A week after Yuzu avoided Bob's texts and calls, there was an angry knock on their front door. Ichigo and Yuzu were both in the living room, Ichigo doing homework and Yuzu reading his textbooks, while Kari was in the kitchen.
Ichigo perked up at the noise, her body tensing, and he stood by her side as he watched Kari stride towards the door, kitchen knife in one hand.
"Yuzu, you jerk!" he heard a familiar voice shout. "You haven't been to school for days, and you haven't responded to any of my—" the voice stopped. Then it growled, "I could say the same thing to you, Kari."
Yuzu froze as he processed what the person had just implied. Had Kari been skipping school? Hadn't Ichigo convinced k not to skip? He closed his eyes and sighed as pressure knocked at the base of his neck.
Kari's response was low, but he heard k say something like, "Since when do I answer your calls?"
"That's Bob!" Ichigo said, looking relieved as she glanced up at Yuzu. He gave her a reassuring smile, missing Bob's reply. She hopped to her feet and ran towards the door. He followed behind, suddenly feeling guilty.
"Hey there, kiddo!" Bob grinned down at Ichigo. She affectionately grinned back, the first she had in days, and Yuzu felt even more guiltier for avoiding Bob.
"If you're here, then that means…" Ichigo trailed off, looking hopeful.
Bob chuckled and told her, "That's right, I brought her with me!" He turned halfway around and called, "Cobbles! Over here, girl!"
A rough, high-pitched bark cut the air, and a small shape sprinted towards the door. Cobbles, a black chihuahua terrier mix, stopped by Bob's side and sniffed at his leg. It turned to stare at Ichigo before bounding towards her, tail wagging ferociously.
Ichigo bent down to greet Cobbles with a laugh, and Cobbles licked her face in greeting.
"Yuzu," Bob said in a quiet tone, tearing Yuzu's gaze from the happy scene.
"Hey, Bob," he said just as quietly.
"Why don't you two stay here while I take the little ones inside?" suggested Kari to them. To Yuzu's threatening glare, k added, "Cobbles will make sure I don't try anything. Look. Come here, Ichigo," k said, reaching for Ichigo.
Cobbles immediately leaped in front of Ichigo and barked menacingly at k, showing her teeth. When k put out a non-threatening hand for Cobbles, she sniffed it but continued growling low, never taking her eyes off k.
"It's ok, Cobbles, it's ok," Ichigo assured her. Cobbles glanced back at Ichigo and gave a single huff. Ichigo narrowed her eyes at Kari as she picked Cobbles up. "Don't tease us, especially Cobbles, and maybe you won't get bit this time," she said pettily, walking into the house.
Yuzu caught the familiar death stare between Cobbles and Kari before k shut the door. He shifted his attention to Bob, who looked calmly pissed.
Not knowing where to begin, Yuzu said, "Thanks for bringing Cobbles. She made Ichigo happy for the first time in days."
Bob's demeanor immediately changed. "Is there something going on with Ichigo?" he asked, concerned. A realization lit his eyes, and he raised his brows in surprise. "If you and Kari haven't been to school, does that mean Ichigo hasn't either?"
Confirming that Kari had indeed been skipping school, Yuzu sighed and sat down on the porch. Bob sat by him, and Yuzu said, "That's right."
"Tell me what's going on," Bob demanded.
Yuzu blew out air filled with all his worries. Then he told Bob about the situation. He told him about Ichigo's stalker and about Kari hiding the letters, and about after Ichigo found out.
"I called the police, and they talked to Ichigo, but there's nothing else they can do since we don't know who that person is," Yuzu said. "They collected the letters and told us they would have officers patrol our neighborhood for the next few days. Ichigo was too scared to go to school, and I didn't want to force her, so I stayed home with her. Kari wanted to too, but Ichigo convinced k that at least one us had to go."
It was more like Ichigo would cry if Kari didn't listen to her requests, but Yuzu kept that to himself.
"We thought k had been going to school. K hasn't then?" he asked Bob.
