My Mate
The Punishment
“I’m disappointed in you, Hatsuharu. Picking on poor defenseless Fujimaki...” the teacher continued to shake his head as he lectured Haru.
The boy sat there, arm hanging at his sides, not caring. His face felt bruised and cut but he didn’t care. It didn’t change his attitude toward the teacher. Haru hated him.
Out of the three years of attending high school, this one teacher always got on his case from day one. He sent Haru home on his first day of high school because the teacher didn’t believe that orange was his natural hair color. And there was the time when Haru was walking beside Shino and the dumbass teacher thought Haru was harassing the straight ‘A’ student. Haru got a detention for that incidence.
After that, Shino tried not to be around him when they were anywhere near the evil teacher but that wasn’t what pissed Haru off the most. What did set him off was the fact that Shino was forced to stay late in his class to help with some little thing. Haru remembered walking pass his class room and hearing a scatter of papers fall on the floor. He peeked in and saw Shino kneeling on the ground picking them up while the pedophile of a teacher looked upon her with lust in his eyes. It sickened Haru.
Shino’s always had problems with guys that way because of what she was; Beautiful. Haru could easily say that she was the cutest girl in their class. However, it was because Shino was beautiful that guys always chased her skirt and he wanted none of that. He swore to himself that he would try to be with Shino as much as he could, at least that would stop a lot of her “fans”.
But it wouldn’t be all that easy for Haru to protect her. At first no one was afraid of him because he was just a first-year-nobody. But as time went on, Haru learned to climb the ladder of fear. He took it upon himself to fight anyone that pissed him off or done something wrong to Shino. So much so, that even the upper classmen started to respect Haru. But not one of them wanted to be his friend.
“Mr. Taketa, did you hear me?” the rusty voice of a teacher broke Haru’s thoughts.
“Hmmm...?” Haru plainly answered.
“Why you ungrateful...” veins started to pop up on the teacher’s bald head from anger. “I should expel you! You good for nothing! You don’t deserve to be at this school! It’s because of people like you that pretty girls like Miss Shino turn into sluts!”
BAM! SMASH!
Haru snapped. At hearing the insult, Haru punched the old teacher right in his chubby face before punching through a near by window.
“You fuckin’ pedophile...Your the one that turns innocent girls like Shino into sluts, not me! But you know what? You’re going to burn in hell for this. Oh yes, Mr. Okazawa. You’re going to burn for a long time!” Haru screamed as Mr. Okazawa tried to recover from the blow on the ground. “You make worms vomit...” and with that, Haru left the room.
Haru noticed school was already out and he was the only one left. Just like always. He didn’t care. He was used to it already and he didn’t care much for it. He knew what just happened was a mistake; the pain in his hand was proof of it. But no matter how bad it felt, he didn’t regret it. He felt almost like a weight came off his chest with that one punch. He felt alive and it felt so good.
“...Haru!” a distant voice echoed, making Haru stop and turn around.
“Hey.” It was Shino.
“Don’t ‘hey’ me! How could you do that? How could you attack a teacher?” Shino yelled, which wasn’t normal. But Haru was used to it. Every time Shino would learn about one of Haru’s little fights, she would come running to him with ‘the lecture’.
Haru let out a heavy sigh. “Shino, I’m not up to it...” he turned and continued walking.
It didn’t take Haru long to notice Shino was walking behind him silently. She always stayed behind him, not saying a word. He hated that. ‘The silent treatment’ Haru called it. The silence was killing him but he continued walking. He wasn’t going to be the one who broke the silence but suddenly he remembered something.
“...Why didn’t you tell me...?” Haru gently asked, without looking back at Shino.
“...I guess...I just didn’t want to worry about me...” her eyes softened with her slight smile.
“That’s bull Shino and you know it!” Haru raised his voice as he stopped and turned to face her.
Shino’s eyes widen with Haru’s quick movement, but they quickly regained their soft state with her smile.
“That ain’t fair, Shino! You always worry about my sorry ass! Why can’t I worry about you?” Haru clenched his fists in anger which brought out more pain and blood to come out from his wound but he didn’t care. Shino was the only kind hearted person he knew would be the one of the few to go up there with all the good guys or whatever. She always cared about others instead of herself.
