Layer 03: Gossip

He and the other passengers were taken out at the next stop, him and Lain's having been two stops farther.

Some were still shocked, some crying (mostly kids), some angry that now they're coming to work late.

So what? They couldn't just continue driving to their stop, with a splattered dead girl on their front? What's up with that? Why couldn't they-

"Cause It's a dead body idiot!" "Kids will see it!"

eh, it will be on the news anyway, so it was inevitable.

Tsuki put his hands on his head. This was just too much for him. Like anyone could handle the situation better at his age. He was only 15 for god's sake!

He can only imagine how Lain was taking it-

He could-

Wait! Where is Lain?

He looked around the subway stop, seeing only police and ambulance cars around him. She left! Without so much as a goodbye.

He didn't even see her leave!

Damn it...

There he was. Stuck in a subway stop, alone, with blood splattered on the subway car.

This wasn't going to be a good day for him. Not at all.

Mrs. Mullen's gave him another talking to when getting to school, but he couldn't hear her. His mind was still rattled.

drip...

drip...

It was already in the news when he got to school.

A young woman commits suicide. Throws herself onto train tracks. Motive still under question. Is confirmed dead by police.

It was all over the Wired as well, the other students ecstatic over it. Making nonsensical rumors about her. How would they know?

"I heard that her body had been completely torn apart. Her torso was splattered on the front. It looked like a giant fly had been run over.

"Jesus, dude. That's gross!"

"It's just what I heard on the Wired."

I heard that they used a giant spatula in order to scrape her remains off the train-

Okay, not you're just talking bullshit"

"That's what I heard-"

"Where would they even get a giant spatula"

"They just have a giant spatula just lying there for dead bodies splattered on subway cars. Come on! Give me a break."

"If you don't believe me, Alex, look for yourself. It's all there."

"Yeah right. Give me a break"

"Your mouth's been filled with shit, ever since you were born"

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

"You tell me, shit eater"

"-Hey guys, calm down"

"They're just rumors that's all"

Rumors

That's all they were.

Who knows why. You may never know. Would you grow sick with grief if you didn't know why?

Whatever family she left were growing sick as well.

It's sometimes best left not knowing.

Because you may not like what you find.

The screams of onlookers. The droplets of blood dripping down into the hot asphalt, disintegrating. The wide eyes of Lain and Honda. The conductor pleaded others on the intercom to stay calm. The sound of police and ambulance tires as they went to inspect the body. Or at least what was left of-

"Would you stop it?!" Tsuki yelled at himself, covering his head with his fists.

He didn't tell his parents that he was on the train. Even when it was all over the news. Why would he? That would just worry them. They already have enough on their plate.

No matter what he did, the image of blood wouldn't leave his mind. It was like a ghost from his past that would continue haunting him. Until he was dead.

Pfft...you've always been so dramatic...

"Leave me alone" Honda muttered to himself.

Why are being so hard on yourself for?

You had nothing to do with it. Don't act so self-centered.

You're just a victim of circumstances like all the others, like the old women, the kid with cap, and Lain; that's all it is.

You were just an onlooker, that's all. Like everyone else there with you. Lain too.

She'll move on as well. I can tell.

Come on, kid. You've got school now, you don't want to be late again.

You're going to let events like this, that you had no control over, take over your life. Get ahold of yourself. You're still a kid.

You have to take the first step.

"But..."

"What if the other students bring it up?" He thought to himself

Just ignore it. Say you weren't there.

Like with your parents...

Say you walked to school because you missed the train. Soon they'll leave you alone.

Honda nodded to himself softly, his hair ruffling slightly.

Just need to move on, right?

You can let events like this break you down.

You just need to move forward.

...

Everyone else has even Lain maybe, why can't you?

"How would you know that?"

I don't. I'm in your mind for Christ sakes. But in the end, it all comes to you. So...what are you going to do?

He nodded to himself again, but his fists were no longer on his head. He slowly sighed to himself. Guess he did take things too much to heart.

"Alright," He said to himself glumly. Mrs. Mullen's will have him by the throat again if he didn't go. It was the least he could do.

"It's not my fault."

That's better. Now come on. Take a shower. That should help you clear your mind.

Maybe Lain will be there.

He sighed to himself again. I guess you're right.

