𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 | 𝗠.𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘂𝘆𝘂

────── nineteen

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═══ HERE COMES TROUBLE ═══

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PEACH-COLORED HAIR BLINDED HER VIEW the very moment Akiko stepped through the school gates. In an instant, Hinata had attached herself to Akiko, crying silently into her shoulder. Ignoring the curious eyes of other students passing them by, Akiko patted Hinata on the back, waiting until her best friend had let it all out.

Out of nowhere, Hinata hit Akiko on the shoulder. The brunette whined and rubbed the now sore spot. A split second later the two were hugging again. Akiko couldn't contain her laughter and chuckled behind her hand.

"I missed you too, Hina," she said. "And I'm sorry for ghosting you like that. It was better that way."

"W-what do you mean?" Hinata asked, eyes wide with worry, and she held onto Akiko's shoulders, shaking the girl. "You won't leave again, right? I swear, if your father -"

"He's not my father!" Akiko snapped unintentionally, scaring Hinata.

"What?"

With a sigh, Akiko linked their arms and slowly began their walk into the building. As they headed to their first class of the day, Akiko gave a quick rundown of what had happened, but left out all details that could have put Hinata in potential danger - the less she knew, the safer she was.

"... He isn't my real father. He's actually my uncle. I just found out that he's been abusing my mother all these years. I'm hoping they'll get a divorce soon, so my mother and I can get out of that house," concluded Akiko.

Baffled, shocked, whatever word was an understatement to Hinata's current state. The girl sat in her seat, fingers curled around the edges of the desk, mouth hung open, eyes as wide as can be, making little noises of disbelieve.

"He's ... and Mikey is ... and Chifuyu ..."

Again, Akiko chuckled. "I'm really sorry to dump all of this on you suddenly. But I just need to talk to someone who isn't involved in any of this mess."

A loud bang made Akiko jump in her seat. Everyone in the room looked toward Hinata, who had slammed her head into the desk, apparently overwhelmed with her newly acquired knowledge. She stayed down, turning her head to the side to glance at Akiko.

"I'm a terrible friend. We've known each other since we were toddlers, yet you never felt like you could tell me about any of this."

Akiko felt her heart sink. "No, Hina. That's not - "

"Good morning, class," greeted the teacher as he entered the room. "Hello, Akiko. Nice to have you back. You seem to have recovered just fine."

In reality, Akiko had absolutely no clue what the teacher was talking about. She guessed that Shinichiro had called and told some lie about Akiko being terribly sick. Nevertheless, she nodded with a timid smile when all the attention fell on her and sank deeper into her seat.

"Now, without wasting any more time, let's jump straight into today's lesson. Does anyone want to tell Akiko what we've been learning?"

Over two weeks had passed since Akiko lost any sense of normalcy in her life. She had forgotten what normal was supposed to feel like - the normal she was used to, anyways, considering nothing about her family history was to be considered normal or the average. With a deep sigh, Akiko slumped in her seat and endured the lesson.