Not much to say this time, but I managed to get the chapter up a little quicker! Thank you to Guest and Guest for reviewing. Shout out to everyone else who has been sticking around to read as well. Chapter song is "Phantom Amour" by Toothgrinder.
I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.
Mei Mei was starting to get really worried about Madoka and Hikaru.
Ever since the night Hikaru dragged them all out of bed into the pitch-black halls around midnight to break into the main office, something hadn't been right. The two girls had barely been around.
Sure, Mei Mei was spending her fair share of time away from everyone else, but it was different. At least, it felt different. She still had yet to tell her friends about whatever it was going on between her and Chao Xin, but she was okay with that. She wasn't entirely sure herself what was going on in all honesty. She didn't want to bring it up to them and have everyone get excited for her only for it all to fall apart. And anyway, she and her friends still ate lunch and dinner together whenever possible, so it wasn't as though she was cutting them off entirely from her life.
Besides, Mei Mei didn't want to spend too much time out in public with Chao Xin so openly. It drew too much attention. She didn't mind the other girls idolizing him as much anymore, but when they constantly shot daggers at her it was a little unnerving. Sitting by him at lunch would only attract more unwarranted stares.
Probably because she was the only girl he'd shown interest in for more than a day…
That was beside the point, though. Hikaru and Madoka were undoubtedly sneaking around the school again during their free time. There was no other explanation for their sudden absences. They weren't alone either. Mei Mei had been inclined to do a little searching herself.
Mainly, she primarily wanted to find her way back to the tower she and Chao Xin had found. It was dangerous, but maybe they had overlooked something before.
There was clearly a reason the telescope and maps had been hidden away up there. For all she knew, one of the other star charts held more information, perhaps even clues to help unravel what was really happening. She needed to get back there as soon as possible to thoroughly look through the room and closely examine its contents.
Except, things weren't going as well as she hoped. She'd given up after a few days of fruitless searching. Before, they'd followed a trail of footprints, but since then the floors had been wiped clean. She was left to her own devices to find the way, a near impossible task with so many corridors jutting off everywhere she looked. Every time she went into off-limits areas, there was a strange sense of foreboding that permeated the air. She wanted to run back to the safety of the inhabited parts of the castle, but she had to press on if she wanted to find anything.
Unfortunately, she wasn't finding anything. Mei Mei had been forced to give up the search time and time again to focus on schoolwork. Besides, looking by herself wasn't any fun. It was scary and uncomfortable.
Those reasons were the cause of the concern she had for her friends. It was dangerous to go out by themselves. They were clearly doing this on their own; no one else was with them. Neither of them had mentioned anyone else, barring that one guy Gingka who Madoka had hung out with a little at the beginning of the year. She hadn't really talked about him since. Hikaru had never brought up anyone, guy or girl. Mei Mei wished the two would team up so if nothing else they could watch each other's backs.
Sophie had made it clear she was not looking any deeper into it. Despite that, Mei Mei got the feeling Sophie was still keeping an eye out for anything unusual.
Like Sophie herself told them, it never hurt to be prepared.
Mei Mei wanted to breach the subject with Chao Xin, but she strongly suspected he had no desire to go back to the tower. Realistically, she couldn't blame him. Even when she pushed, he only relented a little. Yesterday, she thought she might have had a breakthrough, but he told her he wouldn't have time to go looking with her until next weekend. That wasn't nearly soon enough for what she had in mind.
She had to face it. He just wasn't as interested in it as she was.
Mei Mei peered down the hallway leading to the north wing. She sighed. Somehow she always ended up down here.
She knew, just as the other days, today she would walk past it, ignoring the urge to explore.
Hikaru wanted out of the castle bad, but the chances of that were getting slimmer and slimmer.
Sneaking into the office late at night hadn't taught her anything new. If anything, it had been a massive waste of time and incredibly risky at that. She'd put not only her own life in peril, but the lives of her three best friends, too.
Hikaru hated to admit it, but she wasn't thinking clearly at this point.
