Work Text:
Naoto wanted to curl up into a ball.
She wanted to strike her leg out and kick him in the crotch.
She wanted to scream as she sobbed desperately for help.
None of that would be happening now, however, as one of the members of the basketball team had her pinned up against the wall for all to see, arms above her head, legs firmly grounded, and was now beating her.
Everyone watched in amazement as the detective prince just stood there and took the relentless, brutal, and clearly painful beating and was rendered completely powerless. They’d watched as he slammed her against the wall, watched as he grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head, watched as he crushed her feet with his to keep her from running, and were still watching as he landed punch after punch in the same location on her small frame.
She wouldn’t cry, though. She knew what he wanted out of her. Crying and screaming would just be handing it to him. Even now, she wouldn’t give him that victory. He would not broadcast her greatest weakness to the world if she died keeping it from them.
Her femininity, namely, the fact that she was a girl at all, that was what he wanted. He wanted her to confess that in all actuality, she was just another weak little girl who needed someone to protect her. He didn’t even know for certain, she realised, he’d just convinced a small part of himself that it was true and that part now desired proof. That proof was what she would deny him.
Over and over, he punched her in the exact same spot on her chest, where the bandages had bruised her even more. She knew that it was bruised there, she knew that it was because the bandages were too tight, but in her despair, insecurity and fear, she had decided that it was less important than her false identity as a man. That was all that mattered every time she wrapped them around her, tugged the ends into a loop at the front and tied a knot with the loose ends to nestle in between her breasts. Even as the skin turned purple and dark and was always red when she removed them, she ignored the pain and damage in favour of her lie.
“Naoto-kun, are you alright?!”
“What did he do to you?”
“What’s that punk doin’ to ya?!”
Three voices and a stampede of footsteps revealed their appearances to the crowd. Her friends had arrived with a teacher after what felt like an eternity of pain and torcher. Finally, she allowed her body to cave, confident that she didn’t have to fight anymore. Kanji sprinted up to the boy punching her and ripped him off her before pinning him against the wall as Rise came to her side to catch her fall, being careful to avoid the area where the bandages bruised her. Yukiko knelt next to Rise, helping her get Naoto into a slightly more comfortable position, with the back of her shoulders balancing her against the wall. Chie darted to Kanji’s side, finally allowing him to relax his grip on the attacker in favour of simply restraining him with her help. Finally, Souji and Yosuke hopped down the steps with the teacher, looking for witnesses to question regarding the sudden and seemingly unprovoked attack.
Everything became a blur after that, with Naoto being far too dazed to answer anything other than yes or no questions up until she managed to lie down on the bed in the nurse’s office. There, she simply managed to rest in comfortable silence for a time, lasting until the nurse shattered it with a question.
“Shirogane, is your chest alright?”
Naoto jolted up, surprised by the nurse’s sudden question. She’d been hoping that the nurse would just stay silent for the most part.
“Oh, um, yes, it’s fine.” Naoto cringed internally at her poor response.
“How about your back?” Naoto could see where this was going.
“It’s fine as well.”
“How about your underarms?”
“Of course they’re fine.” Naoto knew exactly what the nurse was thinking. She’d probably read about things like this before, and she’d likely heard about what happened from her friends or the teacher. The nurse probably knew about the rumours, too. The rumours about the detective prince being the detective princess in disguise.
Nothing would be worse than the nurse exposing the truth to everyone around her. Everything she’d worked for, everything her parents put her through, every single bruise on her flesh would all be for nothing as the one bit of respect she’d been able to obtain crumbled right before her eyes. She’d be done. She’d be a disgrace to her family, unlike anyone else the world had seen, even unlike her parents.
“I know you’re lying Shirogane.” The nurse’s tone suddenly became cold and harsh, her eyes glaring down at Naoto with a look of sheer disappointment, as though she was ashamed that Naoto thought she would get away with what she was doing. “I know where you’re sore, and I know that the pain your feeling has to be caused in part by a prior injury. A very, very strange injury.”
Naoto was cornered. There was no way she could come up with a way out of this situation. The nurse would simply see through it. She knew that Naoto was injured, and she knew exactly how that injury had to have been caused. It was a death sentence for her, and Naoto knew. Naoto knew that nothing she could ever say would stop what was about to happen. She had no way out. Instead, for once in her life, with no response to speak of, she stayed silent. She sat in silence as the nurse looked down at her with eyes like daggers, waiting for a response. Naoto simply waited, hoping that the nurse would be the one to drop the metaphorical bomb. Fortunately, she did.
“You’re a girl, aren’t you, Shirogane?”
Naoto had no way out anymore, and she had long since accepted it. It was time for her to confront the truth, every secret she kept, every story she was yet to tell, every single demon inside. There was no other ending to this.
“Yes,” Naoto replied softly, with a voice quivering, about to break as she bit on her lip to keep the tears from falling.