He remembered calling her once for help with his math homework and she gladly gave a helping hand. Shino decided to go over his house to make it easier. Haru didn’t have a problem with it but he threw a fit when he found she walked all the way by herself. But that’s not all that angered him. Oh no. That was just the tip of the iceberg. After some time passed, Haru noticed Shino didn’t have the same gleam as she normally did in her amber eyes. It was his mother who cracked the code and found she was coming down with a cold. Her walking in the cold dusk made it worse and Haru felt like crap. He made her call home so they would pick her up. Haru always asked her about her health from then on.
“I’m sorry Haru...” Shino’s painful voice snapped him out of his memories. “...It’s just...I felt so ashamed of the situation I was in...” she slowly reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out an orange handkerchief and tore off a piece. “..You see...” she continued as she gently held Haru’s injured hand and began to bandage it, “...my parents, back when they were alive, were good friends with Fujimaki’s parents. You know that my parents earned their wealth; it was given to them like Fujimaki. It was because of this that they were vulnerable to other companies and rich people that could easily destroy them...” Shino looked down as she finished her task and began to walk. Haru knew she was going back in time and telling him a past he never knew.
“...so what did they do..?” Haru pressed, interested in her story but felt an ominous cloud of sadness approaching.
“Naturally...they went to Fujimaki’s parents for help and he gave it to them as long as he got paid back. It was around that time that my parents began to spend a lot of time with Fujimaki’s family. I spent time with Fujimaki most of the time and we had fun...” Shino didn’t look up; she kept her eyes on the moving ground.
This scared Haru. “...Y-You had fun with him? You knew him that far back? Why didn’t I know about it?” Haru felt a pang of jealousy. He was supposed to be the only one Shino knew for so long.
“Back then, Fujimaki was going to a private school, so you didn’t know him yet...” Shino finally looked at Haru. But it wasn’t the look Haru loved; it was one of pain and sorrow.
Haru hated this. He wanted to shake her and tell her to stop. Let him live in the world he made up with her always smiling at him with such love it made his heart ache. But he knew this needed to get out. Sorrow is a terrible demon if left inside the heart for too long. Haru nodded for her to continue because his words wouldn’t come.
Shino looked up at the orange sky, a slight breeze made her raven locks dance. She took a breath and sighed. “...As time went on, I could have said Fujimaki could be my second best friend...”
“Ack!” Haru interrupted her with a sound that escaped his lips. It felt as if something punched his side which made him give off the ‘Ack’ sound. Haru quickly regained his posture and waved Shino on.
Shino looked over at Haru with a confused look but discarded it with his wave. “...Back then, Fujimaki was a kind person...he was such a nice boy...but something happened that led him to become the person he is now...” Shino turned right on a corner they have been going down for years. If the houses were alive, they would tell Shino and Haru how much they have seen them grow.
“Wait, what happened? If what you say is true, then what big thing happened to make Fujimaki into such a jackass?” Haru was curious now. He wanted to know more about his enemy.
“Well, it was what our parents decided that set him off...” Haru gave Shino his undivided attention. “...one day, Fujimaki’s father asked for the money my parents borrowed... but they didn’t have it...he threatened my parents...he old him he’s take away everything they had. My parents didn’t want that....they didn’t want to live on the streets....they were desperate and Fujimaki’s father saw that.
“He made a proposition for my parents...a way for them to pack him back without money...he told them to have an arranged marriage between me and Fujimaki...” Shino looked down.
Haru’s anger grew. “What the hell?! Shino! Why haven’t you told me?!” Haru ran in front of Shino and gripped her shoulders. This was the worst! He couldn’t have this! There was no way he would ever give his Shino up to the likes of him or anyone for that matter! He cared too much for her to share. “You can’t go through with this! I will set you free Shino!” Haru was just about to run to Fujimaki’s when Shino grabbed his hand.