Ryuga pushing her away had been a major blow that she was not prepared to deal with. The last few days felt like the floor had been abruptly and violently ripped out from underneath her. She had yet to regain her footing.
She had gone into that office for Ryuga, whether she wanted to admit it or not. She definitely wasn't admitting it to her friends, that was a given. She couldn't begin to think of an excuse to justify that. She hadn't even mentioned him once to them. How could she tell them she'd put them each of them in danger all for a guy? They wouldn't understand, and she couldn't blame them. She could already see the disappointed looks on their faces.
She did find the map and test out the phone for everyone's sake, though. While they didn't work out in their favor, it was still a step forward. Hikaru now had a better understanding of the area they were in, even if the conditions weren't all that favorable to them. They were surrounded by trees, and if nothing else, trees were good for cover. Although the enemy, whoever that may be, probably knew that, too, she mused.
Her real goal in getting into the office was to find records of the events that happened here two years ago.
As Ryuga had posited, there was nothing. Hikaru was beginning to strongly believe his theory that they didn't exist. Granted, she hadn't had much time to search around the office, but the file cabinets had been her main focus. She'd also flipped through documents on the computer as quickly as she could, given the restraints she was under. Hikaru was positive she would have found something had it been there. The fact that the office door hadn't even been locked should have clued Hikaru in that there was nothing of any importance to be found there. Confidential information wouldn't be left lying around where anyone could access it.
Despite all these dead ends, Hikaru had to believe there was something out there. Steps had to be taken so that people would have been able to visit the castle, right? Random people didn't just start showing up at the school. Ryuga had told her a group had been selected to explore it. There was planning involved, and if that was the case there was undoubtedly evidence of it.
Clearly, that evidence was being kept away somewhere.
She'd continued to look around the school, even in the classrooms, for anything that might help, but to no avail. She skipped classes to sneak into empty rooms, spending her time breaking into teachers' desks and digging through all their papers.
Hikaru groaned and hopped off her bed. Sitting around thinking about it wasn't going to do any good. She needed to take action.
Even if she wasn't entirely sure what that action would be.
A quick glance at the clock told her it was nearly dinnertime. She sighed. Doing something would have to wait. After dinner, there was a mound of homework waiting for her. Hikaru wasn't really concerned about school anymore, but something inside her worried about what might happen to her if her grades began to slip. She doubted she would get kicked out, which honestly would have been a blessing at this point. No, if she started to decline Hikaru had a feeling it wouldn't be long before she was in a different kind of trouble.
Was the school involved in all of this? It had to be a possibility. But if so, was it the whole school, or just a few individuals?
That looped around to a whole new set of questions. Why would the school being doing this? Killing off its own students made no sense. What was to be gained? Hikaru got a headache just thinking about it.
The school wasn't involved, Hikaru decided for the moment. It was too bizarre to consider. The school was doing a terrible job covering up the deaths of students, but admittedly it was doing everything it could. Twisted as that was, the school had only just reopened. It would be catastrophic and a disappointment to all if it had to close before the first year was even halfway through.
The school was simply doing what it felt it had to in order to maintain its reputation. That was all.
Hikaru sincerely wished that wasn't the case and the school would accept that the situation was out of control and send the students home. This wasn't even remotely close to being the dream boarding school she hoped for back in September.
At least the majority of the students were oblivious, going about their days as if nothing was wrong. As far as most of them knew, Lera had been the only casualty, and that was brushed off as she got sick and was forced to go home. The school wouldn't even acknowledge the girl was dead. She scoffed at the thought. Anyone who had seen Lera that day would have to know the illness excuse was a lie. She didn't understand how students could so easily ignore the truth. Hikaru envied them.
Of course, if she hadn't gotten as deep as she had with this, Hikaru would have never met Ryuga. Not that that was working out for her much these days.
She needed to push all thoughts of him aside, and focus on one of two things: getting out or finding out who was behind all of this. If she managed to find out who the culprit was, she'd also learn why they were doing it.
She left the room. Mei Mei was probably already in the dining hall. Same with Madoka and Sophie.
Once she arrived, Hikaru searched for her friends at their usual table. She frowned. Empty. That was unusual, especially at this hour. Usually at least one of them was around.
