Do You Bench, Girl?

The rumors spread just as fast as his initial ones.

“Don’t lay a finger on him, he’s Haibara’s boy toy.”

“What strange taste. Weirdos must come in pairs.”

“I heard she threatened to cut them off… cut what off? Well, you know.”

The desks around his own had shifted away, leaving a conspicuous gap where people dared not pass over. There was no direct eye contact, no longer any words of teasing at him. It was an unsettling peace, like a Cold War had developed with him at the nexus.

Any thoughts of conversing with him had shattered after they saw their fellow classmates humbled and begging for forgiveness. It was certainly a change from the collective bullying that was commonplace before.

Akio hated it.

If he had wanted no one to bother him, he wouldn’t have asked for a fresh start in high school. He wouldn’t have agonized over wanting to speak with tact and keeping a read on the room. Listening to people wrongly whisper what they wanted about him wouldn’t bother him so much.

He slapped the top of his unmarred desk and stood up to leave the classroom. It felt even more annoying to him than when he was erasing dick doodles and crass jokes. All eyes were on him, and students parted way. It wasn’t him that they minded, but the shadow of Misaki that loomed over him.

The pranks had ground to a halt, but so did every other aspect of school life. He was like a hobo handing out condoms at an aroace fair. No one wanted him within sight, and he no longer felt like he belonged there.

He found himself a random bench to eat his lunch, fried chicken from the local FamilyMart. At least, konbini food rarely betrayed him. It was as reliable as an American’s insistence on tipping for service.

“Akio-kun!”

A bubbly voice called out to him from behind. He didn’t even need to turn to know. After all, only one person dared to approach him. A set of arms wrapped around his front, and a head nuzzled against his neck. Misaki was so far from her initial yankee self that it made him feel like glass.

As soon as someone so much as walked into their sphere of influence…

The sound of a switchblade clicked. Misaki let out a hiss. A few gasps emitted from that someone, whether they were purposefully there or blindly sauntered into enemy territory. And with that short exchange, they would learn to never bother with human interaction from the Misaki-Akio pair ever again.

“Thanks, I wanted to be alone with a yandere anyways. Should I switch with you and have a turn next?”

Misaki chuckled, finding his poor attempt at a joke funny. She reached over and stabbed a fried nugget with her blade and plopped it in her mouth.

“I have watched the entire school. No one is willing to stand up for you. The bullying, the teasing, it hurts me to see you treated that way.”

“And now, people think I’ll come after them if they so much as breathe the same air as me. That I’ll pull you from my back pocket and go, ‘Misaki Ball, attack!’”

How she didn’t immediately deny it made him annoyed. He turned to her, looking all innocent and cute while fidgeting with the switchblade, and set his lunch down, no longer hungry.

“I don’t like this side of you. It is undateable.”

In an instant, he was thrown to the ground. He opened his eyes to the sound of hoarse breathing driven by anger. Misaki had him pinned to the ground, hand against his throat.

“So! You’re just like the others! Approaching me because you think I’m fixable! Bailing in a heartbeat when I’m not!”

“Fixable is the last thing I’d call you! I don’t know even know who you are! I don’t recognize the person you said I confessed to!”

The rage in Misaki fell flat like she had just been told someone else betrayed her. She pulled back as uncertainty slowly dyed her pupils, even if her lips didn’t want to admit fault.

“Are you lying to me as well?” she hissed.

“I don’t actually like yanderes.”

Misaki looked on in confusion.

“I don’t like yankees either. I didn’t come up to you for any real reason. I barely knew you at all. You just happened to be there at that moment, in the path as I was escaping from some thugs.”

Misaki bit her lip. She reached for her switchblade, rubbing her finger along its edge like it helped console her. Her fingers twitched like they had nowhere to release the tension building up, until she heard the next words.

“But I don’t regret meeting you there.”

Akio sat up and grabbed Misaki by the shoulder, who stiffened at his touch.

“I am scared shitless by you. I think you’re going to be the death of me every moment. But you’re also the first person who has been real to me. And in some twisted way of thinking, maybe that’s not so bad after all.”

Akio stood up, brushing his clothes off. He grabbed his bento and heaved out a sigh.

“I don’t want to fix you. I hardly think I’m capable of that. But I do want things to be better, and there’s no way that’s happening if you do everything for me.”

Misaki was the craziest person he had ever met, but that didn’t mean that was all it was about her. She had said it herself that she had never dated before. Being an utter mess when it came to relationships was expected.

But so was he.

He had no right to call her ‘undateable’, but he hardly had the proper words to express his feelings. He was simply venting in his own way, just like Misaki did in a physical sense.

What he saw in Misaki was something that he lacked. It was a sense of daring, impassive to the slander around her. Rather, she embraced that tenacity, made others submit to it instead.

It was a ridiculous way to respect her, and admittedly, be slightly attracted to her, but he was certainly not going to let such a relationship become one-sided. He refused to be simply along for the ride.

“Stop what you’re doing, Haibara. Please. Give me some time to think of another way to know you.”

