The Buddy System, Chapter 3 - The Incident

[xheretic]

Title: The Buddy System
Author: xheretic
Chapters: 3 / ?
Bands: The GazettE, mentions of Alice Nine and SuG
Genre: High School AU, Romance, Angst, lotsa conflict
Warnings: OOC, use of real names, possibly a lot of spelling fuck ups, bad language, drug use, drunkenness… I could go on… :> Btw~ not too sure if this should be a warning or not, but some band members (including SuG and Alice Nine) are made out to be horrible people in this fic. Just wanted to say that they’re not. I’m sure they’re all lovely in real life.
Rating: NC-17, but I have censored it for people who don’t like smut.
Pairings/Characters: Mainly RukiXReita, mentions of Ruki X everyone at some stage, mentions of KaiXAoi, mentions of all pairings ever in the GazettE fandom. This fic might as well be one big orgy lol
Summary:  Matsumoto Takanori has been disowned by his parents and is now facing a new life where he must fend for himself. Starting a new school, he meets Suzuki Akira, a hot blooded rebellious teen with a heart of gold, and a whirlwind romance makes the two inseparable. However, people are watching them from a far, ready to sabotage. With ex-best friends, other love interests and the infamous ’Buddy System’, will these two ever find a way to be together?

( “We told you we were coming for you.” )
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CHAPTER 3

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I woke the next morning in Akira’s bed on my own. I felt groggy, like I had just woken up from a coma or something. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I sat up. The sudden pain I felt was a sharp reminder of what exactly had happened last night.
I tried to calm myself down the minute I felt the panic coming. I had done drugs. I had drank. I had had sex with someone I had known for less than fifty hours. I was also now in a relationship.

Wow.

It had been one hell of a night. I had done the whole rebellious thing, that some kids take their whole teens to do, in one night. Sex, drugs and alcohol. The trifecta.

My parents would be proud.

Just as I was laughing to myself at the thought of my parents faces in total disappointment, Akira barged into the room with a tray of what I could only assume was breakfast for me. I couldn’t help the way my eyes travelled. He was wearing loose pyjama bottoms and no top, his hair dishevelled  and a smudge of flour across his cheek. It was like he was almost asking to be stared at.

“Morning Sleeping Beauty~” He said with a smile, moving to the side of the bed to sit next to me. I rushed to gather the blankets around me, suddenly realising that I was still naked. “I made you blueberry pancakes, the Akira Special, as they’re known in this apartment.”

“True dat.” I heard Kouyou second from the sitting room, and I giggled to myself. I had never woken up to this kind of atmosphere before. The smell of coffee hung in the air, and I could hear the mixed sounds of music and birds whistling in the background. The sun was streaming in the open window, along with a nice light breeze, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. I felt a strange warmth in my chest, realising that this feeling was happiness.

I reached my hand out and took Akira’s in mine, smiling gently towards him. “Thank you.” I said, as sincerely as I could muster. He had been so kind to take me into this happy little bubble; this light-hearted life that they all led. I couldn’t believe I was actually part of it.

He gave a short  nod and then examined me, as if checking if I’d been damaged since he’d left me. “How’re you feeling?” He tucked a bit of hair behind my ear as I munched on the pancakes. Akira really did have a talent, because the pancakes were delicious.

“I’m fine, why?” I inquired, and he broke into a smile. “Oh, y’know, no reason.” He said, his voice hinting otherwise. I could see that look in his eyes, as if he had accomplished a great feat. I playfully slapped his side, from which he shied away, at an attempt to silence his thoughts on the night before, but it was no use. He was laughing like a kid who had gotten into a bowl of sugar.

“I’m fine.”  I insisted and he nodded again. A couple more bites and I was done with breakfast. I put the plates to one side and leaned over to kiss his nose lightly. “Where are my clothes?” I asked, wanting to stretch my legs, but not wanting to walk around naked either.

“I dunno, you were the one throwing them everywhere last night.” He retorted quickly with a laugh. I couldn’t help the blush that settled over my cheeks. He just had a way of embarrassing me more than anyone I had encountered before.

I slapped his arm and when he’s laughing continued, I decided to go for a more annoying approach. “Akiii~~ Aki, where are my clothes?! Where are my clothes, Aki?!” I whined over and over, like a child calling for their mother.

