Ran's POV:

I didn't want to meet up again with Lisa. I know she'll ask me about what happened. What am I supposed to say? Should I just admit the truth? Would she judge me for it? I don't know. She seems nice, so maybe she wouldn't say anything.

I couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to do. I barely paid attention the whole day at school. Not that it really mattered. I didn't understand the lessons anyway. I sighed as I rested my head on my desk. The teacher was doing problems on the board. I couldn't understand any of them.

What am I gonna do? Should I ditch? Would I get in trouble? I don't know. If she told them I ditched, then yeah, I would. But, I don't know if she would. At least, not for one day.

Before I knew it, it was time to go meet her. I didn't come up with a plan. I trudged to the library. Maybe she won't be here? Maybe she assumed I wouldn't show up? Please… it'll give me an excuse to just go home.

Unfortunately, she was there. She looked relieved to see me. Well, I guess she had assumed that I'd ditch on her. It's too late to do that now. I trudged up to her.

"Hey, um… I'm sorry about yesterday." Lisa apologized, "I'll do my best to make sure it won't happen again."

"It's my fault." I mumbled, "I keep running away from my problems…"

"Would you like to talk? Or should we just pretend that never happened." Lisa offered.

Should I tell her? Would that do anything for me? I don't know.

"I… I guess we can talk." I mumbled.

I hope I don't regret this. Lisa nodded and we went into the library. We sat in our usual spot. We sat there in silence for a while. I don't know where to start. Maybe…

"Do you know anything about me?" I asked.

"No. I don't know anything more than what you've said and what the school said, which was just you were failing and needed a tutor." Lisa replied.

So, I have to explain everything? I should be fine. I can handle these memories. I have to. I can't keep hiding. I can't keep letting my emotions get the best of me. This is my chance to start getting better. Opening up to a stranger may just be what I need to start recovering.

"Well… it's a pretty long story… since you know nothing." I mumbled, "You sure you want to listen?"

"Yes. If it'll help me avoid a similar situation then yes." Lisa nodded, a firm and determined look on her face.

"Alright. So, I um… I was found abandoned in the woods as an infant and taken to live at an orphanage." I said. I paused, knowing she would say something about it.

"Oh… so, I guess us mentioning you being an orphan really hit home… I'm sorry about that." Lisa apologized.

"It's fine… I… I overreacted." I stammered.

"How about we both say we were at fault? Now, continue please?"

"Okay… so, I was six and still hadn't been adopted. A fire broke out one afternoon at the orphanage. I was the only survivor." I waited to see if she'd mention the place.

"Oh. I kinda remember hearing about that." Lisa commented.

"I was found by one of my friends and their dad. They took me in and healed me. I kinda burned my foot in the fire so… it took a while. They temporarily adopted me and we were doing good." I paused for a bit to collect myself.

This is where things can go ugly. Should we maybe go somewhere more private? I don't want to worry her, though. Hopefully I can keep my emotions in control this time. That's all I ask. Just let me not lose control.

"My… my parents were alive and… they sent people to kidnap me and bring me to them. They did illegal stuff so they couldn't just take me." I said.

"You're using past tense so… something happened to them?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah. Um… that'll come later. So, I was trapped in the house. My mom died of an illness at some point. When I was eight, I was allowed to explore the woods. I saw another one of my friends walking and we talked. But, then I got in trouble and was banned from going outside until I started school." Jeez, this is really a long story.

"That's horrible… I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Lisa frowned.

Oh, Lisa. If only you knew what was to come. Things will just get more horrible from here on out.

"I went to school with everyone and… well, we were fine for a while. But, then something happened again. I heard my dad talking about killing my friend, so I snuck out to warn her." I stopped talking.

The memories were getting a little harder to handle. Lisa rested a hand on my shoulder. I guess she can tell I'm getting worked up.

"Take your time. Take some deep breaths and calm down, okay?" Lisa suggested.

