DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT A PART OF THE PLOT!
Chapter 16 – CONFLICTED
One month later, we had just finished our mid-year exam, and were now indulging in the happiness of its end. Finally, I did not have to burn the midnight oil anymore… definitely great news, because the dark circles beneath my eyes darkened. I wondered how many cucumber slices I needed to make them go away.
It was recess time and everyone rushed out of the classroom as usual, only I stayed behind. I still had tons of things to do. I quickly finished the only Math homework thus far, and went to the empty teacher's desk to grab the newspaper. There was a block on the headlines page: Kingdom Hearts High School's Abduction Completed Investigation Report Released Today. Eh? Finally done? I flipped open the newspaper to the indicated page.
The report was indeed complete, but it was too long and redundant. In order to not let you fall asleep halfway and thus disrupt your biological clock, I would summarise the whole thing and inform you the missing information (was I kind? Yeah, yeah, thank me later, ha). Turned out, the kidnappers were two butlers from Fayra's home, they were fired without any reason and they wanted revenge, so they hatched a plan and successfully kidnapped her in exchange for the ransom. By now those two were sitting in jail for their committed crime.
As for the haunted building, after some lengthy discussion on the school's side, it would be demolished, with the first phase set to run this June and the next phase in the year-end holidays. Seriously, if the school was going to appoint me for another crazy training like the last one, I would respond with a sick leave. I would quit! I decided not to care about my extracurricular activities' grade anymore, my life was worth way more than that, and I did not plan on breaking my family's hearts because of some meaningless crap! [Authoress: Just admit it; you are scared of dying… No need to fabricate your fear with such big words. 207: *raising and wagging an index finger slowly, like a "no-no" sign* Dear authoress, all humans fear death, this is what I call survival instinct. Authoress: Yeah, yeah, whatever…]
Besides, activities' grades were only needed for local public university admission; I could still further my studies without it. Life was only that short, I would be a fool to waste my time, money, energy and brain for this bloody scoring system. But then again, local private universities were more expensive, foreign universities were definitely out of the question. My family was not rich, and my current academic performance did not seem to increase my odds of getting a scholarship…
In conclusion, I hated being pinned down by my scores, especially extracurricular activities. End of story.
No wonder my mental age was so high, I had a mentality of a person in their mid-to-late twenties despite actually being fifteen, what an old youngster I was… I knew too much. I really wondered who was I in my past life, and why did they not finish their "Forgetful Soup" when they were about to reincarnate?! How dare they waste food, and to think many people are starving in third world countries… (According to Chinese myths, souls have to cross a bridge and drink the "Forgetful Soup" before they reincarnate to lose all their memories and born anew) And now they had done it; maybe some past sentiment lingered and made me feel so old…
Just then, a knock on the classroom door disturbed my thoughts. "Excuse me, but is Nemixiljix Silva in?" Why were they looking for me? I looked at the girl outside of the classroom and said, "I am, how can I help you?" She answered, "Someone asked me to give you this letter." That was strange, did people still send letters around despite the technology we had? Still, I walked over to her and took the white envelope from her. I asked, "Who is this from?" "I'm afraid I don't know, because yet another person gave this to the one who gave me. Oh, right, I was told to remind you to only read this in private." Why so mysterious, as if I had just received a top secret order from some underground society? The girl saw her work was done and said, "I will be on my way now." And she left quickly. I remained on the same spot, thinking, "No point in asking her, since I would know who sent this after I read it, right?"
Since this mysterious person wanted it to be a low profile, I might as well play along. I pretended as if nothing happened and slipped the envelope into my pocket and made my way to the washroom. I went into an empty toilet booth and locked myself up. I opened the envelope gingerly and started reading. The content was as follows:
You might have a whole load of questions to ask me. I also have some in store for you, so I need to see you, even if I truly go against this idea.
There will be arranged transport waiting for you when school ends tomorrow, plate number XXX XXXX. We can talk once you have reached my house, and you have to come whether you like it or not. Remember, if I can take you to the skies, of course I can also shoot you down to hell. Do not mention this to anyone else. And don't worry, this won't take you too long, and you will be escorted home once we are done.
Wait at the school's back exit tomorrow. Signing off for now.
F.J.C.C.
Upon reading up to here, my heart just went cold, and I was sure my facial expression was not any better. I could still recognise Fayra's handwriting even if I went blind, and it was still the same; small and written lightly without exerting too much force on the paper. I had not seen her ever since we met at the hospital last month. Well, I did not plan on seeing her ever since the full-fledged conflict she waged at us last year. It had been a year… and I still had not prepared myself mentally to face her.
She still had a point; I did have a lot of questions to ask her in person. With the haunted building incident and exam going on lately, I almost forgot all about it. And she was still absent since the abduction. I thought I could just forget about her and avoid reality. Based on the current situation, it was time for us to settle this once and for all.
Soon, the bell rang, so I put the letter back into the envelope and flushed the toilet, even though I did not use it (pretending as if nothing had happened, remember?) and came out. When I reached the classroom, I immediately shoved the envelope into a book and snapped it shut. It was then Zexion showed up and said, "Nemix, we are heading to the science lab now." Ah, right, almost forgot… I pulled out a few books and was about to move out, but he interrupted, "Say, Nemix, what are you bringing your Chinese textbook for?" I spaced out for a second and found out that I took the wrong book. "Am I getting an early Alzheimer's or what…?" I smacked a palm on my face and muttered. This time, I got the right book. Zexion eyed me carefully and said, "Are you alright? You are not this distracted most of the time." I shrugged and said, "It's nothing, it's just that I have the tendency to zone out after major exams. Let's go."
On our way, I was bundled up in the thoughts of what questions I should ask Fayra, or where I should start and the like. Should I write all of these down on a piece of paper? But it would look as if I was interviewing her… I imagined myself wearing in professional wear, sitting on a sofa scribbling furiously on a small notebook like a reporter, while she was dressed extravagantly and bragged about herself, sipping her tea… For Kingdom Hearts' sake, what was I thinking-
"BANG!" I walked straight into a metal pillar.
"… Nemix, you… should go home get some early sleep. You do not have to come for the group meeting later, alright?" Zexion commented, with a small hint of worry.
It sounded good, seeing that I did not feel like doing anything later anyway.
I never thought the last bell for the day in school rang so soon. I was always waiting for it most of the time; what I got was not the one I wanted. And now what I wished for was not the one I got. I told my mum not to fetch me after school, since I have to go to a "friend's" house to discuss something. Wait, I did not even know whether to classify Fayra as my friend… I really had to clarify these grey areas or I might just go crazy.
I slowed down my packing up today on purpose, and Roxas picked this time to ask me, "You're not in a hurry today?" I quickly countered that with an excuse, "Not really, I just realised I have to return some books, so I need to run for the library. You can go ahead." "Ah, I see… Okay, see you tomorrow." After he said that, he left with the others. Once the coast was clear, I exited via the back door of the classroom. Roxas could be so gullible at times; it was no secret that I still had not renewed my library card, how did I borrow any books in the first place? I picked up my pace and arrived at the back gate, the designated venue. I saw a shiny black Mercedes idling under a tree. I walked towards it and two men in suit came out of the car and one of them asked, "Miss Silva, I presume?" I did not feel like explaining, so I pointed at the nametag pinned just above my school badge; my name was there. I just wanted to get this done and over with…
They opened the door for me and I got on and sat on the back seat. The door was shut and the car left the back gate. I clutched onto my school bag which was placed on my lap, trying to calm down while mentally rehearsing what I should do in case something unexpected happened. Then again, what serious business did Fayra have that she had to see me in person? And I was basically forced to go. Like she implied, I would not be able to do a thing against what she decided to do to me. Could it be that we were brought back to Kingdom Hearts High only because of her? But this looked as if I was taken away by force… That was it, if these people wanted to harm me, I could just jump out of the car.
The car exited the city centre and reached an extravagant residential area. People said most, if not all, rich people of the city lived here. Each building passing before my eyes were supersized mansions, even if I tripled the size of my home, it was still smaller than one of them. Do not tell me Fayra was trying to show off her family's wealth to me? Honestly, that spoilt girl… as if I would get jealous. I kept staring at the front, and the car finally slowed down and stopped at a mansion at the end of the left lane. "We're here," said the driver. I grabbed my bag and got off the car. The car went into the garage nearby. I carried the bag on my back and walked towards the opened large entrance gate, there were potted plants on both sides of the lane I took, while morning glory grew on the walls. There was also a fountain at the centre, providing the much needed coolness. When I was a few steps awayfrom the door, two servants were already standing there.
"Good afternoon, Miss Fayra is already waiting for you in the study."
"… Please lead the way."
There were too many details to describe this mansion. After gawking at them, I could only summarise everything about it as a mini Versailles. Led by the servants, I walked through numerous corridors and finally stopped at one big wooden door. They pulled the door open for me and after muttering thanks, I went inside. Actually, I could manage the door myself just fine… They seemed to have left after closing the enormous door. I pulled the heavy bag off my shoulders and held it in my hand. I slowly walked to the centre of the study. And I thought she was waiting for me already? How punctual.
Just then, I heard a low piano note being played from the right. "Dong…" I turned my head to said direction; Fayra was sitting on the piano chair. I stared at her without any emotions, she reminded impatiently, "You're late." I gave a sneer and said, "Traffic congestion is everywhere at this time, maybe you're absent for too long a time and cannot catch up with the world." She did not respond and I continued, "You were hiding behind a piano; how would I know you're here? I thought you're the one not being punctual here." She was not very amused and clicked her tongue. She stood up and walked towards the sofa at the centre. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Now, don't say that I am mistreating you. Sit here."
I walked to the sofa but chose to sit on the opposite of her, putting my bag down beside my legs. She poured two cups of tea and I nodded slightly as a sign of gratitude. She sipped on it slowly and mused, "I thought you aren't coming, it's been such a while and your appearance hasn't changed much." I frowned a bit and said, "Um, can we… go straight to the point? I haven't had my lunch yet, you know." She took a glance at me and then looked elsewhere, saying, "Not only your appearance, even your blasted personality…" I decided not to comment on that, because I had prepared a lot of questions to bombard her.
Fayra tugged on her loose pink dress slightly and said, "Fine, what do you like to ask?" I took a deep breath and started, "How did you know we were in Japan? Why did you want us back?" She raised an eyebrow at the questions and then replied, "What you guys did back there was too sensational, one click on the internet and there you go…" Her hands rubbed against each other awkwardly, and she suddenly tried to avoid eye contact; was she lying? I pondered a bit and said, "Is that so? So that's how you know we were at Matsushita Academy and phoned there?" "Of course, Matsushita Academy's principal is such a nice man." I smothered a laugh and pointed out, "Say, Fayra Joanne, cut the crap. Since when did I study at Matsushita Academy, and that the principal is a male? You didn't even realise we were in Japan! Someone told you that we were in Matsuaki Academy, and that person couldn't be the director, because she had no reason to tell you that. So there had to be someone else…"
She was speechless at my words, and her eyes widened a bit. I continued, "I wonder who told you that? Could it be…?" I was planning on creating some half-ended statements as cliff-hangers to make her tell the truth, but she raised her tone and almost yelled, "S-stop asking! Don't mention him to me!" Now I was the one feeling shocked and stopped talking immediately. Fayra did not look calm at all, as if she had been through too much shock and fear. What happened? I thought for a while and carefully put my words together, "We are the only ones in this room… no one is eavesdropping on us. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Fayra slowly regained her normal breathing rate, and slowly the words spilled out, "Everything started… last year… He and I…" She paused, trembling slightly. I just nodded my head slowly and prompted, "Go on, I'm listening." "… I went on a date with him, a small trip down town. And then he took me to the seaside… watching the sea, having lunch, strolling on the beach… We had a good time. When night arrived, we went to this extravagant hotel… for buffet dinner…" I nodded in between her story, concentrating on her. I would just assume this "him" as that scumbag then. Dang it, I still did not know his name.
"Turned out, he wanted to celebrate our six-month dating anniversary… so he arranged a ball… I told him I hadn't prepared anything, not even a proper dress, but he said never mind and took me to buy one… I remembered picking a flaming red one. He complimented on it, saying how it made my fair complexion stood out, how it matched his suit perfectly… He even brought that rose perfume. We returned to that hotel and the sky was totally dark. He led me to the ballroom and we just danced the night away… He requested two glasses of red wine and we went to the exterior garden. Under the moonlight… we just talked and enjoyed the wine…" Fayra retold her story intermittently, while the more I listened, the more disconcerted I felt.
She stopped and sipped her tea, and I did the same. The tea was great, but I did not have the mood to enjoy it. She took a deep breath and continued, "I'd never forget that moment… his deep eyes, the firm embrace, the passionate…" She paused yet again and bit on her lips slightly. OK, I got the picture… "… And then?" I asked softly, if I overreacted and she went ballistic, it would not end well. She carried on, "I must have felt tired that time, or I was getting tipsy, but I remembered being brought to a hotel room… after I took a whiff on that perfume again, I lost consciousness. When I finally woke up, I was stripped, he just… just… forced himself on me! And then… I don't know… I…" The Fayra before me now could not possibly speak anymore, only tears streamed down her cheeks. She was quivering, gripping onto her dress on her lap. Her knuckles turned white.
I shut my eyes upon hearing this, and turned my head to the lower left corner. I could not believe what I had just actually heard. I had always thought rape cases like these were so far away… I never imagined they could detonate around us. Soon, I reopened my eyes and watched her with a dead serious face. I did not know what to say, so I replied, "I'm very sorry." I seriously did not know how to continue asking. Heck, I did not even know how to face her right now, and how I should communicate with her, so as not to hurt her.
She sobbed and said, "The next day onwards, he disappeared, completely disappeared from my life… He wouldn't pick up the phone, not even replying my messages… After two to three months, he finally called me! He angrily ordered me to look at the newspaper, but I didn't get to read it carefully and he told me to meet up with him. We were back at the same hotel… Beside him… was another girl! Almost the same age as me… how dare he told me… he… he wanted to break up with me…!" She could not take it and slammed a fist onto the tea table. The cups and teapot had to endure an earthquake, but they did not fall off. Such an outcome was easily predictable… But since she mentioned the newspaper, that could have been when she might have noticed the ruckus we caused in Japan. "He even kissed that girl right in front of me! He said he loved me so much… how could he do this to me? Why?!"
I was almost taken aback by her outburst, I knew that scumbag was not any good guy, not even close to the knight in shining armour as she had put it. She started hyperventilating and I said, "Calm down… I believe your family still hadn't caught wind of what happened to you, so it would be best if we toned down. First, tell me, what does this have anything to do with asking us to come back?" Fayra glanced over to me, I put on the same dead serious face, saying nothing.
