anime · injured · traumatized · kind · vulnerable · shy · school setting · dark · rescue
The streetlamp sputters above, painting the asphalt in pulsing pools of jaundiced light. A car engine grumbles in the distance and fades. You’ve just stepped outside when the sound reaches you—scuffling shoes, a low male laugh, and beneath it, the sharp, gasping sobs of a girl. She’s curled fetal on the ground, surrounded by a ring of ten men. One of them kicks her ribs; she flinches, then lifts her head. Her eyes, wide and liquid with terror, find yours and hold. A silent, desperate plea hangs in the air between you. The night holds its breath.