Secrecy

Chapter Twenty-One – The Cousins

WARNING: This chapter contains curses.

DISCLAIMER: Kleia does not own Letter Bee—only her OCs.

Everything was silent. She can hear her own breathing, the low hum of the air conditioning unit, Zazie's silent snoring, the inaudible noises from the streets outside—every little thing, she can perceive. Her eyes have been roaming around the room ever since she woke up with a jolt, blinking at everything she saw: at her blouse, her hand, the blanket that was hanging off the couch, Zazie, the room she was in, the table in front of her, the paper bag filled with bread which was sitting on top of the table, and the note that was attached to the alleged paper bag that she hadn't read yet.

She was convinced that all of it was a dream—Zazie, in front of her, watching over her. His words were now all blurry in her mind, and she, herself, couldn't even remember what she had said while all of that happened. So it was most probably a fantasy her mind made up.

But it wasn't possible. She was pretty certain she had her blazer on when she stepped foot into the Hive. She was sure of it. So it might be true. It might be Zazie—the one who removed her blazer for her.

Her heart started running laps.

Her gaze shifted to Zazie, who was soundly sleeping on the couch to her right, body completely sinking into the soft furniture, lips slightly ajar and hands limply resting on each of the arms. He must be exhausted. He has done so much for her.

No, it can't always be for her. Probably for the safety of the Hive. Yes, that must be it.

But even still, it was always him all this time. He was the one who helped her run, the one who told her to be brave, the one who urged her to rest, the one who calmed her down, the one who embraced her, the one who never agreed to let her go alone, the one who has been taking care of her, the one who was always there. It was always Zazie. And to think that in the beginning, she bore some dislike towards him.

Who knew everything would lead to this?

Her vision blurred.

She sighed through her nose, glancing down at her hands and blinking away her tears. He held these hands of hers. That, she was confident about. She felt it. How his fingers laced in between hers, and how firm his grip was. She still felt his fingers in between hers, as if it left an invisible mark on her skin. She only witnessed this in books, but to think that it finally happened to her, in reality, she was nervous and thrilled.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, realising that it was dry. But there was something else. At the pit of her stomach. Butterflies were fluttering about. And she couldn't discern if she was merely famished or she was nervous. She glanced at Zazie, and everything became worse. She pursed her lips, fidgeting with her fingers as she felt her ears becoming hotter and hotter.

Is this what they call 'liking someone?'

She flinched. Shook her head a hundred times. No no no no no. No, it can't be. She mustn't think about outrageous things. She must focus on what is. She's in a danger zone—her life is at stake and here she is, drowning in her own fantasies. She should get a grip. She has no time for this she has no time for this she has no time for this—she glanced at Zazie.

She found herself inching towards to edge of the couch, which almost touched the arm of the couch Zazie slept in. She then leaned on the arm of the couch she sat on, planting her head on her arm, peering at Zazie's sleeping form—

He shuffled, groaning as he planted his hand on the arm of the couch (which was near Emi), resting his head on it, falling back into his sea of dreams. Emi sighed softly, frowning a tad. Looking at him from this angle, he looked more fatigued. His lips were curled into a deep frown, his eyebrows were furrowed, and dark circles were starting to appear underneath his eyes.

She blinked. She only realised now that he must've been restless. Images flashed in her mind. He always told her to rest or sleep, but had he been doing so himself? He must have had some shut-eye, but probably it was never the same. She always bothered him. A few days before the play, she had fever, and while she fainted, she knew Zazie was in a panic. The day of the play, the first time she witnessed the sight of those men up close, she fell asleep while Zazie calmed her down. That one night, when she planned on walking to tire herself, he woke up, and volunteered to accompany her. When Sylvette was traumatised, he was the one who soothed her. When they were being chased, he listened to her, encouraged her.

He always lessened the pain she feels everyday, and she will be forever grateful for that. For him.

Her heart ached—in a good way—as she stretched her arm out. She stroked her fingers across his brown hair, blinking at how surprisingly shaggy it was for her hand. She always thought it was soft and smooth. He snored lightly, which caused her to smile a tad and withdraw her hand.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, immediately gazing at her. "Mm… Emi…?" he asked, slowly blinking and closing his eyes.

