Chapter 14 Acceptance

*Warning dark content ahead*

For the next two weeks, Keiji kept his distance from Hajime. This was something Hajime had expected for a long time, a familiar pattern of people drifting away once they learned his "truth." So, he didn't pay much attention to it. Keiji no longer invited Hajime to have lunch together, and Hajime, resigned, returned to his usual solitary meals on the school roof.

One afternoon, as Hajime finished his lunch, folding his empty bento box, Keiji walked towards him, his footsteps hesitant. Keiji sat down next to Hajime, opening the elaborate bento his maid had prepared for him. He looked at Hajime, his expression unreadable. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Hajime replied, his voice flat.

"What are you going to do during summer break?" Keiji asked, making small talk.

"I don't know yet," Hajime said, genuinely uncertain.

Keiji looked at Hajime, a newfound seriousness in his eyes. "How about you work at our resort?"

Hajime turned his head slowly to look at Keiji, a bitter smile touching his lips. "Tsukumo-kun, it's okay if you don't want to be my friend anymore. I understand. I don't want any pity from anyone." He stood up, preparing to walk away, to spare himself the inevitable rejection.

Keiji quickly stood up too, his voice rising, almost a shout. "My brother has already told me about your living conditions!" Hajime stopped dead in his tracks, frozen by the unexpected revelation. Keiji rushed to his side. "Your stepfather abused you. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you to do what?" Hajime retorted, his voice sharp with defensiveness. "I can handle it myself."

"I really want to help you," Keiji insisted, his gaze earnest.

Hajime managed a sad smile. "Thank you for your kindness, but I can handle it myself." He turned again, intent on leaving.

"Actually, my brother is the one who wants to help you!" Keiji shouted, stopping Hajime once more.

Hajime halted, and Keiji quickly caught up, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "My brother wants you to work at our resort during the summer vacation. He said he called, but you didn't answer." Keiji looked at Hajime, a long, heartfelt sigh escaping him. "Look, I have nothing against you. I just needed time to adapt. No matter who you are, we are all friends."

Hajime looked at Keiji, a warmth spreading through his chest he hadn't expected. "Thank you," he said, his voice softer now. "It means a lot coming from you."

Keiji, emboldened, put his arm around Hajime's shoulder, a gesture of genuine camaraderie. "I'm sorry... I was too in shock learning it from other people." He looked at Hajime and chuckled, a genuine, easy laugh. "By the way, I'm not trying to avoid you. It's because of the school concert that I have to practice extra hard and didn't have time to sit and clear things up with you." He reached into his pocket and took out a single, elegantly designed ticket. "Here's your ticket."

"I'm not going to your concert," Hajime said, still somewhat accustomed to isolation.

"Not an acceptable answer," Keiji declared, his tone firm. "You are coming to support me."

Hajime took the ticket, examining it curiously. "Your concert isn't until when school starts again. Why do you already have a ticket?"

Keiji smiled, a proud, playful grin. "Well, it's because you are my VIP guest." He beamed at Hajime. "So, about your summer job at the family resort? Honestly, I'd rather pay you than someone else... so what do you say?"

Hajime sighed, a rare moment of surrender. "Okay... I'll take the job offer." He then gestured towards the main building. "Let's go back to class. Lunch is over."

On the last day of school, the classrooms buzzed with the sound of students cleaning. Keiji grabbed a trash can and walked over to where Hajime was sweeping. "I'll pick you up," Keiji announced.

"You don't need to come to pick me up," Hajime said, used to handling things himself.

"I'm going to pick you up," Keiji insisted, ignoring Hajime's protest. "Because you'll live at the resort during the summer vacation, which saves you the time and money of running back and forth. I'll pick you up at eight o'clock."

"Okay," Hajime conceded, a small nod of acceptance.

When Hajime got home that afternoon, the apartment felt strangely quiet. He immediately began packing his meager belongings into his duffel bag, a sense of hurried anticipation building within him.