I did as she suggested. It took a while, but I felt like I was in control again. That's good. This is a good way to calm down. Maybe I could use this method again?

"Alright… I think I'm ready to continue." I said.

"Take your time. I don't mind staying past an hour if we have to." Lisa told me.

"Dad's friend found us and tried to kill us. We managed to ran out, but...we hid and he stabbed my friend. We managed to get to safety." I continued, "I don't think he was caught at the time."

"Yikes… you've been through a lot." Lisa frowned again.

We're not even close to all the shit I've been through yet. I wonder how she'll react at the end of the story?

"So… I lived with another friend for a while, but then dad sent someone to kidnap me from school. He… he told me I had to kill my friend since I ruined it the first time." I said.

Lisa looked concerned. I think that expression won't be leaving her face anytime soon.

"I went and we tried to hide out. Some guys posed as police and… they killed her mom and then set the house on fire…" I might have just given away who it was. Does she know Moca?

"I… I know who you're talking about…" Lisa said.

"Well… I can't handle fire and… I ended up blacking out. But, she got me out so we were okay." I continued, "The story doesn't end there, though."

"Really? How much have you gone through?" Lisa gave me a sympathetic look.

"You'll see." I replied, "So… um… a friend was kidnapped by them and… they used her as blackmail to get me back. I went and tried to help her escape, but she was too scared after I was attacked."

"You poor thing…"

"I didn't wake up for a few days. But, then we planned an escape. We were doing well, but dad found us. We ran, but he caught her. I… I shot him… and killed him…" I went silent.

"Is that the end?" Lisa asked.

I nodded. Lisa held out her arms. I hesitated, before I accepted her hug.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through so much…" Lisa whispered, "I'll be cautious when saying things from now on. I don't want to upset you."

"Thank you…"

"Has this been the reason you've ditched class? The kids in your class know?" Lisa questioned.

"Y-yeah…"

"I'm sorry people are so mean. I hope they aren't giving you too many problems."

"Not anymore." I mumbled.

"That's good."

"Can I go?"

"Yeah. If you wanna take the day off tomorrow, that's fine with me." Lisa said.

"Y-yeah… I'd appreciate that."

"Then we'll meet in two days." Lisa smiled.

I got up. I said goodbye and then left. I didn't want to go home yet. I ended up going to the park. It always helps me when I go there. It helps me calm down.

I entered the park and saw that Himari was there. She was looking at flowers.

"Himari, hey!" I called out to her.

Himari turned around. She smiled and waved at me. I walked over to her.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I was looking at the flowers." Himari replied, "Oh! Your family runs a flower thingy right? Do you know the names of these flowers?"

"Um… no. I'm still pretty new to all this stuff. And, it's flower arranging." I responded.

"Okay. So, how did tutoring go today?" Himari asked.

"We… um… we didn't do anything today… we just talked about stuff." I mumbled. She doesn't need to know what we talked about.

"Oh. Well, you better get studying. We don't want you to repeat a year." Himari huffed.

"I know…" I frowned, "I'm doing my best, I promise."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I'm just worried about you. Will you really be able to catch up in time?" Himari asked.

"Yeah. I'll do whatever it takes to catch up. I promise I won't get left behind." I stated.

"I look forward to seeing you improve then." Himari smiled at me.

I smile back, "Yeah…"

Hopefully things will go better. I do feel better now that I talked to Lisa. Maybe that was what I needed. I just needed to talk to someone else about it. Someone who had a different perspective from everyone else.

But… I'm still worried that it'll come back to bite me. What if… more people learn about me? Especially with our band… if… if people find out… what if they don't like me anymore?

"Ran? Are you okay? You've gone a little pale?" Himari asked in worry.

"I… I'm fine…" I stammered, "I need to go!"

I ran off. There I go again. Running from my problems instead of facing them. Why can't I just get the strength to tell them how I'm feeling? Why do I keep hiding away? I know they'd help me so why do I hesitate?