Another foot entered, and a giggle erupted, stifled by a quick nervous hand from another. It was a team that descended through the veils. A group that didn't sport the professional suit of staff. A duo that inched and crept like unwanted trespassers.
They moved swiftly, phones out like swords brandished upon the enemy. Then they slammed it tight to their bodies, nervous as they tried and failed to pretend that they weren't trying to take a photo. But before Amber could stop them, they had pictures of Hikaru stored in their phones. Hikaru, with his huddled form, scooped into the seat and sleeping peacefully, his arms wrapped around a soft toy that brought him the substituted comfort of another.
Hikaru's defenceless fucking body stored in their data for their perverted usage.
Privacy was a luxury that they could not have.
She moved quickly, horrifying desperate when one of the two leaned forward, lips puckered, frantic for a kiss. Her limbs seized when understanding flashed sharp in her mind like a sword to her guts. Time seemed to stretch further as her body only grew slower, as she stumbled towards them, filled with a concoction of terror and disbelief.
As the fan's disgusting head moved towards sexual harassment, dipped towards the taint of their rank poisoned breath over her Hikaru's lips. Their hands stretched for a touch that she knew wouldn't be anything polite. Amber's vision grew tunnelled as her heart pounded with a desperation to stop them. They couldn't kiss him just like that. How the fuck could they do that? Why the fuck were they here?
But a hand nudged her aside, and Casper ambled forward, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he moved quickly to the other aisle. He was faster, limbs longer, steps stretched and confident. She heard him whisper words as he sandwiched himself by Hikaru's side, dominance asserted with crossed arms. A hand propped against the armrest. He would stop them if they touched Hikaru, his posture promised that. He would body slam them if they tried anything more.
The tension vanished from her frame, her body relaxing quickly.
"Sorry, Hikaru's asleep…" She heard him say in the softest, sweetest, customer service voice. "You'll have to go." She shivered and watched as they started to scream with glee, but a shush from Casper had them whimpering, wide-eyed but begging to listen. And then he began his sweet talk, a smile on his lips beaming as if everything were fine and they were friends.
The disgust wedged itself thick and slimy in her throat. Shock had her stumbling back. How close they were…How close they were to violating Hikaru's privacy. How close they were to becoming strangers groping his cock, strangers stealing kisses from his lips, strangers who could and would hurt him if provoked.
Her skin felt too tight on her bones when metaphorical ice dripped down her spine.
"This is normal," Ezra's voice startled her, and his dark, intuitive eyes met hers with sharp understanding. She inched into Casper's seat, turning to listen to him. Finding solace in someone who'd seen what had transpired, an ally in a plane of sleeping victims and wandering wolves. "With bigger planes, they struggle because they have to search for us without getting caught. It's easier when the plane is small."
She needed a moment to think as she settled into the seat, reclined and stared at her soulmate. He was a literal beacon of light in her moment of panic, his skin radiating softly as he stared at her. Too sleepy to offer adoration and comfort until he was sure she needed it.
"This plane is small?" she gasped out, the topic a distraction to her racing thoughts.
"Small enough, or maybe, they were lucky." He shrugged as if it were no big deal. "They come for us when it's late and we're asleep. It's easier when security is asleep." He paused, judged her for a moment for a reaction before continuing. "No, when everyone is asleep." There was toughened iron in his eyes, iron that told her he'd been on the receiving end more than once.
She knew that this would happen to them, had seen crazed hands reaching for them. But never in a metal box tight and small in the air. Never in a trapped space so far away from land, and so far away from law. They could do anything if they wanted to.
Fear spiked harder in her gut.
"But how did they know?" she whispered, hushed and confused. "We did everything—"
"They might be working for a company that has our private information, or they could have bought information from a flight attendant. We'll never know, but we'll ban them. So don't worry." He twisted his phone, flipping it a few times. "I took pictures of their faces." He smiled as if that helped. Amber knew the face of her assaulter but could do nothing to her at all.
"The legal team will stop them?"
"They'll try to blacklist them from our events if they can. Will take down their social media if they find them." He raised a brow, frowning. "Would sue them if they can." Their only punishment was a harsh rejection of creation from the victims of their actions. "If they do anything more we can really, really send them to jail."
More. What more could they do? How far could they go?
There was a pause as he glanced at her, observed the fear in her body. His brows deepened; eyes turned into slits as he stared. She was shaking, disgusted as fuck as her eyes darted back to Hikaru and Casper. God—her mind grew creative and horror filled her as she wondered what the fuck would they do if the fans actually managed to rape—Ezra sighed, then smiled more for her than him. Too sharp and too perceptive of her feelings.
She should be the one comforting him.
"We're a team, alright?" he pulled her closer, rubbing her shoulder. "There's always people lurking around. We go to public spaces with our manager. We go the toilet in groups of twos. We stay safe by being prepared. We run from those motherfuckers after our ass."
He said those words like a soldier in war.
"Sieon was alone when we first met." Her eyes widened into orbs of horror. Ezra inhaled and exhaled heavily. Then shrugged again after collecting his thoughts, propped his head against his hands as he looked at her.
"He's an idiot. But he was in a public, protected space. We try not to succumb to the fear that there will be crazy fans lurking. It's not good for our mental health." A fair point made. They couldn't spend the rest of their lives fearing what could come. "He's still an idiot, of course."
"But you're like rats in a cage of snakes."
"Fat, juicy rats." He corrected with a harder massage over her skin, it grounded her, chained the phantom of her being upon the realm of reality. "The fattest damn rat in the world with heaps of good barbequed meat and a side of ranch dressing." He smacked his lips, abnormal coming from him, but she knew he was playing a character for her. A mild change of personality to calm her down.
"How is this any different with sexual harassment?" she mumbled; eyes wide. Terror peaking despite his attempts. "How is this different from a victim being groped by an assaulter?"
"The difference is the assaulter think they have a right to touch us. And we as victims give them the chance to, because we need to. Because we have to. They'll take us down if they manage to capture evidence of aggression from us." Ezra shrugged, aged with truth. "But honestly? I don't give a damn. Can't slap those bitches, but I'll scream at them if I have to."
"If you slap them, it'll be on the news."
"Not now, when we aren't as famous," his lips stretched, "There are always fans filming. Do the right thing and there will be people on our side." He snorted. "Just as long as we don't kill anyone." He twisted over to look at the scene, a moment of hesitation that showed his worry for Casper and Hikaru.
She went silent, her eyes shifting to watch as their manager arrived to the rescue, pulling the girls out of the aisle with a quick hand. There was the muffled hum of angry shouting, but it grew softer as they accepted their fate. Still the commotion continued in hordes and waves, screams erupted as more fans arrived in search.
Not an ounce of curtesy was provided for the sleeping occupants in the plane.
"They'll get banned from the flight if they continued, would end up in jail once on land." Ezra grumbled out, shaking her away from the sound. "But they'll try to come back if they can. Some damned excuse about not enough toilets. They get happier if they spot one of us just out of the toilet. Would leap right in."
"An excuse to be here longer?" she whispered.
"And they'll use it with the assumption we've touched it." His expression squeezed into a sneer. "Probably bag our hair. Lick the fucking toilet seat if they're deranged enough. Sucks when you take a massive shit, and the fucking fan's in there for an hour bagging farts for sale." A smile crept over her lips.
He smiled too.
But they didn't laugh.
They couldn't.
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