Psync by Zile Elliven

Chapter Thirty

Eli

The staring thing turned out not to be a figment of Eli’s imagination.

“What am I looking at, Alice?” Eli stared at Alice’s phone in horror.

“It’s a forum for the campus, mostly for bored people who like to gossip, but they also post pictures, or in your case, pictures and videos.”

“I didn’t post these!”

“Neither did I, Eli. I swear. I only put one picture on the club Facebook page. I don’t know how someone got these shots of you.”

“I thought no one else saw Eli like this,” Haruka said to Alice with an edge to his voice.

“I didn’t think they had,” Eli also said to Alice, pointedly ignoring Haruka. “How many people are in this forum?”

“Um . . . let me check. It says 6,547.”

“That many people saw this video?”

“And the pictures, too. Possibly more if people shared it.”

“That’s almost a third of the student body!”

Eli hadn’t worried much about the looks he’d been getting until someone came up and asked him out while Haruka was walking him to class this morning.

It hadn’t gone well for anyone. The guy was upset because his shoes were ruined. Eli was mad at Haruka for throwing the guy in the pond, and it seemed like Haruka was mad at Eli for daring to exist in front of other people.

Okay, that last one was probably a little unfair. But the end result was that they currently weren’t speaking to each other.

“How did someone even take this video?” Haruka finally deigned to ask Eli.

And now they were back on speaking terms, which was progress, but Eli was still planning to be grumpy about it.

The video in question was only a few seconds long, but something about it seemed to resonate with people. Eli didn’t get the appeal, personally.

“I think it was when you called me. I went out into the hallway because that’s what polite people do. I didn’t realize anyone had noticed me.” He’d been preoccupied at the time.

“So, it’s Haruka who put that dreamy look on your face?”

“Stuff it, Alice.”

“I think it’s sweet!”

“Can you get them to take them down?” Haruka no longer looked like he was sucking on lemons for some reason.

“It’s too late for that. This is even bigger than the post Ash made about you. This is just where it originated. It’s trending on TikTok now.”

“What?! Why are people so interested in me talking on the phone?”

“Aside from my fabulous makeup skills on your lovely face? It’s the energy you give off. You’re so happy here.” She gestured at the video on her phone. It was paused on a frame of Eli. His head was tipped back against the wall, and he had a soft smile on his face. “It’s like you’re in your own little world, thinking only about the person on the other end of the phone. Everyone who sees it is going to want to be that person. You are the embodiment of boyfriend material here!”

“Yes, my boyfriend,” Haruka snapped.

“You don’t need to look at me like that, I’m not going to take him from you.” Alice ducked behind Eli.

“No, but half the school is about to try.” Haruka was back to scowling.

Eli had gotten a little hung up on the whole boyfriend comment, so he didn’t respond.

“This is the part where you tell him not to worry,” Alice said in a stage whisper.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, no. I don’t even want people noticing me, why would I want them hitting on me?”

“I think you should switch to online classes,” Haruka said firmly.

“And I think you need to switch to decaf.” Eli stood up. “Thanks for telling me about this, Alice. I’d better go if I’m going to make it to my next class.”

Eli left the empty classroom and heard Haruka say to Alice, “No more painting Eli,” before he followed him out.

They walked in frosty silence before Eli finally broke down and said, “I didn’t ask for this.”

“Hn.”

“You realize you can pack more meaning into one sound than most people can in a five-minute monologue, right?”

“Hn.” Haruka’s lips quirked.

“I’m not taking online classes.”

“Fine.” Haruka unzipped Eli’s hoodie and pulled his collar aside.

Eli zipped it back up and glared, hastily looking away when a pout began to form on Haruka’s face.

No, no, nope. He wasn’t falling for that trap. The bastard didn’t know the meaning of sadness or remorse, and he only acted cute when he wanted Eli to cave. And he totally would if he looked at Haruka right now.

“Eli.” Haruka had drawn close when Eli looked away. His voice was soft and butter smooth in Eli’s ear. “I don’t like that everyone thinks they have a chance with you.”

Eli suppressed a shiver, but his body swayed toward Haruka. This was completely unfair.

“You are not available.”

Eli closed his eyes tight. Don’t look. If you look at him, it’s all over.

“No, I’m not available, but—”

A finger lifted his chin, and Eli’s eyes opened automatically. The pout was gone, in its place was a serious expression.

“I don’t want to cage you. I want to keep you safe. If I could be around you all the time, it would be different, but I can’t do that.”

“No one is going to hurt me, Haruka.”

“Someone has already hurt you.” Something dark stirred in Haruka’s eyes.

Several someones, in fact, but Haruka didn’t need a reminder of Eli’s tragic backstory right now. Not if Eli wanted to be able to go around campus with any sort of dignity.

“I don’t think walking around looking like I got mauled is going to change anything.”