Akio left it at that. He walked away, leaving his half-eaten lunch and a stunned girl behind.

v

Days had passed since Misaki had last bothered him. He idly sat at his desk, pondering the words he used before over and over again.

“Dammit, was I too harsh on her?”

Of course, he thought that. He couldn’t think of a single time he talked his way to a lucky outcome. Even Gandhi would pause at the thought of peace over his unintended insults, much less a belligerent yankee with a rep.

Akio sighed as he rubbed his face over his desk, pencil lead staining his cheek. The rumors had died down. The bullying recommenced. He wasn’t sure if there was a smeared dick on his cheek now. Some people believed that Misaki and he had the splits, thereby losing his source of protection. The source of bullying had never been resolved, only the actions stifled temporarily.

Akio thought it was better this way. It was no worse than before. After almost dying several times, his resilience grew along with it. The wound on his back had even sealed up, leaving a badge of courage that brought things into perspective.

“Sad that your girlfriend decided to ditch you like the pathetic loser you are? Wada idiot! She never liked you to begin with!”

Three bullies were scared off. More replaced them. Akio stared into space, barely registering the insults. His thoughts of Misaki mattered far more.

It didn’t make sense. Nothing about it did.

They had collided on a whim, come to blows and exchanged kisses like some terribly designed script. Such a meeting shouldn’t have left him with a deeper hole than he had ever experienced before.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, Wada!”

The bully from before grabbed him by the collar. Akio could tell an empty threat now. His tone had no bite to it. Standing up, Akio glared at him before brushing the balled fist away. He fixed his collar and pushed through the crowd that had formed at his desk, leaving them a bit at a loss for words.

Akio had no time for that bullshit. He had someone to chase after.

He scoured the halls, ignoring the poking and prodding that would have annoyed him in the past. He skipped out of range of a water hose, turning the corner before it had a chance to cause more than a splash.

“Wada creep! Wada coward! Wada idiot!”

Even the pun-like insults had lost their sting. Before Akio knew it, he found himself behind the gym. He let out a sigh, finally snapping out of his funk at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Wada you want, Tanimura?”

Akio had learned his name after the fact, the heavy-set jock that had initially started the whole line of Wada jokes. He trotted forward, followed by what could only be his flunkies. If only they hadn’t been there, Tanimura would have gotten a good sock in the face.

“Wada, don’t you think you’re being a bit too carefree about your situation?”

Akio’s eyes narrowed. He wondered what was meant by that. He crouched down, assuming the Thinker position to see if it would help him visualize better.

“Don’t think you’re forgetting what you did to my girl?”

Akio cocked his head to the side, now wondering how a penny tossed could earn him a quarter back of revenge. It seemed even more unfair than normal, but Tanimura had popularity on his side to pitch entitlement claims.

Tanimura pointed right at him, acting proudly like a detective finding his culprit.

“It’s your fault that my girl broke up with me!”

“Huh, how the hell is that my fault, dumbass?” Akio sputtered, not expecting that.

“She got it in her head that I think she’s ugly! She’s not ugly! I was merely pointing out that an idiot like you thinks she’s ugly. That it takes shit for brains to recognize ugliness. So by that thinking, she couldn’t be ugly because I’m smart enough to see she isn’t ugly!”

“Damn, you really did your job then.”

Akio’s jaw was so low he could’ve teed off with it.

“You see, that’s why I had to make your life a living hell! Cause I’m suffering, so you should too!”

Tanimura motioned for his lackeys to charge forward. It was obvious now that he had orchestrated the bullying after their first encounter. He had the popularity, flaunting his chain of command to cover up for his own stupid mistake.

And as always, a single stray comment from Akio would snowball into the most nonsensical of outcomes. All he could do was put up a stance and make a stand for himself.

A pair of fists came forward, to his left and right. Akio ducked right through the middle and let them run into each other. He barely had time to roll left as a kick caught air where he just was.

He counted three more aside from Tanimura that had yet to move, but with a flick of the wrist by their leader, they joined as well.

Akio had learned a little about fighting, enough to hold his own. Or rather, it could be called experience from getting involved far too often. However, six on one was far beyond his limit. He had nowhere to go as they closed in on him, a ring of bodies keeping his mobility limited.

Eventually, arms looped around his own, nailing him in place. Two swift kicks to either leg made it hard for him to keep upright. Another punch to the gut cut off his air. He choked to feign weakness, only to headbutt the nearest guy checking on him. One of his own kicks caught another on the side of the head.

He refused to give up, now knowing how bullshit of a reason it all was. If they were going to forego reason, they couldn’t expect him to stay sane either.

Two very angry guys nursed their heads, taking a moment to shrug off the pain before letting rage take over. But all of a sudden, a bench flew by, slamming into them both and sending them into the side of the gym.

Eyes bulged as the fight was interrupted by flying furniture. They all turned to a lone girl, holding a stance like she had just thrown a javelin.

“HORAAAAA, what the hell do ya think y’all’re doing with my boyfriend!”

For once, Akio was glad he condoned acts of domestic violence.