

'Hah... Saki Yoshida. The greatest NTR protagonist of all time... Of course, she's here. After all, it wasn't just someone who betrayed her. Fate itself played the antagonist in her story, screwing over her good life. Fate itself cucked Saki Yoshida's life away from her,' Yuuto thought, scrutinizing her with his weary gaze as the effects of adrenaline coursing through him started to wane.

Traces of makeup from sobbing.

Traces of filth on her shirt collar and skirt.

Smelly hands.

Soaked lips and mouth.

'It's obvious what happened here,' He thought after examining her, 'To think I didn't notice that she was also in this school... She was quite the hot topic after she groomed herself in the manga. She's right on the verge of her life becoming the greatest pile of garbage in existence...' Yuuto thought with a sigh.

"Listen. I don't really have a lot of time, so just forget my last question. I have something more pressing," Yuuto murmured confidently.

'Oh, thank God... At least he doesn't seem to want to pry—' Saki thought, a flicker of relief passing through her.

"Did your mom toss you out of the house due to your father raping you yet?" He casually called.

Saki froze in place, her mouth agape in shock.

'Ah, shoot. Of course not. Didn't she stop going to school immediately after that happened?' Yuuto realized, chiding himself for his thoughtlessness.

"F-forget about that one too, my brain was ha—"

"MY MOM... WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" Saki suddenly cried out, looking at Yuuto with wide, tearful eyes.

Yuuto met her gaze silently, not uttering a word.

"My mom... loves me... She... she would never do that..!!" Saki murmured, memories of her mother's warm smile and embracing arms inviting her home filled her thoughts.

'I'm scared... Hayato... Save me...' Saki murmured under her breath, glancing at her phone, hoping for a sign that her boyfriend had returned her calls.

Noticing her distraction, Yuuto quickly grabbed the phone from her trembling hands.

"N-NO!! GIVE IT BACK..!!" She cried, her voice shaking as she reached out for her phone now clenched in Yuuto's grip.

"GIVE IT BACK...!!" Her plea echoed again, with Yuuto pushing her away from him. The phone only getting farther out of her reach.

'No..!! He's also a bad person..!' She thought as Yuuto stood up and smashed the phone against the wall.

"No!!!" Saki cried out, stumbling past Yuuto to retrieve her now shattered phone.

"Hayato... Hayato..!!" she murmured desperately, her fingers fumbling over the broken device, trying to make it work so she could call her boyfriend while Yuuto watched silently beside her.

In her panic to escape, Saki slipped as she rushed towards the bathroom door.

"HELP—" Her cry was cut short just as she reached the door.

Yuuto quickly reached out and grabbed her arm harshly, pulling her into the second stall and locking the door behind them. His baseball bat clattered to the floor as he used his other hand to cover Saki's mouth.

Tears welled up in her eyes again.

'No... He... He also wants me...'

'I was wrong... Hiroki... was just like the rest...' She thought with tears climbing up her throat, as Yuuto kept his silence, holding her subdued against the wall in the stall while standing behind her.

Her strength waned, yielding as moments passed by.

Yuuto stood motionless, listening to the synchronized footsteps fade away from the bathroom.

'Normally, they would've started undressing or groping me by now...' Saki mused, half anticipating Yuuto to make advances, torn between the potential excitement and overwhelming fear.

Yet, Yuuto remained composed.

Before long, her composure gradually began to settle. It was then she noticed a certain metallic scent lurking right below her nose where Yuuto covered her mouth.

Saki's gaze shifted to Yuuto's palm.

'Is he... bleeding..? Has something happened to him, like last time...?' Saki pondered.

"Saki Yoshida, right?" Yuuto began, interrupting her thoughts.

Silent, Saki couldn't utter a word, Yuuto's hand still covering her mouth.

"...Nod if that's really your name."

Saki nodded in response.

"Good. Are you aware of the current situation in our school?" Yuuto inquired, his voice calm and controlled.

Saki shook her head.

"...Have you been in here since before the first class started?" Yuuto's tone softened.

Reluctantly, Saki nodded, her movements hesitant and sluggish.

'I see... She's not hypnotized, then,' Yuuto breathed a sigh of relief. 'Those boys work fast, huh? So many people to baseball...'

"I will now release you. Please don't scream or try to run. Do you understand...?" he instructed.

Once again, Saki nodded in agreement.

Gently, Yuuto removed his palm from her lips, momentarily sticking due to the blood staining his hand, his other arm still securing Saki's, restraining it behind her back.

Observing her lack of outcry, Yuuto grew more at ease, gradually withdrawing his arm from her face until it returned to his side. Then, he released his hold on her arm.

"Can you please turn to look at me?" Yuuto asked gently.

Saki slowly turned to face him directly.

As she did, she took in his battered appearance. He wore only a bloodied tank top and leggings, his body covered in bruises, and his eyes looked as if he was on the verge of passing out.

'Crap... I'm starting to feel it... Anemia. I've lost too much blood...' Yuuto thought, his breathing labored.

Saki instinctively covered her mouth with her hands at the sight before her.

"W-what... What happened to you...?"

"The entire school's been hypnotized by someone. Just give me a moment... I'll find a way to show you proof..." Yuuto murmured, leaning against the stall wall and sliding down to a seated position.

'Damn it... Just pinning her against the wall took so much out of me...' he thought, his strength fading.

Saki glanced briefly at the door as Yuuto stepped back, leaving her room for a maneuver. She could escape, leave behind the boy who had been so harsh with her, who had destroyed her phone; which was the only thing connecting her to her precious, loving boyfriend and her mom. Now, he was talking about the school being hypnotized? It sounded absurd.

Leaving seemed like the safest option.

'She's going to leave... Ahh... Damn it... I can't even stand up...' Yuuto thought, feeling his consciousness begin to wane as he noticed Saki glaring at the door, her palm raised to flip open the lock.

But then, seeing the bruised and beaten Yuuto, something stirred in Saki's heart.

She turned away from the door, and crouched beside him, her fingers gingerly moving his tank top aside to reveal a gruesome, bloodied wound just below his shoulder.

Yuuto gasped, watching her fingers as she examined the injury.

'Damn it... I'm slipping... No... I... need to stay awake...' he thought, struggling to remain conscious.

Saki's eyes widened in shock, her complexion turning pale as she stared at the gaping wound, which still seemed to pour out blood.

'How... How is he still alive? What happened here in the school...? Why did... I...' Her thoughts raced, too jumbled and panicked to form a coherent response as Yuuto's eyes fluttered, threatening to close.

"Just... Wait a minute... I'll... take a nap... and then... save..."

"Save you..." Yuuto whispered, his voice fading as he lost consciousness. His head tilted to the side, and his eyes closed.

Saki gasped softly at his words, staring at him in bewilderment.

"Save... me?" she echoed, confusion and concern etched across her face.

Author here.

Look, If you don't enjoy the story, drop it. This is the style that brought me to this point, I am not going to change it anytime soon. I do try to keep all your wishes in mind but honestly it's starting to become difficult as it affects my style that brought you here to begin with.