A flash of hurt surged through Eli—not his, but Haruka’s.

All the irritation from this morning vanished.

He didn’t want to hurt Haruka. They loved to snark and snip at each other, but it was only play. Actually hurting him was simply out of the question.

“You don’t have to tell people who you’re dating as long as it’s obvious that you are.” There was no trace of pain on Haruka’s face, but Eli could still feel it burning in his chest. Then it cut off abruptly.

Eli tugged his zipper down. “Three days.”

Haruka pulled Eli’s collar aside. “Until your video stops trending.”

“Don’t push it.”

✽✽✽

Three weeks. It had been three goddamned weeks, and Eli still had people trailing after him. He’d become an expert at dodging into empty classrooms and around corners to avoid his fans. It was November and cold every day now, so Haruka had stopped insisting he display his love bites to the world. He didn’t want Eli to get sick.

Not that it stopped him from giving Eli new ones every chance he got.

For a few days after Eli’s new burst of popularity, his friends had begun escorting him to classes again, but when nothing bad happened, they’d started to slack off and allow Eli to have his freedom again. So far, Haruka hadn’t caught on.

It was annoying to have people constantly approaching him—every day at least one representative of the Theater club tried to badger him into joining. He’d also become a pro at declining potential suitors with a simple, “Thank you, but I’m already dating someone.”

But having a modicum of personal autonomy was worth being mildly irritated.

Eli propped his elbows on the fence and watched Haruka as he practiced kyudo. Since it was colder, he’d stopped showing off so much skin, but he was still poetry to watch.

Right now, he stood stock-still, waiting until he found something only Haruka could sense. He’d explained it to Eli as right action. When it was time, right action would flow through him, and the arrow would fly true.

Eli was pretty sure he could watch his boyfriend practice kyudo forever.

Boyfriend. He was dating Haruka.

Eli was dating Haruka.

It had been three weeks, and he still couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Sure, they had a mysterious mental bond, but what Haruka saw in anxious, bitchy, antisocial Eli was beyond him to understand.

Honestly, Eli thought he was clearly getting the better end of the deal.

Haruka was still a bit of a pushy jerk, but he was also kind and considerate and gave Eli everything he had in his power to give.

And when he shoved his way into Eli’s personal space and touched him, Eli didn’t care how pushy he was. Haruka shut Eli’s mind down and made his body sing.

Sometimes he thought Haruka could eat him alive, and Eli would die smiling.

“What’s that smile about?” Alice came up to him on one side and Nate came up on the other.

“You know exactly what he’s smiling over, Al. Please don’t make me listen to the dirty details.”

“Like I’d tell you.” Eli snorted. “Come on, let’s go.”

He waved to Haruka, so he’d know Eli’s friends had come to walk him to class. Haruka lowered his bow and waved back.

Instead of walking Eli all the way to his class, Alice and Nate parted ways as soon as they were out of sight of the archery field, leaving Eli free for the next two hours.

He swung his arms happily as he walked down the sidewalk. He hadn’t realized how physically constricted he’d felt by constant companionship. It wasn’t like he didn’t love being around his people but being forced to do so was getting to him. It was time to talk to Haruka about how overprotective he was being.

Tonight. After class, he’d find some way to get the man to relax and let him go back to being a free-range Eli. One who didn’t have to contact someone before he poked a toe out of his room.

It was funny. At the beginning of the year, Eli could barely get himself to leave his room unless it was absolutely necessary. Juniper would be so proud of him.

He felt easier in his skin now. The shadows that haunted him constantly had faded to mere whispers he could shrug off. Hell, he could probably even sleep alone now.

Maybe he could let that last one go untested. He had the best body pillow in existence. It would be insane not to use it.

“Hey, pretty,” a familiar, slimy voice called to him. Where did he know this voice?

Eli had been so lost in his thoughts he’d abandoned the vigilance he used to wear like armor. Having a constant escort must have lulled him into complacency because standing two feet away was Chad number one.

How had he forgotten that guy? Just hearing his voice made Eli’s stomach churn. And now he had to deal with him alone.

“Fuck off, Chad.” Eli tried to keep walking and was unsurprised when he was blocked.

“Don’t be like that. And the name’s Hank, not Chad.”

“Figures,” Eli muttered. Hank was still a very Chad-like name in his opinion. “I’m going to be late for class, get out of my way.” Start strong, finish strong. If he didn’t act like he was about to throw up from fear, he might get out of this unscathed.

“I’ll walk you there.” Hank moved to the side and fell in step with Eli, who started walking the second his path was clear.

“I don’t need someone to walk to class with me.” And if he did, he had far better options than this guy. Maybe he should have stuck with Alice and Nate after all.