She then averted her gaze to her hands and replied, "Sometime later… he contacted me again, he said he needed some money. And with the video he took when he did… that to me, he threatened me to bring him some cash… I was taken away by force when I arrived at the designated venue… The police later told me I was drugged, lost consciousness and was hid at that haunted building. Later, Aunt told me my family didn't want to hand over the ransom just like that, and they happened to come across the news about you and your gang in Japan. They decided to bring you all back and solve the problem for them, you know, using the training camp as a ruse… He was the mastermind. While the butlers who teamed up with him were arrested, he managed to escape…"
… What?! That was just neglecting our lives and using us to do their dirty job! I might let it slide if only I was involved, but what about the other eight people? They were all innocent! Damn… that Devilish Director! I was getting angry and spat, "Why did you have to involve so many people? Zexion was kidnapped halfway through, Axel was almost shot for saving us, Xion fell down the stairs, Ven, Kairi and Naminé were unrelated to all of these! In order to save you and you alone, we were almost killed in the process!"
Fayra could not take it and snapped, "Are you saying that my life means nothing?! How can you compare what you've been through with mine? I let all of you return home to make your lives easier, and now you're being ungrateful?!" I stood up abruptly and clenched my fists, growling, "They are all innocent! If there's anyone you want to fire your grudge at, fire away at me; we being enemies isn't something recent, but don't you dare endanger my friends!" She also jumped at my words and screamed, "Don't you ever consider me as your friend?!"
At that moment, we went silent suddenly, as if shocked at what we said…
She started, "Do you still remember when we're still in elementary school? We were once so inseparable…" I stifled another wave of flaming anger, looking at the deepest part of my heart, where that memory I would never reminisce resided. Back then, we were best friends, while other members of Lucky 7 were scattered in different schools and we did not know each other until high school. We could talk just about anything in school, but I would rather regard ourselves as friendly rivals. Anything was comparable among us; height, weight, marks, who fell down during a match, who scored the most in games, who finished their homework first, who cleared up their lunch completely…
Between us, I was the elder one, while she was like a little sister. I was made fun of a lot back then (strangely, it seemed like the elder ones were bullied more frequently than younger ones… what a weird world), and she would stand up for me. Whenever she encountered problems, I would help her to the best of my abilities. I remembered her saying to me, "We really, really have to go to Kingdom Hearts High School together! We have to be in the same class. And we can finally be together again!" I said this too, "Of course I'd like to, but my results aren't as good as yours, so we might not be in the same class." "You have to work harder, seriously! The trial examination is near, we have to fight to the end!" "Yeah!"
And I did work very hard, with some pushes and threats of course (I was scared of my mum chasing after me if I did terribly, haha). With her words of motivation, I felt I would surely make it, even catching those stars from the sky. We had our math exam that day…
My math back then was so weak that I could not even differentiate between perimeter and area. Luckily I overcame that problem once I got to 8th Grade, but that was not the point. I was stuck at that one hard question, no solutions popped up in my head. Suddenly something hit my head lightly and dropped on my desk; a small strip of crumpled paper. I told myself, "This is an exam, opening this means cheating." Thus, I decided not to open it and swept it across the desk discreetly, letting it drop to the floor silently. Soon, another one did a perfect soft landing before me again, I peeked around without turning my head too much; Fayra was also peeking at me as well, it could be her doing.
I still did not open it and swept it quietly to the floor. She seemed panicked this time, and tossed another one to me, but this time… "You, what are you doing?" I was startled and jerked, my pencil lead broke on the sudden impact. I slowly shifted my gaze upwards from my question paper. I was finished… caught cheating in an exam spelled doom to any student… but no teacher stood before me. Then that meant… I followed the gaze of my classmates; Fayra! I still remembered how I stared dumbfounded at the teacher confiscating her exam sheets and telling her to stand by the whiteboard. Ten minutes later, all exam sheets were collected and she was brought to the principal's office.
My mum quickly caught wind of that incident and after getting all the details, she reassured me that I did not do anything wrong, so there was no reason to fear. I never wanted to cheat, of course I was not afraid. What I feared was what would happen later. My classmates claimed to have witnessed Fayra throwing the paper at me, but I did not entertain it; some said I did not reply after reading it; some even accused me cheating with her help. And the truth was twisted whenever people relayed it among one another, bit by bit, and it was getting outrageous! I declared in indignation, "I never read that paper strip, I didn't cheat." Later, the surveillance cameras in the classroom proved my innocence and I was free of the accusations at last. The school invalidated Fayra's results. After the director's intervention, she was granted a second chance to retake the exam.
Being a naïve person I was back then, I thought everything was settled and nothing would happen later, like the sun emerging after a heavy storm. I never knew that was the beginning of something worse... From that day on, she stopped talking to me, our relationship dropped to freezing point. I was later told of the content of the paper strips she sent me; the first two were asking whether I was doing fine, while the last one was a "distress signal" since she was stuck on another question. I, for the first time, felt what it was like to be betrayed; she knew better than I did that it was an exam, so why did she want to drag me down with her? If I did not know the answer, let it be. I would rather hand in an incomplete answer sheet than taking unprincipled shortcuts. And she wanted me to be her accomplice? She was not acting in my best interests!
"She is not my friend anymore… never in my life!" My heart told me.
Years passed and I got into 9th Grade, although I did not feel the hatred as strongly as before, I never wanted to have anything to do with her anymore. We went from friends to strangers and to enemies, and that significantly strengthened my sense of right and wrong. It was as if that naïve side of me was murdered. Was the murderer Fayra or me? I would never know, and it was not important anymore. "We were best friends once…" she said with a faraway expression, she was not looking at anything in particular. I frowned and stared at the floor, muttering, "Even so, it is in the past tense."
It was her turn to reminisce, "I remembered you liked to act tough, during that one P.E. lesson, we had to run 400 metres. Our group almost lost, you fell down a lot and was so tired, yet you still insisted to finish the run…" Yeah, I remembered being the last representative of my group. She continued again, "You fainted after you finished running, I even had to carry you to the infirmary, and I was so worried… You bleeding wouldn't stop, although the blood was not too much, it seemed serious… I had always admired your performance in P.E. and I was sickly back then, so I…" Strangely, she stopped there, I suspected her hiding something from me again, so I pressed on, "So you what?"
"I sneaked some cotton with your blood on it back home and asked someone to test it. I found out that… your blood seemed to lack vitamin D. They said something about poor absorption or something…" she said, expressionless. I was very surprised and blurted, "W… What?" She tried to explain, "I found out later that this condition would disrupt calcium ion balance in the blood, when your breathing rate increases, too much carbon dioxide is expelled, and causes the blood pH to increase… I don't know! The report had too much jargon and it's so messy, find it out yourself!" I was in a blur. What was she talking about? I never told anyone about this except when people found out. My "old" ailment… she knew that already?! No wonder there was a time when I passed out after a relapse, she said, "Wow, she really fell, so it's true!" (Refer to Chapter 8)
"I got curious once, and posted this whole report on a blog to see if someone can answer me. A few commented… and I followed up with them, but soon the correspondence stopped…" Wait a minute, for the last two years I had about five relapses, she… was she the one who spilled my weakness?! I recalled the scene in which Sato was taken away by the police in Japan, back then he said, "The info that girl provided was too accurate, you fell indeed…" (Refer to Chapter 13) I started to feel myself trembling slightly, how could I not feel angry? "I almost got myself killed many times because of this condition, and turned out, you posted this online, and let others exploit it?! Fayra Joanne, this is just too much! You still have the nerve to say you're my friend?! You are never concerned about me at all! I can let go of the fact that you exploited it for your own interests, yet you let others to use this against me. Not only had you almost killed me, but Lucky 7 as well!" I raised my tone out of anger.
She got frightened and tried to explain, "I… How would I know things would turn out like this? I'm just curious-" "I don't care if you're so curious! You should not post such private things on the Internet, where privacy is virtually nil! Don't overdo your revenge!" I interrupted her and continued scolding.
Just then, there was a knock on the wooden door and a voice was heard from outside, "Sorry, but is something happening?" Hastily, Fayra answered, "Nothing! Everything's fine, go and do your chores." I realised that I had gone out of control, so I tried to sit down. After calming down, I said, "Sorry, I got too carried away, but I believe our meeting objective is not just to quarrel, huh?" Fayra nodded and went back to her seat on the sofa.
I had a new question, "Where's he right now?" She stared blankly at me, not understanding. I cleared my throat and said, "That 'him' you mentioned… I'm sure he's not working in the school now, is he?" "… From that day on, he quitted his job." I looked straight into her eyes and said, "I take it that you haven't filed a report on him?" She kept really quiet this time. Typical reaction after such a thing happened, geez. I continued, "You were kidnapped because of him, and he did… that to you, you should've informed the police and settled everything once and for all." She looked at me, anxiety evident on her face. She mumbled, "You… you're going to report on him and get him arrested, right?" I replied bluntly, "What do you think?"
All hell seemed to break loose, Fayra leaped from her seat, grabbed my hands and said, "I beg you, please don't report to the police! If you do, he will be back… no, he will never appear again. Please don't!" I just wanted to scold her all over again, but since she was in such a state, I fumed, "Give me a really good reason."
"I know you probably won't accept my reasons, but I believe he still loves me… even if what happened between us wasn't what I consented to… I really don't want to see him sentenced… Please…" I was not sure if she faked on-the-verge-of-tears tone or not, but I had to admit, it was very convincing. Unfortunately, I was not going to buy it. I carefully yet firmly removed her hands from mine and said, "Don't you know that doing that to an underage girl, regardless of her consent, is considered rape? I believe he not only had violated this law. This with the kidnapping was enough to put him in jail. Rather than letting him roam free and humiliate other women, I'd rather see him arrested, getting rid of one society disaster."
I stood up and said, "I took too long, so I will be taking my leave right now." And then, I picked up my school bag and turned around. She said nothing, but I had no idea what she was going to say since I had my back against her. I continued nonetheless, "My apologies, I cannot comply with your request. Only the police can be of help now." Yeah, I just needed to inform the relevant authorities, and it would be the end of my job. I needed some private time to let all of these sink in. "Please, I beg you! I'm kneeling now- ah…" Her desperate voice came from behind, but a small exclamation popped up at the end of her sentence, as if she had bumped into something. I was about to walk to the wooden door, but I stopped upon hearing that, and I turned around to see what happened. Her knees were on the floor indeed, one of her hand was on the tea table, while another was lifted from the floor and rested on her stomach. Maybe she did not see where she was going and bumped into the table edge. I thought, "Please stop acting like it's the end of the world before me… Stop hurting yourself to change an inevitable decision… We're better off this way." I took one last glance at her and turned again to leave.
"… That hurt… help…"
And then, nothing else, only heavy breathing ensued. I looked back again, but was shocked; Fayra's face was very pale and I could see cold sweats on her forehead. She seemed to be in intense pain. "Hey… What's wrong with you?" I asked, after sensing something else was going on, I dropped my bag and rushed over to her. "… I'm fine, I just knocked into the table… ow…" When she saw my return, she merely brushed it off with a dismissive wave of her free hand. She tried to get up with obvious effort. Nevertheless, I helped her back to the sofa. I unintentionally touched her stomach, it was quite round and firm, like a balloon. Do not tell me…!
I was very surprised and questioned, "You… are you…?!" She did not answer right away, when her pain subsided a bit, she said weakly, "Yes… I know… I only found out lately, it is already four months old… I didn't go to school after the date until I was rescued from the abduction. While resting in the hospital, I felt strange, so I secretly bought a test strip and used it… And then…" I felt like something was gripping my throat, and I could not say anything. I did not see this coming at all. "I… this…" I was speechless once again.
"Someone has to pick up the responsibility as his father… I beg you… don't inform the police first… or else what should I do? What should I do with this kid? Oh god…" She was on the verge of tears again, and I was swayed a little. Now what? I had never encountered such situations before… What should I do? I urged myself to calm down… and then I said, "I will see how this would develop for now, and I will keep it as a secret… But don't take this for granted." After I finished, I walked back to my bag and picked it up, and made my way to the wooden door. "Thank… you." I paused briefly to let her finish, but I did not reply. I pushed the door open and walked out. I exited the entrance and hopped on the car from before and left the mansion for good.
Half an hour later, I reached home and made myself instant cup noodles for lunch. I locked myself in my room after taking a shower, surfing the net. I still had some questions about my ailment… After some time, using my limited scientific knowledge, I came up with a conclusion: somehow, I did not know how, my vitamin D level in my blood was not high. This could cause the calcium ion level in my blood to be low. If I engaged in vigorous exercise or panicked and hyperventilated, too much carbon dioxide would be expelled. This decreased the concentration of hydrogen ions (Le Chatelier's Principle) while increasing the blood pH, also known as alkalosis. So, I suspected this was the respiratory alkalosis I read from the Internet. It disrupted the balance of calcium ions and triggered symptoms of low calcium ions in the body, including light-headedness, fainting, paraesthesia and hyperventilation. There were also cases of numbness and tingling at the lips, fingers and toes, some showed carpopedal spasm. Okay, so was my calcium level low or did I need to control how fast I breathe? Or I lacked vitamin D? That was impossible; I was under the sun everyday… and I did not have eating disorders or malnutrition… except certain veggies. Hold on, that was vitamin C. What a mess! Ugh…
I fell onto my bed and thought, "Forget it! Too much had happened… a nap sounds nice."
Fayra still had not come to school. Even if I did not see her face, I would still get worked up at the thought of her. Yes, it happened, and nothing could reverse time, but I just wanted to her to wake up. I had already told her dating with that scumbag was the last thing she wanted, yet she ignored my warnings. Of course, it was not the victim's fault, but lacking such common sense was not a good excuse. We had to protect ourselves, seriously… Had she not be in such a situation, I would have contacted the police to arrest him and given him a one-way ticket to free meals in jail!
"Nemix, what equals to two to the power of three?"
"Six, don't you know?" I answered without even thinking.
Wait, what?
I froze for a second, Demyx, who asked the question, said, "It's 23, not 2x3… the answer is eight." Xion looked at me and asked, "Nemix, are you OK? How could you get this wrong?" I sighed and patted my head softly, saying, "I really have early Alzheimer's… Good god, I'm going crazy…" Axel chimed in, "Looks like nobody will score perfectly in the next exam, and we won't have another free treat." Roxas poked at his arm and said, "Why is your head full of food? I hope you become a fat goose then!" I did not pay attention to their conversation but just leaned my head on the table. Since the teacher was not here yet, and I did not sleep well last night, I decided to nap to make up for the deprivation of sleep.
Zexion put down his novel and observed what was going on around him. His eyes had a small hint of concern. "Nemix has been acting too weird lately, ever since the mid-year exam, she looks out of place and zones out a lot. I have to ask her what happened when I get a chance…" He started to formulate a plan in his head and returned to his novel soon after.
I was woken up by the school bell later. Still hazy from the slumber, I looked at my watch, only to realise that school was already over. Time sure flew quickly when one was asleep. Do not get me wrong, I was not trying to sound miserable, but everyone would have agreed with me. I started to pack up my things and grabbed my bag. I made a turn and was caught off guard by Zexion, who appeared out of nowhere. "Whoa! Seriously, Zexion, why are you standing behind me without a sound? There's no cure if you scared me to death," I patted my chest and said. He explained calmly, "You were so caught up with your sleep, so I did not want to interrupt you, but I cannot just walk away myself and let you carry on sleeping in the classroom, can I?"
