Save the Irritating Damsel

I slowly and quietly slid the door of our room open. I wasn’t worried about waking anyone up, it was empty anyway. I just didn’t want to create noise and draw attention. I walked to the corner of the corridor and peeked through. The one of the girls that was in charge of looking around for teachers and other passersby noticed me and motioned that it was safe to move forward. That meant that the other two had managed to distract the teacher that was in charge of patrolling this part of the hotel. I nodded once and shyly smiled at her for not hesitating for even an instant before agreeing to help me. If we were found out, we were all going to be knee deep into trouble.

Passed by her and she squeezed my shoulder once to give me strength. My part of the plan was the most dangerous and difficult. It was only natural since it was my idea and I wouldn’t let anyone else do that part, it was my job and duty. I wanted to do it.

Even though I knew that I wasn’t going to meet trouble at the end of the next corridor, I was still stiff and on alert. My shoulders were hatched and I tried to not jump at any sound that reached my ears. Thankfully, I arrived at the spot where I was supposed to be without any obstacles on my way. My relieved sigh was cut short making the air I was about to release be pushed back quickly and violently and creating a sound like a whistle. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a wall. Before I could react, I met two soft and familiar eyes. My eyes narrowed.

“You scared the hell out of me!” I whisper-shouted as I hit her hand away and scowled. “You were supposed to meet me here and tell me what I need to know, not to ambush me!” I continued and Matsuda seemed almost amused by my reaction and expression but there was still something grave about her.

“Change of plans. The girls couldn’t distract the teacher any longer, we need to move quickly!” She said hurriedly and took my hand in hers ready to start running.

“Wait! You were only meant to tell me where to find him, not come with me!” I pulled back trying to stop her. This was much more than I could have ever asked of her. The punishment was going to be far greater, she would be risking too much.

When she turned around, I realized she knew. She understood all this. And what did she do about it? She smiled brightly. Like a small star in the darkness. I was so caught by surprise that I didn’t pose much resistance when she moved forward, turning her back at me and running to an unknown direction.

“I made this choice for me” Was the only thing she said seriously before teasing in an effort to make the atmosphere lighter. “What? Did you want to be the only one taking the glory of this rescue?” She grinned and I knew that nothing I said was going to stop her. I needed to repay her somehow. She had done so much for me that my heart felt like it would burst with gratitude and affection for her.

“Thank you” I whispered before picking my pace to match hers and then outrun her. The truth was, she was the only one who knew the exact location of our destination. She had mentioned something about being close to there before and no matter how well she would have explained it to me, I knew from the beginning that it would be extremely difficult to arrive there without losing my way at least a couple of times.

“Go ahead, save that irritating damsel you mentioned.” The moment we reached the building, she let go of me and was about to vanish in the night wanting to give us space and not overstep her boundaries.

“No, no. You got it wrong. He isn’t an irritating damsel. He is the damsel that puts everyone else in distress” I moved my index finger as if I was giving her a lesson. She chuckled and nodded before stepping away. She didn’t manage to get far enough, I quickly reached her and wrapped my arms around her squeezing tightly. This was the most outgoing I had ever been and she realized this because she took a sharp breath staying perfectly still inside my embrace not knowing how to react. She was that shocked.

“Thank you so much! You are the best friend someone could ask for” I felt like dying the moment I uttered it but I meant it and knew she deserved to hear it. I heard her separate her lips to say something but then closed them again, like she couldn’t make up her mind. We stayed like that for some moments.

“I don’t know how to feel about that. I mean, I saw how you looked at your other friend. Where does that put me?” I froze and let go in time to see her devious smile and fake pondering look. “Is that how you see me? I didn’t know! Sorry for not noticing-”

I hit her in the arm and looked at her with flames in my eyes that didn’t have the effect I would have liked when my face was red as a tomato.

“Just shut up” My voice quivered and I looked down. I knew already, okay?! I was doomed from the beginning considering the whole Kajiura situation!

“Go save your man” I looked up abruptly.

“He’s not my-”

“Too far! Can’t hear you!”

I sighed as I watched her disappear in the shadows of the night. How did I always find myself with people who enjoyed teasing me until I changed to all the shades of red? Even little innocent Matsuda! I didn’t expect this from her!

I took a deep breath and let it out. That wasn’t why I was here. I clenched my one hand into a fist in front of my chest and wrapped the other one around it tightly. I could feel my trembling and knew that with what I had to do now, there was nothing that could calm me down. But still, I needed to do this. It was the whole reason we had fabricated that plan and I was there. Just like Matsuda, he had given me so much. It was about time I started giving back.