Emi didn't move an inch. She kept her head planted on her arm which rested on the arm of the couch. She breathed deeply, thinking that Zazie must have fallen asleep again, as he didn't utter another word and kept his eyes closed.

"… How are you feeling…?"

She blinked. How could he worry about her with all the enervate he's feeling?

"I'm fine…"

He opened his eyes and they stared at each other for a moment. She has never seen his eyes this close. Indeed, they were shaped like a cat's (his pupils were even into slits). He blinked at her, huffing through his nose. "Yeah, right," he answered with a roll of his eyes, voice gruff.

"I—"

Zazie suddenly reached out and placed his bare hand on her forehead, causing Emi to blink in shock. He then removed his hand, tucking it under his arm, which rested on the arm of the couch he sat on. "… Well, a little bit," he said.

"You always worry about me,"

He looked at her. "Why would I not? I mean… Aria told me to look after you."

"I don't know… you didn't like me at first."

"Well, that's true…" he agreed, averting his gaze. His face turned a little red. "But does it look like I don't like you now?"

Emi felt herself smile some. "No, I don't think so," she breathed out, causing Zazie to look at her. "You're always there for me, you know? Even with everything that's happening… I'm glad," she told him, inwardly surprised that she was so open, so vulnerable, in front of Zazie. But instead of feeling scared, she felt light and happy. "I'm glad that I lost my letter on the day of the exams."

"What're you saying, so suddenly?" Zazie countered, shifting a little in his position, burying his head in his arms, his neck and ears strangely red.

Emi raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"It's… it's nothing…!" he protested from underneath his arms.

"Huh?"

He raised his head, gazing at her through his lashes, before darting his eyes somewhere else. "I said it's nothing…" he muttered.

Emi found herself stretching her hand out, grazing her fingers across his cheeks. He flinched, but he didn't withdraw his head. "… Your face is all red… Are you okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned that she might be the cause of his getting sick.

He became even redder, if that was possible, and his face was hotter. "I—I'm fine…! Wha—What makes you think that…?" he exclaimed in a constrained voice. He was silent for a moment, and Emi withdrew her hand. He sighed, glancing at her then closing his eyes. "I'm… I'm also glad… that I… that I was there, to… get your letter, on that day…" he admitted word per word, his face being painted with even more red by the passing second.

Emi smiled, just in time for Zazie to catch sight of her beaming.

He jumped up from his position, face still as red as an apple. "Bah! Stop looking at me like that!" he shouted, fully turning his body away from her, covering his face with his hands, and ruffling his hair. He started to mutter things to himself, which Emi can barely hear.

She tilted her head. "Why? What's the matter?"

"It's nothing, you idiot!"

"How're things treating everything, Zazie? I heard Emi got sick. Is she okay now? And Lag? What's your report regarding the recent events?" Largo interrogated, fingers clasped over his desk cluttered with papers, as his lips were drawn in a straight line. Nowadays, his pipe had been discarded. Perhaps it was because of his lack of time to sit back and drown himself in smoke. "Aria had updated me about your and Emi's momentary disappearance and what Lag had encountered which caused his injuries. What do you have to say about this?"

"Ah…" Zazie started, pondering on the words he will use. What did he ask again? About Emi, about Lag, and his opinions. He pursed his lips, before opening his mouth to speak. "Emi did get sick, but she's almost better now. She's just fatigued. But I told her to rest instead. The fever might come back again—"

"Speaking of Emi," Aria interrupted, eyes slightly wide in realisation. She faced Zazie, eyebrows slowly narrowing. "Zazie, while you were gone… I came to visit Emi, right?"

He has a bad feeling settling in the pits of his stomach.

"Yeah?" he answered, dubious, swallowing a lump in his throat before licking his dry lips. This wasn't good.

