Into the Light- New Connections

'Adam- are you alright?'

As our main character helps his friends with issues in their personal lives, he doesn't notice that he is ignoring all the problems in his own and that he is avoiding it at all costs- what effect will this have on his mental health? And what will become of two of his closest friends after their lives are changed forever?

*WARNING: THIS PART CONTAINS ALLUSIONS TO POOR MENTAL HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES; ALLUSIONS TO STALKING AND OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR; MENTIONS/ALLUSIONS OF PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE; FINANCIAL ISSUES; AND MORE. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.*

(Author's Note: Hi everyone, I sincerely apologise for the delay on this part. A lot of things came up in my personal life that I had to deal with, and I wasn't able to work on the project very much unfortunately. But I finally finished it- and I am fairly happy with how it turned out, so I hope you all enjoy it as well. Thank you all for being so patient with me, it truly means a lot to me at the end of the day! Take care- see you all soon! –SirGalactica)

Chapter 4, Part 3:

'It's my dad, he's been arrested- he might go to jail for what he's done. I'm not sure yet- but I can't stay at my place since they're looking for evidence. Can I come over?'

It felt as if though time stopped completely in that moment, your eyes going wide in shock- your phone almost falling out of your hands due to your reaction to the situation, bringing your hands up to your mouth in horror as all of the worst possibilities you could think of filled your head.

Thankfully, you were able to keep your phone in your hands and you calmed yourself just enough to ask her questions without immediately ending the call and running off into the night to look for her, albeit- you did pester her with a lot of questions when you were able to bring yourself to speak again.

You meant well, but you felt bad for annoying her when she had to cut you off after your last question, and explain to you that she was fine and what she knew. 'No- I'm fine! Hibiki, calm down. Look- I don't know why he's been arrested just yet, but if I had to make a guess, it'd be because he did something stupid when he was out drinking...'

You asked her where she was whilst you went about getting your shoes, coat and any other items you might have needed, her quick outburst subsiding as she explained in a quiet, subdued voice. 'I'm near the Blackbelly Skate Park, it's pretty close to where I live- I would've gone to Connor's or Josh's house to stay the night since they live around this area, but I didn't want to be a nuisance and disturb them at this hour...'

You tried your best to reassure her before you told her that you would see her soon, and that you would be leaving in a few minutes after you told your parents where you were going- to which you both bid each other goodbye and you both hung up the phone so that you could go and explain the situation to your parents.

Luckily enough for you- it seemed that they had heard the disturbance and came out to check on you, or rather Rei did to let Maru stay in bed. He looked a bit sleepy but rather confused as well, and so you promptly apologised for the disturbance you may have caused and explained the situation to him. 'Sorry if I disturbed you two. Tsuyo just phoned me and I need to go and get her.'

He immediately became very concerned and began to ask you about her safety and her whereabouts, to which you reassured him that she was fine and that she was in a location close to her house. 'She's near a park where she lives, her father's been arrested and she said that he might go to jail- she can't go in her house as they're searching it for evidence. She needs somewhere to stay the night, and maybe for a while but I'm not sure of that yet…'

As soon as those last few words left your mouth, a rather exhausted looking Maru came into the room and asked you exactly where she was. 'I'm up. I'm up- where did you say she was?' You told him where she was and after he processed that for a second or two, he was up and about getting more clothes on and as well as his coat, before asking Rei where the 'keys' were.

You were rather bewildered by his request, and when you asked him why you would need his house keys if you already had yours on you, to which he slipped on a pair of Rei's shoes that were a bit too big for him and told you to come with him, telling you that you'd see why in a minute or two.

You decided to not question it any further and so you went along with him to all the way down to the apartment complex's lowest level- the Parking Lot. You were confused as to why you were in the Parking Lot, and when you asked Maru about it- he merely held an odd key up and pressed a button on it, causing one of the lights on one of the few cars there to go off as well as causing an audible unlocking sound to be heard.

He then turned back to you and smiled, instructing you to get into a simple but friendly looking red car that was near you. The two of you got in and put some sort of strap around your bodies- that according to Maru was meant to protect you whilst the car was in use, and he turned the key in the ignition to bring the car to life, allowing the two of you to head out into the night and experience the city in a way you never had before.

You tried your best to calm down and not be on edge, but you couldn't stop scratching and pinching at the bandages you had put on your left wrist out of a nervous habit you had developed over the last few months- fiddling with the sleeve of your jumper instead when you saw that Maru was looking over in your direction briefly.

You couldn't stop thinking about the worst case scenarios- all of them playing over and over again in your head constantly. As much as you tried to ignore it and take your mind off of it, you found it incredibly hard to do so- resorting to your bad habits to try and cope with the situation at hand.

You didn't even realise how much time had passed until Maru got your attention after multiple failed attempts, so that you could call Tsuyo and tell her that you were there to pick her up.