“No, Haru! Wait! Listen to me please!” Haru turned to face her from the warm touch of her soft hand. At that moment he felt ashamed of his rough, caulis-infested hand because it wasn’t worthy of Shino’s angelic hand. “Listen, it’s true my parents gave me up to Fujimaki...but I told him I didn’t want to marry him...”
Haru’s heart pumped blood into his cold veins and was happy once more. In his mind he was jumping for joy until...
“....because...I wanted to marry someone else...”
Haru suddenly felt like he wanted to jump off a bridge into the deepest depths of hell. “What?! Who?!”
Shino stopped walking and looked down at the ground. “...W-Well...I told him...i-it was...” Haru just wanted her to spit it out so he could kill that mother--- “...you.”
He whirled around to face her but her eyes were glued to the ground. “S-Shino...y-you mean...m-me...?” Haru stuttered. His heart felt like it was going 100 beats a second. He felt weak in his legs. He tried to look at her but she looked away. “Shino...look at me. Why...me...?”
She slowly turned to face him. Her face was flushed and he couldn’t think she could possibly get any cuter. “...because...at that time...” she whispered.
“...yes...” Haru moved closer.
“...I thought marriage meant best friends would be together forever.”
“Ack!” Haru’s dream was crushed because of a misunderstanding.
“H-Haru? Are you ok?” Shino asked as Haru’s expression was shocked.
“B-Best...friends...?” Haru whispered.
“Yeah, I really thought marriage was just for best friends to promise to stay friends forever and I wanted you to be that one person.” Shino smile brightly as Haru hung his head low in darkness. “I’m sorry Haru...” Shino changed her tone, making him look over at her. “It’s because of me that Fujimaki hates you...” Shino looked down, sadness returning to her.
Suddenly she saw Haru’s shoes come into her view. She looked up and saw Haru’s gentle eyes looking down at her. She was just about to speak when he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.
Haru felt sick in his stomach. He truly thought that Shino wanted something more than what they had but it was all in his head. He hated himself for even believing for a second that someone like her would ever want to be someone like him. He gritted his teeth but he knew it couldn’t be helped. All he could do is continue to watch over Shino and protect her till death due them part.
The boy sat there, arm hanging at his sides, not caring. His face felt bruised and cut but he didn’t care. It didn’t change his attitude toward the teacher. Haru hated him.
Out of the three years of attending high school, this one teacher always got on his case from day one. He sent Haru home on his first day of high school because the teacher didn’t believe that orange was his natural hair color. And there was the time when Haru was walking beside Shino and the dumbass teacher thought Haru was harassing the straight ‘A’ student. Haru got a detention for that incidence.
After that, Shino tried not to be around him when they were anywhere near the evil teacher but that wasn’t what pissed Haru off the most. What did set him off was the fact that Shino was forced to stay late in his class to help with some little thing. Haru remembered walking pass his class room and hearing a scatter of papers fall on the floor. He peeked in and saw Shino kneeling on the ground picking them up while the pedophile of a teacher looked upon her with lust in his eyes. It sickened Haru.
Shino’s always had problems with guys that way because of what she was; Beautiful. Haru could easily say that she was the cutest girl in their class. However, it was because Shino was beautiful that guys always chased her skirt and he wanted none of that. He swore to himself that he would try to be with Shino as much as he could, at least that would stop a lot of her “fans”.
But it wouldn’t be all that easy for Haru to protect her. At first no one was afraid of him because he was just a first-year-nobody. But as time went on, Haru learned to climb the ladder of fear. He took it upon himself to fight anyone that pissed him off or done something wrong to Shino. So much so, that even the upper classmen started to respect Haru. But not one of them wanted to be his friend.
“Mr. Taketa, did you hear me?” the rusty voice of a teacher broke Haru’s thoughts.
“Hmmm...?” Haru plainly answered.
“Why you ungrateful...” veins started to pop up on the teacher’s bald head from anger. “I should expel you! You good for nothing! You don’t deserve to be at this school! It’s because of people like you that pretty girls like Miss Shino turn into sluts!”
BAM! SMASH!
Haru snapped. At hearing the insult, Haru punched the old teacher right in his chubby face before punching through a near by window.