I stretched and said, "I couldn't sleep well lately, and it was so tiring… I have to catch up with sleep this weekend and not wake up until midday!" He let out a quiet chuckle and said, "What kind of a plan is that? I heard that the slumber you missed cannot be replaced." I blew at my bangs and muttered, "I don't care. My Chinese zodiac is pig, and isn't it normal for pigs to be sleepy all the time?" He laughed a little and commented, "No wonder Axel only thinks about food, it is normal for pigs to eat a lot." I said, "What are we standing here for? Let's go."
He seemed to realise something and quickly said, "Ah right, Nemix, wait." I stopped and asked, "What's wrong?" He answered, "Nothing, I just wanted to ask you-"
"Sorry to interrupt, this is an announcement. Would the leader of Counter Crime Group 13 kindly proceed to the Prefect Meeting Room? Thank you." A voice came from the PA system. Zexion was interrupted, so I said, "You'd better go. I will just leave then. Bye." And then, I walked out of the classroom. Zexion still remained at his spot, his hand slightly extended. He was about to say something, but he just sighed and said to himself, "Seems like I would not get any answers today, huh? Oh well, there are still chances around. But it seemed as if she was trying to talk her way out of this…" He reclaimed his bag and headed for the meeting room.
I was now at the school gate, thinking, "Zexion rarely talks to me in private, he must have something to ask me about. Perhaps my worn out behaviour got his attention… Geez, I still cannot let him know about Fayra's condition, and I have to perk up!" I decided to focus on something else so as to behave normally at school. I should only show frustration when I was back in my bedroom.
And again, Monday arrived, we were having our P.E. lesson in the stadium… I was having a badminton match with Axel, a one-on-one fight. It was getting intense by the minute. Of course my skills were not much compared to his, it was only the pure drive of "I'm not giving up just yet" pushed me on and on. Sweat was practically dripping off my forehead like rain. The shuttlecock was relayed between racquets, and this time I dished out a forceful smack, whipping the racquet downwards, and the shuttlecock landed on Axel's face. It was not painful of course, but Demyx and Xion yelled, "GOAL!" Axel was not so amused. "Seriously Nemix, you seemed to have something against me. Once every so often you would either fall on me or hit me. And now your shot just hit me right in the face. What the heck?" I twirled the racquet in my right hand and said, "You ought to be glad that the racquet is still in my hands, even though my hands are sweaty. What if it just miraculously flew out of my grip and smacked you in the head? Now that would be worse."
Demyx burst into a hearty laugh. Zexion called out, "Do you guys not need to rehydrate and rest?" I thought about it and agreed, "Sounds good. I'm thirsty." I sat down at where I stood and caught a water bottle Xion threw over to me. I gladly took a few gulps, allowing the cool liquid to quench the dryness. "We still need to return these to the P.E. storeroom. Nemix, you're coming with me," Axel said all of a sudden. I replied, "Why me?" He stuck out a tongue playfully and added, "Payback!" I shrugged and said, "Eh, fine. I give up." Whatever…
I was carrying a big box of shuttlecocks and Axel was carrying a whole basket of racquets, heading towards the storeroom. He was walking in front of me and suddenly commented, "You look livelier today." I was surprised, but did not show it. He rarely made such comments. Was my distracted behaviour too obvious, or did he get more observant? I acted as if nothing happened and said, "I was more tired last week, almost dozing off during classes. After allocating more sleeping hours during the weekend as recharge, of course I am livelier now."
We now arrived at our destination. Axel was dealing with the lock, so I idled by the corridor and I saw a noticeboard beside the storeroom door unknowingly. There was an irritatingly colourful poster pinned on the board:
The craziest video of the century had just gone viral! A high school student was suspected to have spent her first night with a guy in a hotel. The inevitable happened and a full-fledged drama ensued! For more insider stories, visit the website [insert random website]
According to the clues from the video, the girl was thought to be a 9th grader from Kingdom Hearts High School, while the guy's identity remained a mystery. Soon after that night, she discovered herself as an intruder of the guy's true romantic relationship, yet she refused to back off! What exactly was going on?!
I felt myself frozen on the spot, especially when I saw the snapshot from the so-called video; Fayra's face! Crap… when did this poster appear here?! "Yo, Nemix. We can go in now. Honestly, they should have replaced this stupid old lock, it's too much of a hassle to unlock it when it's so rusty…" Axel called, but did not turn to look at me. He just went straight into the dark storeroom with the racquets. I was still glued to the floor, speechless due to shock.
"Hey, hey, do you know? Someone went famous on the Internet!" A group of girls passed by, chattering. "Who?" another girl asked.
"I forgot her name, but I think I recognise her face, I've seen her in our school."
"Ah, I've heard of it… is it about a video?"
"Yes, exactly! God, that video was… too nauseating! And very disgusting!"
"Do we have someone like that in our school?"
"What's in this video?"
"Haven't you watched it on the web? But… I personally think the rating should be 18 and above! The content was quite inappropriate."
"How did you know? Did you watch it behind all of us? And I thought you're the innocent one."
"I watched it when no one's at home. But I just couldn't take it halfway through! Oh my god!"
"I noticed there's this video's poster all over the school, it must be viral!"
They were still chatting incessantly and walked past behind me. Judging the situation, this was no longer a secret between me and Fayra… "This does not bode well…" I mumbled to myself.
"What does not bode well? Nemix? Hello?" Axel appeared out of nowhere and asked. I got anxious. Axel just followed my line of sight towards the poster, and then he exclaimed, "What?!" He then asked me, surprised, "Nemix, what happened? Why…?!" Like I would know!
"207! 222! This is bad!" Just then, a voice came from our right, calling our codenames. We looked to the right and saw Demyx. He ran over to us and reported while panting heavily from the run, "I found this poster on everyone's desk in our classroom!" He handed over a piece of paper, exactly the one we saw just now! "What the hell? We saw this over there too!" said Axel, pointing to the noticeboard. "What in the…" Demyx was dumbfounded.
This would not do, I had to do something… All of a sudden, my GPS device in my pocket rang. I took it out and heard Zexion's urgent voice, "207! With the rest of Lucky 7 around you, come to the usual spot, pronto!" The voice disappeared, only the signal light was blinking. "222, 135, come with me to the usual spot." "Huh?" Demyx still had not caught on. I replied impatiently, "Now!" And then, I darted off.
At this rate, things were getting out of hand… Goddamn it.
I slammed the door open once I reached our secret hideout, Xion, Zexion and Roxas were already in there. Roxas had his laptop on the table. The three of them jumped a bit at my sudden appearance and outburst. I proceeded to pull out a chair near the table and sat down, failing to keep a calm expression on my face. Axel was not any better and Demyx was just in a blur.
"What in Kingdom Hearts' name happened?" Axel asked. I added, "We discovered the poster on a noticeboard, and more were spotted at obvious places on our way here. Besides, this became a hot topic among students." Demyx said in a small voice, "What they said, I ran out of scripts…" Zexion said a second later, "To be honest, this emergency meeting was an order from the director soon after we discovered the poster on each of our desks. I think claiming this video as a fake without solid proof is unjustifiable, so I intend to watch the video to look for mistakes."
If I were drinking water at the moment, I would have choked on it, but since I was swallowing some saliva, so I still choked, coughing badly. "006, are you sure? Even 207 choked on her own saliva…" said Xion, uncertain about his decision. Demyx said, "Since it is a fake, there shouldn't be… any problem at all, right?" Roxas thought about it and added, "But… I heard it's very explicit." Axel shook his head slowly and said, "Our images will surely be ruined once others knew we watched that video."
Axel… now was not the time to worry about that. What I worried about was that… this whole mess was true. No matter how they investigated, it was still a true account of what happened. Unfortunately everyone firmly believed that this was just some stupid rumour… Oh god! Was being the only "sober" one among misled people this unnerving? How should this case be closed? I could not just tell everything straightaway, since I had promised Fayra not to divulge anything. I could only buckle up and watch as Roxas clicked a few keys on the keyboard and Zexion came near the laptop screen. The rest of us followed suit.
The video started with a brief introduction to the "cast", but they only explicitly mentioned Fayra, the supposed main character. No other people involved were mentioned; this only proved that whoever did this had something against her. What unveiled before us was just as what Fayra told me that day, and it made me suspect that someone recorded this secretly. Seriously, the ball was more than a coincidence, was it not? When the infamous climax came in, we had different reactions, but all still tied to the word "shock". I immediately shut my eyes again, Axel quickly covered Roxas' eyes with one hand and his with another, but he peeked a bit through the slits between his fingers. Demyx smacked his face right into his palms, wailing, "OH MY EYES~!" Xion went speechless, her hand on her mouth, expressing utter shock. Zexion sighed in dismay, and pinched his nose bridge. He probably did not really expect that at all.
And as Fayra said before, she returned to the hotel again to meet up with that scumbag. There was another girl whose choice of wardrobe was rather explicitly inappropriate, and she had a pair of sunglasses and a cap, which she wore it low enough to obscure her face. I could not identify her. This part of the video was interchanging between two camera perspectives; one facing Fayra, while another facing all three of them. It could be safely said that two cameras were hidden somewhere around their vicinity. There was nothing more to be said about the drama that unfolded before us. After a good few minutes, the video finally ended.
"For the love of Shiva, what the hell did I just see?!" Demyx exclaimed hysterically. Xion said, "Why did I feel as if my naïve self is dead, and the world is such a terrible place?" Axel and Roxas said nothing, while Zexion commented after much silence, "I could not spot any proof that this video was made up… so does this mean it is real after all?" I replied quietly, "Seems like it…" All of us were silent for a long time, until I broke the awkward silence, "But… the part where they meet again, I'm suspicious of that." "Huh? Why?" asked Xion.
I pointed out, "If you pay more attention, the camera of that part varied between two perspectives. One of them was normal, but the other one did not include the girl with the sunglasses. Also, it was more unstable than the other; it was shaking slightly." Zexion said, "Now that you mentioned it, I also noticed that as well. 013, replay that part." "Thank goodness you didn't ask me to replay it all over again!" sighed Roxas, and he clicked the replay button.
This time I concentrated and observed, I noticed a small black oval thing that looked like an MP3 player pinned onto the girl's shirt collar. Oddly, there were no earphones to be seen. And at that very second, it flashed! I blinked and frantically said, "013, replay that part!" Roxas was unsure, but he still complied anyways. "Whatever you say…" It was not an illusion, it did flash! I grabbed the mouse and clicked the pause button. "What's up?" asked Axel. I pointed at the laptop screen and explained, "I'll try to replay it in slow motion." I navigated the settings bar and set it to play frame by frame. When that flash appeared in the video, I paused it again. Demyx said, "Why does it flash?" Roxas pondered and said, "No device can be that shiny, this looks like lenses in a sniper rifle when it flashed." Zexion added in, "Could it be… camera lenses? The one 207 was talking about?"
I said again, "What's weirder is that the position of the lenses is as high as the collar of a shirt. Look at this…" I let the video to run and then paused it again later. I continued, "You guys should have noticed that the shirt collar of the girl is at the same height as the sleeve of the guy in the different camera. And in this next scene, the guy's sleeve can be seen in this camera's upper corner." Zexion looked at me and said, "This proves this video… was the girl's work!" I nodded, and Xion said, "I think the guy has something to do with this too, or else why didn't the intro include his details as it did with Fayra's?" Roxas agreed, "I think so too. So this means Fayra is framed?" Frowning, I said, "It has to be, this scumbag… bastard."
Axel concluded, "OK, now that we had proved this video was taken by someone to frame Fayra, and it is true… now what?" Zexion scratched his head and with a troubled tone, he said, "If so, then it is going to be hard to report to the director…" I said, "You're right, we just can't go in and report to her that her niece's bright future is ruined just like that, huh? It is basically requesting your demise." Roxas suggested, "By now, this has turned into a storm in school, it's impossible to stop it from spreading. Are we going to convince each and every person?" Xion supported her chin with her right palm and whined, "When are we going to finish that?!" Demyx said quickly, "I think we should just discuss how we should rephrase our report, no?"
Rewind 1 hour
Since we went out for P.E. after the first school bell, we did not notice that Fayra actually came to school today.
"Hey… look, here comes the infamous female protagonist."
"Oh my god, she still dare to come to school? I would be hiding away if I were her."
"I'd never thought she is that kind of person…"
"Never judge a book by its cover, they say. Since she acts like she's some spoilt princess all the time, I still think it serves her right."
"But… she didn't ask for it. Stop saying that."
"Hush! She's coming!"
Once Fayra put one foot into the classroom, all her classmates looked at her as if she was an alien. She felt weird, but still kept a placid face and sauntered to her seat. One girl who was being picked on by her a lot said, "Hey Fayra, don't you even feel ashamed at all?" Fayra glared at her, saying, "Please utilise your head when you say something. Why should I feel ashamed?" The girl slammed the poster onto Fayra's desk and spread it open before all. She took one glance and immediately her face was went as white as a sheet of paper. "Explain this. Are you going to deny that you're the one in this picture? How could you barge into someone else's relationship like that? Shameless, you!"
A few students saw that someone dared to speak up, so they soon joined in, regardless of the growing tension. "She's right, you know." "And you did… that with him! How gross!" "How could there be someone like you in this world?" "Yeah!"
"Enough!" Fayra lost it and bolted up straight from her seat, her chair overturned. She frantically explained, "This girl is not me! No! She's just… a devil in disguise!" "Trying to lie? Not only the girl in the video looked like you, your behaviour mirrored hers! If not you, was it a phantom?" Someone said among the crowd. Those who had not watched the video had their heads swimming in confusion.
Fayra could not calm down, she denied, "It must be you all! You all are teaming up against me to exact revenge on me! Why do I deserve this?! Who made this video public?!" The first girl could not take it anymore and slapped Fayra across the face. She then scolded, "Quit framing innocent people! All of us saw this poster on each of our desks this morning!" "I don't believe you!" Fayra screamed after regaining her senses from the fiery slap she received. And then…
"Fayra Joann!" A female voice came from outside the classroom. All students in the classroom looked outside and there stood a short girl at the entrance. She said, bored, "Someone wants to see you." "I am not in a good mood today! Scram!" Fayra yelled at her. "If you don't comply, you will regret, you slut." Fayra literally flared when she heard the words, and she stomped out of the classroom. Beside the short girl was another girl almost as tall as Fayra, smiling evilly. Fayra growled, "What do you want?!" The taller girl made a soft laugh and sneered, "Geez, it's been only a few months and you can't recognise me?" She proceeded to take out a cap and a pair of sunglasses and put them on. Only then Fayra realised and stuttered, "It… it's you?!"
"Yes, me. I do hope you're impressed by my video. Sorry for any imperfections," said the girl, another evil grin creeping up her face. Tears streamed down Fayra's face before she could say anything, seconds later she managed a few words, "You… Why…" The girl came closer to her and now Fayra had her back against the wall. She blocked all escapes available and continued to say, "I want to remind you, do not forget who you are. You intruder, should you even act so arrogant after what the both of you did that night? Don't forget, he's mine… I guess you should have… felt it, no?" She gently poked Fayra's stomach, whispering, "How old is it?"
