2

Yuuto stumbles backward. The attack took him completely by surprise. The expression on his face is hard to interpret. He touches his lip, where Jonathan’s punch hit him. His bottom lip is split and blood is dripping onto his white shirt. When he sees that, his eyes narrow.

“You hit me? Because of that little slag?”

“Leave her alone now,” Jonathan barks. His face is contorted with rage — I’ve never seen him like this before. He turns around and reaches for my hand, about to walk with me to the car, but Yuuto suddenly lunges at him from behind, hitting him in the ribs so hard that he doubles over, panting.

“Do you think I’m just going to let you humiliate me like that?” Yuuto’s face is white. His bloody lip and the bloodstains on his shirt make him look really scary, like something out of a horror movie. He hits out again, punching Jonathan in the ribs once more.

“Stop!” I shout, pulling on the Japanese man’s arm, because I’m suddenly afraid for Jonathan. And it works, because Yuuto leaves him alone and turns his attention back to me. Good, I think. But when I see the expression on his face I change my mind. No, it’s not good. Not good at all. This guy is completely out of his mind.

He hisses something nasty in Japanese and, before I can react, the back of his hand hits my cheek. He hits me so hard my head is thrown to one side and for a moment I see stars. The pain is so acute and so sudden that it takes my breath away and tears rush to my eyes.

Yuuto takes another swing at me, but this time Jonathan is faster than him. He blocks the Japanese’s guy arm and pushes him away from me, and then lunges at him. They both fall to the ground, struggling fiercely and hitting each other.

Steven comes to join us. He rushes over from the car, but then he just stands there helplessly, staring at the two men as they fig