Shopping in Pain (Sumi, Itsuki, Cameo of Alyona and Archie)

Itsuki was not used to having an audience, not one as vocal as Sumi, too.

“You are doing it wrong.”

“You are knocking them out too quickly.”

“Ugh. You call that work? Better put more of your hips and shoulders into those punches, prima-materia!”

She just stared as he did his job. Punching people, breaking them, making them bleed. A very vocal passenger-seat driver.

Yet, despite everything, she seemed to enjoy this way more than Itsuki, her eyes delighted in the violence that unfolded before her.

It was strange, but Itsuki would not be questioning her; he did not have the peace of mind or curiosity to kinkshame someone as strange as her.

If she wants to get her buttons pushed by violence, he was not the one to judge her.

They were in a messed-up room, a vacant store-garage used by some delinquents as a headquarters. It was in a more presentable state before Itsuki barged in.

Furniture was broken everywhere, with people bleeding, groaning, or just passed out on the ground; the lights flickered above their heads.

Itsuki had some blood on himself, too, not his own, as those sorts were not enough to make him bleed, as much as he wanted to feel hurt.

Itsuki quickly made short work of yet another small gang, yet another group of delinquents, only their leader was left, backed against a wall, begging for mercy.

Itsuki raised his fist to cave his face him, and then started to question him, but Sumi held his wrist. “No, dear. Too much strength. Punch him, get him on his knees.” She ordered him, bossed him around.

Itsuki scowled, but did as he was told; he agreed to this, after all.

His fist landed on the confused delinquent, breaking his nose and sending him down on his knees as he held his bloodied face.

Sumi smiled and picked something from under her sleeve. A needle. She took the guy’s hand, slid the needle under his nails, and pressed it into his flesh; it drew a sharp scream out of him. “You crazy bitch! You!” He started to bark in pain as Sumi walked away, a satisfied smile on her lips, as she passed another needle to Itsuki.

“Drive it in him, cause him pain, and I guarantee you: there is no delinquent that will withhold information from you. You are quite a marverick at hurting people, but you don’t cause them enough pain.” She said with a refreshed smile, staring at him with the same warmth of a teacher teaching a prodigious student.

Or a trainer teaching a dog a new trick.

Itsuki rolled his eyes and looked at the guy who kneeled in pain, and with hatred in his eyes.

He stared at Sumi with venom, a raw and corrosive venom, but dared not attack her.

He knew if he attacked Sumi, Itsuki would mess him up irrevocably.

Itsuki picked up the needle and drove it right between the guy’s gums; an even sharper scream echoed. A wimper.

A broken wimp.

Unlike the sound of mindless whines, he got when he beat someone senseless. There was something new in this sensation.

The taste of someone who folded.

A more… human type of fear, different from the primal one he was used to. This was not the fear of getting hurt, but the fear of what they could do to someone.

They.

Itsuki turned his gaze to Sumi. “How many more needles do you have?” Her smile expanded to something so frightening that even Itsuki felt uneasy near her.

That was not the smile of a girl, but the smile of a monster that has found her match, or at least, something to groom until it could grow to the same heights as her.

“Dear, I have so much more than needles.”

(Later that day)

Itsuki had grabbed a new hoodie from his wardrobe and was waiting outside the Twilight Plaza. Sumi said for him to meet here for something important.

Too many people walked there, a veritable swarm of people, entering and exiting the plaza like a sea of ants. It made him a little nervous; he hadn’t gone to the plaza in two years, ever since his father kicked him out.

He had no money to spend on any store inside it, anyway.

“Hm. You could’ve dressed better, but alas, I’m not one to look a gifted horse in the mouth.” A highly pretentious voice called back to him. Did Sumi just get there, or was she awaiting him?

He didn’t ask. “Just let's get to it.” He didn’t know what she would use him for, but it should be done quickly. He didn’t want to spend a single second more than needed inside the plaza.

“A quickie, are you?” She giggled as Itsuki groaned, but didn’t come with a follow-up, and just walked inside the plaza. Itsuki followed her.

What followed was an absolute slog.

She went through so many stores so quickly that Itsuki lost track in the first few minutes. There was little he could do to stop her as she came back with more and more bags, and even his towering flame was quickly overburdened by the sheer quantity of purchases she made.

Even someone with a skin as thick as his was annoyed and bothered by her blatant, mindless consumerism. ‘Did I ever act like that?’ He was a fairly well-off kid before his life was a mess.

Did he make purchases so mindlessly like her?

Did he have a sliver of economic awareness in those days?

He didn’t know, and honestly, every time he saw her enter a store, and ponder about what to buy, and go after the most expensive thing in it, made his skin crawl.

Never, in a million years, would he imagine his current self wasting money so mindlessly.

Yet, Sumi seemed pretty happy with the arrangement. What kind of hell did Itsuki get into?

His reveries were cut short as an obnoxious, rich girl’s voice cut through the crowd, aimed at them. “Oh, if it isn’t the Arts Weirdo herself.”

Itsuki looked down, and then looked down some more, to stare at a blonde gremlin with an attitude. She had a fiendish grin plastered all over her face and a look of superiority.

“Here we go again…” He sighed before he noticed a blond guy, struggling with a bunch of bags too.

Their eyes met for an instant, a silent exchange between them.

‘Did she force you to carry all of her bags?’

‘Yeah, bro, it has been hell.’

‘Idem. Did she allow you to even buy something for yourself?’

‘Hell no.’

‘As expected.’

Both guys sighed at the circumstance, the crushing weight of defeat in her sigh.

“I didn’t expect someone of your stature would get out of your mommy and club’s lap to go do some shopping by yourself, Alyona-san.” Sumi talked with some malice in her voice, jabbing at her fellow Club leader.

Alyona took a few moments to look around, seeing as Sumi had no bags with her, before she identified Itsuki and Archie’s silent communication. She grinned like a beast before she corrected her expression for one more “dignified” look.

Alyona merely gave her a strained smile before she looked at Itsuki. “Oh, I see you got a new dog. How long do you think it's gonna last? Hey, if you want, I can offer you a place in my census club, it will treat you waaaay better than this witch’s den.”

She tried to poach Itsuki. Itsuki gave her a cold gaze. “Don’t bother me. Whatever you two have is between yourselves. Fix it between yourselves, I’m not part of your spat, little blondie.” Alyona’s face went red; she was not expecting a rebuttal so blatant, so disrespectful, coming from someone so overburdened and “abused” like him.

It was as if Itsuki didn’t know her, and in truth, he didn’t.

Census Club was not a thing back in his tenure as a Student Council member.

Sumi, like a viper, used the opportunity to strike; she came to Itsuki and held his arm, an expression of superiority on her face, full of venom and ill intent. “See, Alyona-san? This is what loyalty looks like, true loyalty, not one brought with money and fear. You should mark it in your memory, it may come in hand if one day you get a true loyalist, and not just another bought member.”

She laughed and pulled Itsuki away, a steaming Alyona left behind. Itsuki looked over his shoulder, back at Archie.

‘Good luck, my friend. Your girl seems crazy.’

‘Don’t worry, yours is crazy.’ With a last nod, they both parted ways.