“Alright, alright!” He suddenly shouted, standing up and quickly searching the floor for any shards of my clothing. I gloated like a kid from the bed, snuggling myself under the blanket so that I looked as relaxed as possible as he did all the labour. Before I knew it, however, he was tossing each one he found at me, hitting me square in the face with my underwear. I let out a sound of indecency and he chuckled lightly.

When he had retrieved all my clothes, I wasted no time in rushing him out of the room so I could get dressed. As I stood up from the bed, I stretched my arms above my head. I could still feel the dull pain in my lower back, but I tried to ignore it as best I could. I quickly got dressed and opened the door to the living room, not even bothering to check if I looked halfway decent.

“Good morning.” Kouyou greeted me in his usually soft voice, and I was quick to return the gesture before he retreated to his room to get ready for the day.

I spotted Akira on the couch and as he looked up at me, I felt my knees go a little weak. Although, it could have also just been my tired muscles trying to keep me up after all the… activity last night.  Wasting no time, I slumped into the couch, regretting the decision when the sharp pain hit me. I passed it off with a light cough and Akira put his arm around me, my head automatically going to rest on his shoulder.

“Okay seriously,” He began, looking a bit embarrassed. “How was last night?”

I couldn’t help but blush. In an effort to skip all the sex questions, I mumbled about how I had never done drugs before and how it was weird for me. He seemed to get the hint that I didn’t want to talk about the sex just yet, so he stopped his questions for the moment.

“I have to do grocery shopping today.” He voiced after a moment of silence and I looked up at him, confused as to why this was suddenly the topic for conversation. “Wanna come with?”

I gave a short nod and he arose from the chair, stretching his arms over his head before looking back over to me. “I’m gonna get ready, why don’t you go to your place and get freshened up, maybe run a brush through that hair?”

My hands shot up to check my hair and he chuckled lightly. What a mess! My hair was knotted and all over the place! Why hadn’t I at least checked I was okay before coming out of Akira’s room. I stood up as fast as I could and retrieved my jacket. As I was leaving, Akira pulled at my arm and spun me around into a light kiss. When he released me, he gave me a smile.

“Meet me by the car in twenty minutes, okay?”

I gave a short nod and left. A shower sounded good right about now.

-o-o-

When I got to my apartment, I unlocked the door and hurried to the bathroom. When I noticed there was something stuck to my foot, I paused for a moment and leant against the door so I could retrieve it. It looked like a letter and I realised that it must have been on the ground by the door when I had rushed in.

My first letter in my new apartment! I was a bit excited to see what it was, thinking that it might be a reply to one of the jobs I had applied to.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It was a single sheet of paper, thin and flimsy with the words “We’re coming for you.” scrawled across it.

I studied it for a moment, reading over the sentence five, ten, fifteen times. Finally resolving that it must be a joke, or maybe sent to the wrong place, I quickly scrunched it up and tossed it in the trash, not wanting to have it bother me anymore.

After my shower, I checked the time on my phone and realised I only had five minutes until I had to meet Akira down stairs. I quickly tugged on whatever clothes I could find, which consisted of a baggy t-shirt and tight denim jeans. Once I ran the hair dryer through my wet locks a couple of times, I quickly rushed out of my apartment and locked the door behind me.

When I turned to make my way down the hall, something hit me in the side of the head and I felt myself topple over, falling against the wall and eventually landing on the ground with a bang. A loud ringing filled my ears, and as I looked up to see what happened, my vision blurred so I could only make out three taller figures standing above me. Was I being mugged?

I quickly dug my hands into my pocket and retrieved my phone and my wallet, offering it up to them in return for my safety, but the only response I got was a round of laughs as someone kicked them out of my hand and across the floor.

“We told you we were coming for you.”

My heart stopped. This voice… It was cruel. My vision was starting to focus, but before I could make out any of the faces standing above me, I was kicked into the stomach. I must have screamed out, I can’t remember for sure, but there was a loud screech that filled the air and I knew I was the only one in enough pain to release such a noise. I felt someone push me onto my back with their foot before keeping me pinned there.