"Hiro and Mia came to visit many minutes later. When I asked them how they knew about Emi's condition, they couldn't give me a straight answer. They were saying how they heard about the Hive being attacked and all, but what I didn't understand was how they knew Emi catching a fever."

His eyebrows furrowed, lips parted, eyes widened, all lethargically, as if his surroundings were in slow motion. They just came to visit, right? Why does his stomach keep on churning? Why is his heart pounding? Why is he sweating so much?

"Do you think something's wrong? I'm starting to feel so…" Aria admitted, fidgeting with her sleeves, avoiding eye contact with Zazie and Largo.

"Why do you think something's not right?" Largo suddenly butted in, clueless and perplexed as to what was unfolding.

Zazie simply inhaled deeply, urging himself to calm down. He shook his head as he shrugged. "I… I don't know…" he answered. "All I know is… it just doesn't feel right," he furrowed his eyebrows even more, thinking hard and deep, eyes gazing at the floor.

It felt wrong. Surely, visiting a sick person is completely normal, but why was this not right? If it were Lag, it would be okay. Connor, and Sylvette too. If they were to check up on Emi then he wouldn't feel so jittery. But what is it with Hiro and Mia that made him strangely anxious? He should rack his mind. What did Hiro and Mia do lately? Well, lately… I've barely even had an encounter with them… he pondered, unconsciously holding his chin in-between his thumb and index finger, as he tucked his free hand underneath his other elbow. The last time I saw them was before the Hive was attacked… and way before that was during the whole time we all rehearsed for the play. After I last saw Mia, I didn't talk to them again.

It was strange. Definitely not normal. Something about his encounters with them were off. It was already at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't point his finger as to what it was. He was in the middle of being baffled and being certain. It irritated him to no end.

"What are you thinking about, Zazie?" Largo questioned, snapping Zazie out of his train of thoughts.

He regained his composure as he looked at Largo in the eye. "It's just weird," he began, causing Largo and Aria to slightly lean towards him, interest piqued. "I've been retracing my steps to my encounters with Hiro and Mia, and they all had something strangely in common." He furrowed his eyebrows, clenching his jaw. "You see… We ran into them just before the Hive was attacked. It—It was strange. They were completely calm when we talked to them. And when we went inside the Hive, it was deserted. The weird thing is that, before we actually talked to them, they were just coming out of the Hive…"

Largo inhaled a sharp breath as Aria pushed her glasses further up her nose bridge. "So you mean to say that, before your encounter with Hiro and Mia, they were just coming out of the Hive, completely calm. But when you entered the Hive yourselves, there were no people in it?" She inquired, voice laced in slight disbelief.

"Yes, exactly. Although I've no sufficient proof about this—about where the people went, but I was very sure that the Hive was abandoned when we all entered. And that was the moment when we were attacked."

"It's probably something fortuitous," Largo guessed.

Aria blinked. "You may say that it might be a coincidence, but there's something in me that says otherwise," she answered, turning to Largo. "Why did they exit the Hive when it was empty, while we weren't there? What did they do inside an empty building? How could they act casual, knowing that there were dangerous men inside?"

Largo stared at her, mouth slightly agape. He slowly turned to look at his hands, which were clasped over the table. "You do have a point," he mumbled. "Something fishy is going on here…"

"And if they were the ones who plotted that incident… how would've they predicted Emi's arrival? Remember? We came from Rose's place right before we went back to the Hive. And our going to those Pigeons was a confidential discussion." Zazie added. "Not only that, but before we dismissed the conversation with them, Hiro said and I quote, 'Thanks for the short chit-chat,' and it was slightly off… And when we entered the Hive, before we fought back, one of the men told us how our shindanjuus 'won't even kill them.' How could they know about that?"

The room was still and rigid, none of them uttering a syllable as Zazie stood motionless, his feet becoming numb. His traveled from Largo to Aria, who were both baffled and held a face filled with incredulity. Then, Largo shifted in his position.

"We… we can't conclude this yet," he spoke up, shakily. "But we can suspect them of something. This is still a conjecture. However, this is actually a half-step closer to reaching our goal, which is to find out who those men are, and how to prevent them from getting Emi. As of now, we should derive more clues and stories behind the past events concerning the men. When Lag gets better, we shall ask him about his encounters with Hiro and Mia. We should interrogate Emi, too.

