Hotaka had been going to the university with the (h/c) haired girl every day. They rode in the same car, went to the same morning class, and ate lunch together with the others. But he was somehow unsatisfied. Ever since he had been subject to seeing her and his boss kiss, he was hesitant to speak to her, and it appeared like she felt the same. The girl spent most of her time during breaks talking to Sitri about research or a show they both happened to like watching. That left him to look mournfully her way, Kenko raising a brow at his behavior.

But the brunette was not the only one to notice his strange disposition. In fact, the many clubs he went to noted his behavior, asking if something was wrong. Of course, as soon as it came out of their lips, he refuted it with his usual bubbly way of speaking. But it continued to weigh on him. It wasn't like he could tell anyone. He, himself, didn't even know what was wrong. It just felt like there was a ticking time bomb buried in his heart; like it could go off any moment.

So, when he went to join another game for the baseball team, he was surprised to find one of their suggestions more than desirable. They began to tease him about the (h/c) haired girl, asking if the two had gone out. And while he refuted it, claiming he didn't feel that way about her, they eyed one another before asking if she would come. Of course, she had left early that day to go to some kind of fancy party, so he denied it.

"It's a big deal next week," Sudo huffed, jabbing his finger aggressively at the embarrassed male, "If we win this game, we'll get a good place in the brackets."

"Right," Kipri mused, putting a finger to his lip, "It's single elimination, too."

"Don't you think it'd be pretty cool to show her a win?" another one of the team, Iwan, teased, "She liked the game last time."

Hotaka began to get excited at the thought. It would be nice to show off a little bit. The more he thought about it, the antsier he felt to go and tell her about it. And when the game ended, leaving them with the number one seat in the bracket - as expected of Drisless - he practically sprinted off to see her. He even skipped the after-game drinking, something the team knew he loved participating in. But, still, they cheered him on, genuinely hoping for him to succeed.

That was easier said than done though. For some reason, she had continued avoiding him despite his constant attempts to speak to her. Even at the Akiyama's mansion, she locked herself in, seemingly obsessed with something. He figured it was her studies, but when he asked the green-haired male, he couldn't answer. Regardless, if he couldn't contact her at the house, he figured he could just do so after school the next day. Popping in unannounced to the ice skating club, he was greeted with a very positive reaction by its leader.

"I was beginning to think you forgot about us!" Kara squeaked, talking on and on about all the fun events he missed.

However, he wasn't listening. Or, at least, it went in one ear and out the other as he focused on the (h/c) haired girl trembling on the ice. Granted, she looked much better at it than she had been before but was still struggling regardless. Another girl helped her, offering her arm to take as the two slid across the ice slowly. She was very much in a different league than her peers who were doing jumps and tricks of all kinds.

Practically pushing past Kara, who still continued to talk, even if it was to herself, the male went to the glass and tried to speak to (Y/n). Still, he was rejected, the girl acting as though she hadn't heard him. The girl escorting her looked up at the purple-haired male with a frown, clearly having heard him. The explosive device lodged in the male's skin was beginning to act up again, a feeling of dread washing over him. So he rushed to put on skates and met her face to face, much more natural on the ice than her. That was why, even though she tried to go faster to avoid him, he was able to catch up without an issue.

She even tripped, being caught by him with ease. Her eyes widened before she quickly pushed him away, surprised when she ended up skating backward. She probably should have expected that a smaller force pressing on a larger one would only ever result in that. Scoffing, she turned away, crossing her arms over her chest in frustration. Hotaka, however, only saw this as her being cold, quick to take his uniform jacket off and place it on her instead. She, however, let it drop to the ice. The girl accompanying her seemed to pick up on her distaste for seeing him, so she stepped in between the two.

"Hotaka, would you mind maybe giving us some space?" she questioned, trying not to resolve the tension between them but to offer a temporary alternative for her clubmate, "It's just that she's been trying really hard to learn, so if she could focus on it for a while, you could meet later."