“You fuckin’ pedophile...Your the one that turns innocent girls like Shino into sluts, not me! But you know what? You’re going to burn in hell for this. Oh yes, Mr. Okazawa. You’re going to burn for a long time!” Haru screamed as Mr. Okazawa tried to recover from the blow on the ground. “You make worms vomit...” and with that, Haru left the room.
Haru noticed school was already out and he was the only one left. Just like always. He didn’t care. He was used to it already and he didn’t care much for it. He knew what just happened was a mistake; the pain in his hand was proof of it. But no matter how bad it felt, he didn’t regret it. He felt almost like a weight came off his chest with that one punch. He felt alive and it felt so good.
“...Haru!” a distant voice echoed, making Haru stop and turn around.
“Hey.” It was Shino.
“Don’t ‘hey’ me! How could you do that? How could you attack a teacher?” Shino yelled, which wasn’t normal. But Haru was used to it. Every time Shino would learn about one of Haru’s little fights, she would come running to him with ‘the lecture’.
Haru let out a heavy sigh. “Shino, I’m not up to it...” he turned and continued walking.
It didn’t take Haru long to notice Shino was walking behind him silently. She always stayed behind him, not saying a word. He hated that. ‘The silent treatment’ Haru called it. The silence was killing him but he continued walking. He wasn’t going to be the one who broke the silence but suddenly he remembered something.
“...Why didn’t you tell me...?” Haru gently asked, without looking back at Shino.
“...I guess...I just didn’t want to worry about me...” her eyes softened with her slight smile.
“That’s bull Shino and you know it!” Haru raised his voice as he stopped and turned to face her.
Shino’s eyes widen with Haru’s quick movement, but they quickly regained their soft state with her smile.
“That ain’t fair, Shino! You always worry about my sorry ass! Why can’t I worry about you?” Haru clenched his fists in anger which brought out more pain and blood to come out from his wound but he didn’t care. Shino was the only kind hearted person he knew would be the one of the few to go up there with all the good guys or whatever. She always cared about others instead of herself.
He remembered calling her once for help with his math homework and she gladly gave a helping hand. Shino decided to go over his house to make it easier. Haru didn’t have a problem with it but he threw a fit when he found she walked all the way by herself. But that’s not all that angered him. Oh no. That was just the tip of the iceberg. After some time passed, Haru noticed Shino didn’t have the same gleam as she normally did in her amber eyes. It was his mother who cracked the code and found she was coming down with a cold. Her walking in the cold dusk made it worse and Haru felt like crap. He made her call home so they would pick her up. Haru always asked her about her health from then on.
“I’m sorry Haru...” Shino’s painful voice snapped him out of his memories. “...It’s just...I felt so ashamed of the situation I was in...” she slowly reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out an orange handkerchief and tore off a piece. “..You see...” she continued as she gently held Haru’s injured hand and began to bandage it, “...my parents, back when they were alive, were good friends with Fujimaki’s parents. You know that my parents earned their wealth; it was given to them like Fujimaki. It was because of this that they were vulnerable to other companies and rich people that could easily destroy them...” Shino looked down as she finished her task and began to walk. Haru knew she was going back in time and telling him a past he never knew.
“...so what did they do..?” Haru pressed, interested in her story but felt an ominous cloud of sadness approaching.
“Naturally...they went to Fujimaki’s parents for help and he gave it to them as long as he got paid back. It was around that time that my parents began to spend a lot of time with Fujimaki’s family. I spent time with Fujimaki most of the time and we had fun...” Shino didn’t look up; she kept her eyes on the moving ground.
This scared Haru. “...Y-You had fun with him? You knew him that far back? Why didn’t I know about it?” Haru felt a pang of jealousy. He was supposed to be the only one Shino knew for so long.
“Back then, Fujimaki was going to a private school, so you didn’t know him yet...” Shino finally looked at Haru. But it wasn’t the look Haru loved; it was one of pain and sorrow.