"Okay," he said, with a ping of confidence in himself. The voice was right. Nothing would change by just staying in his room all day; he needed to move on.

He then took off his clothes and took a shower.

"YELP!"

God damn it!

The cold water was gone again. He nearly burned himself to a crisp. Tsuki later put on his uniform and went down downstairs, silently chuckling to himself. He won't be late again.

Yeah, I guess nothing did change after all...

Saying goodbyes to his mom and dad, he closed the front door and stood out on the front steps.

He inhaled. Exhaling slowly.

Damn. it's hot out here.

Come on. You'll be late.

He exhaled softly.

"Ok"

He then began heading for school.


The subway would be closed for a while. They were still investigating the scene. Meaning that they were probably still scraping her remains off the front. He still could see the police cars, with tape, labeled "Do Not Cross" marked on the front. No subway today.

Well, that's just great...

Good riddance...

He wouldn't be able to use the subway for a while anyway like it was even helping him get there on time anyway. He just needed to move on.

Take the first step...

He never realized how large and open the city was, compared to his neighborhood, which now felt like a small village compared. He only took the subway from his neighborhood to his nearby school and then back.

Thinking back on it, in fact, this is the first time he's ever truly been out in the city. His parents never took him out to the city. It was almost hectic when he got there, with almost hundreds on people walking down the street, phones out, on the buses, or out in the bars drinking their hearts out. Everyone walking past each other. Never sharing a glance. They all had somewhere to go. Somewhere to be.

Himself included.

What a racket... He thought.

This is worse than the subway when it came to all this noise. He could feel the Wired's presence all around. Strange isn't it? From the Wide-screen billboards to the people walking talking endlessly on the phone as they passed by. It was like a technological revolution around here. As if the Wired had just been discovered for the first time in history. He didn't know what to make of it. What was the city like before the Wired? He wondered. He also realized that he hasn't moved in quite a while.

"Hey, kid!"

Honda looked up to find out he was the only person there on the crossing. He also found himself face to face with a large truck blaring its horn.

"Get out of the road! Most of us have somewhere to be you know! Move!" He heard the large man in the truck yell, blaring his horn constantly.

Tsuki quickly ran to the sidewalk, sharing some glares from the people around him. He felt out of place here. He didn't know why.

Come on. Get moving. We're going to be late.

"Hai!"

He began moving to school at a much faster pace, squeezing through the endless crowds that he found himself stuck in. It was like squeezing through a haystack.

Though the haystack wasn't alive and it wouldn't push you around constantly like this one person did. Okay, it was Honda who pushed them.

The hard shove from his shoulder brought the person hard down on the sidewalk. What happened to common courtesy of your fellow individual, for god's sake?

Honda looked back to the person he shoved by accident, the other bystanders walking around them. He didn't mean to push them. It was an accident.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean.." he stopped midsentence.

He looked down to see a red-haired girl, with a pained expression on her face, rubbing her bottom. She had the same hairclip on.

"L-Lain?" He said, surprised to see her here.

Lain looked up, startled to find a familiar face of her own.

"wah?"

"uh...do you remember me? From the subway?"

Tsuki saw Lain narrowing her eyes, perhaps searching for remembrance, at Tsuki's face. Did she already forget?

Lain's eyes widened, in recognition, upon realizing who it was.

"H-Honda?"She said softly

He was surprised he could hear her, apart from the noise around him, and the soft voice she always seemed to use. He got closer.

"Yeah, it's me!" He said cheerfully.

Lain nodded before grunting in pain from the fall.

"Oh! I'm sorry, here let me help!" He said.

Lain looked up again to find Honda holding out his hand to her.

"hmm...this is a weird kind of deja-vu.." Honda thought to himself.

Hesitantly, she brought her hand to his palm, pulling her up softly. Her grip was kind of weak. She then found herself back on her feet.

"uh...thank you," She said awkwardly.

"Oh, you don't need to thank me, it was my fault," Honda said, scratching his head in embarrassment.

She nodded in response.

...

...

Honda chuckled awkwardly, "uh..."

Come on, say something!

"Are you going to school as well? " he said finally.

Well, duh...

She's wearing her school uniform...

...or

...could that be her only-

Nah...that couldn't be it...