Fayra was trembling uncontrollably, and the girl reeled a bit backwards, saying, "I was planning to stop pressing on, but since you don't seem to like to stay within limits and told outsiders about everything, so I thought I'd just help you to the end! Judging the situation, every single soul in this school should already knew what actually happened… hohoho…" The girl giggled, and with a victorious laugh, she left. Seconds later, the students who did not know what happened outside saw Fayra dashed to the opposite direction. "… Is that girl the true girlfriend?" "Looks like it." "This is turning into some drama, I swear…"
"So I say, we should just report that someone is trying to frame her," I said, my finger tapping on the table impatiently. Xion added, "We should just leave out whether this video was genuine…" Roxas mumbled, "Something tells me that she is not going to believe it." I was about to say something when a phone ring came out of nowhere. The six of us threw glances at each other. Sometime later, Zexion said, "Definitely not from us; none of us can bring cell phones to school." Axel commented, "Sounds like… it's coming from the outside."
Seeing that I was the one nearest to the exit, I volunteered, "I'll check out what's going on." I stood up and walked to the door. After I opened it, the sound sure got a lot clearer. I did not shut the door and looked around me. I discovered a public phone ringing nearby. That was fishy… yet I went over a picked up the phone, answering, "Hello?"
"Honestly, why is your speed of answering the phone that low?"
"… Who are you?"
"I'd advise you to shut up and listen to me carefully."
"Ceh! What kind of a conversation would that be? What are you trying to do?"
"You can witness a nice drama right now… not sure whether you like it or not?"
"Quit talking rubbish!"
"From where you stand, the view would be just perfect."
"…What?"
"Look at the topmost floor of Block A, and then you'd know."
I averted my gaze to the nearby Block A, upon landing my sight on the top, I got quite a scare! Fayra was there! What was worse was that she was dangerously near the edge! The voice came through the phone again, "This is just so epic! I'll be leaving first, time for some real life movie. Bye bye!" And then I heard a loud bell chime, then the phone was hung up by whoever called. I did not get to explain to Lucky 7 and almost slammed the phone receiver back to its position and rushed for the stairs. There were even more stairs to go after this one! "207?!" Xion cried, rushing out of the room. Demyx said, "Why'd she dart off again?!" Axel did not utter a word and gave chase. Zexion announced, "Everyone, follow them!"
Once I reached the ground floor of Block A, a massive crowd was already there, not even a needle could squeeze through. I was starting to panic because there was no way I could reach the stairs which was beyond the crowd. Just then, I spotted another flight of stairs at the other end of the corridor, so I dashed away from the crowd and rushed there. A minute later, the rest of Lucky 7 was not as lucky; they were trapped in the expanding crowd once they got there. "… Where did 207 go?! Crap!" Xion called out to the others. Roxas shouted back, "I can't find her!"
While I was grateful that no one blocked this flight of stairs, I was also anxious. How did Fayra appear out of nowhere, and why did she come here of all places? Although she looked like she was going to jump, I still hoped that she was merely pulling off an overly cruel practical joke against me… "Damn… why can't she think straight for once?! Not even thinking of the people around you, not even thinking of that unborn life that came to you accidentally!" I growled through gritted teeth, running up stairs after stairs furiously all the while. Let us hope that I could get there in time!
Soon, I opened the metal door before me and the topmost floor finally came into view. Further away from me was Fayra. I shut the door and walked towards her, saying, "Fayra…" She whipped back to see me; she obviously did not see that coming. She said in a panic, "Leave me alone! Or else I will jump!" I stopped abruptly and said, "OK, OK… I'm not coming over, how about you come over here? I have something to talk to you." "What else is left between us to talk about? You promised to keep it a secret. See what happened now?! Everyone knew about it! Why did you lie to me?!" she screamed, glaring at me with dripping hatred.
I forced myself to calm down and say, "Fayra, calm down. Think about it, how would I have that video? Lucky 7 and I were in Japan, weren't we? I always take good care of the secrets entrusted to me, and I only caught wind of this video today." While I was saying, I took small steps towards her. Dear me, I did not know what should be done, so I resorted to mimic movie actors! "What should I do?! Now the whole world knows what happened to me, what dignity do I still have to possibly live in this world?" she was crying hysterically at this point.
Honestly, she was a tougher nut to crack than Ienzo was. I said, "Fayra, listen to me! I had found out who actually humiliated you! I saw the video just now. I believe I can capture the mastermind very soon." "… I still very much hoped you didn't see it, you must really look down on me. You must think that I am so filthy… don't you?" I mentally punched myself, berating, "Idiot! Wrong choice of sentence!" I hesitated for a few seconds, and then I said, "I know I shouldn't watch it, but I cannot help you out without doing so, not even close to discovering the truth!" I advanced by one more footstep, and she somehow noticed that I was shortening the distance between us, so she shouted, "Don't move! Don't come any closer!" And then she backed up a little, on the brink of stepping on nothing and falling to her demise.
I had no choice but to say, "Don't be so rash! Think about the ones around you! Your family, friends, teachers, your best friend in class! If you end your life like this, what would they do?! You would've tainted their hearts!" She retorted, "But look at me, what I am right now... who else would care about me?! I should just die and be done with it!" In the heat of the moment I panicked and blurted out, "Who said so?! Don't I count?!" She looked at me, bewildered. I could see the chance was slowly surfacing, so I continued, "You said this before, we were best friends once. If you are gone, will those who hurt you, framed you, neglected you be sad? Will they reminisce about you? They will only brush it off as if nothing happened! If you're dead, you're only saddening your loved ones and making your enemies happy!"
Fayra seemed to be swayed by my words, and she mumbled, "You? But… you also said this yourself; we being friends is in the past tense…" I drew a breath and said, "What happened in the past, happened in the past. But, can't it come again? There are no friends forever, nor do enemies forever. Many were once attracted to your family background and your looks, genuine or not, you might not realise. But there's one thing you should know; there are different kinds of people in this world, but there is at least one who still cares and worries about you." I slowly made my way towards her, as long as I had something to say, I would succeed! Fayra said again, "B-but… what should I do? Now that I have this record, my life is doomed… what can I do?" I bit my lips slightly and said, "Look for a reason to live. Come on, it's not too hard. Think about it, the tiny life you're carrying…" Her hands subconsciously went to her not so obviously big stomach.
"The baby will come to this world, and they will need your shelter, guidance, love and care. If you leave just like that, they will never be born to this world. They are innocent, and their authority to live should not be violated by anyone." Dang, I sounded like some cheesy therapist… at this rate, any shyness was already thrown out of the window. Almost there, I was only five steps away from Fayra. I extended my right hand and said, "Come with me, we can solve this problem together. Where there's a will, there's a way. As long as we are alive, we can overcome this obstacle together."
I did it, I did it! Fayra was finally convinced by me! Sure, she was not moving, but her hand was extending towards mine. It was just that… could she go any faster?! Seriously-
Slip!
Her left leg suddenly took a slide and she fell down backwards! Aw hell no! I let out a scream of shock, "FAYRA!" I took one quick step forward and grabbed her hand. Even though she was pulled back a bit, her legs seemed to weaken out of fright and they gave way and slipped off the edge. I caught her hands with both of mine and we were half-hanging at the edge of the topmost floor. She was left dangling in the open air, while the upper half of my body was like a door hinge, with my waist acting as a point of equilibrium on the edge. Screams could be heard from the crowd gathered at the ground floor. Every part of my body was aching, my arms were feeling as if they would break at any time, while my legs were on the rough floor surface, creating friction, as did the edges did to my stomach, and man was it painful as heck. Worse still, I felt as if I was sliding forward against my will! "You… hang on tight! I'm… going to… pull… you… up…!" I growled through tightly clenched teeth, using all energy I had. Fayra was screaming her head off, writhing helplessly. I felt my energy was burning out fast, so I managed a few words, "Stop… wriggling! I can't hold… on…!"
Was that it? The end?
I slid forward once again, and the pain caused by friction was too great for me to handle, so I let out a groan of pain, though it was drowned in Fayra's scream. Just then…
"207!"
My legs were caught by someone.
"207! Hang on! We're here!" I heard Axel's voice from behind, and Xion's, "I'll help!" Another pair of hands grabbed onto Fayra's, and we pulled at once. Finally, we managed to get the upper half of her body back to the floor. Roxas and Demyx came over to pull her, while Axel and Zexion dragged me away from the edge. My hands were still glued to Fayra's wrists though, and our hands were cold. Zexion called, "207? 207! You OK?" Only then I snapped out of my trance, and my heart was pumping as if performing some breakdance. I glanced over to Fayra, she passed out from the shock, but… why were her legs that red? Something hit my head like a truck: blood!
I simply grabbed a nearby hand and frantically yelled, "Q-quick! Ambulance! Quick!" Zexion's hand was getting painful from the hard grip he received, so he said, "OK, OK! 207 calm down!" Roxas ran towards the nearest public phone at once. My brain went totally blank, watching everything happening before me like a dumb…
About a good few hours later, I was sitting on a bench in one of the many corridors in a hospital with my mind drifting. There were bandages on my limbs because of the bruises I received from the friction with the rough concrete floor. My mum had gone to get me something to eat, even if I truly lost any appetite. The remaining members of Lucky 7 were wanted by the director; nothing good would come out of that. Since I was injured and needed medical attention, Devilish Director had to let me go for now, hence I was here all alone. I was worried about Lucky 7, but even more worried about Fayra; she was escorted to the A&E department roughly three hours ago… Then, a doctor arrived, he recognised the sportswear from my school, so he asked, "Excuse me, are you Fayra Joann's classmate?" I nodded weakly. He continued, "She is fine now, it's just that… the foetus couldn't make it."
Although I had seen this coming, I still wished it was not true… But it happened anyway… I threw an expressionless face at him, he asked again, "Do you know about her condition?" I answered, "She told me once… but I wasn't sure what exactly happened. I just saw her bleeding and called an ambulance back then…" I didn't dare to tell the whole truth for some reason. "May I know where her family is?" "… Over there, near the elevator." Last time I saw them they were waiting there. He left promptly after uttering a thanks.
I seemed to have lost all focus, I really did not know what I should do. As if sensing my distress, Lucky 7 came over. "Nemix…" I glanced to my left and saw Zexion sat down beside me with the others. Xion said, "Nemix, are your wounds still OK?" I said tiredly, "They would still throb from time to time, but I'm alright." Alright? Never thought I could still say that. I asked, "What did that devil told you guys?" Zexion replied, "She was not very happy, since this caused an unwanted uproar, but she let it slide for the moment." Axel scoffed and said, "Seriously Zex, you're too kind, you didn't even mention that menacing face of hers, as if she's going to devour us alive! We even discovered that Fayra was framed by someone else, talk about ungrateful with a capital U-" "Hush! Enough already!" Roxas elbowed Axel's left arm, scolding in a low voice.
I mumbled, "Sorry. Got you all into trouble again. If I didn't run away just like that and discuss with you guys, maybe things wouldn't be this bad…" Demyx said, "No way! If you haven't arrived in time, maybe Fayra would have been dead now! We overheard the doctor, and we know you saved her." I shook my head, saying, "No… I went and did a lot of things behind you guys. If I told you all earlier… perhaps things wouldn't turn out this way."
Thus, I spilled out everything, all the way from when receiving Fayra's letter to when the anonymous phone call came. "So that was it…" Zexion was letting all of these to sink in, while Roxas said thoughtfully, "I can understand why you didn't want to tell us about that, really. I would've gone nuts if I were you." Demyx said after a nod, "No wonder you were acting quite weird lately, I thought you were ill or something." "Hey, that's so mean of you, no more next time, I'm warning you," Axel half threatened, half joked. "Fayra was going overboard… but she was too naïve. I feel sorry for you, Nemix. You had to carry this burden of a secret all by yourself," said Xion, and then she sighed.
They did not seem to blame me, and that made me feel guilty. I said, "But… the foetus died regardless, had I acted quickly enough-" Axel suddenly placed his palm onto the top of my head and pressed firmly. He then said, "It's alright, Nemix, stop blaming yourself already. You did all you could, we don't blame you, nor should anyone else." His palm was pulsing with warmth, and like magic, I quieted and calmed down. He patted my head gently a few times and removed his hand. Zexion reasoned carefully, "To be honest, nobody expected this to happen. You said you received an anonymous phone call, did you not? From what you said, this person seemed to know everything, even what would befall Fayra, what she was doing and at where. So I very much suspect that this person initiated all these to happen, the video could be one of their work!"
… That was right, I almost forgot about it. Zexion's words made sense; whoever it was had to take more than half of the responsibility. The voice in that phone call was that of a girl, who could she be? I really needed some time to think carefully and calmly. So, I quietly said, "… Sorry, but… can you guys give me some private down time? I would like to be left alone." Xion wanted to say something, but the words seemed to be swallowed back halfway. Roxas looked at Zexion and then the others. Finally, Zexion said, "No problem. We should be heading home as well, Nemix… take all the time you need, by all means." I stared at the floor, nodding. "We'll be leaving then." "See you soon."
Soon, they left, only I was left in the silent corridor. In the next five minutes, I sat there spacing out and let empty thoughts drifted around. How could I think? It was even hard for me to focus. And then, I stood up slowly; I decided to look for Fayra, to visit her. To loosen a rope, you still needed the one who tied it in the first place. Since everything happened because of her, I might as well talk to her. Who knew, it might lessen my guilt, even if only by a bit.
I went to the reception to enquire about her ward, and then headed towards the end of the corridor. I knocked on the door three times, and a weak reply came from behind the door, "Come in." I sucked in more fresh air than necessary and turned the door knob, opening the door. I could see Fayra was wide awake, sitting on her bed. I closed the door and took a few steps. I initiated the talk, "Are you alright?" She looked tired, but she was not very happy of my presence. She said, "You have eyes, so can't you see?" I convinced myself that she must have been in a very foul mood right now, so no need to get worked up over her irritated tone. Fayra said after sensing that I was not going to continue saying, "Why did you save me? You should've just let me jump, so there would be nothing left. Now… even the baby is gone…" I did not dare to look at her in the eyes, I just quietly apologised, "I'm sorry."
"You said I have to look for a reason to live, and the kid was it. Right now, that reason is gone forever, what should I do? How could I face…?" Her voice was quivering, and she was starting to get upset again. I thought, "At least you wouldn't need to be a teen mom…" But I did not speak what was on my mind. Instead, I said, "I don't know what to say to you, but I want to say, live for yourself from now on. If not, your family needs you, so they could be the thing that drives you."
Fayra did not seem to hear my words. She continued to mumble to herself, "I thought… if the child was still alive, he will… return. This child… is my only hope. But now… now… he won't be coming back… he will continue to stay with that girl… then what about me? What about me…?" Upon hearing this, I was like waking up from some persistent dream, and by that, I meant being forcefully awakened. After having been through so much crap, she was still hoping that idiot would change his mind?! You were too naïve!
"Why are you still waiting for that scumbag?! The reason why you are this miserable is all because of him!" I said angrily, glaring at this damsel in distress who sold her soul completely to that bastard for no reason. She did not expect me to get this angry, and she shut up, startled. I was getting caught up in the moment that I ignored the situation and resumed, "You were fooled by him from the very beginning. He never really loved you, but only treated you as some prize, which he can simply throw away when he is sick of it! He always takes your feelings towards him for granted, can't you see?! Even when you were pregnant, he didn't act like he was going to take responsibility, so do you honestly think he will come back for you?!"
