Protector, Protector (BL)

Chapter 6

Sorry, this one was so late ya'll >-< I've been so in the zone of writing the new book I forgot to update cuz I'm a silly goose. Might as well get back to the pond if I'm going to act like a silly goose. Ughhh. Love you guys! 

Also broskies, please don't hate Isaac too much. He is an unruly child. Would you believe me though, if I said that Azame started out as a meek, quiet child??? Azame. How fast they grow up!

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“You ok?” Azame asked as soon as he saw Ajax nearing him. 

They hadn’t seen each other all day and only finally reunited in their last class before lunch. Even then, they’d still have to part. However, their classes were right across from each other, so the distance wasn’t as bad as say, across the entire campus like their first hour was. Curse that Algebra 2 he had to retake!

Ajax looked pale, but a faint blush had risen up his cheeks, all the way to his ear. He held a piece of paper tightly in his fist as he looked over at Azame. The boy smiled before handing it over to Azame. “I’m more than ok.” 

“Woah! He really said that?” 

“I know! I thought I was impossible to teach,” Ajax commented before putting his arm over Azame’s shoulders. “I thought I’d frustrated Grant to death.” 

“You’re not,” Azame laughed with a shake of his head. “Just hard to keep in place.” 

They laughed as they rounded the corner and headed up the stairs towards the classrooms. He could hear the other boys above them. One of the teachers screeched at a group for running and Ajax couldn’t help but laugh. At the top of the stairs, Azame paused and turned towards the front doors. A few boys were snickering near the entrance, but that wasn’t what Azame felt. His whole body turned stiff and his hand raised as it pointed straight for the entrance. Ajax glanced towards the door then back at Azame before whirling in front of him. Azame couldn’t even move his eyes on his own, but he felt his partner close by with a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

Beyond that, he could see the monster that had triggered him. It was in the form of a human, crushing an innocent woman’s skull with a baseball bat. He was in the city and he could hear the other people screaming and running around him. Just barely within his reach of vision. A man tried to drag the monster away from the unconscious woman, but it merely snarled and tossed the man like a sack of rice. It bashed the woman once more and finally, her head split out onto the pavement. Sirens wailed all around them but the damage had been dealt. In broad daylight, as well, the Shadow was unimaginably strong. Not quite a Promised One, but not just some mindless Shadow either. It had chosen a human this time to feed on. With Sirens becoming so rare, Shadows had adapted to eating other things. Anything Supernatural gave them more energy and power but they could settle with a few humans and satiate their appetite.

“I see you,” Azame said, but it wasn’t his voice. “Looking. Looking for you. We see you, you stupid, little…” the rest of the words were muffled by Ajax’s hand. 

“How far away.” 

“56.7 miles away, Lancaster street,” Azame hissed before he jolted back to reality and nearly collapsed. His hand fell to his side. 

The boys by the entrance gave him a terrified glance, before shuffling up the stairs as far away from him as possible. 

“Freak,” one whispered under their breath, looking down at their shoes as they disappeared up the last flight. 

“This one was closer,” Ajax stated before holding his hand out to Azame. “If they keep getting closer, I’m going to have to skip school to take care of it.” 

“No,” Azame snapped quickly. Firmly. “We stay together, no matter what. We’re attacked together, we run together. We fight together.” 

“Let’s get you to class before another incident occurs,” Ajax replied, but he eyed the door warily. His blue eyes were etched with concern. 

 “It didn’t see me,” Azame replied as they neared his first-period class’ door. Inside, boys were tossing around a football haphazardly, laughing. Ajax was about to let go when suddenly the hall went quiet and the boys parted like the red sea. 

Azame stood stock still as a familiar mess of dirty blonde hair appeared at the end of the hall with the rest of his friends. The front one, Isaac Harrison, c****d his head up. Standing at six feet tall, he was a massive giant with an attitude akin to something truly devilish. He was famous for sneaking girls into the dormitories. He was a major asshole and the star quarterback of the academy’s precious football team. He aced or was at the top of everything he ever attempted, with a rich daddy to back him up if something didn’t go as planned. The worst thing was that he had an affinity for Azame and Ajax and would go out of his way to make their lives miserable. Azame could handle being the school’s crazy, but Issac made his life a living hell on a daily basis. 

Before the boy could escape into the room, Isaac’s eyes narrowed on him and his mouth twisted into a demonic smile. He sauntered up to the group and the sea of boys simply parted further, giving him a straight path to the pair. 

“Ah, there you are. I figured you two were f*****g in some corner before school started,” Isaac chuckled before pushing Ajax. Ajax’s fists clenched but he didn’t say anything, thankfully. “What happened? Didn’t see you this morning, figured you’d skipped town.”

Azame held his tongue, but the words still escaped. “If I saw that face, I’d skip the Earth.” 

Thankfully Isaac didn’t hear him and instead, took off inside the classroom with a laughing band of hyenas following him. Oh wait, Azame thought bitterly. They weren’t at the zoo. He meant Isaac’s ‘friends’. Azame let out a sigh of relief when the fuckheads went and sat down in their special little corner. He met Ajax’s eyes and couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face. 