"Hikaru! Over here!" She turned to see Madoka waving at her from another table.
Hikaru gave it a once over. Gingka was there, along with the rest of his friends, which meant- Her heart caught in her throat.
Ryuga was sitting right there, liquid gold eyes looking directly at her.
She couldn't go over there. She just couldn't.
Summoning her strength, she walked over to the table. It was better than explaining everything to Madoka later on. Hikaru wasn't ready to face the complications that would come along with telling her friends about Ryuga. She'd have to come clean and confess her true intentions for breaking into the office.
Hikaru sat down next to Madoka. Ryuga was on the other side of the table, fortunately. Still, her stomach was churning. She turned to her friend.
"Do you know where Mei Mei and Sophie are?"
Madoka shook her head, then leaned in close. "No, but you'll never believe what I saw at the library the other day."
"What?"
"Mei Mei was with Chao Xin."
"Wait- Chao Xin, the player? What is she thinking?"
Madoka shrugged. "No idea. I haven't had a chance to talk to her. I thought you might know something since you're roommates."
"No way," Hikaru shook her head vehemently. "This is the first I'm hearing of it."
Hikaru made the mistake of turning her head as Madoka talked, finding Ryuga looking directly at her. Their eyes locked.
She broke off the eye contact first, almost as soon as they'd connected, quickly facing Madoka once more.
After scarfing down the little food she could eat, Hikaru made up an excuse to leave the room. Madoka was too enticed by talking with Gingka anyway, and it gave her a reason to go back to the dorms to see if the other girls had returned.
As soon as she made it through the double doors, Hikaru had to fight the urge to run back inside.
Somehow, without her noticing, Ryuga had already left the dining hall. He was leaned up against the wall. He hadn't seen her yet, though, visibly preoccupied with another matter.
She felt her shoulders sag. Ryuga had made it clear the other day. He didn't want her.
She was just finding that immensely difficult to face.
Hikaru began walking down the hall toward her dorm as quickly as she could when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. She didn't need to turn to know who it was. She closed her eyes, wishing he would go away.
"You're avoiding me."
She turned, giving in. "You said you wanted to do this alone," she said levelly, praying her voice wouldn't betray her. "You said you didn't need me. So I'm giving you space."
He stepped back, leaning up against the wall. "Hikaru. I need to talk to you. But we can't do it here."
Her eyebrows knit in confusion, composure breaking. "What do you mean?"
Ryuga glanced around the hall anxiously. For some reason, he seemed frantic, ill at ease. "It's not safe."
She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "No kidding."
"No, it- Hikaru, things are worse than we thought." His golden eyes were pleading.
She let out an exaggerated sigh. It was better to get this over with rather than let it drag out. "Okay, fine. Where do you want to talk? A dorm room? I'm not sure if my roommate is back yet."
"No," Ryuga disapproved. "Not a dorm. We can't go anywhere in this castle."
"Then where? Ryuga, I looked into it. There's no way out of here. There are trees surrounding us on every side. Where could we possibly go?"
His eyes refused to meet hers. "The lake."
"What? No, please, no. I told you already, I didn't want to go there." She folded her arms.
"What's it going to take to convince you?"
"Nothing short of a miracle."
Ryuga relented. "Okay. Promise me you'll come to the lake with me. It's important; it's tied to this whole thing."
He seemed so sincere. She still wasn't over what he had said to her last time they had spoken. With that weighing heavily over her, she gave him an ultimatum.
"Fine. I will go to the lake with you, on one condition. You have to tell me why, and you have to tell me here."
Ryuga was starting to look desperate, but he nodded. "I can guarantee my dorm room is empty. Follow me. I'll tell you as much as I can."
Hikaru peered back at the crowded dining hall, where Madoka was still blissfully unaware of what was now transpiring. She mentally kicked herself. Had she stayed in there with her friend, Hikaru would never have agreed to go back to the lake with its dreadful sense of foreboding.
It didn't take long to get to his dorm. The scene blurred by her the entire time, too fuzzy to make out any details. Focusing was proving to be impossible. People whirled past her in a rush.