No. He didn’t need a bodyguard. He’d been dealing with the Chads of the world long before the Eli Protection Squad had formed. He could take care of this on his own. All he had to do was walk fast and ignore Hank until he got to class.

“Maybe not, but my services are free.” Hank’s voice went low and suggestive. “I never get complaints.”

Hard pass.

“I’m sure somehow I’ll survive.” Eli let his tone drip with venom. He wasn’t doing great on the ignoring part of the plan. He gotten too comfortable speaking his mind—when he got his freedom back, he’d have to watch that.

Unfazed, Hank tried to put an arm around Eli, and he dodged to the side. Score one for Eli!

It would have been an excellent boost of self-esteem if he hadn’t tripped. Hank caught him by both arms and force-marched Eli backward.

Wrongwrongwrong rang out inside Eli’s head as he was pushed into a space between two buildings.

“What is your problem?” Eli tried to jerk his arms free, but Hank held him fast against a wall.

“My problem is you. Flaunting your ass around campus like you’re the hottest thing out there. I just want a taste to see if you’re worth the hype.” Hank’s face was so close Eli could feel his hot breath against his cheek. He twisted his neck to the side to get away.

His internal alarm was going berserk, which meant there was no way he was going to be able to hide this incident from Haruka. He could kiss his free time goodbye.

Not that he really cared about his precious free time right now. The only thing going through his mind right now was the hope that Haruka would arrive before Hank did something to ruin Eli’s entire week.

“Back the fuck off, asshole!”

That . . . was not Haruka. Or any other voice he recognized, for that matter.

“Consent is a thing, buddy. Google it,” another unfamiliar voice said.

Hank turned to look at the people interrupting his fun, allowing Eli a chance to see that the entrance of the alley was lined with students. He might not recognize their voices, but their faces were very familiar. They should be. They’d been following him and Haruka around for weeks.

He looked closer. And some of them were people who’d asked him out.

While Hank was distracted, Eli tried to squirm free, but Hank threw a forearm across his chest, keeping him pinned in place.

“Get lost. He wants it, and you’re interrupting.”

“Keep dreaming. Eli doesn’t like to be touched by anyone but Haruka,” an unknown girl said.

A boy held up his phone. “I’ve been recording since you shoved Eli into the alley. I don’t think a jury will think Eli wants it.”

“I don’t!” Eli twisted hard, and Hank relaxed his hold, allowing Eli to finally get free.

He bolted for the line of Haruka’s fans. They opened a space for him, let him slip through, then closed back up, forming a wall between Hank and Eli. He didn’t fail to notice that they all kept a respectful distance from him, giving him a nice, safe bubble of personal space.

A chest pressed against his back that didn’t feel even slightly wrong. Haruka had finally arrived.

Hank backed up. “It was just a joke.”

“It didn’t feel like a joke,” Eli said.

“We’ve got several camera angles to work with, so the police can see whether or not they think it was a joke,” the first girl said.

Eli looked around and realized several people had their phones out recording everything.

Hank backed up again. Then he turned and ran.

“Should we go after him?” Phone Boy asked.

“Let him go. Somehow, I doubt the police are going to believe I’m enough of a siren to have two separate men attack me in my first semester. I’d rather not be known as the campus floozy, if you don’t mind.”

Eli felt a low growl in Haruka’s chest. He hadn’t said anything yet, and it was making Eli feel a little nervous.

“W-what are you all doing here, anyway? I thought you were Haruka’s fans, not mine.” Yes, he was stalling for time, but he still wanted to know. His rescuers had shown up at a very convenient time.

“We were, but we decided to combine forces with your fans when we saw how devoted you two are to each other,” Phone Boy said.

“You’re so cute together!” A short girl—who was still taller than Eli—clenched her fists together in front of her chest and jumped up and down happily.

There were several dreamy sighs and squees from the gathered crowd.

“Ah . . . I don’t, I mean, we’re not.”

Haruka wrapped his arms around Eli from behind in a hug.

“How did you know?” Eli finished lamely.

“I hate to break it to you, Eli, but you two are pretty obvious. The way you look at each other, the fact that he’s the only person who can touch you. You’re always together, he feeds, you, I mean, come on. We’re not blind.” This came from a tall, waif-like girl Eli didn’t recognize at all—though she seemed to know plenty about him. He really needed to start paying better attention to his surroundings.

Haruka put his chin on Eli’s head.

“You’ve been watching us?” Eli wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“What can I say? You guys are a much-needed distraction from the stress of schoolwork and grades,” the first girl said

“Don’t worry though, we won’t get up in your personal business. We’re just happy to watch from afar,” Phone Boy said.

“And discuss you on our Discord server,” another girl put in. “And we can make sure nobody bothers you.”

“There’s a Discord server?” Eli tried to take a step back, but there was a giant, clingy wall behind him, so all he accomplished was making everyone around him sigh again. “How many of you are there?”