Fayra was not going to accept the truth, she shook her head in denial and said, "You are lying! You had never fallen in love before, how would you know? If he never cared about me, why would he have done that much for me?" I laughed dryly at her words and retorted, "You call what happened to you 'love' and 'that much'? Full marks for creativity, but you are such a fool! Assume that I'm begging you, wake up this instant!" She could not utter a word, so I continued, "I thought you came to school because you finally thought it through. Why do you insist to be so unrepentant?" "… I was going to drop out, hence I came for the practical formalities. How else could I continue to study after all this?" I shot her an "are you kidding me?!" expression and said, "How could you give up your future for that bastard?! You don't even have a middle school certificate, how are you going to find a good job and support yourself?! Your family cannot possibly feed you for an eternity, surely you will just use up all resources available and starve to death! How can you be so ignorant?!"
She wanted to say something, but I interrupted, "Don't tell me you are hoping that he will take care of you. You don't even know his whereabouts, only he can find you, but he never thought you're important, so why would he ask for trouble?! Do you realise how pathetic you are right now?! Can you even think for yourself and others?! If what you did today was to grab attention, then congratulations, you got my attention, and I will have to wake you up today!"
Suddenly, the bruise on my left arm throbbed, I stopped talking at once and placed a palm on it, trying to suppress the pain. Only then I noticed there was a plastic cup on the floor right below my left arm. Fayra's arm was extended. Turned out, she threw the cup and hit my wound. My arm felt okay without external stimulation, but dang, it hurt so much when something hit it. She was breathing heavily and growled, "Shut the hell up! You didn't have to go through what I've been through, of course you think it is so easy! Don't pretend as if you understand me! Your acts are truly disgusting!"
I felt as if all the blood in my body hit its boiling point and flames radiated from my very being. I gritted my teeth and growled, "Why am I so stupid enough to rescue you in the first place?! You are absolutely beyond hopeless!" She retorted with equal amount of ferocity, "Then why did you do it?! Who needs you to pretend to care?! Just let me die!"
That was it. I had had enough! I was about to give her a good slap, but my legs were feeling a bit numb, so I remained where I was, trying to control my breathing. That gave me some time to calm down… Damn it, what was I doing? Was I not here to talk to her nicely? Initially I was thinking of comforting her, I never thought it would escalate to a full-fledged fight like this. I was quiet for a moment, and then I said, "Very well… since I was only having wishful thoughts, I will assume that I deserved this despite being sincere, and helped you out one last time. You let all of us return to this place, and I rescued you. We don't owe each other anything anymore."
My legs felt better, so I turned to leave. I said quietly, "You… take care of yourself, I will not step into your business. I was rude just now, so I apologise for that. But from now onwards… we'd be better off not seeing each other again." I opened the door and left the room full of tension. I did not even look at Fayra for once. Shutting the door behind me, I sighed heavily, glancing over to the window on my left. I whispered, "The past tense really is the past tense, it won't come again the second time… Heh, what was I blabbering about back then?" I shook my head and walked to my right.
Once I reached the reception counter, my mum was already there, waiting for me, so we went home. I had never felt so disappointed in someone before, and it certainly was not pleasant at all. How strange, if one were to feel this way, surely they would lose all hope and faith in that person already, not even a speck of feeling. Then, what would explain my turbulent mood right now? I did not feel like telling my mum about this, maybe it was because I was not bold, or because I used to bottle everything up in my heart, facing them myself, suffering alone and solving them on my own. This sort of self-growth was indeed bitter, but it was harder for me to open up.
Maybe I was too worn out, I fell asleep sooner than I thought on the car. I did not even know when we reached home. After a few hours which felt like forever, I only remembered staring at the ceiling before sleep reclaimed me…
I went to school as usual the next day. My wounds were not serious enough to warrant a sick leave, nor were they suitable as a reason to skip classes. Fine with me, since I would be busy, and when I got busy, there would be no time for stray thoughts. This sort of self-numbing might be a good thing after all. Of course there were random people staring at me and my injuries, so I reverted to the days of not going down to eat during recess. If I ate more for breakfast, I would not be hungry when recess came at ten. Besides, I could use some extra time for my homework.
It was only two months before the mock exam, there were materials needed covering and notes needed reviewing. I could barely finish studying everything, and to my worst luck, heaps of homework flooded towards us. If my mock exam results did not go as planned, I would have to keep striving harder. Or else I would not be able to do well in the real one, and I would never make it to the Science stream and had to face Arts and Business subjects, my most hated arch-enemies, for the rest of my life… For the love of Kingdom Hearts, I did not want that!
I stayed behind during recess, doing my homework. This time it was a Chinese argumentative essay, something I was good at. Therefore, I poured all my thoughts into it, getting excited as I wrote. Even I was baffled; I used to be the best at narrative essays back in elementary, while argumentative and expository ones were my worst. Lyrical essays? I would even get embarrassed and shy at writing emotions, and it worsened as I grew up, thus they were always honourable guests on my black list. For me, it was hard to talk and write about human emotions. Perhaps this shoved me onto the way to realism. Sometimes I would hate my younger naïve self, and more "should have" and "if I could change the past" would ensue.
After getting into middle school, my narrative and descriptive skills suddenly deteriorated, only achieving my 6th Grade standard at best, and I never did break through that limit. And my argumentative essays, which I always chose to shy away from, had a different development. Even writing them half-heartedly would bring me high scores, surprising everyone, including me. Was I truly old psychologically despite being young biologically? Fellow classmates did not seem to care about what was happening around them. That made me slightly "more informed", and I always felt I did not share common topics, especially among peers. They were just obsessed about their idols, fashion, and getting a love interest. I actually thought this "if everybody else have it, so must I" mentality branded many as lack of depth, individuality and personality. It would not be similarly good-looking when the same clothes were worn by two individuals. The style that suited one the best would bring out one's best, no?
At times, I just did not get this world.
Nobody truly understood me, nor did I understood anyone. So I was deemed boring and old among peers. Putting it the polite way was being mature, and outdated the other way round. Geez, maybe my soul had gone through thousands of reincarnation and made me feel so old.
Look at me, I could even blab about so much whilst writing an essay, as nagging as an elderly. Really sorry to make you read my rants. These were part of the things struggling in my brain and heart, things I would never be able to divulge to anyone. Even writing them out would never be 100% true, because some of them were extreme to some people, so I should save myself the trouble then.
My thoughts wandered until my essay came to an end. After adding a small full stop, I finally put down the pen, closed the exercise book and reeled backwards, leaning onto the back of the chair. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. And then I stretched. OK, I had done everything for the day. While I stared at the ceiling unintentionally, I got caught in another vortex amidst the sea of thoughts in my brain.
Until now, rumours about Fayra had not fully receded, I could still hear people talking behind all of those involved. But it was certainly strange though; who else hated her even more than I did to record the video secretly and spread it all over the place? If you asked me, I would rate Fayra's popularity in school as below average. Maybe she already made a string of enemies for all I care. But, they overdid it… Cyberbullying is a serious offence, so I should assume whoever did this just went YOLO and let it go?
Hold on, why did I feel sorry for Fayra? She had made it very clear that she did not appreciate my efforts, so why should I maintain this one-sided unhealthy relationship? Getting nothing after giving all I had was not even worth it. And I had said it before, I would not get into any of her business anymore and we would walk our separate ways. Yeah, stop thinking about it. A splash of water on the face to cool off suddenly seemed appealing.
I got up from my chair and went for the washroom, just as I made one step out of the classroom, the last person I wanted to see just popped out from nowhere; Devilish Director. I halted just in time. I did not want to walk into her; who knew what trouble would come after me if I did. I did not feel like addressing her directly, so I merely nodded slightly as acknowledgement. I was about to slip away from beside her, but she suddenly shot out a hand and gripped onto my arm firmly, and it just had to be where the wounds were. I almost screamed out of pain, but I did not want to give her the satisfaction so I bit down the pain and glared at her. "Come to my office, I have something to talk to you about," said Devilish Director, emotionless. She then let go of my aching arm, and I felt pain searing through in pulses. She walked away as if nothing happened, with me following reluctantly. I checked my wounds, some of the scars had reopened, but with minimal blood oozing out.
What a devil, causing pain among people as if it was her profession… you had better wish that I would not demand medical fees from you! In her den, I meant, office…
"Seeing that you had sustained much injury back then, you weren't wanted at once. Since you returned to school, that proved that you have recovered." She sat on her big black office chair, scanning me with that look from a year ago. I chose not to respond to that, staring at her while standing on the other side of the large office table. She really was Fayra's aunt; both had taken a liking to beat around the bush. Being direct at times would not break one's heart!
She did not even bother to offer me a seat, not that I cared anyway. She continued, "I recall having appointed your group to solve the case of the viral video, still accidents happened before you guys worked out anything in the end… Sometimes I really doubt your abilities, why I would request your return from Tokyo." She should not have mentioned that; upon hearing that just rekindled flames of fury in me. I tried my best to control my words, saying, "Fayra told me everything, you wanted us back here to rescue her for you, and we did save her. This time, if it weren't for me being just in time, I'm afraid she would be as good as dead from her suicide attempts. Is there anything to doubt?"
She readjusted her posture and said, "You did save her from jumping off the building, but the unborn child… wasn't able to survive. Of course I would suspect you all." I explained, "Whether I was on time or not, the kid would be dead either way, I never wanted anyone to die…" The baby was innocent after all… But I continued, "Even so, everything that happened up to now was the result of Fayra ignorance, dismissing all my warnings. I had, countless times, told her to leave that vile man, yet she paid no heed to me or my teammates. You were not helping at all, even if we were opposing strongly at that time."
She gave me a sneer and shot calculating gazes at me, she slowly said, "You sure are bold for a little girl… just like last year, speaking without hindrance and without a care in the world. Have you forgotten how you all returned here?" I frowned, balled my fists for one second before unclenching. I said, "I'm just telling the truth. The reason you wanted us back was to save the hostage on your behalf. Besides not knowing the whole plan, we almost paid our lives along with it. I wasn't hurt, but my friends were either almost shot, kidnapped, or fell down the stairs. I just hope you realise that we almost died in the process."
Although she portrayed an expressionless face, her eyes told me that she was clearly not amused. She took one more look at me and resumed, "I believe Fayra had told you about what actually happened to her. Since you knew that much, you should be able to prevent everything from happening. But you failed… so you should take full responsibility." I looked at her inconceivably. Seeing my anxious face just made her day, I guess. She sneered again and stated, "I want you to find out who is behind all of these, alone. Since you were so concerned about your friends, don't let them, or anyone else, help out then." I wanted to retort, but she was quicker, "Do not forget how easy it was for me to disband you all. You'd better not let me discover anyone helping you, or else… I'm sure you understand very well what I will do."
And with that, I was not even spared a chance to speak up and left her office. How bloody great; not only I needed to find out the mastermind, I still had to prepare for the exam and keep this from everyone at the same time! Who did she think I was, some superwoman?! That was totally taking personal revenge, official business style! She even threatened me with Lucky 7's fate, and that was only verbal; there might be unvoiced threats waiting for me in the dark for all I know. Fuming, I passed by a small pond and a small pebble was in my path, so I grabbed it and lobbed into the pond angrily. Water splashed, and I accidentally upset my reopened wounds from earlier. Damn, that hurt…!
I remained in my position, waiting for the pain to subside. Mentally, I berated myself for being too stupid; why did I expose my weakness for others to exploit? This whole case had involved too many people, incidents and objects, and I was not in the best state to think clearly, not even sorting out anything useful… "Guess I'd have to wait till school dismisses… Ugh…" I mumbled, tilting my head skywards.
Since there was no group meeting later that day, there was no need for me to stay behind. Luckily I was able to steer clear from Lucky 7's suspicions; nobody seemed to notice what happened. Finally, I reached home…
I gobbled up three bowls of rice, along with half of the dishes on the lunch table. After a shower, I told my mum and younger brother, "Unless the sky comes crashing down, don't disturb me." And with that, I locked the door to my room behind me. My brother asked, "Is the pressure of exam… that bad?" "… Better than slacking off, I guess?"
I drew a big mind map and flow chart on a mini whiteboard. I said while writing, "So, now Devilish Director wants me to investigate Fayra's incident all by myself. Mainly, it is because the video contains inappropriate content regarding Fayra. In the video, apart from her and that scumbag, there is another girl with sunglasses, who is suspected for being responsible for the video in question." I drew a few lines and said to myself again, "Also, who was the one that called the public phone during our meeting? This person seemed to know we were there… and what would happen later, for example, telling me to look at the topmost floor of Block A. What does this person have to do with this case? Hmm…" I used the whiteboard eraser to rub and wipe off some part of my writing, and wrote a few more words. I scratched my head and said, "Could it be that Sunglasses Girl was in cahoots with this mysterious caller? But both didn't seem to have relation between them… Could they be the same person all along? One man show? There aren't any similarities as well…" I took a sip of green tea, I wrote while saying, "Sunglasses Girl said nothing throughout the video… I can't compare the voices. Don't tell me this person is from our school? If so, who is she? And why would she be with that scumbag?"
I halted abruptly, shook my head wildly and said, "Stop! Wait, wait. Why is there nothing to do with this scumbag?! Like I'd believe he had nothing to do with the video! But I have no proof… Am I going to let him slide just like that? Still… I don't know if he's the one who uploaded the video… So, should I investigate Sunglasses Girl? Or the mysterious caller? And that scumbag?! For Bahamut's sake, where do I start?!"
Now, whatever I drew on the whiteboard was beyond fathomable, and here I was, confusing myself, and it was getting off-topic. I fell onto the bed on my back, with the whiteboard beside me. I spaced out for three seconds and muttered to myself, "Honestly, History is not even this confusing. I should do my homework instead." I got up again and dug out all the necessary books, and engaged in a series of battle with homework…
It did not take me too long to finish off most of the work, and now I was making notes in my Science notebook. "There is nothing left once I'm done with this, looks like I'm more suited for slightly mundane tasks… I seem to know what I'm doing and where I'm headed, not to mention more efficient," I thought, scribbling down what I thought were the core points from walls of texts. If we were talking about clear thoughts and systematic planning, there was only… "If only Zexion was here…" I muttered subconsciously, and was startled by my words a few seconds later.
Letting out a sigh, I continued writing. I convinced my thoughts, "No, I have to rely on myself, I cannot afford to drag them down along with me." And with a few lines drawn across the page, I concluded today's schoolwork. I tucked the books back into my bag, and although I still needed to do revision, I lacked the mood. After much hesitation, I decided to return to my investigation. My thoughts barged in again, "With me dilly-dallying like this, Axel would get so frustrated that he would yell at me… He hates procrastination… And Demyx would tell him to cool down…" And as if on cue, I painted a picture of said scenario in my head and laughed lightly. I mumbled again, "Roxas would just smack a palm to his face while surfing the net with his laptop… Huh?"