“Another day, another shithole.” 

Ajax laughed before slapping him on the back. “I’ll see you at lunch. Call me if you see anything else this morning.” 

“Mhm,” Azame nodded before waving by and entering the room. 

His seat was situated towards the middle of the room, closest to the door. So it was less distracting for the other students if he suddenly stood up in class. He could feel the glare on the back of his neck as he sat down and started pulling out his writing utensils and textbook. Isaac cleared his throat behind him obnoxiously and Azame didn’t even have to turn his head to already know that the little s**t’s feet were kicked up on the desk and he was leaning back against the wall without a care in the world. 

Something hit his back and Azame gritted his teeth, counting down the minutes until the teacher arrived. “Hey sissy boy, Isaac wants to talk to you.” 

“I don’t have the time to talk with retards,” Azame commented dryly before opening his textbook.

Isaac chuckled behind him and he could hear the boy get up from his desk. He kicked Azame’s neighbor out of his chair before dragging it over to Azame’s side. “Retard, huh? Mighty bold coming from someone who… I don’t know, looks a lot like a girl.” 

“So you forgot your glasses this morning Bertha?” Azame snapped, but he didn’t give Isaac the satisfaction of seeing his face either. He could feel those hazel eyes searching him obsessively, only to not meet. And for some reason, that always bothered Isaac more than he could hide. “The teacher will be here any moment. I don’t think they’d enjoy seeing a monkey out of its cage.” 

“Ah,” Isaac stated before reaching his hand out. Azame flinched away from the offending body part with disgust. “You a germophobe? That other one gets to touch you all the time, but no one else huh?” 

“It’s because he’s Ajax’s wife. Bet he’s pregnant,” one of the boys chuckled behind him before slapping the table loudly. 

“Leave Ajax out of this,” Azame snapped, finally meeting Isaac’s eyes. 

“There you are,” Isaac grinned darkly. “I had hoped all that mirth and fire hadn’t dissipated over the summer. See gay boys become weak, soft. Always hoping their daddy comes and saves them from the scary things like boobs and masculinity. I’d hate to see you turn into one.” 

“Your grasp on sexualities is quite frankly, astonishing. It’s almost like you speak just so the whole world knows how stupid you are,” Azame stated, raising an eyebrow. “Or is it you with the daddy complex? Always looking for someone to kiss your feet and suck up to. Too afraid of your own sexuality huh?” 

Isaac’s face twisted before he leaned back. “I’m not gay you little fucker.” 

“Honestly, I didn’t even say that, but if the shoe fits. You’re transfixed on whether or not the relationship between Ajax and I is more than platonic. What’s wrong Isaac? Do you like me? Are you in love with the school’s crazy?” 

Isaac mock gagged before getting up and kicking the chair out underneath Azame. The boy fell hard but he simply dusted himself off and got back up. He may have been short, but he stood right up to Isaac with a dark look. Azame had faced scarier things in his years than a teenaged boy trying to pick at him. And Isaac rarely used his fists, he hid behind clever words that weren’t always, well, clever.  

“I wonder about you sometimes,” Azame stated honestly, pushing the taller boy back. He could tell by just how stiff he’d grown that he was ready to burst into anger. He was boiling over. “Is it hard to get it up sometimes when all those pretty girls throw themselves into your lap? Aren’t you tired of them? You want pretty boys to, don’t you? Cuz you’re gay and you can’t admit it.” 

Admittedly, the punch came a lot faster than he expected, and the floor was a lot closer than he remembered. 

Azame finally awoke much later, laying in one of the cots in the nurse’s room. He groaned and reached up to touch the swollen lump on the back of his head.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Ajax exclaimed worriedly, finally appearing in his line of vision. “I left you for ten minutes. Please tell me this year isn’t going to be the same as the last few. We could make a difference here!” 

Azame blinked the stars out of his eyes before sitting up with a groan. Judging from the small kit that lay on the side of the bed, Isaac had broken skin. He could hear someone on the other side of the room put down a book before rolling a chair over. It wasn’t the school nurse, instead of the quietest boy amongst their entire class. Grant Snyder, someone that seemed to hang around Ajax solely. He was like them, an outcast. He had curly brown hair that fell in a mane around his head and into his eyes and thick-rimmed glasses covering his hazel eyes. His uniform seemed freshly ironed as if he’d just pulled an ironing board out from his pockets seconds ago. Admittedly, imaging Grant carrying around an ironing board and iron was hilarious and entirely within the realm of possibility. 