There was something wet in my hair and I knew it was blood. I started to panic. I was in big trouble right now. If I wasn’t going to die right here, I was definitely coming away from this with some broken limbs.

Broken limbs…

“He cornered one of them in the school bathrooms and broke his arm.”

I suddenly remembered what Akira had told me last night, about his old friend Tora. Tora… A rapid tornado of the night before was swirling in my head, and I thought about the voice that had spoken so cruelly to me only moments ago. It was Tora.

Just when I came to my realisation, my vision focused and I saw him glaring down at me, his face twisted in a mix of anger and satisfaction. He lowered the bat from his shoulder and lined it up with my face.

“This is for brainwashing my friend.”

Before I had time to protest, or beg for my life, he raised the bat and immediately brought it down against my shoulder with a force meant for malice. Bone splitting pain wracked the left side of my body and I screamed out again, tears springing to my eyes and streaming down the sides of my head.

I thought of Akira, and how I wished he’d come to save me. I knew he would feel guilty about getting me involved in this and that thought almost hurt me more than the pain I was feeling.

“Please!” I tried, squirming under the foot on my chest. “Please stop!” I knew my arm must be broken, but I raised my unharmed hand in an attempt to push his foot off me. I was met with his laughter and sneering. Of course I didn’t have the strength to fight him off.

I prayed, my eyes shut, for a quick death. The pain working it’s way through my arm was like nothing I’d ever felt. If I hadn’t just been hit with a bat, I would’ve sworn my arm was on fire.

I had given up hope. There was nothing left for me now. I was sobbing on the ground like a child, trying desperately to clutch at my arm. I must have looked pathetic. Tora raised the bat again and I waited for another hit, this one probably to the head.
But the hit never came. Someone came barrelling down the hallway and slammed their body against Tora’s, quickly followed by another person who grabbed my injured arm to haul me up off the ground. I let out a scream when the person tugged and they quickly let go. I was crying too much to see who my saviours were, but I could smell Akira’s aftershave. I wanted to laugh with happiness, but the second person was tugging me up again. I whimpered, trying to convey that I was in pain, but they continued.

“Come on! We need to get you out of here!”

The voice wasn’t any that I had heard before. It was slightly girlish, but I could still tell it was a guy, and they sounded so adolescent. I could tell this person was younger than me. I didn’t want to question him though. He had come with Akira and I wasn’t going to second guess Akira’s judgement.

“Akira!” I tried to convey my stress, my worry, that Akira was in danger. I think the other person understood because I heard a short giggle. “He can take of himself, don’t worry.”

I was dragged back into my apartment and seated on one of the two chairs in the living room. Akira’s companion ran off to the fridge to collect some ice for me, and it was only now that I got a good look at him. He had bleached blonde hair, that ran passed his shoulders, with the ends dyed pink, and a piercing just below the centre of his bottom lip. His eyes were big, and he must have been only about my height. His clothes said a lot about him as he scampered about the place. He wore a white over sized hoodie with graffiti style writing across it, and a pair of tight bright pink pants, a black beanie hat sitting on his head.

When he had finally gotten the ice together he whirled around and made his way over to me, smiling and revealing two deep dimples in his cheeks. He pressed the towel against my shoulder and I whimpered, trying in vain to hold back the tears that eventually spilled down my cheeks. He shushed me, and oddly enough, stroked my hair comfortingly.

“It’s okay, shh… it’s okay.” His voice was soft, light, and it helped to calm my nerves, but I couldn’t help but think that Akira was still out there, fighting off Tora and the others on his own. I reached out and grabbed the blonde’s wrist, and he suddenly looked up at me, his eyes wide with shock.

“Where is he?” I asked desperately, and just as he was about to answer, Akira burst through the door and locked it behind him. When he turned around, I saw that he had a streak of blood down the left side of his face.

He rushed over to me and took my face in his hands, brushing my hair back and examining the cut on my head. “Are you alright?” He asked me breathlessly. I noticed that his knuckles were busted up, streaked with blood that I wasn’t sure was his. I gave a shaky nod. “M-My arm…” I trailed, looking down at it. It had gone numb by now, and I could only feel a dull pain, but even that worried me. Akira carefully rolled my sleeve up and revealed my shoulder, which was already turning purple and was swollen to twice it’s size.