It was almost six o'clock when he decided to eat something before Keiji picked him up at eight. He walked out of his bedroom and found that neither his mother nor Chibi were home. A flicker of relief washed over him; he thought it best not to see them until he was gone. He looked out the window at the endless stream of cars on the road below. Sometimes he wished that when he looked out the window, he could see the vast ocean, or the side of a majestic mountain, bursting with beautiful wildflowers of every conceivable color, a world away from his grim reality.

Hajime stood in the kitchen, pouring hot water into an instant noodle cup. He placed the chopsticks on the paper cover to keep the moisture inside, his mind already drifting to the new possibilities of the resort. Then, without warning, a hand clamped around Hajime's waist, pulling him abruptly, violently, against the person standing behind him.

Chibi's ragged breath rasped in Hajime's ear, hot and sickening. "Hajime... your mother doesn't come home until seven… why don't you let me do you… I raised you. I feed you. I pay for your school. At least what you could do for me is let me do you once."

Chibi's hand dropped, reaching for Hajime's crotch. Hajime reacted instantly, his left hand clamping down on Chibi's hand with surprising strength, while his right hand grabbed the scalding hot cup of noodle soup from the counter. With a desperate surge of adrenaline, Hajime spun around quickly and smashed the hot cup of noodle soup directly onto Chibi's head.

Chibi screamed in agony, his scalp and face instantly burned by the steaming liquid. Enraged, he retaliated with a wild punch to Hajime's face, slamming Hajime's back against the hard kitchen counter. He punched Hajime in the face again, the second blow causing Hajime's nose to erupt in a hot, painful gush of blood.

"You ungrateful piece of shit!" Chibi roared, his eyes blazing with a terrifying madness. "Do you think I can't fuck you here now?! Huh?!" He screamed, his voice raw, and rushed forward with another punch.

Hajime dodged Chibi's frantic punch, scrambling towards the back door, desperate to escape. But Chibi was faster, grabbing a fistful of Hajime's hair and violently dragging him back into the living room. With terrifying speed, Chibi began to undo Hajime's belt, pulling down his pants, and Hajime's panties slid down past his hips, exposing him.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Hajime screamed, his voice raw with terror, beginning to struggle, twisting and rolling on the floor, trying to escape the violation.

Chibi began punching Hajime relentlessly on the back, a rain of blows. After five minutes of desperate struggling and brutal beating, Hajime could no longer resist Chibi's overwhelming aggression. He stopped fighting back, his body limp with pain and terror. Hajime began to sob, pleading through his tears, begging Chibi not to hurt him, his small voice broken.

Chibi pressed Hajime's face to the cold floor with one hand, his other hand patting Hajime's exposed buttock twice with a chilling satisfaction. A grotesque smile spread across his face. "Your ass is so beautiful," he purred, patting Hajime's buttock again, a leering, possessive touch. "Hajime-kun, your ass is so white... so soft... it makes me hard..." He giggled, a sickening, perverse sound, then bent down and kissed Hajime's buttocks. "I like it..."

Hajime, his face pressed to the floor, his vision blurred by tears, looked to the right. He saw a book lying on the floor. In the frantic chaos of his fight with Chibi, the book must have fallen from the table. A desperate surge of strength, a last flicker of defiance, coursed through him. He quickly reached out, grabbed the hardcover book, its edges sharp and heavy. He twisted his body, and with every ounce of his remaining strength, he swung the book, smashing it directly onto Chibi's head.

The edge of the heavy hardcover book connected squarely with Chibi's nose, the impact drawing a cry of pain from him as blood immediately began to gush.

"Piece of shit!" Chibi roared, reeling from the blow, his face contorted in furious agony. He stood up, towering over Hajime, and delivered a vicious kick to Hajime's side.

"Chibi-san…!" Aimi's voice shrieked, suddenly entering the room. She rushed forward and pushed Chibi away from Hajime, her eyes wide with shock. She looked down at the floor, seeing Hajime's pants and panties fallen around his hips, his vulnerability exposed. She frantically looked back at Chibi, her face pale. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Your bastard son…" Chibi snarled, quickly concocting a lie. "I said no, but he seduced me! He asked for money, otherwise he would tell you that I raped him. He tried to blackmail me and make me angry. So, I kicked him." He lowered his head and pointed to Hajime, who lay beaten and broken on the floor. "He pulled down his pants, trying to make a scene!"