I paused, and then realisation kicked in, "That's right! Xion had given me the evidence salvaged from Roxas' laptop! How could I forget about something this important?" I rushed over to the computer and booted it on. I fished out the drive in question and connected it to the USB port of the computer. Clicking impatiently at the mouse a few times, I finally reached the single file in the drive… it had a video file inside. I opened it without further ado to find out.
It was dark at the beginning of the video, with some noise coming out; either it was unedited, or its quality was bad to begin with. And then I picked up something of greater clarity, "…Whatever. This pair of goggles can let us see through these types of glass very clearly." This voice… sounded awfully familiar. While I was trying to figure it out, the voice came in again and the screen shook and finally settled on a position which was facing a black glass window of a door. There were two shadows through the glass. I had to increase the display brightness since it was too dark for me to discern anything. Then, to my surprise, I realised… this was our mission a year ago; infiltrating the karaoke centre!
"OK, not much action… They were singing, enjoying themselves… Fayra's singing in soprano, my poor ears… Eh? That man… His hands… OH NOES! MOLESTATION ALERT!" This voice should be Demyx's, he was using that FBI goggles to monitor the room to give us the signal to act. Suddenly the screen shook a bit, but the goggles was not taken off by Demyx. Instead, he backed away from the door, because I kicked the door open and it worked. So adrenaline could really do wonders… Axel appeared in the camera and he grabbed a remote control, throwing it to that scumbag's hand. I took it that he already had bad intentions back then, but perhaps not to the extent of raping her yet…
And Demyx dashed over and seized his hand, saying, "We all saw what happened! Why are you attempting to molest her!?" And as I recalled, Fayra's voice came in, "WHAT! You hooligans again!" She sure was mad back then. I heard some cracking and snapping, and that scumbag practically flew away and crashed onto the wall. I replayed that part, carefully observing Demyx's grip; it did not move an inch… What was intriguing was that the scumbag's leg moved first, proving that he made himself to crash onto the wall. As for that weird noise, I discovered the scumbag's other hand behind him (well hidden, so only a part of it was visible). He cracked his hidden fist to create that noise! We were fooled all this while.
"BANG!"
"HOLY KINGDOM HEARTS! DEMYX! You had qigong for training?!"
"No way, I didn't… What the heck was wrong with his hand? Why did he fly to the wall? What the hell just happened?"
"OH MY GOD! MY HONEY! MY SUGAR! OH MY GOODNESS! *Wailing a little* Ambulance! Hurry! Hurry! Police! Arrest them all!"
More familiar voices and scenes unfolded, after Fayra's scream, the goggles was violently taken off by Demyx, judging from the intense shaking of the camera. The screen turned pitch black and the voices died out. With that, the video ended. I closed the video player in the computer and just sat there, letting everything settle in my mind. So this meant that Demyx's goggles had some kind of camera built on it; perhaps he wanted a backup? Maybe he was not able to present this video during the interrogation, or he was worried that people would question its authencity, so he did not mention it last year… But, I remembered Roxas defending us by claiming he had evidence in his laptop, but was thwarted by Fayra. Could Roxas have made a copy of the video without Demyx's knowledge and saved it in his laptop? Did not Demyx realise it? How weird…
But then again, what good could this do? This could only prove our innocence and what we advocated one year ago was correct. It was truly our goal initially, but it did not seem so by now. Right now, all focus were on Fayra's incident, this video from the goggles did not help much in this case, no clue at all. I leaned in and supported my forehead with one hand; just when I thought there was finally a way, I was brought back to square one. To be honest, I was losing hope already…
Lucky 7, I needed you guys, but I could not harm anyone of you anymore. I had already created too much trouble to you all. Even if no one blamed me, I still could not bring myself to do it… Forgive me for not telling the truth, my apologies. As for this matter… it was fine for me to carry this burden.
Did you have any idea about "worn out"? Go and find out its literal meaning if you were interested, I would give you an example instead: it had been a week since Devilish Director's order was passed down, and I had dedicated most of my time on thinking how to investigate the case, but lately the amount of homework was at the overflowing level, I had no choice but to postpone my mission one day after another. I always had to rush to complete my homework and below-satisfactory revision until the wee hours, and I had to wake up again at six in the morning, not even gaining five full hours of sleep. I had no energy at all. If you thought that was nothing, you definitely had to read on. At school, after managing to endure lectures, I would slip into brief naps whenever there was a chance, letting my heavy eyelids to rest intermittently. Although I could muster enough energy to take me through the lessons, my eyes insisted shutting, so I dished out whatever I had up my sleeve to disguise my sleep-deprived status. For example, rubbing my eyes (one side at a time, and one being rubbed could close for a few seconds), blinking my eyes with more force than necessary (not too frequently), obscuring my eyes with fingers when using a hand to support my forehead as if thinking hard (and closing my eyes), blinking slowly, etc. I could not afford to be caught by anyone, not the teachers, not Lucky 7.
Besides, my heart was literally scattered; there were too many unsolvable problems; whenever I worked on one, I would discover that I could not proceed without solving another one. I had no idea what I should do. I tried conjuring a few solutions, but they were either running the risk of being discovered, or they required external assistance, or they simply would not work. If Lucky 7 was involved, Zexion would surely be calmer than I was; he would present more logical solutions, or, at the very least, improvisation of my ideas. Roxas would be able to settle things that needed a computer; that would save a hell load of time. And Axel would keep us on schedule; his impatience could be a good thing, mind you. Demyx and Xion were very flexible in terms of assigning tasks for them. It would definitely be a thousand times better than my current predicament. Struggles would surface in my heart every now and then, and it was frustrating, yet could not be vented. I still had to pretend as if nothing was happening in front of them. If this went on, I would surely go insane. That was my prime example of "worn out", a live one.
Back at home, I had just finished today's homework and was listening to some music on the computer. Listening to some piano melodies could really relax myself, and it was really nice. I started to drift off while listening… just then…
"Bing!" A brief alarm interrupted the steady flow of music, and I noticed a notification on the screen, someone had messaged me online… 443? It had been quite a while ever since he returned to Australia. I was bored and had some free time to kill anyway, so I clicked on some buttons and was brought to the online chat box. Seconds after I joined in, he messaged, "Hey, it's been a while, how are you doing?" I shook my head and replied, "Not really good, but I should be glad that I'm still sane though."
"Whoa, what happened?"
"Well… it's hard for me to say, but a lot of things happened, even after you left."
"And I thought everything should've ended along with the haunted building abduction case…"
"Yeah, but it's the untied loose ends from everything I've been through, some are related to the abduction."
"I see… guess it's another tough case you're handling there?"
"… You can say so."
"You shouldn't worry, especially when you have your team working with you."
Dear 443, that was exactly what my deepest concerns were. I did not consider my performance as poor, but there was nobody whom I could divide the job among, or else they would get into trouble for nothing. I typed, "Due to some idiots, I am forced to go solo this time, or else I'd put everyone at risk." He only replied after a minute, "OK… that sounds awful. Care to let me know some details?" Although Lawrence was not part of Lucky 7 now, and he was not targeted by Devilish Director, I had my doubts… Oh well, let us just hope he would not tell a third soul about this. Besides, according to what I knew, he was not the one to gossip with anyone.
"I don't have much clues, so I can't tell you much. How about I give you something which I thought similar?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"OK, consider this; A and B are a couple but A doesn't realise B is cheating on her. One day B appeared with C, his supposed partner, to settle things with A, and some dramatic scenes ensued. C seemed to have secretly recorded everything happening at that time, and B seemed to know that too and played along. Now a viral video was uploaded to the net and A's reputation went down south. If you were to look for proofs that go against C, where do you start?"
"Gee, that's complicated, sounds like a drama to me… anyways, are you assuming that C is guilty?"
"Yeah. Oh, and because of this, A had thought of suicide."
"Hmm… does C know A personally?"
"… Why are you asking that?"
"Nothing. I mean, from the perspective of recent drama plots, two women who fought each other over one man knew each other in most of the cases."
"That, I'm not sure…"
His words made sense; this Sunglasses Girl must knew Fayra. With any luck, she might knew who I was, and possibly my job… Did that mean she knew the relationship between me and Fayra? That did not bode too well. I replied, "But that somewhat makes sense, one won't harm another like that if they don't know each other…"
"Well, that's all I can make out of the clues you gave me. Might not be much of a help, but you might want to start on this C. Seems like she's the mastermind." His reply came soon. His suggestion seemed good, so I replied, "Will do. Thanks for helping by the way." "No problem… and good luck. Hope you get to solve this ASAP, since you have a major exam coming up," his message read.
I sighed and typed, "Geez… don't get me started on that…" "Haha, OK then, I'm going off for now. Hope to hear from you soon." Seconds later, the chat box stated he had gone offline, and I was the one remaining. I was about to quit as well, and that was when another notification popped up: another person wanted to chat with me… but I swore I had not seen this account name before… who was it? I got cautious, and after much thought only then I decided to take up the offer. And it turned out…
"207! 207 do you still remember me?"
… Which hole did you just crawl out from?! How did you know my codename?! I quickly replied, "Who are you? We are messaging online now; there's no voice for me to recognise, and you don't have a photo or real name, how would I know your identity? You'd better be honest and tell the truth, or you are so going to regret it!" I seemed to have intimidated the person, the reply was delayed. And then, the words appeared, "207, I am Ienzo… you wrote down your account name for me, as did I at the airport, remember?" Whaa…? Sceptically, I took out my contact notebook and flipped through the pages. There were a few lines of handwriting which was very neat; it was his account name… OK…
I typed, "Really sorry about that, I have totally forgotten about it. My brain sure degrades so early… haha." Soon, he replied, "It's okay, you are just being cautious, that's all. How have you been lately?"
"Not quite good, but not to the extent of dying."
"Is something wrong? Pressurised?"
"… You can put it that way. And mind you, it is coming from everywhere."
"I know that feel… I have loads of senior high school entrance exams to tackle this year, it's that time of the year when the pressure of going to high school comes… T.T"
"And I thought you can just advance into Matsuaki Academy's senior high school straightaway?"
"I can, yes. But they have their admission requirements too, I could even get a scholarship if I got lucky with my exams and applications. It's just that the success rate is very low, so I have to arrange a few more high school choices as backup… Sigh."
"You sound as if you're applying for university."
"Eh? 207, you guys don't have to take entrance exams like mine in your country?"
"Well… There's no such thing. Normally 9th Graders can advance straightaway to 10th Grade in their original school, unless your subject stream of choice is not offered there, but this is very rare. Of course there is a major exam to take, but as long as the results are not too ugly, it is definitely possible to go to senior high school."
"Wow, I really envy you guys! Why wasn't I born in Malaysia too? Haha."
"Trust me, you will definitely regret it. Your living conditions and welfare over there are way much better than ours. This is only the surface you're looking at, don't be fooled."
"Really? I sounded so ungrateful, ha."
"Actually it's normal, really. Everyone always thinks the grass is always greener on the other side, don't they?"
"… Makes sense. Judging your words, you also have an important exam this year too, 207?"
"Correct. Also, there's a whole bunch of stupid tasks to do, and nobody can help me."
"That sounds awful… but 207, you can do it."
"… Why that all of a sudden?"
Ienzo paused for a long time. After a few minutes, his explanation came.
"Call it intuition. You seldom talk about this before me; this can only explain that you have some tricky problems to solve right now. I might not be able to help, but I just know that you can manage it." I let out a quiet laugh. I never officially took him as a disciple or anything, yet he learned a lot in secret… Zexion would have some challenges in the future should they look for the same job. "Why? Any evidence?" I keyed in the words. He replied after ten seconds, "Because you successfully solved the problem between me and Sato. I was very passive and whiny back then, and there were many obstacles too. Still you did it, even if you risked your life… because you're 207."
… He had a point there. At that time, Lucky 7 was embracing every risk including losing our lives, holding onto and following every clue we had albeit limited, and finally captured Broken Nose Seahorse and his gang. Also, there were missions I went on with them: the group school skipping case, teaching the people who threatened me to "borrow" textbooks a lesson, the water cooler poisoning case with a spot check, the small problem just before we officially ended our traineeship, the malicious provocation, Naminé being bullied, Ventus' migraine pills being stolen, arson of the chemistry lab, Zexion being framed on the net, infiltrating the room in the karaoke centre, the economic sanction caused by Big Sister, Broken Nose Seahorse and his drug dealing plus kidnapping cases, and the latest haunted building abduction case… Some of these cases almost costed us our lives. Yet was I not still here, chatting away online?
"Speaking of which, Sato wrote me a letter from the rehabilitation centre. He wanted to restart everything with me. Since he wanted to start over, I forgave him. If we can reconcile, I am sure you can accomplish your tasks as well." He added a few sentences, and after I read the last sentence, something wavered in me; did that mean… it would not be in the past tense?
My heart reminded me, "Impossible, don't even think about it. You said so yourself, that you won't step into her business." After some hesitation, I sent my reply, "… I will try my best. I hope you guys will play nice and don't turn into enemies again, yeah? I won't be able to help you again, you know." "Ha, yeah, yeah, I understand. We won't mess it up anymore. 207, you have to work hard! You can do it, so don't ever give up! 頑張って!"
I felt just a little bit agitated, I had always thought those sort of words were too cheesy, but reading them at the right timing just warmed my heart. Unknowingly, a smile crept up my face, I typed in, "OK, 頑張ります。ありがとう。All the best to you too, hope you get into your dream senior high school without too much hassle." "Sure, will do! Remember, stay calm and focused, solve the most urgent and troublesome problem first, go according to your plan," replied Ienzo. I asked, "You thought that applying your studying techniques here is a good idea?" "… I don't have any other ideas left… I'm not that great after all."
I laughed softly and was about to key in my response, suddenly this idea just flashed through my head like lightning. I froze there like a computer malfunctioning, not moving for some time. I knew exactly what to do now! Awesome! I quickly replied, "I have some plan in mind now, at least no more moping around for me. Thank you for your suggestion. Going off for now, bye!" Soon, he responded, "I thought something went wrong with you for taking so long. Glad to able to help, we can chat the next time we're free. Bye bye."
Sure, Ienzo can be very long-winded at times, but his words could throw you off your guard every once in a while. Since he told me to solve the most urgent and troublesome task first, and judging the urgency of my tasks right now, the top of the list was Fayra's attempted suicide. Should I delay… my head would kiss the rest of my body goodbye at any moment. It was all the Devilish Director's fault… Anyways, I might as well start from the most suspicious end of the spectrum of things.
I tried my best to recall everything that happened from receiving Fayra's letter right up to the end of the accident in the hospital. After much contemplation, the mysterious caller was the one filled with most mysteries. She was the person most directly related to this case. I then tried to recall that telephone conversation. "I only picked up the call after the phone had rung for quite a while… the person first complained that I picked up too slow, and then I ignored the comment and asked who they were. And then… eh… ah! The person mentioned 'from where you stand, the view would be just perfect', and also about the topmost floor of Block A!" Here came my Eureka moment; the person was most likely at a place where I and said topmost floor could be seen! It was also very possible that this place was from afar.