"No, I'll help!" he blushed, moving forward to offer his hand to the (h/c) haired girl.

"I-I think it'll be better if I do it," the other girl persisted, picking up his jacket and handing it back to him before placing her hand supportively on the younger girl's back, "But thank you for the offer. We do have other new members who are finding it a little hard, so if you'd like - "

"But I just want to help (Y/n). Won't you let me?"

Even after pleading with the club member, it seemed like she was still apprehensive to let him. It was another unusual experience for him; being painted as some kind of villain. He really only wanted to help and offer an invitation to his friend, but she wasn't letting him. It was unpleasant. In fact, it was so unpleasant that he began to give a very alarming look to the girl. She appeared taken aback, not used to seeing him do anything but smile purely. Even so, she didn't accept his plea.

"You won't let me?" he repeated, shifting around the words to become something far more intimidating.

"L-Like I said, if you could help someone else, I would be appreciative, but as for - "

Though the club member tried to explain the situation without hurting his feelings, he wasn't listening. Instead, he could only focus on the girl's hand on (Y/n)'s back. It bugged him. No, it was probably more accurate to say that it infuriated him. He hadn't ever touched her there and it felt like she was using that hand to taunt him for that. Without recognizing it was happening, he suddenly gripped onto the club member's wrist, not aware of his own strength. Even as she told him to stop, conveying to him that it was beginning to really hurt, he didn't realize it. His eyes were only on the younger girl.

"Ishikawa!" the club member suddenly shouted, beginning to cry, "Please let go!"

All of a sudden, everything came flooding back to him, the male jolting to attention. He quickly released her from his hold, watching with a heartbroken expression as she kneeled on the ground, continuing to weep. A good chunk of the club came over to check on the freshman, trying to determine what was wrong. However, she wouldn't say, leaving two of them to escort her to the school's nurse.

"I-I didn't mean to," the purple-haired male trembled as Kara interrogated him, "I swear I didn't. Hurting an innocent person...I..."

"You don't look too good yourself," Kara sighed, gazing over to (Y/n) who seemed disinterested in everything going on around her, "You two should head back for today. Sort out whatever it is you've got going on. I'll check on Izumi."

The (h/c) haired girl wasted no time leaving the rink, gathering her things, and walking out of the door. She definitely tried to put distance between herself and the pursuing male, but she should have known it wouldn't work. He caught up faster than she thought. Still, she just focused on walking to the car waiting to pick her up, not saying a word to the flustered and guilt-ridden militant.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he mumbled, fiddling with his fingers as he avoided looking into her eyes, "I didn't mean to hurt her...I was wrong. I just wanted to ask...would you go watch me play next week?"

(Y/n) didn't respond. He expected the response, knowing that having shown her such a nasty side of him - which he didn't even know he had - would have made her want to avoid him even more. Grabbing onto his arm, he winced. He really had made a mess of things, hurting someone and then having the gall to ask the (h/c) haired girl a favor. Biting down on his lip, he bowed at the waist, following Athainian customs in hopes of making things right for her, at the very least.

"I'm very sorry!" he blurted out, remaining at the angle to show his sincerity, "I was blind-sighted! I've been chasing you around without any regard for your feelings and I used violence out of my own frustration! I swear I'll make it right!"

The younger girl wanted to tell him that he had the wrong idea, but it served no purpose to her. In fact, it only would have worked against what she was trying to accomplish. So she simply kept walking to the car, leaving the disheartened male to run off in the other direction. He was likely going to apologize to her clubmate just the same as he did to her. Pausing for just a moment, she looked back at his fading form, giving an apathetic sigh and tilting her head ever so slightly.

"That's the problem." A pause, "But the similarities...are uncanny."

