Run Over Chapter 2.3

Bring Me Up
Chapter 2 Part 3

A breeze made by a ceiling fan blew away the curling steam above the coffee cup. Minato and I were sitting at one of the cafe tables. I came here after two more lessons in which everyone was surprisingly silent. It was quite a stylish place and not so far from our school. Ten minutes of waiting and at exactly 5 in the evening, at the specified time, came the person who called me here.

"Forgive me for doing this on such short notice, did I interfere with your plans?" Minato asked this as if she were an ordinary highschool student. Her greeting sounded so normal that the recent scene imprinted into my mind felt like a dream.

"No… It's fine."

"Yeah? Then it's okay." Minato took a sip of her coffee.

"That… I wanted to ask, are you okay after that?"

What distance are you supposed to keep when talking to a cla.s.smate in such a situation? Let's say I speak of myself as usual, but how do I address my companion? Would "Minato-san" suffice?

"After what?"

"What? Well, you pierced Tanabe's hand. With a fork."

"O-o-oh, that? Well, I wasn't the one getting pierced, so everything is okay."

It's strange, the way her brain works.

"I'm not talking about that. Of course it was Tanabe who was injured, but her dumb boyfriend Fushimi won't stay silent."

"And?"

"He will avenge her. I don't think that it'll be today, but tomorrow or the day after he certainly can come out from the corner."

"More specifically?"

"Well, he can hit you or take away your money…"

I also wanted to say, that he will undress you… but stopped, because that could be like s.e.xual hara.s.sment.

"Got it. Anyways, Idzono-kun, are you worried about me?"

This confused me.

"Well… something like that." I looked away, and Minato added sugar and milk to her coffee and mixed it, twisting the black and white stripes into a brown whirlwind.

Minato then looked at the discouraged me from top to bottom and asked:

"Then will you save me, Idzono-kun?"

I already regretted on getting on this topic.

"I'll save you… As much as I can."

"As much as you can?"

"As much as I have strength for. Well, I'm not very good in fights, and you can't really call me strong."

"You lie, Idzono-kun." Minato rolled her eyes.

From that one single word, my heart sank and my palms became sweaty.

"What do you mean I lie?"

"You even talked about your strength so craftily. Especially since you have it."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

It seemed the cla.s.smate that was shorter than me by about twenty centimetres saw right through me. I was overcome by a vague alarm. Under the table, I straightened my index and middle finger which were accustomed to strangers' pockets, and dragged them along my left wrist, as if cutting my veins. Of course, I did not die. I was just checking the raging pulse with my fingertips.

"But don't you remember?"

Minato opened her schoolbag, remade so it can be worn on the back, and pulled something out. Her tender pale hand laid several objects on the table.

Wallet.
Wallet. Wallet.
Wallet. Wallet. Wallet. Wallet. Wallet. Wallet.

A blow to my breathing.
Those…
My trophies for these last few days.

"Idzono-kun, let's go to the movies or something?" Minato suggested as if she was a completely normal girl.

***

Now, together with Minato, we were shaking on the train, going to a rather large station in the opposite direction from mine. Minato sat beside me. Every time the train shook, she pressed her whole body on me, triggering many different feelings.

"Hey Idzono-kun, is this your first time going somewhere like this with a girl?" Minato whispered.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Well, something like intuition. Am I mistaken?"

"No, you're not."

"Are you happy?"

"Well, something like that."

"Understood. Then we'll also take a walk later."

Oh really?

The local train ran slowly, picking up and dropping off people at the train stops, and we got closer to our target. The carriage slowly emptied. It was nearly half-past six, those who had left work early were getting home at this time.

"When you're riding in a train, your hands are just itching to do something right?" Minato asked, lowering her voice. Behind the bag on her knees, she pointed her index finger at it.

"I will refrain perhaps. And if you want smoke or drink with someone, look for someone else."

There is such a disease – a craving for theft, or kleptomania: the limiter seems to be taken out of one's head, and self-control is shut down. As a result, the person commits a crime just for the sake of momentary gain or pleasure.

But this wasn't my case. I didn't lose my self-control, I chose the target and place. My theft was a kind of delayed attack. I performed a hidden attack on people who irritated me, and did in a way that they couldn't attack back. They noticed the damage taken when it was too late, and this thought led me into ecstasy.

Powerless, I could only express my protest like this.

"Oh, we've arrived." Minato said.

The flickering outside slowed down, and I was able to read the name of the station on the sign. The pa.s.sengers who were going to transfer onto the express, began to exit. I stood behind Minato, and she held out a pale hand to me.

"Let's hold hands?"

"I'll refrain." I refused politely.

Edited by: Akshaythedon