"hai..." She said gently, nodding her head as well. Her eyes were focused on Honda, which Honda noticed were brown.

Huh... How come I haven't noticed that...

uh...

The weird gaze Lain was giving him made Tsuki blush in response. He felt as if she was staring into his soul. He didn't know why he felt that it was just the aura. He needed to break the awkwardness a bit. However, two introverts trying to talk with one another never really ends well.

"uh...are you sure you're okay, Lain? " He said meekly, with a slight grin on his lips. He didn't mean to shove her that badly. It was an accident. "I mean..."

"hmm? No, I'm fine." She said, rubbing her head in response. She still seemed...

Don't worry so much, talk about something else...

"heh, it's weird that we would meet again like this here," He said chuckling softly to himself.

"Why would it be weird?" Lain deadpanned, apparently confused by the statement.

"Uh...I mean...no it's nothing... I just thought that was weird that's all."Honda said, sighing to himself.

"Don't you have school as well...Honda?."

"hmm? School- Wait that's right!"

How long have we been talking here for?

"oh damn, Mrs. Mullen's is going to put me in the slammer for this." He groaned, putting his hand on his head.

"the slammer..."She tilted her head at that.

"It's a long story, I just need-"He quickly said before widening his eyes in realization.

wait a second.

"Lain?"

Lain straightened her head in response.

"Where is your school, by any chance?" he said questioningly. He didn't want to sound stalkerish or anything like that. He figured something out.

Lain's eyebrows scrunched up, apparently pondering his question.

"My school...why?" with an air of suspicion in her voice.

Uh...no reason!" He exclaimed, putting his hands up in the air. " I just realized that we were walking in the same direction. If that's true then our schools must be around the same area, right?"

Lain nodded her head, still unsure on what Honda's getting at.

Honda continued, "If I'm right about that, were both heading the same way, right?" Honda said, beginning to blush extremely. This shouldn't be hard. "I just thought that since were going the same way, you think that..." he mumbled the last part.

Lain tilted her head in response.

"you think..."Tsuki began looking at his shoes again. It shouldn't be this difficult to ask questions like this. He thought he got over the anxiety thing. Still, he was just a kid. It was normal. Just say it...

Tsuki looked back at Lain. "You think that maybe... since were going the same way that...we could...walk to school together?" Honda finally blurted out, the heavy blush still on his face. There you go.

...

Lain's eyes widened at that. She usually just walked alone by herself. She never really thought about having a companion, even with her sister, who usually walked to school alone as well. The only other person he could think of was the Chisa, the suicide girl. She remembered walking with her, but apart from that, everything else that happened was just a blank for her. Even then, she still just walked alone. Besides that, she never really saw herself on needing a companion.

Honda wasn't that better off either. Since he had no brother or sisters, he often walked alone to school, taking the subway from point A to point B. Nothing else. What brought up this proposition to Lain was out of the blue for him. Though, he felt it was the least he could do since he did push her. However, it's too late to take it back now, he just blurted it out. The only thing left to do is stay and wait for her response.

Both parties stayed in silence for a while. Even with the constant noise around them, and the cars and bystanders that passed by them, it felt like they were the only people there. No other sound could be heard. Like they were in an endless void where no sounds could be heard. Just absolute silence. Waiting for a response.

...

...

...

...a soft voice broke that.

"...hai"

The music blared up again. Drivers beeping their horns. Teenagers texting on their phones and chatting with their friends. Couples arguing with one another on the sidewalk attracting attention from passerby. Business men talking on their phones. shoes of different sizes hitting the ground. In the wilderness, birds were chirping loudly. They were back in reality again.

Tsuki looked up again at Lain, who was blushing slightly and nodded to her, smiling slightly. In the outside, he acted more subtle. But deep inside, his heart was jumping in joy, doing somersaults on his kidneys. He felt a deep relief overcome him, which he was surprised of, not knowing he would take Lain's response so much to heart. He'd guess that he was like that sometimes. Now's not the time to think about that, though.

"Okay then..." he said cheerfully, his grin wider. "let's go"

With a small nod from Lain, she and Honda began heading for school. Even though he'll most likely be getting detention for being late, he didn't mind all that much. For the moment, he was humble and for the time being, that's all that mattered.