Bob went silent, and Yuzu saw him tense. Then, not giving a straight answer, Bob muttered, "Kari WAS there on Monday...as for the rest of the week, talk to k after everything's over."
Maybe that was for the best. It would be one less thing to worry about. They sat in silence for a while, watching the sky turn a light orange as the sun set.
"You should have told me," Bob said, breaking the silence. Yuzu looked at the ground, guilty. "Or at least, you should have told me any excuse, anything, instead of not responding at all. Do you know how worried I was when I couldn't reach any of you?"
"Not knowing when the person will show up scares Ichigo," Yuzu began awkwardly. "It scares me too because I know we're just waiting for something to happen. I don't like that, but all I can do is be by her side. And that fucking pisses me off because that's all I'm doing for her!!" he shouted in frustration, clenching his fingers into fists. He stared hard at the gate, wishing it would open and the stalker would step out into view so he could get his hands on the one who had brought fear into Ichigo's world. When it didn't, the fight left his body and his head gradually cleared. He looked at Bob. "I didn't want to lie to you, but I didn't want to get you involved either."
"We've known each other since we were kids. You should know Ichigo is my little sister, too," Bob said fiercely. "I should, and will continue to, be there with you whenever somebody messes with her, like now."
Yuzu recalled telling Kari that the more set of eyes on Ichigo, the better. He had excluded Bob from it because he didn't want to see his friend get hurt. Was he in the wrong? He wasn't, yet...Bob wasn't either: given how close they were, keeping something like this to himself wasn't the right move.
With a nod, Yuzu acknowledged his mistake and hung his head. "You're right. I should have told you…I'm sorry."
It took a long while for Bob to respond. When he finally did, he clapped Yuzu on the shoulder and nodded. "You should be," he said grudgingly. Then, surprising Yuzu, he added, "For forgiveness, you ALL have to visit my parents' place after this is over. They've been nagging me about it."
That made Yuzu grin. "We will," he promised. They clapped hands and pulled each other to a stand, entering the house together.
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Ichigo stepped away from the open window, where she had been eavesdropping on Yuzu and Bob. It hadn't been her idea, but Kari's. She hugged Cobbles to her chest and tucked her face into Cobbles' fluff to hide her shame from Kari. She hadn't meant to upset Yuzu…and now, Bob knew about the whole thing, too. Would she upset him too?
Kari kneeled in front of her, causing Cobbles to growl. Cobbles stopped, however, when Kari patted its head. It licked its nose and looked at Kari curiously, tail wagging slowly.
"We're here by your side, you know that don't you?" asked Kari.
Feeling her eyes water, she didn't look or answer k.
"Knowing that, will you still hide?" k asked, tone opposite of the gentleness she had gotten familiar to in the past week.
She lifted her head to make sure she had heard right. The cold smile that greeted her chilled her bones, and her hands slacked. Cobbles jumped out of her arms before Ichigo could drop her and pattered away from them, seemingly not caring about the threat that was Kari.
Traitor!
"I…I'm not hiding," she snapped defiantly. The look Kari gave her told her they both knew she was lying, and she felt her cheeks flush in shame and anger. She averted her eyes and rushed past Kari.
What was wrong with hiding?! She thought angrily. She just wanted to be safe! As long as that stalker was out there, she was going to stay here forever with Yuzu!!
As soon as she thought that, Yuzu's frustrated and worried face flashed in her mind. Along with his face were the memories of reading over Moe and Ai's worried texts. She hadn't told them about the situation partly because she was embarrassed and mostly because she didn't want the stalker to take interest in them in case he saw them visit.
Just the thought of the stalker following one of her friends made her tremble with anger. She would rather step outside and kick the stalker right where it hurt rather than let her friends feel the fear she was feeling right now. Feeling even more courageous, she imagined confronting the stalker and imagined screaming out her fears and anger at him. He would fall back in surprise after she had said her piece and would run away with fear, leaving her victorious. And maybe it was all because of her that he ran away, or maybe it was because...standing behind her, giving her all their protection and support, were...her family and friends.
"Oh," she whispered to herself as that last scene took root inside her head. Maybe...she didn't have to hide anymore.