Haru hated this. He wanted to shake her and tell her to stop. Let him live in the world he made up with her always smiling at him with such love it made his heart ache. But he knew this needed to get out. Sorrow is a terrible demon if left inside the heart for too long. Haru nodded for her to continue because his words wouldn’t come.
Shino looked up at the orange sky, a slight breeze made her raven locks dance. She took a breath and sighed. “...As time went on, I could have said Fujimaki could be my second best friend...”
“Ack!” Haru interrupted her with a sound that escaped his lips. It felt as if something punched his side which made him give off the ‘Ack’ sound. Haru quickly regained his posture and waved Shino on.
Shino looked over at Haru with a confused look but discarded it with his wave. “...Back then, Fujimaki was a kind person...he was such a nice boy...but something happened that led him to become the person he is now...” Shino turned right on a corner they have been going down for years. If the houses were alive, they would tell Shino and Haru how much they have seen them grow.
“Wait, what happened? If what you say is true, then what big thing happened to make Fujimaki into such a jackass?” Haru was curious now. He wanted to know more about his enemy.
“Well, it was what our parents decided that set him off...” Haru gave Shino his undivided attention. “...one day, Fujimaki’s father asked for the money my parents borrowed... but they didn’t have it...he threatened my parents...he old him he’s take away everything they had. My parents didn’t want that....they didn’t want to live on the streets....they were desperate and Fujimaki’s father saw that.
“He made a proposition for my parents...a way for them to pack him back without money...he told them to have an arranged marriage between me and Fujimaki...” Shino looked down.
Haru’s anger grew. “What the hell?! Shino! Why haven’t you told me?!” Haru ran in front of Shino and gripped her shoulders. This was the worst! He couldn’t have this! There was no way he would ever give his Shino up to the likes of him or anyone for that matter! He cared too much for her to share. “You can’t go through with this! I will set you free Shino!” Haru was just about to run to Fujimaki’s when Shino grabbed his hand.
“No, Haru! Wait! Listen to me please!” Haru turned to face her from the warm touch of her soft hand. At that moment he felt ashamed of his rough, caulis-infested hand because it wasn’t worthy of Shino’s angelic hand. “Listen, it’s true my parents gave me up to Fujimaki...but I told him I didn’t want to marry him...”
Haru’s heart pumped blood into his cold veins and was happy once more. In his mind he was jumping for joy until...
“....because...I wanted to marry someone else...”
Haru suddenly felt like he wanted to jump off a bridge into the deepest depths of hell. “What?! Who?!”
Shino stopped walking and looked down at the ground. “...W-Well...I told him...i-it was...” Haru just wanted her to spit it out so he could kill that mother--- “...you.”
He whirled around to face her but her eyes were glued to the ground. “S-Shino...y-you mean...m-me...?” Haru stuttered. His heart felt like it was going 100 beats a second. He felt weak in his legs. He tried to look at her but she looked away. “Shino...look at me. Why...me...?”
She slowly turned to face him. Her face was flushed and he couldn’t think she could possibly get any cuter. “...because...at that time...” she whispered.
“...yes...” Haru moved closer.
“...I thought marriage meant best friends would be together forever.”
“Ack!” Haru’s dream was crushed because of a misunderstanding.
“H-Haru? Are you ok?” Shino asked as Haru’s expression was shocked.
“B-Best...friends...?” Haru whispered.
“Yeah, I really thought marriage was just for best friends to promise to stay friends forever and I wanted you to be that one person.” Shino smile brightly as Haru hung his head low in darkness. “I’m sorry Haru...” Shino changed her tone, making him look over at her. “It’s because of me that Fujimaki hates you...” Shino looked down, sadness returning to her.
Suddenly she saw Haru’s shoes come into her view. She looked up and saw Haru’s gentle eyes looking down at her. She was just about to speak when he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.
Haru felt sick in his stomach. He truly thought that Shino wanted something more than what they had but it was all in his head. He hated himself for even believing for a second that someone like her would ever want to be someone like him. He gritted his teeth but he knew it couldn’t be helped. All he could do is continue to watch over Shino and protect her till death due them part.
♠ ♠ ♠
Will Shino ever return Haru's feelings? Mmmm, maybe