Sweet, now that the possibilities of the location were narrowed down, let us recall whether there was anything suspicious. Let me see, from that conversation… that was it! "That bell chime that almost burst my eardrums! I wouldn't forget about it even if I die… Everything was in turmoil back then that I didn't suspect it," I mumbled to myself, the corners of my mouth slowly curved upwards. It felt as if I was very close to solving a super tough math question that I was stuck for hours at; way too exciting. That bell chime was one of a kind in Kingdom Hearts Campus due to its tune. In fact, our school was voted the one with the most spectacular bell chime in the country. To enable the bell chime to reach each and every corner of this school, the establishers of Kingdom Hearts Campus built this bell at a very high place. From my understanding, the position had never changed since. And that place was…
"That ancient clock tower…" I said, I got up at once and walked to one of my many book shelves, starting to dig out my history scrapbook from last year. I did a scrapbook as my History class assignment about the history of Kingdom Hearts Campus, I remembered supplementing a blueprint of the school when it was first built here. Although we would always see the clock tower from time to time when walking around in school, we never really paid particular attention to it. To be honest I almost forgot about its existence, how ignorant of me. But according to the reports in my scrapbook, the volume of the chimes was just alright in every corner of the school, only in the clock tower one would hear the loudest and most deafening chimes of the school bell. Oh, I also included a distribution plan of public phones on campus in here. Even the ones above are helping me! Yo ho ho~
I snickered and said, "How did I find this piece of information back then?" Just as I expected, there really was a public telephone in the observatory floor of the clock tower. Now another question popped up: how would I know who was speaking on the phone? "Two ways, one is to investigate the clock tower, and the other one is to use the security camera playback," I thought, but here came the problem: if I were to go to the clock tower, not only I had to pass through heavy security, I also need a key to the clock tower entrance and a permit. Were they kidding me? It was only a rusty old bell, was there a need to be this heavily protected?! It was not even Pummerin from St Stephen's Cathedral for Kingdom Hearts' sake… If I chose to use camera feeds… well, it was not because there was not any security cameras in the clock tower, rather because the place where they kept and monitored the security cameras was a highly restricted area. Except for people ranked as teachers and above, no one else could be there at all.
Seriously, bloody hell… My eyebrows started to furrow. No can do, I did not have the luxury to wait for that stupid permit and any crap along with it, judging how slow things were processed here. Besides, I might alert the enemy unnecessarily this way… Therefore… I had no choice but to take a risk.
The next day was a Tuesday, I was sitting in class. On the surface I looked as if concentrating on the lesson given by Mr. Cloud, in reality I would glance at my watch every few minutes. The pen in my grip would slip every now and then due to unrest. There was only one plan in my mind: during the recess period soon, I would sneak into the security monitoring room to watch the playback of the cameras in the clock tower on the day Fayra attempted to commit suicide. I had to be quick, because recess was only twenty minutes, but luckily today I was not required to clean the classroom, so that should buy me some extra time.
After an excruciatingly long wait, the bell finally went off. I quickly dropped my pen and checked that I have everything I thought I might need with me. And then I hurriedly left the classroom. After I barely made it down one floor, I broke into a sprint. Seriously, this was not the first time I infiltrated somwhere, but it was still unsettling no matter what… Soon, I reached my target. I took a deep breath and walked discreetly to the door. I peeked through the slightly opaque glass on the door to see the interior.
That was strange, was no one in there? I pondered, trying to lean closer to get a better look. Suddenly I felt a paper on my abdomen, so I backed up a few steps to see a paper stuck on the door, it read "Out for lunch, please come back after 1030". I smacked a palm to my forehead and muttered, "So they went out for lunch… I thought something was going on…" I walked to the door again and tried to open it, but it seemed to be locked, it would not budge at all. "Oh bloody hell… I forgot that the door might be locked. But that's not right… how could it be locked when there's no keyhole?" I thought, staring intently at this weird door. There was no keyhole near the supposed door handle. This could only mean… this door was a sliding door, of course the keyhole one would expect to be there was missing!
After realising that, I pushed the door to the right forcefully at once. The door gave way after letting out some creaks. What the crap… "I have wasted too much time on one stupid door… I need to be quicker," I mumbled to myself quietly and closed the door after I entered the room; I could not have anyone suspecting an intruder in this room now, could I? I switched on the lights. I saw myriads of electronic devices and whatnot being placed on metal shelves, and these shelves were arranged in a way that shrank the already small space to the extent where only one person can walk through. Two people walking two by two was impossible here. Minding the crisscross of wires on the floor, I carefully followed the narrow "corridor" created by the shelves, as if walking in a maze. I reached a wooden desk full of monitor screens and a keyboard after taking a few turns here and there. The angles of the cameras flashed on each screen frequently, they almost made me dizzy, but I was not here for the live show; I was here for the replay instead.
Just to be on the safe side, I poked the mouse to see if anything happens. Only one screen turned black with a welcome message. Looking at it, I thought, "Thank god whoever this is didn't log out! Or else I would have to return empty-handed." A few clicks on the buttons brought me to the recording collection library. "OK, that date… where is that date…" I muttered while scanning through the list of dates. Once I found it, I clicked on it and was immediately brought to yet another list of a whole bunch of locations. I searched for a few minutes and found the word "Clock tower", I was about to click on it, just then-
"Creak…" It was the door! Holy crap I was finished! It was as if my whole body crashed like a broken computer, only my brain was in solution-finding overdrive, but they were useless scenarios… "I have to think of a way to hide!" Although I knew better than anyone else that this was not a good plan, I sprang into action immediately and forced myself to squeeze into a dark corner. I tried my best to hold my breath, otherwise I would be discovered sooner I thought.
I heard footsteps, but from my hiding spot I could not see anything. Dear god, I did not care who the hell they were, just do not sniff me out and get the crap out of this place this instant! Or else how was I supposed to escape?! The footsteps grew closer, my heart was going to hop out of my throat any moment. What should I do, what should I do?! I needed to come up with a good excuse, or I would have to force my way out!
That was weird… the footsteps did not sound as if belonging to one person? Not good, I was outnumbered, I was really done for…
My hands were shaky, but my right hand seemed to graze over an electric plug. I glanced over to it and behold, the word "lights" was labelled on the plug. A wicked smirk slowly appeared on my face. I took back my words; I was not done for yet! The position I was in did not enable me to turn off the switch, so I pulled the wire connecting said electric plug with all my might. Two seconds later, the plug detached from the socket and everything descended into darkness.
Whoever were in the room did not seem to expect that, and the footsteps stopped abruptly. Slowly, I stood up from my crouching position, once I vaguely saw an opening, I barged my way through. I knocked over two people, almost tripping myself over in the process. I tried to navigate myself with my memory of the layout of this room, after taking one last turn at the corner, I heard voices behind me. I did not dare to look back, but-
BAM! The pelvis of the left side of my waist knocked into an edge of the metal cupboard, it was so painful not even a yelp of pain slipped out from my mouth and I fell down. Holy bananas… that freaking killed me! The two people came from behind me and pulled me up, I tried struggling, but it would always irritate the injury. I started threatening, "I have no idea who you are, but if you know what's good for you then release me! Let me-" My words died there, for someone had put their palm on my mouth, I kept wriggling around like a worm, the owner of the hand (at least I thought so) said, "207! 207! Calm down! It's me, 006!"
Wait, what? I ceased to move, trying to process what was happening before me. Just then, a flashlight lit up from behind me, I turned my head to see Zexion holding me down, while his other hand left my mouth. Roxas had a flashlight in his hands. I was so surprised that I could not even manage to utter something.
Xion whined, "Oww… 207, what is wrong with you? That hurt like hell…" Demyx got up from the floor, also whining in pain. Axel was standing off to the side, just barely outside of my escape (thus rushing) route earlier. He looked at me with a "WTF" expression. Roxas was still gripping onto my arm tightly, he said, "Seriously, calm down, 207." "You… here… what?" I could only manage a few words.
Zexion explained first, "We noticed something off about you in math class earlier, and you even left the classroom after the recess bell rang. So we decided to follow to see what is up with you." Xion added, "At first, we thought you were going to eat at the canteen for a change, but who knew you would run to the security monitoring room… why are you infiltrating a restricted area?" Roxas said, "There are only a bunch of security camera feeds here… could you be looking for some video?" The whole thing seemed to be unable to remain a secret any longer, so I said, "… Xth X month, clock tower, the recording around 09:00 to 10:00."
The five of them looked at each other. Demyx, who stood closest to the computer headed to the screens immediately, and finished my interrupted-by-force job earlier. He clicked the mouse. A few seconds later, he said, "Done." Roxas only released my arm now and made his way to the screens. He said, "And then fast-forward to 09:00… OK! Now what?" "… Can you record it down?" I asked again. Axel asked in return, "Why record it? Are you looking for something? Or… someone?"
"Argh, screw that. We don't have much time left, and we are also in a restricted area. I am going to download it and watch it back home!" Roxas shook his head and said, quickly digging out his USB drive and stuck it into the designated port on the CPU, and then he hit a few keys. He said to himself, "This way this computer won't be able to record anything about my drive, so no one should be able to trace our steps and get to us." Zexion then said, "Ten minutes left… 383, help us watch our six." Xion walked to the exit and stood behind the door, on the lookout. Now, I felt my pain had subsided a lot, so I stood up. Only then Zexion retracted his hand which previously held me down. I fell silent, feeling as if everything was tangled up in my heart. I was too careless, I even let Lucky 7 suspect me so soon.
Axel rushed, "Hurry up 013, work your magic!" Roxas answered with a snap, "Almost there, geez. Ten more seconds…" This time, without a hitch, the download was completed. Once Roxas noticed the finished job, he withdrew his drive and remained in front of the computer, still operating something. Demyx panicked, asking, "What's with the hold up, 013?! We're dead meat if we don't go soon!" "Argh hold on! I am deleting the recording of the camera just outside this room, or else we will be dead meat for real!" snapped Roxas, his focused eyes never leaving the screen the monitor screen.
Oh crap, there was a camera outside this room?! Good grief, once I got nervous I lost even the most basic danger awareness. I gulped mentally, but I thought of something all of a sudden; the electric plug I pulled out when I tried to escape earlier. It must be plugged in! I reminded, "135, the plug labelled "lights" must be plugged back in! Or else it would arouse suspicion." "What? Oh, OK…" Demyx thought it was odd, but he did as told. Soon, the lights came back on. Xion urged, "Guys, five more minutes… come on…"
Roxas finally announced, "OK, done! Now everyone GTFO!" We quickly filed out of the room. Luckily Zexion who was the last one to leave did not forget to switch off the lights. We scrambled back to the balcony at our classroom. Demyx asked, "Phew! Should be… fine, eh?" Roxas was trying to regain his breath, waving his hand dismissively and said, "Relax… I also shut off the camera outside of that blasted room. Pretty damn sure we're in and out like hitmen!" "… I have something to tell," I then said. Although my voice was as small as a mouse squeak, they still heard it. Zexion paused for a bit and asked, "What happened?"
I told absolutely everything; from when I fought with Fayra at the hospital to when I was forced to accept Devilish Director's request (or rather, threat), including my current plans. As I expected, they were not very happy, and I had also mentally prepared myself for any scolding and/or beat-downs. Zexion let out a sigh, massaging his nasal bridge, seemingly unsure what to do with me. Roxas and Demyx did not say a thing, their faces somewhat grim. Xion expressed disbelief and said, "What the heck?! Why didn't you tell us about such a serious matter, but carry the burden yourself?" Axel's face was serious instead (which was scarier than mad) and he said, "I told you, no more keeping things from us next time. Did you fry your brain?"
"It was all because of that Devilish Director, she was obviously picking on Nemix! No wonder you look like a non-homicidal zombie in the past week…" snarled Roxas. Zexion sighed, "… In all honesty, we have been working together for such a long time, you have no need to do this. You were too reckless… you were almost done for, do you realise that?" Xion said, somewhat hurt, "I said it before too, I am your friend, we all are. We are not just your classmates and colleagues…" Demyx said, "Seriously, Devilish Director overdid it. Didn't she know that if she messed with Nemix, she would have messed with all of us?!"
"Correct!" Just then, someone else's voice came over. We were startled and looked towards the source of the voice. Kairi, Ven and Naminé were standing a few steps away from us. Not waiting for my reaction, Kairi said first, "Although we are not too sure what happened, but Demyx was absolutely right; anyone who dares to bully one of us will be declaring war on all of us!" "You guys…" I was able to manage a phrase, not expecting them to be like this as well.
Axel laughed and continued, "There, you see, Nemix, everyone is supporting you. Doesn't matter how that devil is going to make us suffer, we will still be on your side. We're all in this, now…" I felt the same agitation I had during my conversation with Ienzo. I lightly bit my lower lip and replied firmly, "… OK. Thank you all very much, really… I swear not to treat you all like outsiders anymore." Now, the edges of my lips lifted just a bit. I felt much more relaxed.
Demyx clapped and said, "OK! Happy ending! So what do we do next?" Roxas said, "I think I am going to study the video I downloaded earlier, and we can discuss this tomorrow after school?" Zexion nodded and said, "I agree." "Oh, also…" said Naminé. We looked at her and she continued, "… I came to tell you guys, we are already five minutes late to the Science lab…"
As you could guess, chaos ensued. "WHAT?! Why did you tell us now?!" screamed Roxas, scrambling into the classroom to grab his textbook and notes. Naminé retorted, "I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere just now!" "Crap, Mr. Vexen's going to dissect us!" Demyx followed suit.
Well… this bunch would never get to correct their spontaneously-out-of-character tendencies anytime soon, but to be able to have these good friends, I could let go of my worries somewhat.
The next day after school, Lucky 7 gathered at our usual secret hideout. We were staring at Roxas's laptop screen while he was explaining, "I wasted the whole night yesterday and I managed to improve the resolution of the camera feed by a bit. It is as 207 expected; someone was at the clock tower public phone!" The playback was showing said phone in the morning of Fayra's suicide attempt. A girl with a cap and sunglasses was talking on the phone. She was the exact same person from the viral video! "Her again…" Zexion noticed it too.
Roxas also said, "I also tried to magnify her school number, but I still failed…" He demonstrated once again for us. Sure enough, the playback got too pixelated… "This is frustrating…" Xion smacked her palm to her face and said. "Hey wait… don't those who want to access the clock tower need to pass through security personnel, possess the clock tower key as well as a permit?" I just remembered the data I collected days ago and said. Who exactly was this girl, able to manage to fulfil all three requirements?
Zexion reasoned, "If so, there should be records. We will also have to confirm with the security personnel… This cannot delay, we will split up now." "OK!" we agreed. The groups were as follows: Axel and Xion went to ask the security staff, Roxas and Demyx went to check the key loan records, while Zexion and I stayed to investigate the permit application records.