As Ryuga had predicted, no one else was in his dorm. In fact, it didn't look like anyone else had been there for a while.
"Where's your roommate…" The question died in her throat as Ryuga gave her a knowing look. Ryuga's roommate would not be a concern. He wasn't coming back.
Hikaru perched on his bed, hugging her knees to her chest. Everything was blending together. She didn't care if Ryuga saw her like this. He seemed distracted regardless as he paced back and forth.
Hikaru placed her feet on the floor, gripping the sheets to ground herself. She took a long look around the room to calm herself. The room was set up similar to hers, except the boys' dorms were smaller, only designed to fit two occupants. Dust settled on the unused desk next to the empty bed. The closet door was closed.
For a moment, there was total silence. Ryuga opened his mouth several times like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Hikaru suspected he was choosing his words carefully.
"Tell me what you know first," Ryuga said at last.
Hikaru's eyes widened. "What? You bring me down here to tell me something that's apparently of major importance, and now you want me to talk?"
"You said you've looked into the school. What did you find out?"
"Not much. I got into the main office while everyone was sleeping, but it wasn't worth it. I didn't find much. Just that the phones won't work for outside calls, and the map shows we're pretty far out in the woods. A single road leads out of here, the one we came in on, but travel on it is probably well regulated by whoever is orchestrating all this. There's nowhere else to go."
Ryuga's head snapped up. "You broke into the main office at night? Why? Hikaru, with everything going on, you're lucky you're alive."
"I know," she admitted. " I didn't even get the answers I wanted."
"What were you looking for? You didn't have to sneak out in the middle of the night just to get a map and use a phone."
"I… I was trying to find information on your brother," she said softly. She finally let the secret out. Admitting it to him felt different than telling her friends.
Ryuga froze. "Then you did this for me," he finally expelled the words. He sat on the opposite bed, face in his hand. "I screwed up."
"What to you mean?"
Ryuga refused to look at her. "A few days ago, when I told you I wanted to work alone, it wasn't because I didn't want you around. I-I wanted to protect you. I knew things were getting worse. I thought if I could keep you out of it, you wouldn't be in as much danger. I never expected you would go off on your own to find information on my brother."
Hikaru got up and sat next to him. "There wasn't any information on the mission he was part of to check out the school. It's somewhere else, but I know it has to be around."
Ryuga smiled faintly. "You're persistent, you know that, right? I didn't mean to put you through any of this; I wasn't planning on getting anyone else involved."
She accepted his silent apology. Hikaru knew Ryuga wasn't going to say it outright, but she knew he genuinely regretted what he had done to drive a wrench between them. She stared into his eyes. Something about those swirling shades of yellow-gold just got to her.
Before she could fully comprehend what was happening, Hikaru found herself leaning in and kissing him, knowing she had gotten herself deeper in this tangled web than she had ever intended. He kissed her once more, pulling her in close, and she kissed back until finally he broke it off. His eyes held an odd sadness to them. He probably wished the situation could be different. Hikaru knew she felt that way.
She knew it had been moving in this direction this for a while. Ever since they'd escaped the sewers, the two of them had been growing closer, making it hurt so much when Ryuga decided it was better they part ways. His reasons made sense, but she wasn't willing to be without him any longer.
She wanted to kiss him again, to feel safe in his arms, but she refrained. Hikaru reminded herself why she was in his dorm to begin with.
"What did you find out?"
"Someone in the school is planning something. The people who have died, it's not just random killings. Their deaths are for a purpose."
Hikaru frowned. "I don't understand."
"I don't understand either," Ryuga confessed. "I overheard some people talking about it. All I know is this whole thing is somehow tied to the lake."
She grimaced. Something had always been off-putting about that murky water, but this confirmed it. There was no getting out of here without first uncovering its secrets.
"Let's head to the lake."
Hikaru shuddered. Now that she knew why he wanted to go there, she could only pray no one had been listening in on their private conversation. Ryuga closed the door tightly behind them as they once more entered the crowded halls of Starlight Academy.