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(WARNING: This entry is rated PG13 for abusive actions and mild language. Read at your own caution.

Note: You do NOT have to read Part 0, but it does provide background information.

Oh and there is no Part 2. Just 0 and 1.)

The Voice that echoed - Part 1 - Surrounded

The restroom, Echo noticed, was very empty, due to the fact that it was out of order. It was very clean, for a restroom, but still smelled like cleaning solution and urine which weren't a great combination to smell. The tiles looked a little dirty, and slightly wet. To her right, 4 empty stalls and one stall, the one nearest to her, partially closed. On her left were the 4 sinks, all in a row, with mirrors in front of them. On the far wall, to her curiosity, was a floor-length mirror.

In the dimly-lit bathroom, Echo couldn't really see her reflection, but from what she saw. she looked a little...nervous? Or maybe tense.

Turning her attention away from the reflection, Echo turned around to lock the door so no one else would get in. As soon as the door clicked in confirmation, she felt her left arm being twisted around and pressed painfully into her back, while her right hand and arm were immobilized by her attacker's other hand. The attacker pressed his - yes, she knew that cologne anywhere - entire body against her's, making it impossible for her to move.

Echo could, however, speak. "s**t! Keisuke. Let goooOW! Damnit, that's my smoking hand!" Pain was evident in her voice as she tried to turn her head to look at him.

Keisuke scoffed. "You didn't tell me you were coming back."

"I'm not obligated to tell you anything anymore. Now let go, please.

Echo winced as he tightened his grip on her left arm, and let out a small 'ack!' as he let her go, slumping against the door and gripping the handle for the support. She was starting to realize that maybe, this was a bad idea, but she had already locked the door, the key dropped and lost on the ground some time during the scuffle.

Echo turned around to look at Keisuke. She fought down the uprising feeling of being let down, that feeling she hadn't felt in months. She could just feel the blunt she had been smoking prior to coming into the the club just draining away as she looked him up and down with suspicion.

Keisuke looked the same as when Echo had last seen him, before she had left for Shibuya. At 21, he still looked pretty good, considering his drinking and smoking habits. His brown hair was still pretty messy-looking, and his eyes, from what she could see under the lighting, looked dilated and pretty wild. His expression was absolutely calm, despite all this.

"Keisuke, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to get out of here." Echo said seriously, while nursing the bruise on her wrists.

"I am out. Out of your house, that is." He replied, shrugging. "You never said to get out of Tokyo, Ayame."

"You knew what I meant, Keisuke. Context clues, duh?" She sighed, crossing her arms An expression of slight annoyance was on her features, her eyes coolly studying his body language. He looked more relaxed than she did. "Now why did you drag me away from my friends? I was actually having some fun."

"...."

"...Keisuke?"

"So, which one?"

"Which one what?"

"Don't play dumb with me! Which one of those guys were you here with?!" He said, slamming his hand against the edge of the sink. Relaxed posture gone, he looked absolutely livid with anger. His mouth twisted into an angry frown, his hands balled into fists. Echo noticed that he looked serious about his accusation.

She sighed and shook her head. "First or all, we aren't a 'we' anymore, so like I told you before, I'm not obligated to tell you anything. And second, I'm not with either of Junichi-kun or Dmitry. They're busy with Rina and Airi-chan." God, she almost forgot how jealous he could get. It didn't help that he was harshing her mellow with his anger, but he really didn't have the right to know what happened in her life anymore.

At this, Keisuke stalked forward into Echo's personal space, surprising Echo long enough to grasp both her arms tightly, slamming her back into the door. Echo cried out, not from the force of the slam or the way her head bounced painfully against the door, but from the death grip on her arms. Damnit, he was going to leave bruises and, because she was wearing a tank top, she wouldn't know how to explain them!

Now was the time to worry. Echo didn't want to worry the group when she got back, but once again, she didn't think of the consequences that would come from complying with Keisuke.

When she didn't reply to him, Keisuke glared at Echo, eyes unfocused. "Didn't I say we aren't over until I say so? Or have you been whoring yourself to other guys while you were in Shibuya?" He snarled, practically digging his finger into her bones the way he gripped her arms. She winced, but did nothing to pull out of his grip this time. Echo may of been annoyed, but that didn't mean she would resort to violence. She wanted to get out of this situation without hurting him, even if it meant getting hurt herself.

"Stop...Keisuke, please. Let me go. This hurts." Her heart thudded dully. Back then, her heart would've been happy to have him. But that was then, this was now.

At the tone of her voice, Keisuke let her go, leveling her pained expression with a neutral one. "Hurts me too. A lot. And I do want you back. But..."

Echo's expression changed from pained to surprised. Was he serious? He wouldn't joke about something like this. But...what were his demands?

"I don't want you in that gang anymore." He finished, not looking her expression of shock. "I can't be with you if you're hanging around with...them. And I know you want me back-"

"No."

Keisuke sputtered and looked at her. Despite being in pain, Echo smiled thinly. "They're my friends, Kei. All of them. So if you won't accept that, then leave me and my friends the hell alone. I'm not as dependent on you as I was before." She felt a huge weight on her shoulders lift away when she said that. She liked her friends more than Keisuke, and besides, it WAS all Keisuke's fault that their relationship-

Before Echo knew what was happening, she felt her body being thrown against the side of the sink, hard. Wincing, she was about to ask what Keisuke was doing, when...BAM! He had sent a fist flying straight into her solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her. Echo's eyes flew open as she felt her body tumbling to the ground, her hands over the place where there would, no doubt, be a bruise the size of a cantalope later.

She gasped for breath like a fish out of water, whimpering pathetically as she heard the door being knocked on loudly by someone, someone gasping (her or Keisuke?) and Keisuke going into the stall with the window at the top to escape. The knocking ceased, footsteps fading and soon the bathroom was cold and quiet once more.

As her solar plexus slowly recovered from its paralysis, she hoped that Keisuke wouldn't be at her apartment when she got home. If he was...well, the police might be the least of her worries. Fear slowly crept up in her, calm exterior long gone, and as she lifted herself off the ground, she winced at the pain coming from her stomach.

Looking at the mirror in front of her, she saw a disheveled looking girl, pale from what happened only minutes ago, clutching her stomach in pain. And fear. Echo saw the fear evident in her eyes: not for herself, but for the people waiting for her back on the dance floor.

Echo smiled, but winced as she tried to will the fear and bile back down. It wouldn't work. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking, and she quickly walked over to the trash can near the paper towels before throwing up.

Echo wrinkled her nose. Now the bathroom smelled like urine, cleaning supplies and upchucked pancakes. She took a paper towel, wet it with water, and wiped her mouth. She ran a shaking hand through her black hair, and shivered, despite being slightly sweaty.

There was nothing else Echo could do, now that the damage had been done.

-END-

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To the RPers: Yes, this is what happened to Echo during and a little bit before (refer to part 0) the bathroom scene. She's in a mess isn't she?