45: Trust
Wednesday
7:45 AM
Sekai
My train ran late. If I'm going to get to school, I'll have to book it.
Good thing I lathered up on deodorant…
With foot traffic everywhere, I'm barely able to stay upright. When I finally catch a glimpse of the school, I'm stopped by a voice.
"Excuse me,"
A man. His voice is raspy but far from unfriendly. I turn on my back foot to see what he looks like.
It can't be…
His eyes widen. Tears roll down his cheeks as he eyes peer into mine.
"It's you… It's been so long, but…"
"Dad…"
I shake my head, curing my out-of-character daze. "What do you want?"
"I…" He sighs, "I want to talk."
He pauses as if expecting a response. He gets none.
"I know that I've been a terrible father. It just didn't hit me till now. Even if you don't want me around… I want to make things right."
Why now… It'd been going so well…
"To do that, I'd like to talk after school. Does 4:30 at that parfait shop sound—"
"I've gotta,"
I push past him without looking back.
"Sekai, I—"
He shuts himself up. Even with the distraction, I make it to school on time.
12:25 PM
Chie
"Hey,"
I step in front of Kyouichi. Unassuming, he smiles at me. "What's up?"
"Your cronies said 'uncle'," Youka jumps in, "don't even try hiding what you did."
"Hiding what?" He chuckles and shrugs, "I'm confused."
Furious, I sock him in the gut. He keels over, biting down on his lip. "Ouch…"
"I know you had Taisuke destroy my camera."
"What are you talking about?" He stands straight. "I don't even know him."
"We didn't hold back," Ion frowns, "we gave them everything we had before they told us who they told us who they worked with. After all that, they wouldn't have lied to us."
"Isn't it possible they just told you what you wanted to hear?" He argues. "Didn't you just say you 'gave them everything we had'? They'd be desperate to get you to stop."
"Maybe…" I shake my head, frustrated I'm letting him play me. "No. This sounds exactly like the kind of thing you'd do. You didn't wanna get slut-shamed for sleeping around with that bitch."
"Don't talk about her like that!" He shouts, drawing everyone in the hall's attention. "You can insult me all day but turn on her, and I swear I'll do something you regret."
His intensity unnerves me, but I quickly recover. "You're not strong enough to take us on."
Realizing this, he nods. "I know. But please… You have to believe me. I had nothing to do with this."
Not wanting to get anyone else involved, I let him leave.
"Why did you do that?" Youka snaps. "We know he's guilty."
"Yeah, but we need proof," I cross my arms, "if only I still had my camera… What about you two?"
"My family has one," Ion suggests, "it's old, but it'll do."
"Huh?" Youka raises an eyebrow.
"I think the best way to get revenge on Kyouichi is turn the tables on him," I smirk, "and to do that, all we have to do is to find some dirt on him…"
Wednesday
12:35 PM
Yuuki
She's acting… Weird.
She dropped her chopsticks after she handed me mine. Her eyes keep darting to the clouds.
I want to ask her what's wrong. It makes me uneasy to know she's hurting.
But… Would she tell me?
Either way… I think it's worth a shot.
"Sekai-chan?"
"Hm?" She looks my way, restraining her nervousness.
"Is something wrong?"
She swallows the dumpling in her mouth. "What do you mean?"
"Well…" It's kind of hard to articulate. "I feel like you're… somewhere else."
She holds back a giggle.I realize this is a common mannerism for sekkai here but it seems out of place or if it is used it should be… forced… sickly
"Well… I mean… You're thinking about something, and it's bothering you. Do you mind telling me what it is?"
"N-no," she stutters slightly but follows strong, "I'm just worried about exams. They're not far off, ya know."
"You can tell me," I ignore her attempt to dodge the subject and put my hands on hers. "I don't care what it is. I'll listen,"
Noticing her hands are still on her lap, she blushes, "You're being really forward right now, you know…"
"C'mon, Sekai," I continue, impatient, "how can I be there for you if you never let me know what's going on? I'm trying to hold up my end, but you're pushing me away—"
"I told you it was nothing," she retorts, a little peeved, "don't you trust me?"
"I…" I pull my hands away from hers and sigh, "I just wanted to help. You don't have to be so rude,"
"Rude?" She crosses her arms. "I don't wanna talk about something, and you call that 'rude'?"
"Well… I'm not doing anything wrong," I throw her a harsh glare, "and you act like I am."
"What?!" She stands up, knocking over what's left of her food. "Stop jumping to conclusions; I'm not mad at you."
"Then, why are you getting so defensive?"
"Because…"
She holds her tongue. Sweeping the food that spilled back into her lunch box, she sits back down.
"I don't wanna talk about it. Maybe later, but… Not right now…"
"Sekai…" I start, remorseful, "I'm sorr—"
"Don't worry about it," she sniggers, "let's not spend the rest of the hour talking about something like this."
She kisses my nose.
"After all, there are other things we could be talking about," she winks.
Wednesday
2:27 PM
Sekai
"Sekai-chan,"
Yuuki finds me in the hallway once classes are over, his eyes filled with concern, his voice wavering.
"Are you feeling any better? I'm sorry I was so stubborn earlier, I just—"
"It's okay," I nod. "I'm glad you care,"
He half-smiles.
"And I'm fine. It's just… I don't want you to get wrapped up in something so complicated."
"Um…" He hesitates but finally says, "okay. I trust you."
"Thanks," I run off afterwards, forcing myself to muster the enthusiasm to get this over with.
Wednesday
4:25 PM
Sekai
"Isn't the guy supposed to arrive early to a date?"
I joke half-heartedly to myself as I wait at Crème de la Crème.
"Yuuki standing you up?" Hikari chuckles.
"I wish…" My shoulders slump.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"I don't know," I wrap my arms around my stomach, "it's a long story, and I don't have time to go into it."
"Either way…" she smiles, "it's really brave of you to want to tackle it on your own. I mean, you didn't even bring Yuuki."
"I… don't really want him to know about this," I frown, "it's baggage I shouldn't have had to deal with in the first place."
The bell hanging from the front door rings. I stare at the man now in front of it.
"Hey," I narrow my eyes.
"… I know I'm intruding," he hangs his head, "but I can't leave things as they were."