Hotaka did his best to apologize to the club member he had inadvertently harmed. He brought flowers and bowed as much as he could to show his utter sincerity. It wasn't that he did it out of fear of being punished. The male genuinely felt great empathy for her. Though he wasn't as strong as the Lieutenant, he realized he was much stronger than her, meaning it must have been painful. Especially when he was given the news that her wrist fractured did his heart fall. Once again, he tried to apologize to her, but he was called into the student disciplinary office before he knew it.

Sitting before the disciplinary chief, he hung his head, waiting not so patiently for the club member's parents to arrive. Of course, the school prided itself on showing students independent lives, having them do many things on their own and accept responsibility. But they were very protective of freshmen, the first-years needing time to adapt. That was why, occasionally, parents would be involved in things such as disciplinary measures.

But Hotaka was a sophomore, so his parents weren't involved, and even if they were, they barely had the time as it was. They said time was money, and with all the mouths they had to feed and the lowered salaries offered to them, even spending thirty minutes in the office with him would have impacted them far more heavily. He frowned. Then a man and woman entered the room, and the purple-haired male gave a sigh of relief, standing up to address them.

"Please let me first say that I am so, so sorry about - "

"Sit back down," the disciplinary chief snapped, making the male flinch.

"I only wanted to - "

The male was once more dismissed, the man holding his hand up to silence him. And though he did heed the man's "suggestion", he felt a painful squeeze on his form. It was so frustrating. He was passed by the man who began to greet the Athainian couple, apologizing for making them come so far or for intruding on their time. They were then shown their seats, Hotaka being made to stand despite the extra chair available. He held his hands behind his back, biting down on his tongue. He had to be patient.

"We're taking this offense very seriously. Miss Izumi was shown to the nurse's office, but it's clear that she needs treatment at a hospital. Have you talked to her about it?"

"Yes. Thankfully, she's not hurting too badly, but we've still decided to take her."

"Then, if we could, I'd like to talk about compensation. Drisless is ashamed of this altercation. We try to pride our students on academics and civility, but sometimes, some students slip through the cracks."

Hotaka bit his tongue a little harder, giving a disheartened look as he trailed his eyes to the ground. It wasn't in his nature to be violent. He always did his best to treat everyone with the same kind of respect he'd like to be given. They were words he lived by, whether it be in sports, classes, or just a casual day. The ideal was a beautiful one, but the world was not so beautiful. Karma focused on nothing but the bad for someone like him. For every tiny victory he earned, like making someone smile or making a new friend, there was always a massive defeat ahead of him, hidden pitfalls everywhere.

"Since this did happen on the university's property, we would like to offer to pay for Miss Izumi's hospital expenses. But as for the matter of discipline for Mr. Ishikawa, we wanted to ask your opinion."

At once, eyes feasted their form on the male. He tensed. Though he didn't see them assess him for everything he was worth, he could feel it prying away at all of his defenses to grasp at his bleeding heart. Despite that, they never took any interest in that particular organ, just his blood. And the moment they recognized its richer color, they would turn away and with a disinterested huff, say -

"We don't care," the woman hummed, the man speaking up as well.

"If expulsion is your decision, we will not challenge it. But I do expect something along those lines. For someone like him to assault my - "

"Please allow me to pay for the treatment instead of the school!" Hotaka spoke up with a small quiver in his voice, unable to hold it in any longer. The girl's father gave him a nasty glare.

"What a fine proposition," the disciplinary chief smiled, hiding something festering behind his facade of professionalism, "but I'm afraid this alone is not enough."

"I completely understand. It's all my fault, so I would like to take responsibility. I'll pay for the treatment, I'll take notes for her, I'll carry her backpack, I'll - "

"Mr. Ishikawa. I'm afraid you don't understand. What you did is no better than taking away this young woman's future. It may be a fracture, but consider if she should harm it in the process of rehabilitation and break it. And if not, when she continues her life, her wrist may be subject to fracturing again. So, with that said, would it not be just for you to be subject to the same thing?"