“Aki, we should go to the hospital.” His companion said, twisting his lip piercing with his fingers worriedly. I looked up at him again. Who was this guy? Why was he on a nick name basis with Akira? The thought worried me, but my focus was quickly taken off him when Akira kissed my forehead, and then my nose.

“We’ll have to wait for a little while,” Akira began, gazing at me and nibbled his lip. “They could still be outside, and I don’t want Taka in any worse a condition than he’s already in.”

The other male was about to protest, but Akira silenced him. “Can you make a sling for his arm?” The smaller of the two nodded and ran off. Akira leaned over to me again and took the ice, softly pressing it against my skin. Again, I cried. Not because of the pain this time, but because I think my mind was only registering what had happened now. Fear that I had never known before settled over me and before I knew it, I was shaking violently. Akira stroked my hair in an effort to calm me down.

“Damn those guys…” Akira mumbled to himself. I could see that he was also shaking but not with fear. With anger. I reached out and touched the blood on his face with my uninjured hand. “You’re hurt.” I said, my voice concerned. He gave a short laugh. “I’m fine.” He replied.

It took me a moment to see the tears in his eyes. His teeth were clenched, and I ran my hand over his hair in an effort to make him feel better. “I’m so sorry, Taka.” He grumbled, his voice breaking and the tears finally spilling. My heart twisted painfully and I brought his head in to rest against my chest.

In the midst of his sobs, Akira’s friend returned with the sling. Akira stood and went by the window as me and the third, still unnamed, person worked my arm into the sling. I had to admit that it felt better once my arm was secured, and Akira’s friend smiled brightly.

“There we go! All fixed up!” I eyed him curiously and I think he sensed my questioning. “You can call me Takeru! I’m an old friend of Akira’s.” He beamed, reaching out to take my hand in his and shake it lightly. Akira had returned to my side once the introductions were done. He had retrieved a cloth from somewhere and wet it, now dabbing it against my head to get all the dried blood off.

“I think we can go to the hospital now. Tora’s car is gone,” He mumbled, kissing the side of my head. I gave a short nod and Takeru grabbed the keys.

“I’ll drive you guys,” He almost sang. I wondered why he was taking the time out of his day to help us. Nevertheless, we thanked him and were on our way.

-o-o-

When we got to the hospital, they were able to see us right away. I was told that my arm wasn’t broken, but my shoulder was dislocated and it would have to be popped back into place after an x-ray to make sure there weren’t any shards of bone loose. Once the x-ray was done, we found out that it was safe to pop the bone back into the socket. I had to admit that it felt weird having an x-ray. I had never broken any bones or been in hospital for anything major, mainly because, even though I didn’t like to admit it, up until my disownment I had lived a very sheltered life.

Akira held my hand as they gave me a gag to bite down on. The doctor took a hold of my elbow and slowly counted to three before a quick push forward. There was a pop and I bit into the gag in my mouth, tears pricking the sides of my eyes. Akira gave my hand a tight squeeze once the doctor was done and I was happy when a nice warmth spread throughout my arm, satisfied that it was now back in place. The doctor then gave me a proper sling and told me I had to wear it for a couple of weeks.

I was also told that the cut on my forehead wasn’t serious, and had it cleaned and bandaged. Once I was all looked after, it was Akira’s turn to get checked up. The doctor told us that he needed stitches above his left eye, and his knuckles would be badly bruised for the next couple of weeks. When he left to get the equipment, I turned and pecked Akira’s cheek lightly, but he didn’t smile. It was almost as if he was ignoring me.

“Aki?” I called out to him, but all he did was look down at the ground, as if deep in thought. I knew that he must be beating himself up over this, and the thought annoyed me. “Akira.” I called his name again, this time firmer, and he finally looked up to me. His eyes were confused and I wasn’t sure if it was because of how I had called his name, or that he was still processing everything that had happened today.

“Stop worrying,” I told him, but that seemed to annoy him. His eyebrows dipped and he turned his head away from me. I was stuck for words. What could I possibly say to make this situation better, to make him feel better?