You hazily went about doing as you were told, mumbling to her about where thw two of you were and that she'd be able to find you easily. After a few minutes, Tsuyo had shown up with a few bags and got into the car- with you going from the front passenger seat to the back in order to sit with her.

You had calmed down a bit seeing her in person- mostly as you saw that she wasn't hurt or as distressed when she had phoned you 30 minutes earlier, although she did seem rather tired- exhausted even.

You could tell that she wasn't in the mood to talk much, and so you gave her your hand to hold- to indicate to her that you were there for her and that if she needed anything then you were more than happy to help her.

She seemed to appreciate the gesture and fidgeted with the fingers on your hand on the ride home, tracing over all the lines on your palm- as well as any old or new scars that you had on your hand. The act was small, but it seemed to provide you both with a momentary calm to seek solace in, to ignore all of your troubles for a while and focus on this temporary comfort.

Eventually, you had all gotten back to the apartment safely and after Tsuyo was given dinner by Maru as well as a quick talk on her options going forward, he sent the two of you off to bed for the night- setting about cleaning up the dishes as well as any other tasks he said he needed to do before he went off to bed.

Tsuyo had gone off to get ready for bed and so you waited for her in your room, staring up at the ceiling with a strange empty but sad feeling coursing through your veins at a steady pace. You were unaware of how much time had passed and it wasn't until Tsuyo had returned in the room with bandages on her that an all too familiar feeling returned and you expressed your concern for her.

She tried her best to not have you worry about her, saying in as happy of a voice she could manage with a forced look of happiness on her face. 'Don't worry about it- it'll heal up soon enough. You know that I've been through worse. I'll be right as rain in no time.'

You could tell that she had been crying again- most likely because of her low pain tolerance, and you couldn't help but gain a pained look on your face when you saw her like this. "The fact that you're so used to it- that treatment, it hurts me so much... And I don't know why it pains me so much- if it's because we're that close or if I'm just too empathetic for my own good. But..."

You weren't quite sure how to tell her that you cared for some reason, and you decided that it would've been a better idea for you to show her in a different way, one that you had both used many times before with one another when they were upset or just needed a bit of cheering up.

You got her close to you and gave her the gentlest hug you could possibly give. For a moment or two there she just sat there in confusion, eventually warming up to the hug and returning it.

She seemed to appreciate it and after a while she gave you a muttered thanks before she pulled away to pet your cheeks a bit- something that she hadn't done in a while. Eventually, you both grew rather tired and the two of you retired for the night and went to bed- with you purring in happiness when you were sure she had fallen asleep.

The rest of the weekend passed by like a blur, and by the time Monday had rolled around- you had gone through most of the day on auto-pilot and only stopped at lunch time to speak to Chrys in private like you were asked to do so by Ruby.

You tried your best to pass it off as a casual affair- a mere chat between friends, nothing more and nothing less. But it seemed that Chrys saw right through your disguise and asked you point blank when you were alone with her on the school's rooftop. 'Let me guess, Ruby asked you to check in on me- and you being the good person that you are, agreed and the rest is history.'

You fumbled abut for a few seconds, trying to come up with a response- but in the end you gave up and admitted the real reason why you were there to talk to her. She sighed and removed her face-mask in order to get more comfortable, knowing that she'd be there for a while.

It had only just occurred to you that you had never really seen her face before now, with her skin being of a fairly pale complexion- almost olive like in terms of colour but a bit lighter because of a poor diet; stress; or other factors. She also had some kind of red marking on her face that covered a good portion of her right forehead and eye that you couldn't be sure if it was a burn scar or a birthmark of some kind.

Her eyes- the most striking feature of her face, caused her to look rather intimidating with her mask, but now that you could see the rest of her face without it- she didn't look as scary as she had whenever you first saw her a few months ago, she looked a bit more friendly now without her mask but still came across as intimidating to those that didn't know her

She leaned back casually and rested against the wall, crossing her arms and looking away from you as you ate your lunch in silence so that you could pay attention to her completely. 'I can understand why she'd be worried, Ruby always has been like that- a worrier. She told me that she promised herself that she'd calm down before she entered Middle School, so that she wouldn't be seen as one of those people that makes a fuss out of nothing.'

'She means well of course- but I don't want her to worry about someone like me. My family stopped worrying about me the minute they found out I-' The words were caught in the back of her throat and she seemed to be apprehensive about saying more, but you encouraged her to take her time and continue on when she was ready. 'I started showing interest in girls... I'm not attracted to boys, at all- never have and never will...'

You were mildly surprised at the news, but you were not completely shocked by it. But you just took a sip of your drink and asked her as politely as you could. 'So- you're a lesbian then? Is that the right term, or no?' She fidgeted with her mask nervously, as she looked away from you out of awkwardness. 'Well- it's kinda complicated... I'm not interested in sex or anything either- it's just not appealing to me. I'd rather settle down with someone I can enjoy a nice meal and then chill out with after, y'know? Not be with someone I'm not even attracted to in the first place and have their kids- I've always hated the idea of that.'