Those two Bees… I have a bad feeling about them now…" He muttered, placing his mouth underneath his clasped hands. He then perked up. "Speaking of Lag and Emi… how are they? And Sylvette?"

Aria cleared her throat, standing up straighter. "Pete's the one who's been watching over Sylvette for the past few days, while standing guard if in case those men come back. He's been reporting to me ever since, and to cut to the chase, Sylvette's recovering slowly," she informed. "Now, about Lag and Emi… The last time I've checked up on them… Emi was feeling better, compared to before," she then turned to Zazie. "I'd have to give you a hand there, Letter Bee Zazie. You're doing a good job in doing what I've told you to do. You're really looking after her. Thank you," she said with a small smile lingering on her face.

His ears were ablaze as he blinked innocently before staring off into another direction. "Ah—well, it's no big deal…"

"As for Lag, Dr. Thunderland Jr. advised that he won't be moving around anytime soon. Lag's still pushing himself, telling us that he's okay, but he's in a really bad shape as I speak," she sighed. "I'm just glad they didn't do anything that injured him badly. Emi's in a bad condition herself. She just keeps on beating herself up… she often gets dizzy spells now due to her overthinking."

"Well, if I were Emi, I guess I'd do and feel the same, too," Largo said. He sighed. "But what should we do about this? I also can't agree on giving her away. She's one of my children now…"

"I think the safest and most practical thing to do now is to wait for them to recover, and once they do, we should ask them about their encounters with Hiro and Mia. Then from there, we might actually add two and two. It can be possible," Zazie hypothesised, earning interested nods from Aria and Largo. He then frowned. "But this is wrong. We're moving too slow. They've already hurt three of our comrades, two physically and one emotionally and they've actually infiltrated the Hive and yet here we are… I think we should start fighting back—"

"No, it's too risky… we need to come up with concrete plans and proves. We should outsmart them, not be under shame because of our recklessness," Aria countered, causing Zazie to scoff lightly.

"But… didn't you hear what Lag said?" he answered in a low voice. He knew where this was leading. But he was too frustrated. It's too late to back down now. "The men are actually willing to hurt each and every one of us until they have Emi in their arms."

"But I reckon, Zazie, that you can't agree to them having Emi, right?" Largo butted in, a small mischievous smile forming in his lips.

Zazie huffed through his nose. "Of course I don't agree! But that doesn't mean that I'll just stand here, simply discussing about this as if this happens everyday, when anything could happen to Emi that Empress knows what and I don't have a goddamn idea of what I should do! I can't just stand here and move slowly while my friends are getting hurt! I don't want them to feel any more pain—I," he paused from his short tantrum. "I can't afford to be like this… I want something to happen. I just can't watch from the sidelines. I want this to end, goddammit."

"If you want something to happen, then do you know the basics?" Largo asked him.

He simply furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about now?"

"Do you know where their hideout is? Who they actually are? If Hiro and Mia are part of this gang? What is this gang? What is their purpose? Why are they doing what they're doing? What do they do to those people? Since when have they been doing this?" Largo enumerated, slowly and surely. "These, my boy… we have yet to find out. How can you fight back when you do not know their location? How can you want something to happen when you don't know what is happening yourself? We should stay calm. Let them fight their own battle, physically or emotionally. They'll be under our magnifying glasses. We'll be observing them as they put their moves on us…"

He grinned an elvish grin. "While we wait for the moment we say, 'Checkmate.'"

A/N: I don't know now, lol. Guess after this, I'll be gone for another long time(?) since it's getting hard for me to come up with a new chapter because of how busy I am but hey it won't even be easy to notice because this fandom is quite dead, mhmm. But I'm really determined to finish this one. For Voodoo Doll… it's a bit meh now. But maybe I'll try lol. Then about this baby's sequel, maybe I'll just come up with an Epilogue or something.

Welp, hope you liked it.