The purple-haired male couldn't say a word. If he did, they wouldn't listen to him anyway, or they would have simply talked over him and come to their own conclusion. His sincerity would have been doubted, too. Still, he trembled over what the man may come to give him as a punishment. More specifically, he feared being handed an expulsion. Drisless was the only chance he had to pursue what he loved; what he was good at. They fostered his talents and handed him all kinds of special tutelage, including the Lieutenant. It was the only place he could fulfill his dreams. So it wasn't simply enough to say he was scared. Hotaka was terrified.

"Please don't expel me, sir," he murmured, on the verge of tears, "I work hard. My grades are good, I do all kinds of extracurriculars, and I'm sure, if you'd give me a chance, I could make Drisless even more of a renowned institution. I-If need be, I'm willing to give up my job to take up one here without pay!"

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yes, of course! I just - "

The younger male trailed off as he saw the look in the man's eyes. It was dark, swirled with envy and hatred all the same, making him bite his tongue yet again. He waited for the man to say something, the deafening silence only broken every now and then with the rasps of the man's fingernails on the stone table. The sound was almost unbearable, but still Hotaka waited, standing obediently. Like a dog.

"Then I think you should show some humility."

He paused. What the man was asking him to do was grovel on his knees. And though the man was not directly telling him that, if he did not, he would be expelled, it was certainly implied. There would be no evidence, just the spoken word of three people who wouldn't hesitate to lie and paint him as the liar. So Hotaka swallowed his pride and did just what was requested, if nothing else then for the sake of his education. He waited there for what had to be ten minutes while the disciplinary chief settled things with the club member's parents. Only then was he told to stand up.

"I'm glad you see this our way, Ishikawa," the man grinned, walking around the table and gazing down at the male's chest, "It's good to settle things with our words instead of our fists. This time, I will spare you from expulsion."

"Thank you, sir," Hotaka spoke softly, the words coming out as barely a whisper.

"But you won't be needing this anymore."

The purple-haired male could only look down in absolute horror as the man grabbed his Hatano Society pin. It was the very thing that allowed him access to special parts of the school and that gave him special privileges, let alone the discounts and priority registration. He just took it, tearing his jacket and his heart in the same move. And though he tried, he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. They just flooded over, a hiccup forming in his throat.

"As with a suspension for the rest of the week, I will inform the school of these changes at the end of the day. You will no longer have the privilege of being a Hatano Society member, so I suggest you get used to it soon. That includes the tuition fee. Please see yourself out of the room."

Hotaka couldn't find it in himself to look up at any of the individuals in the room. He felt that if he looked at them in their eyes - that swirled like snakes - he would break. Hugging himself, he left, leaving one of the three to snicker at him while the other two simply smiled, pleased with the outcome. But he couldn't understand why they were so pleased. Was it really that addictive to see his entire future put in jeopardy? Or to see him in tears?

Even as he passed the people that he'd come to know and love in the hall - clubmates, classmates, teammates, more mates - he couldn't find it in him to reply even when they called his name. He only rushed through the halls, gathering his things before walking to his workplace. Though he was forced to skip all the obligations he had that day, he could not do the same when it came to earning money. Especially with the tuition fees pushed onto him and his siblings' necessities for the week, he had to make money. Drisless was beyond expensive and the city's cost of living wasn't anything to scoff at either. It wasn't possible for him to skip even a day.

The moment he returned to the Akiyama mansion, he locked himself in his room and slumped against the wall. Everything hit him all at once. The tears that he had been trying so hard to hold back the whole way back, the exhaustion that he'd been experiencing since he'd started school, even the utter disappointment with the people he put so much trust in, everything just exploded. It was hard to even breathe, the male gasping for air as he realized just how much he had lost.

"It's not fair," he struggled to get out, grabbing at his hair in frustration.

A knock sounded at the door, snapping him out of it just slightly. However, he continued to pant heavily, still fearing the outcome he'd been handed. It only made his eyes soften and then water more as he recognized (Y/n) as his guest. She gazed down at the dirty room, almost surprised to see it in such a state. The girl would have thought it would have been much cleaner. Regardless, as she carefully placed her feet, waddling through the room awkwardly, she observed the older male.

