Autumn Taste [Tsukasa Eishi x OC] [Shokugeki no Soma Fanfic]

XVII

Rin did not know if it was a coincidence or not but the bullying became even worse right after her visit to the infirmary. Most of them are small 'accidents' but they tend to give her a bruise or two. She tried really hard to hide them because she did not want people to worry, especially from Tsukasa and her dormmates. Observant people like Megumi had her suspicions on her but Rin had trained herself to lie swiftly.

"Oh, my, you've been coming here very often." The person working on the counter said as Rin registered her name there.

"Y-Yeah, I've been really clumsy lately..." Rin forced a smile while she gripped on her bleeding fingers. The sight of blood was starting to disgust her. Apparently, someone pointed a blade at her direction while 'playing around' and it cut her while trying to protect herself. The girls got detention but Rin was not really happy.

It was just a minor wound so Rin told the nurse that she would not need a doctor to attend to her. She had gotten used to the infirmary and she knew where the first aid kit was. After cleaning all the blood, she wiped them dry and rummaged through the kit to find some bandages. Right when she was about to finish, fate decided to play a prank on her by letting her meet someone she badly did not want to.

Rin was the first person Tsukasa spotted when he entered the room. Rin quickly shoved the bandaged back into the kit and hid her hand behind.

"T-Tsukasa-senpai! Why are you here?" Rin stared at the floor, unable to bring herself to look at him.

"I'm here for a checkup." Tsukasa felt unusually calm seeing Rin. Work had him trapped in his office and he had not talk or seen her for days.

"I see. T-Then I should be going-" Rin wanted to escape as soon as possible.

"Wait!" Tsukasa reacted by grabbing her wrist. Rin's heart sank. "Your hand...What happened?"

"Nothing. It's just a scratch." Rin stared at Tsukasa's hand. She struggled a little to free herself but Tsukasa's grip got tighter. Rin flinched in pain.

"That's a lot of scratches." Tsukasa looked at her bandaged fingers. His touch was soft and careful but he could not help feeling suspicious. "Is there something I can do to help?"

"It has nothing to do with you." Rin snapped. She tried to sound cold but the way Tsukasa acted made it really hard. "Please let go."

"Tsukasa-san, your doctor is here." One of the nurse called him, surprising them both but Rin reacted a split second faster and she successfully free herself and she ran out of the room. Tsukasa ignored the nurse and followed her but she escaped into the women's bathroom. Tsukasa stood outside and quickly pulled out his phone to call Rin but he did not know she had left her phone together with her bag back at the infirmary. As soon as his call was answered by a cold mechanical voice, he hung up and could only feel desperate.

***
Rin did not know how long she stayed in the bathroom. She hoped it was long enough to make Tsukasa leave. After all, him standing outside a female bathroom would attract a lot of attention. She checked her wound on her palm. It reopened just now, maybe because she balled her hand into a fist to tightly. A line of blood formed and it did mot take long for the blood to start trickling down. Rin quickly tore reached for the toilet role for tissues.

Suddenly, she heard a loud thud against the bathroom door. She thought it was someone impatient who wanted to use the bathroom and she unlocked it but she could not open it. She pushed the door with more force but it still would not budge. Right when she thought things could not get even worse, cold water was splashed onto her from above. She looked up only to see a bucket and someone's hands.

"You had a fight with Tsukasa-sama, didn't you?" A girl with an annoying high-pitched tone said to her.

"Why don't you stay there and cool down for a while?" Another voice snickered.