Aimi, her face hardening with anger, looked at Hajime, lying bruised and exposed on the floor. Without hesitation, she began to kick Hajime herself, her fury eclipsing any maternal instinct. Just then, two police officers rushed into the apartment, drawn by the screams. One of the policemen immediately wrestled Aimi to the floor, restraining her, while the other rushed to check on Hajime.

The police officer, seeing Hajime's trousers fallen to his buttocks, quickly and kindly pulled up Hajime's trousers, offering a small measure of dignity. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice gentle.

Hajime, tears still streaming down his face, managed to ask, "Can you please call Mrs. Ikari?"

The officer nodded. "Let's take you to the hospital first, though."

While the ambulance transported Hajime to the hospital for treatment, the two police officers brought Aimi and Chibi to the police station for their statements.

After Chibi finished telling his convoluted story, he looked at the two police officers, a smug confidence in his eyes. "The thing is, he was the first to punch. If you don't believe me, ask my wife; she was right there when everything went down. I am innocent here. If you don't believe it, ask the social worker."

One of the officers, unimpressed by the performance, asked, "Then why aren't Hinode-kun's pants fastened?"

"Did you listen to what I told you just now?" Chibi replied, his voice rising in exasperation. "He is gay, and he dropped down his pants to seduce me into having sex with him, so he could blackmail me for money."

The officer pressed, his tone calm but cutting. "So, you mean he dropped his pants while his mother was watching?"

Chibi hesitated, momentarily thrown off. "My wife was not in the room with us at the time; she came in when we were fighting."

"So," the officer leaned forward, "did you two fight before or after Hinode-kun's pants fell?"

Chibi knew, with a sinking feeling, that the more lies he told, the more he was tangling his own story. "That's all I have to say," he stated, his voice now sullen. "You either charge me or let me go. Either way, I have witnesses."

The two officers stood up, exchanging a knowing glance. One of them said, "Well, if your story doesn't match your wife's, I'm going to charge you tonight."

The two officers got up and left the room. As they closed the door, one of the officers murmured, "He screwed up his story. Did he think he could fool us?"

The other officer scoffed. "Let's wait and see what his wife says."

A short while later, the two police officers walked out of Aimi's interrogation room. "What did his wife say?" one of the officers asked the other.

"She said her son punched first, her husband was just defending himself," the second officer replied, a note of exasperation in his voice. "They will not press charges against their son."

The officers opened the door to Chibi's room. "You can go," they said, their voices devoid of emotion.

The three watched Aimi and Chibi walk out of the police station, free to return to their abusive home. One of the policemen sighed, shaking his head. "If Hinode-kun doesn't speak, there's nothing we can do."

"I'm going to call his personal social worker just to be on the safe side," another officer said, a flicker of resolve in his eyes, hoping for some intervention.

In the sterile quiet of the hospital room, Hajime's phone rang, startling him from a haze of pain and confusion. Still disoriented, he didn't pay attention to the caller ID. "Hello?" he managed, his voice weak.

"Hajime-kun, which hospital are you in?" Kenji's voice, clear and urgent, cut through the fog.

Hajime was suddenly fully awakened, his mind snapping into focus. "Kenji-san... how do you know I'm in the hospital?"

"I went to your house to pick you up," Kenji explained, his voice tight with concern. "I heard that you were beaten by your stepfather and sent to the hospital. Tell me which hospital you are in."

"Why do you need to know?" Hajime asked, a reflexive urge to push people away.

"I'll come to see you," Kenji stated simply.

Hajime burst into tears, the dam of his carefully constructed emotional walls breaking. "Kenji-san, don't come... I don't want to owe you anything!" The words were a desperate plea, a reflection of his deep-seated belief that kindness always came with a price.

Kenji's voice softened, filled with an unexpected tenderness. "Hajime-kun, I hope you owe me a lot, so you can stay by my side and repay them one act of kindness at a time."