Phone Boy frowned and looked thoughtful. “At my last count, I think it was nearly nine hundred.”

“Nine hundred?!”

“It’s a good thing, Eli. If someone messes with you, one of us is always around, so we can tell everyone else you need help.”

“Always around . . .” Eli rubbed his face. “Thanks? I think.”

It wasn’t just him, right? This was super weird. But also, kind of sweet? He decided to go with sweet. He hadn’t gotten molested, which was a serious plus in his book, and their new fan club had said they wouldn’t get too personal.

“Thank you,” he said again, only more firmly. He jabbed Haruka in the gut.

“Thanks,” Haruka said grudgingly.

“You’re very welcome.”

“Okay everyone, let’s give them some space so they can go be”—Girl Number One giggled—“together.”

“Bye Eli, bye Haruka.” The group chorused and began to disperse.

Haruka tightened his arms around Eli, making him squeak.

“You’re squishing me!”

“Good,” Haruka said, grumpily, but relaxed his grip a notch.

“So, I should probably go to class . . .”

“You still have an hour before it starts.” Haruka released his death hold on Eli and took his hand. “We need to talk.”

Well, it had been worth a shot.

Eli allowed himself to be dragged to a secluded bench. He would dearly love to have coffee right now. It was cold, and he needed something to compensate for the adrenaline crash that was about to happen.

Haruka opened his jacket and pulled Eli close, tucking him under an arm to keep him warm.

“You ditched Nate and Alice.”

“I did.” This was so weird. He should be shaking right now, or having some kind of trauma response, but being pressed against Haruka’s side was better than any coffee ever. Even if they were about to have what promised to be a nasty fight.

“It’s not going to be a nasty fight.” Haruka pulled Eli into his lap and pressed his face into his neck. “You scared the shit out of me.”

Eli didn’t even put up a pretense of struggling. After having Hank’s hands on him, all he wanted was for Haruka’s touch to wash it away.

“I’m sorry, I just—” Wanted to be alone for a few minutes? Had gotten so used to feeling safe around Haruka that he’d forgotten the world was still full of predators? “I wasn’t thinking. But I feel suffocated. I was going to talk to you about it today, but then Hank showed up and ruined everything.” Once Alice and Nate found out, he’d have to move schools if he ever wanted time to himself again.

Haruka’s pulled him in closer. Eli’s back was flush against his chest, and he wrapped his jacket around him. “Don’t switch schools. I know I can be . . . overprotective, but when I can’t see you, I’m on edge. I can’t get over the feeling that someone is going to hurt you or take you away.”

Eli shook his head. “I don’t want to leave. I like it here. And I like your clingy, octopus ways—obviously. But this isn’t sustainable. You can’t be with me all the time—” He smiled when Haruka huffed irritably into his hair. “And I can’t live my life with someone always stepping on the back of my shoes.”

“I’m not being irrational, you’re a trouble magnet. Let me protect you from the bad things. I want to do it.”

Eli wiggled until Haruka loosened his hold enough for Eli to turn around so he could straddle his legs and face him. Haruka’s face wasn’t sullen like it was when he was trying to get his way. He looked lost.

He stroked Haruka’s cheek. “I like when you protect me. Haruka, I’ve never felt this safe before. Not since”—Eli’s throat closed briefly, but he pressed on—“I was kidnapped. But we need to work out a compromise we can both live with.” Soon, before Eli caved to the look on Haruka’s face, and he ended up with a backpack leash.

“It’s not the worst idea.” Haruka’s eyes glinted, a hint of his evil side peeking through.

“I’m not putting on a bondage show for the world to see.”

“But if no one is watching, it’s okay?” Yep, the evil side was definitely taking over.

Eli flushed and fought not to think about Haruka tying him up. They were in the middle of an important conversation, and now was not the time to get sidetracked.

“If this wasn’t about your safety, I would definitely be getting sidetracked.”

Eli cleared his throat. “Anyway, moving on . . . Seeing as how I’m not interested in getting assaulted by random people, I admit you have a fair point. But I think we’re forgetting something important here.”

“Such as?”

“Our newly combined fan club. They’re always around, and today they came in super handy. They even said they’ve been keeping an eye out for me. Maybe we could ask them to help?”

Haruka hummed in acknowledgement. “I still don’t like it.”

“You aren’t going to like anything short of me taking online classes in our room.” Eli held up his hand to forestall any argument. “And that’s not happening.”

“Fine.” Haruka didn’t look happy, but the lost expression was gone from his face. “But I’m still walking you to class when I’m free.”

“But you’re not leaving class early or showing up late anymore.”

Haruka scrunched his nose and pouted.

“Grades are important, Haruka.”

“Not that important.”

“They’re important to me, so deal with it.”

“Fine.”