Grant would not find that amusing, that’s for sure. Grant was a stickler to anything that meant fun, like the occasional fights against Isaac that Azame landed himself in. To be honest, Grant didn’t belong in their group. Ajax was loud and he was always really into whatever he found interesting and Azame loved to be a nuisance, while Grant was just… quiet. And cold, oh so, very, very cold. Azame equated Grant’s presence as one of the long lines of strays Ajax picks up. Last time it was a sickly cat who passed away a year ago, having lived many years inside their dorm without inspection finding out. (But Ajax had to escape out the window with it a lot). Eventually, the old thing finally kicked the bucket after many, long years. Grant was just one along that line that Ajax had pulled in. In the beginning, Ajax whined every time Grant coldly pushed him away until Grant stopped pushing him away. He wore the poor guy down, so the great tale of how someone so unlike them joining their group was put to rest.

But Grant was different than anyone Azame had ever met before. He wouldn’t peg Grant as inhuman or anything of that nature, but sometimes he just wasn’t right. It’s a feeling Azame held for the supernatural world and not the human world, but he wouldn’t ignore the feeling either. He’d always been wary of Grant since the first moment the boy showed up and reached out to them.   

“I see you’re already getting into trouble,” Grant commented dully, before glancing over the swollen bruise on his face. “You look terrible. Can it kill you to not pick fights?” 

“In my defense, I was defending Ajax’s mighty honor,” Azame stated with a shrug. He ran his hand over the swollen lump on his face with a sigh. 

“You got hit hard this time. How much did you piss them off?” Ajax sighed before plopping his forehead against Grant’s back with an irritated groan. “I’m growing gray hair.” 

“No you’re not,” Azame replied simply before standing with a stretch. He yawned, making the swollen lump hurt more. 

“Here,” Grant sighed before pressing a bottle of water and a couple of pain killers into Ajax’s hand. “I have to get back to class to get my stuff.” 

 “Thank you,” Azame commented quickly. “I know you carried me here, so thank you.” 

Grant shrugged before getting up and glancing towards Ajax. The boy simply waved him off before returning his attention to Azame. Azame could feel the big guy’s heart shatter from across the room and he watched bitterly as Grant left without a single sound. He sighed before taking the pills. You i***t. Can’t you see what’s going on with your friend? Ah, he couldn’t say that out loud though. It would upset his partner.  

When they fought, it was like fire meeting fire. Messy and destructive, so they were lucky they only fought a handful of times. He hoped that Ajax would notice sooner or later. Either to let the poor guy down gently or say yes, it didn’t matter much to Azame. His best friend deserved a life other than keeping his ass alive. That was hard enough as is and eventually, Azame wouldn’t be around anymore. He’d seen Protectors who’d lost their equivalents and it wasn’t a pretty sight. He couldn’t stand the sight of Ajax falling into such deep despair. Most usually followed along after their Siren… but no, Ajax deserved better than that. He deserved a fallback. A life where he could have his own family and not follow the same fate his parents and their parents followed. 

“If I’m going to have kids or whatnot, I won’t let them follow my same footsteps,” Ajax once said when they were just 10 years old. The pair had known each other since the beginning and had shared everything. 

They’d been sitting in Azame’s room that night, getting to know each other better. Being platonic soulmates didn’t always mean that they were in sync. 

“Is being a Protector bad?” Azame had asked, finally putting down the dinosaur he’d been playing with. “We’re like mega super best friends.” 

Ajax spared him a small smile. It seemed almost hesitant. “It’s cool… but it's hard. My brother lost his best friend… he died afterward. Mom cried a lot, she said it was bad.”

“I won’t die on you, okie? Promise?” Azame answered quickly, sticking his hand out. 

The hardest thing was that Ajax had known what his job was the day he could think for himself. It was like an instinct that was passed down through the families. The kids aged faster mentally and became independent before they were even teens. Ajax had learned how to fight when he was 6, a bit later than the others before him. They were taught to never fail, and if it looked like they were to fail, then it was their job to give their lives in replacement of the Sirens. 

But to Azame, a Siren’s life was no more important than the ones who protected them. Where a Protector would never move on from losing their soulmate, a Siren could just bond with a new one like it was some damn assembly line. He’d seen Sirens throw their Protectors away to survive and he couldn’t even imagine watching Ajax die in his place. Regardless if it's his job to do so or not. 

“I’m sorry, it probably hurt,” Azame finally said, patting Ajax on the shoulder. “I’ll be more careful next time.” 

Ajax finally let out a breath of fresh air before nodding. He rubbed his temple where a matching bruise was starting to form. “It’s ok… just shocking. I was just getting up from where I was sitting on Grant’s desk and then wham! I knew you got hit again.”

“I’m sorry,” Azame sighed before heading towards the door. “I can’t believe the son of a b***h punched me again. I thought we’d gotten past that stage.” 

“Actually…” Ajax interjected. “I’m not entirely sure it was Isaac… because, well Grant didn’t carry you here.” 

“What? Who?” 

“Isaac did. You were slung over his shoulder like a bag of flour, but I mean he still carried you here.” 

“He’s on drugs,” Azame nodded, squinting his eyes. “I knew it.” 

 “Ah, probably not,” Ajax countered before patting him on the shoulder. “It’s almost lunchtime.”