“Listen,” I began, but he still wouldn’t look at me. I decided to continue anyway. “I know you must be feeling guilty about this, and I understand that, but… this doesn’t make me want to be with you any less.” I tried, desperately, to convey my longing for him. He was the only thing that I had now, he was the only thing I needed now. If this ended our relationship, I would hunt down Tora and his gang of thugs myself.

He finally looked back at me, but tears had sprung to his eyes. When they fell, I wiped them away. He leaned his forehead against mine and gave me a soft kiss, lingering over my lips for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” He began, his lower lip trembling lightly. My heart ached upon seeing him like this, so I reached out my hand and pulled him in for another kiss, a firm one, as if to show him that there was nothing to forgive.
“You saved my life Aki,” I began once we had pulled away from one another. “You have nothing to apologise for.”

-o-o-

Once Akira was cleaned and stitched up, we were brought into another more comfortable room. It reminded me of Mr Duke, the school principle’s office, with it’s big mahogany desk and large bookshelves taking up most of the room. Akira was holding my hand, still looking forlorn, when the doctor arrived with some paperwork we needed to fill out. He looked to be in a good humour as he sat across from us, smiling brightly.

“Now,” He began, sifting through the papers he had brought with him. He handed one to Akira and one to me. We were made sign them, as proof that we had been to the hospital and had our wounds checked and cleaned up. Once finished, he gathered everything together and put it to one side, clasping his hands together on the desk and eyeing us both.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” The doctor finally asked us, and neither Akira nor I dared to speak. What difference would it make anyway? It’s not like anything would be done to fight these sort of crimes in a city like this. We were just two very small fish in a rather large pond, after all.

When it was clear that neither of us would say anything, the doctor gave a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “You boys do realise I am obligated to get a statement if I feel that these injuries are suspicious. It doesn’t take a rocket science to see that what happened to you today was no accident.”

I chewed my lip nervously and glanced over to Akira. He had his eyes glued to the window, determined to ignore any questions that were shot our way. I decided to speak up.

“W-Well, these guys…” I began, but if I was being honest, I didn’t really know what I was going to say. “We… We were mugged.” I finally said, flatly.

“Okay.” He said with a raised eyebrow. “Listen, I’m going to tell you something that happened to me a while back.” He began, fiddling with a pen on his desk. “My son is gay.”

He had peaked my interest by now, and I saw Akira glance over to him too. We decided to be quiet and listen. “One night he came home looking a little worse for wear, a little beat up, y’know?” I gave a short nod here, and the doctor quickly continued. “When I examined him closer, I noticed his arm was broken. At first, he was too scared to tell me what had happened, but when I assured him that this problem would be taking care of, he told me everything.”

Akira was now shifting in his chair nervously before he spoke. “Are you Takeru’s dad?” He asked, and I looked surprised for a moment before it hit me. So that’s how Akira knew Takeru. He had been the kid who had been beaten up by Tora last year, and this doctor we spoke to now was his father. I started to think that maybe this city wasn’t such a big pond after all.

The man in front of us gave a nod and continued. “A police investigation went underway and we discovered that there is a whole gang, right here in the city, that has set their sights on homosexual people. The call themselves Cure. They like to think their violence can ‘Cure’ people.”

I glanced over at Akira again and he returned my gaze, looking slightly anxious. The doctor leaned forward and looked me in the eye. “You have to report this. They wont stop until you make it known that you are not afraid of them.”
I gave a short nod. The doctor was right. “Okay.” I voiced, and Akira looked at me, surprised this time. “I’m ready to give my statement.”

And so I told him everything. About how they ambushed me outside my apartment, about how I had found a note they had left me and about the fear that I felt at the idea of having to return to my home. He made sure to jot everything down on a sheet of paper and when I was done with my part of the story, Akira continued with his, about how he was worried about how late I was and decided to come check on me. He told him about how he had grabbed one of the guys with Tora and punched his face so many times that he was sure he had broken his nose.

When we were finished, we were thanked for our information and allowed to leave. Once outside the hospital, Akira took my hand and kissed my knuckles lightly before he walked me to his car.

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AN; Good evening!

as always, thank you for commenting and reading!

This fic is quickly becoming my most popular, and it's awesome! Thank you guys for being so sweet, really ;~;
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<3