I looked back at the summer house of Kajiura’s family and swallowed noisily. There was no going back now.

I didn’t know how Matsuda knew so much about Kajiura and his house but she had pointed to the window of his room before teasing me and running away. I wasn’t very confident in my aim and was afraid of accidentally sending the small rock I had picked up to a wrong window. I didn’t want them to notice my presence there. It would defeat my purpose.

I lifted my arm nevertheless with my heart beating mercilessly in my chest only to stop so suddenly that it hurt like a dagger was driven through it. Apparently, I was beyond lucky as he went out on the balcony facing my way by his own volition.

His silhouette made all air be ripped away from lungs. He was wearing the same formal clothes that didn’t suit him and his whole body seemed to scream. He leaned on the railing with his elbows and let out a silent sigh that looked like it held the weight of the whole world. I couldn’t make out his face clearly in the darkness of the night but the moonlight shone on his rose gold hair that reflected it, glistening a pale white.

I only noticed that I wasn’t breathing when my eyes started watering and my lungs burning. Something about the fragility of his image made me hesitate breaking it but at the same time, I wanted this part of him to go away and never settle itself on his shoulders ever again. I ached from my need to help him. I could simply shout to him and he would have turned to me, so I aimed and threw the rock square on his forehead.

A tint of guilt and worry washed over me but my urge to laugh was so much stronger as I watched him arch back and almost lose his balance, that it took everything in me to hold it in. He looked around in surprise, quietly swearing and rubbing that spot on his forehead that was slowly growing redder. He finally noticed me and his eyes opened so widely that another chuckle left my lips.

“What the-?” He blinked a couple of times like he couldn’t believe that I was really there. I grinned like a cat.

“I’m here to rescue an annoying, hopeless flirt that stalks me in my school and even had the nerve to appear on my field trip! Would you happen to know him?”

He was frozen for mere seconds before his face lit up brighter than the moon and his lips broke to the widest and purest smile I had seen in his lips. Before I could instruct him or help him figure out how he was going to get down, he took some steps behind like he was trying to give himself more space to gain speed and propel-

“Wait, don’t!” My eyes almost flew out of their sockets when I realized how crazy he really was and moved my hands frantically to catch his eye but he was determined to take the fall. Indeed, he started running to jump off the low railing. The only thing I could do to help was run closer to him and try to break his fall with something, anything.

“Yahoo!” He shouted in the silence like he no longer gave a damn about the people inside the house and shot up. He was so bright under the moonlight that he looked like a shooting star. But just like the burning balls that traveled the skies, he was going to come crashing down soon enough. I didn’t have the time to find anything so I braced myself and opened my arms waiting for his fall. I didn’t expect that I was going to be so accurate when calculating where he was going to land but I was right, either that I was a good or a bad thing.

“Oof!” He landed on top of me, throwing me down on my ass and back. “Heavy” Was the only thing that could come out of my whining mouth.

“Sorry” He looked worried and apologetic but the rush of what he had just done was making his veins pound with adrenaline, his eyes had a crazy gleam and the smile on his lips had an interesting edge.

“It’s…” I tried to comfort him, I was the one who had moved to use my body as a safety net. He wasn’t in the wrong, apart from the part where he had suicidal tendences. However, every word escaped my mouth’s grasp and every thought slipped from my mind. He was so close. Closer than he had ever been. His body had slammed into mine making him lay exactly on top of me. His eyes were so big that I could notice every single thought going through them like little sparks and I could tell every detail in his handsome face. His long hair fell like a curtain shielding us from the outside world and his body heat intermingled with mine just like our breaths. I lifted a hand almost in a daze, his lips looked so soft that I desperately wanted to touch them and since I couldn’t arch up to taste them, I wished to run my fingertips over them. His eyes followed the movement and glazed over, I was sure that mine were exactly the same if not worse. We were put under a fragile spell, which broke easily when I hissed in pain.

“I’m so so sorry!” He breathed quickly and got off me. My relief when I could once again breathe freely and not like I had a rock pressing my lungs was unbelievable but my grief for the lost warmth and chance was far greater. He stretched his hand for me to take and get up. I looked at it for some moments and finally gave in convincing myself that it wasn’t the right time anyway. We needed to get moving, if we didn’t want his relatives to find us and force him to get back inside. It wasn't going to last long and it wasn’t like I was helping him find a solution to his complicated family situation. We were just stupid rebels for a single night but we intended to make the most of it.

“So what’s the plan?”