“I’m okay.” She said, smiling softly at the taller red head. Her knees and hands were scraped from when they had pushed her but other than that they only bullied her. Part of her felt bad for them because he had definitely scared the group for life. “Thank you.” Namine grinned, glad that he was there to protect her.
Axel sighed and walked over to her side, brushing back her hair and kissing the top of her head. “You don’t have to be sorry, Namine,” He said, changing the temperature of the water to something slightly warmer. “Here, let me help.” He took hold of her hands gently and started massaging her palms softly, washing out the dirt that had entered her scratches. “You have to do more than just run away,” He said, trying not to become annoyed with her cowardice. “You have to stand up for yourself, or they’ll just keep coming back.” He turned the tap off and pulled a handful of paper towels from the dispenser, then took her hands back in his and pat the towels against the scrapes, drying them slowly.
Her face had grown red from the contact, still not used to being so close to others. His words made sense, no matter how many times she seemed to get away from the group they always found her again. But even so Namine knew she wasn’t a match for any one of them. “I don’t think that will work Axel, I’m not very strong. Besides if I do that then they will..” hurt me worse next time. “Pick on me more than they do now.” She mumbled, knowing if she told him the truth he would only be more infuriated.
Axel shook his head and lowered her hands to her sides. “Do you know any self defense?” He questioned. His hands wrapped around her waist and he lifted her up onto the bench beside the sink so they were at eye level with each other, or close enough to. He brushed her hair back behind her ear and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. When they shifted away he sighed, knowing that she didn’t know a single thing about defending herself. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and stepped back. With arms crossed over his chest he looked down at Namine. “You need to be prepared for them, Nami,” He said. “Come with me, I’m gonna teach you how to stand up for yourself,” He helped her down from the sink again and offered a hand to her. “We’ll go back to my place.”