He was in tears, clearly, but he was also ashamed. Still, as he didn't push her away, she assumed her company was welcome. Despite his completely overwhelmed state of being, he retained his hopeful eyes. They were oddly nostalgic to her, prompting her to reach out and wipe away his tears. Like a child desperate to be held, his hands shot up to keep hers in place near his face. He didn't squeeze her, being especially careful to keep his strength in mind. The male had learned a lesson, even if its price was incredibly steep.

"Kenko called me," she informed him, watching as he shook slightly, "Told me about you running away from the offices in tears. I thought it was strange."

Hotaka gave a whine that came from the back of his throat. He must have been hard-pressed to talk about it. It was in line with his strong personality, so it must have been that he wanted to protect someone from the truth. Though, strictly speaking, the (h/c) haired girl felt that he was attempting to protect himself somehow. Even though the situation had already passed, he still felt as though he was in danger somehow - like anyone could hurt him again. Maybe some part of him felt like (Y/n) could do that as well. His heart still felt squeezed, on the verge of exploding out of sheer quickness.

"I see you crying a lot recently. I would have hoped you could keep smiling."

"I...I tried," he choked, rubbing away at his tears to hide them as if it would keep some kind of his dignity, "I'm always - "

"I know." A pause, "So, who hurt you?"

The purple-haired male took a moment to process the question. Her tone was odd, as was the inquisition in general, but he took it to mean that she wasn't so disinterested after all. It was nice to see she wasn't ignoring him when he needed her, or that she hated him. Honestly, before that, he had believed he did something wrong. But, still holding onto her wrists to keep her hands on his face, he felt very comforted. Even if it was only him positioning her as he needed, she was letting him get away with it.

"It was my fault," he sobbed, leaning onto her shoulder as his strength practically left his body, "I-I didn't control my strength...I hurt another person. I fractured it! She was only trying to help, but I...I hurt her."

The younger girl suddenly grabbed at the male's cheeks, holding them up so he looked her in her eyes. Though he became shy, unable to maintain eye contact for very long, the look she gave him sent shivers down his spine. He felt meek under that gaze like all of the special training he'd been given was for nothing. Still, in that look of hers, he was the only one reflected in her (e/c) eyes. It was so nice.

"We're all...human, Hotaka," she murmured, trying to convey the point to him determinedly, "We hurt people all the time. You shouldn't tear yourself up about it too much, right?"

"But...it was still my fault that she - "

"It's not your fault," she asserted, holding him a little closer and taking his breath away in the same swoop, "You were just trying to help me, weren't you? And to get closer?"

Hotaka blushed, not that his tears stopped. Though he didn't nod, she already knew his answer. Giving a small but somewhat lacking smile, she pressed her forehead against his. He broke down a little more, whimpering at the prospect of being dismissed by everyone around him. If he wasn't a member of the Hatano Society, he wasn't special. He wouldn't have been given a second glance by Athainians. Pausing, he gazed into the girl's eyes, wondering if she would dismiss him as well.

"I-I like you, (Y/n)," he mumbled, gripping a little tighter onto her, "So please don't stop hanging out with me...Please?"

"You're a good person. That's why I can't help but distance myself from you. I'm sorry, Hotaka. But I'll make it up to you, okay?"

The purple-haired male felt the girl slipping out of his hold. His tears continued to build up, falling as she left him alone again. He didn't understand what she meant or why she didn't like him as much as when they first met. Pulling his knees closer to his body, he felt compressed, like he couldn't move an inch. Staring down at the empty spot on his uniform, he flinched. It seemed that, no matter what he did, hard work would never beat hatred. His sister was right, wasn't she?

. . .

"Mr. Toyama, the Disciplinary Chief of Drisless National Institution, was murdered last night."

"What?"