An itch. There was no other word for the little spike jabbing into the back of your head than an itch, something telling you that there was a shift; like something was about to tip over the edge.

After spending a whole day alone with Natsuki, breaking her walls down to see the vulnerable, darling girl that lay beneath the tsundere façade you had received her phone number. You were truly in with her... Yet you could feel your phone almost burning a hole in your pocket whenever you walked. Not literally, of course, rather with the swelling need to check it for some unknown reason. You'd thought nothing of it.

11pm; Your phone buzzed to life with a new notification. It was odd since you usually don't get many notifications considering your lack of friends, leaving only one source. Natsuki.

Nat: Guest, come get me. Dad's drunk.

From your day together, you had learnt that Natsuki's father was a monster sober. The thought of him drunk and alone in a house with her sent a shiver down your spine. She was anything but safe.

Without hesitation, you took yourself as fast as your feet would carry you through the dimly lit streets towards her house. Every step you took you felt your phone smack against your leg, as if coaxing you to hurry up.

Nat: Hury!1!

Misspelt, conveying the urgency greater than any paragraph could.

Every single ding in your pocket felt like another burning coal being added to a fire, spurring you on despite the very obvious threat posed.

Nat: bat door locked Nat: window Nat: please

Now you're standing outside her window, watching her pry it open as best she can without making a sound loud enough to alert her father. On her shoulders is her packed schoolbag of her belongings.