We borrowed Roxas's laptop because the permit application records were completely digital; no hardware records. Zexion guessed, "Perhaps this?" We had been roaming like headless chickens on the school's official websites and databases, in the end we resorted to click on every single link to try to find what we needed, and that took up way too much time… "It'd better be for the love of bloody hell…" I grumbled, clicking on the link to get in. The screen now showed a list, and in it was "Permit Application Records". "Holy Bananas! Hallelujah! Found it!" we almost cheered and immediately clicked "Continue"! However… "Admin permission required" showed up in the dialogue box on the next page. "We celebrated too soon…" I smashed my face into my palm and muttered. "Or should we say that we delegated the job to the wrong people?" sighed Zexion. We should have let Roxas do this instead…
Just then, our interphones rang, "207, 006, this is 383! How is your investigation?" "Don't remind me… Unless school admins allow, or else we could not investigate crap!" I huffed. "Ah… we're in the same boat here. Our dear security personnel wouldn't say anything, even Axel almost lost it…" "Why?" I asked. She replied helplessly, "Only heaven knows! They said whoever approaches the clock tower will be inspected for their permits, but they refused to say anything else or divulging more details." Could it be… someone threw a wrench in our works and forced them to keep quiet?
Soon, Demyx reported, "Eh… we have a problem here." Zexion managed to ask patiently, "What is it?" "We did find the record book, sure, but… the whole book seemed to have been soaked in water, all writings are blurred out…" I was only one hair away from dying of fury. Zexion let out an uncharacteristic frustrated groan, and then he said, "What on earth is going on today…?! Ugh, forget it. Everyone regroup at base. 135, 013, bring the book with you." "… OK then."
When we all regrouped, we started racking our brains again. Roxas was staring at the record book intently. Demyx said, "I have no idea why it's like this, even the person in charge did not understand either. What should we do?" Axel was still fuming, "Blasted security, what were they thinking?! How dared they not tell us anything…" Only then Roxas mumbled to himself, "Pencil… is there a pencil?" I paused to process his odd request, and then I said, "Oh? Here." I lent him mine, once he took it he flipped the book to the page where the last entry once had been, and shaded the whole page with the pencil. Could he be…? "Hehe, got it!" Roxas said, smirking. We all went up to him and asked, "What?" He said, "This is a bit far-fetched, and also not very clear, but here you can see the writing trails of someone's school number, formed under pressure from the pen tip when written!" Sure enough, there were traces of the school number 08XXX. Nice one, 013!
"And then we cross-reference with the database online!" Roxas tossed the book over to me and grabbed his laptop, starting his quest. We were holding our breaths… "It's… Samara?!" said Roxas, somewhat surprised. Wait, what? "… Um, 013, are you 100% sure? You said so yourself, these trails are not clear…" Demyx sounded like he was about to request for retreat. I started getting agitated and said, "Then how?! If we need more solid proof, then we need admin permission. Devilish Director said it too, she was not going to provide any help, nor does she allow external ones…"
"She only restricted you and you alone, 207. But it will be a different story for other people," said Xion with a serious expression. "I will go to Mr. Saix to get the log in permission. If I fail, we still have this many people. No need to be scared!" she continued after that. I stood up, saying, "You are playing with fire! I had experienced Devilish Director's wrath first hand, there is no need for you to follow my footsteps!" Xion merely raised her hand to signal me to calm down, and then she said, "You had already done so much to us and Lucky 7, nearly dying a few times even. It's about time we do something for you, huh?" She took large strides to the door, but then she stopped, turned around and asked, "Anyone of you coming with me? Don't say I did not invite you." Demyx and Roxas got up without asking and walked over to her. They hurried to Mr. Saix's office. Ten minutes later…
"… The whole thing's like this. So we would like to request login permission from you," Xion explained to Mr. Saix that they discovered the soaked record book during their normal check-up routine and thus they suspected someone trying something sinister, and they wanted to check the permit records. He seriously considered it for a good while, and he finally said, "I can provide a temporary login, but… just pretend this never happened. You did not look for me, and I did not grant any authorisation." He then gave them a code. Demyx was surprised, he said, "Of course, we understand. But sir, you should probably not mention this to anyone too." Mr. Saix merely nodded, returned to his office chair and sat down. They also returned to their hideout at once.
After Demyx told us what happened, he added, "It feels like Mr. Saix knows about our true situation… this is creepy." Hah, we had been working under his watch for ages, he should know more than just a thing or two about us, right? Roxas then smacked the table top and exclaimed, "It is really her! Samara!" I was the first to get to the laptop. The screen displayed that she did apply for a clock tower permit, even the date and school number matched! "Holy crap…" I breathed, reeling back onto the back of the chair. My hands were holding my head and I stared at the ceiling. Xion was not happy at all, she muttered, "Darn it! You again!" I released my hands and gazed at everyone, saying, "Now what? This evidence just proved that besides being the mysterious girl in the viral video, Samara is also heavily involved in Fayra's suicide attempt, and possibly the sexual assault too!" Axel finally said, "Are we reporting? My hands are itching for some beat down." I let out a dry laugh and said, "I can't wait to end all of this bullshit…"
"Wait, we cannot do this," Zexion decided to say this now. Everyone looked over at him. Xion and Axel exclaimed with a surprised tone, "Why?!" With a grim expression, he explained, "I know you are anxious, but hear me out: why did Samara soak the record book and threaten the security personnel? To destroy evidence, yes. But why did she also leave one last evidence behind for us to discover, when she could probably have destroyed it too? She seems to be aware of our, or rather, 207's predicament; she knows that 207 is unable to call for help, and thus will never get to check the permit application records."
Zexion paused and after observing everyone's reactions, he continued, "This is too odd, it feels like a taunt or provocation; even if 207 or Lucky 7 knows that she is the one, it does not matter. No one can do anything to her." Due to shock and anger, I was rendered speechless. But Axel went ballistic, "What the hell is wrong with you, 006?! It can be said that she had committed a heinous crime; intentional attempted murder! How is it even possible for her not to be implicated?!" Xion joined in, "Yeah! Also, the one who wanted to dig out the mastermind of Fayra's 'scandal' is bloody Devilish Director herself! She will stop at nothing to make sure Samara learned her lesson! We'll just have to report her to Devilish Director!"
"This series of means by Samara is to show us her influence and power! Think about it, why would the security personnel be afraid of her and seal their mouths? Regardless whether it was coercion or bribery, she succeeded nonetheless. To be able to achieve that means her background is not simple, her influence is extraordinary, perhaps even surpassing those of Devilish Director. Or else, what is the reason for the director to pick on 207 in every aspect, setting restrictions here and there? Why complicate such a simple investigation? Why thwart her own goals and give herself more trouble?" explained Zexion, getting agitated too.
Up to this point, we gradually registered Zexion's words and reacted badly. Axel turned around and threw his hands into the air in exasperation, while Xion slammed a fist onto the wall next to her. Even Demyx and Roxas got irritated; Roxas threw the record book onto the floor and Demyx had his face in his palms, looking troubled. I was staring at nothing in particular in front of me, unfocused. After ten tense seconds, I heard Demyx asking, "Darn it… what do we do now?" I thought about it for a while, and made my decision, "… Talk with Samara."
Zexion blurted, "What?" I closed my eyes and sighed, and then reopened them and said, "Since she had it all figured out, she would have been expecting us to see her. I want to know her ultimate motive. Can't just leave this as it is after all…" Everyone calmed down and thought. Finally, Xion started, "Sounds good…" Roxas said, "Agreed." "Fine then…"
Only then we ended the meeting, planning to face Samara directly tomorrow. We walked towards the school main gate and were about to reach the end of the corridor. Just then, from the opposite end came Samara and her two underlings. How convenient. She noticed our presence as well, and with a full face of arrogance she gazed at us, whereas we felt fury burning up in us.
I could not hold back my impulsiveness and made big strides over to her. I stood before her and seethed, "Why do this to a girl who had no idea about who you are?"
She was surprised indeed, and said, "What nonsense are you on about? What do you mean by 'do this to a girl who didn't know who I am'? I know you're stupid, but are you seriously becoming that stupid? Is my curse that effective?" I did not falter and growled, "We found out that the person who called me from the clock tower that bloody day was you, and we have the key loan records as supporting evidence. You'd better not bloody waste my time and breath, and fess up!" Lucky 7 had already made its way over and stood behind me. Xion was glaring daggers at Samara, saying, "What else do you have to say about this?"
She did not say anything but lowered her gaze to the floor. But then she started chuckling rather evilly. When she looked up at me again, her face had an additional sinister smirk. She sneered, "Well, what can I say? It was Fayra's fault for going after the man who was with me since the beginning."
WTF?! We were certainly taken aback; that scumbag had another girl? And Fayra was the third wheel?! "… You do realise that this bastard sexually assaulted an underage girl, and will very likely treat you the same, right?!" I said, feeling history was seemingly replaying itself and incoming déjà vu. Why was she as stubborn as Fayra?! She laughed and answered, "As for that, it's none of your concern. I was fine despite being with him for so long, he wouldn't do that to me. Also, don't call him 'bastard'!"
I interrupted at once, "That's not the point! Goddamn it… In conclusion, you had committed a heavy crime; instigating suicide albeit unsuccessful. With the authority given to me by the director, I will now bring you to her for you to pay for your actions!" Axel added, "Hell yes! Let's see if you can still be so smug and blab nonsense before her!"
Strange things happened again; she did not show any reaction initially, and then she let out a sneer and said, "Oh, then let's go. Go ahead and report me. But, you will not succeed. Because… why would the director punish her own daughter?"
A second WTF missile flew to us and blew up, we were at the brink of actually exclaiming it out loud. My eyes went wide, speechless for the time being. She continued, "I knew long ago that you all will get to me sooner or later, even if I chose a place you will never find out. Therefore, I destroyed every single witness and evidence, all but one electronic record which is impossible for you to get your hands on. However, I have to admit, your reputation is not a joke. You managed to find out about me in the end. Hahaha!"
The girl before us was laughing quite happily, but also sinisterly. The scary thing was, this was not the laughter of a maniac; she was pretty normal, "confessing" everything to us while not being afraid of anyone implicating her. Once she was done laughing, with an evil smirk she said to me, "Nevertheless, since you all made it to the final stage, I'll say that was a good effort on your part. As a consolation prize, I will go and report myself to the director, while also asking the director to stop the investigation. Saves you the trouble! Haha!" After finishing, she looked at the rest of Lucky 7. Axel was held back by Zexion, or else he would have lost it. Demyx and Roxas was still trying get a grip of the situation, while Xion was furious. Gritting her teeth, she growled, "You despicable being! Just who do you think you are to act so holier-than-thou?! What's the meaning of this?!"
With a glance at Xion, Samara said, "Hey, you really are ungrateful. Your mission had already ended anyway. Since you found the culprit behind the viral video, I'll go end this story with a desired outcome. Furthermore, if the director was serious, why would she start an investigation and put so many restrictions in place? This could only mean one thing…" She purposely beat around the bush and glanced at me. She continued, "This is just an act for others to see, so they would have nothing to say about the director not doing anything for her niece. She never intended you to succeed from the get-go. Even if you failed, she could at least announce that she tried. She is not going to eat you up anyways…"
Screw responding, I had no idea what to think anymore. Samara laughed haughtily again, and actually left towards the direction of Devilish Director's office. I did not move, not even turning around. Her damned and annoying voice came again, "Consider this a small favour from me. There will be no more trouble coming your way from the director. But don't get your hopes up too soon; if you dare to meddle in my affairs again, I'm sure you know the consequences! Haha, ahahaha!" This time, she did not return anymore.
After a good while, I slowly regained my senses, but when I tried to move my legs, they suddenly gave way and I felt slightly dizzy. I would have fallen on my butt had Lucky 7 not been there to pull me just in time. "Oi, oi 207, what's wrong? Get a grip! You OK?" cried Demyx, pulling at my arms. I tried to re-establish my footing, and once I stood up properly, I said with a small voice, "I'm fine…" I felt a mild burning sensation in my eyes, and something swelling in my throat. The entirety of my mind was filled with this incident, currently replaying in fast forward; from my first encounter with Fayra after her abduction, to the spread of the viral video, to Devilish Director forcing the investigation on me… up to Samara's last few sentences earlier. I felt… my whole being relaxed, as if the tons of rocks stacked on me were gone in an instant. But, hatred, anger, frustration, indignation… they spun in my mind like a hurricane.
Perhaps Zexion noticed me probably looking like hell, he suggested, "You do not look good, let us find somewhere quiet, sit down and rest." And thus, we were back at our previous hideout and sat down. I was thinking; why? Why was everything either happening to me, or pushed onto me? Why was I only their pawn? Why use me to complete something impossible to complete? For weeks, how much suffering and crap had I been through? I was worn out every single day, I did not even know how I was still alive…
Lucky 7 could see something was up with me, but had no idea how to start. Zexion took a deep breath and crouched down before me, keeping his gaze on the same level as mine. He carefully worded, "Nemix… you can be rest assured now, everything is over." I then slowly focused my gaze on him, but I still did not say anything. He continued, "You did your very best. Whatever happened, good or bad, had already happened. You cannot possibly change the past. Everything about this is not your fault."
Roxas observed the situation and then went along, "You might feel as if there is only you in the whole world, but don't forget, you still have us. We are each other's support and backup. Even if you're going through hell, we'll gladly go with you!" Axel nodded and said, "What they said! Don't you dare leave all men behind again, I'm warning you." I mumbled, "You guys…"
I watched them, my emotions and thoughts unable to subside. I said again, "… Everything is… over?" Zexion nodded and said, "Yes. You do not need to torture yourself anymore." And then, Xion came over and gave me a hug. I did not manage to react and got flustered. She said, "I'm sorry Nemix, you've been through so much… and it was not right to let you do that alone. Samara is still my nemesis after all, so part of it was my responsibility… You've done well and worked so hard."
"Everything is over." "You've worked so hard." "We'll gladly go with you!" That was it, I was losing it. I returned the hug and almost choked on invisible sobs. I said, "… Thank you all… You're my… true best friends…" Demyx could not take it anymore and joined in the hug, and everyone basically turned this into a group hug. Everything was finally over, I did not have to live my days like a zombie anymore…
After some time, Demyx said, "OK! Anyone want sea salt ice-cream?" I was reverting back to normal and jokingly replied, "… Alright then, but… your treat."
"WHAT THE KINGDOM HEARTS?!" Demyx jumped. We released ourselves from the group hug and stared at him. "You are not serious about this, right?!" cried Demyx.
"Hey, you presented the idea, so of course you are going to buy them!" reasoned Xion.
"If you are still not going, what do we do if Nemix started crying?" said Axel with a smirk, jabbing a thumb at me. I protested, "Say what?!"
"OK, OK, I don't want any trouble…" Demyx raised his hands in surrender and backed up to the exit. He quickly made a run for it and shut the door. We were silent for two seconds, and then we burst out laughing. It was probably my luck to have these bunch of likeable idiots as best friends.
~ CHAPTER 16 FIN ~
TO BE CONTINUED
Attention, all passengers. This is the way overdue train ride to Kingdom Hearts. Dang it. This took longer than necessary. I should probably write more when I still have the motivation. This chapter has to be the most offensive/sensitive/triggering one so far, so fair warning to all of you. Do not tread if you do not like this. Just click away and I would always have some sort of catch-up in the next chapter. Anyways, once this chapter has been uploaded, I would have already finished rewriting and reediting the previous ones. There were too many mistakes and I would try to correct them when I got to them. My grammar sucked back then, so I apologise. I estimate the end of the story is near, probably two more chapters to wrap all of these up. So thank you if you are still reading this (probably not, seeing how I disappeared for years without a trace, and no one really cared), and see you all soon!