You reassured her that you understood how she felt, and that you were indifferent to her preferences in a romantic partner- and that as long as she was happy, then you didn't mind what she did with herself. You could practically see the sigh of relief leave her body and her frame relax as you saw the tension she usually carried with her disappear in an instant, she seemed to be more comfortable around you but she still held caution as she told you in complete honesty. 'That went better than I expected it to. I'm always a bit apprehensive when I tell people about it...'

A frown formed on your face when she told you this, and when you asked her about it and if she had a bad experience in the past- she revealed everything.

How her family were a bunch of snobs that only cared about their wealth and their reputation- holding their children in very little regard outside of the ones that did what was expected of them. This excluding Chrys and her older sister Azalea- who was around three months pregnant at the present time.

Her father wanted her to focus on what he considered to be traditionally feminine pursuits as an 'education', even going so far as to try and force her to go to a special modelling school that her one of her older sisters went to instead of this school which she worked hard to get into- working night and day with the help of Azalea to get in on an academic scholarship.

When she had gotten into a particularly nasty argument with him over it, she told him that she wasn't going to do what he wanted anymore and that she was never going to a marry any man he wanted her to marry because she would never have feelings for them. It got that bad that he told her to get out of the large house she lived in since she was young and to never come back, to which she acted on it and got all of her belongings together and moved in with her sister despite the difficulties it would bring with the sudden change in finances and that.

Despite this however, she explained that she was glad she didn't have to live with her family anymore- not wanting to be a part of them and their capitalistic lifestyle, saying that she didn't miss it at all but wished that her and her sister were a little bit better off financially so that they could at least have a decent state of living. Wanting just enough to cover all the bills and necessities, with a tiny bit of money left over to save for emergencies or for something sensible like a savings fund for the baby, that they would receive on their 18th birthday.

You let her talk as much as she wanted, letting her air her worries about her financial situation; her family; and any other issues she was currently facing. In a sense, this allowed the two of you to grow closer since she would also share more information about herself that you didn't know about before- such as how she met Ruby and Tsuyo; how she got into this particular school on a scholarship with the help of her older sister; her likes and dislikes- and other various parts about her that you were more than happy to learn about.

You found out what she thought of you the first time you met each other in your first Turf War Class session with her and the others, that you were rather timid when it came to interacting with other people outside of those you already knew- but that you were very intelligent and skilled when it came to the actual activity itself. Getting her to laugh a bit whenever you told her that you found her rather intimidating whenever you first saw her, but also saying that she was good with such a strong weapon as the E-Litre 4K- especially with her quick reflexes and intuition.

As you continued to talk to her, you realised how much you genuinely enjoyed talking to her as a friend- so much so that you were saddened when you looked at the time and saw that you had five minutes left of lunch, feeling that it was a great shame you didn't have more time to talk to her.

This sentiment was shared by her as well, with her feeling disappointed that she only got to start learning about you properly just as lunch was ending- but you both agreed unanimously that you would make an effort to get to know one another more from now on.

As you were putting your lunchbox away in your locker, you tried your best to be sincere with her- 'I see... Well- I'm sure things will get better for you soon. I know that you might not trust me fully since we don't really know each other too well, we only just started doing that today- we aren't good friends like you would be with Ruby. But I'd hope that if you needed anything, that you would reach out to me or the others.'

You felt like what you were trying to say had come out wrong, and you began to get rather flustered as you stumbled and fumbled over your words to try and explain to her what you meant. 'I probably just made that very awkward, didn't I? Oh dear- uhm, well- what I was trying to say was-'

Out of nowhere, she burst out laughing and drew the attention of your surprised classmates because of this. In the midst of her laughing fits, she tried to hold back and properly apologise to you. 'God, I'm so sorry for laughing- it's just that you're normally so well-composed that to see you like this is oddly comedic to me.'

But it seemed to backfire in the end as you continued to fumble about and insist that it wasn't a big deal, and that she didn't need to apologise for anything. But she continued on laughing, this time clutching at her sides and trying her best to speak in her current state. 'Hibiki- oh God forgive me for laughing. As the way you're getting on right now reminds me of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, and the two things has created a very interesting image in my head and-'

She continued to laugh like this even when the bell had rang, and by the time the others had saw her- they were concerned as to what must have happened to cause her to be like this, whilst Ruby looked your way gratefully and mouthed a quick 'thank you' to you, before she went to attend to something else.

When you had gotten home, you completed your homework and revision as quickly as you possibly could- so that you could ask the others about what sort of things Chrys and her sister liked in terms of food or toiletries, as well as any other essentials they could possibly need in general.

The others helped you to put together a long list that you had divided into separate sections, so that the others could help contribute to the care package as well- taking the burden off getting a large quantity of items off of your shoulders and distributing it equally amongst everyone that wanted to help out.

Connor mentioned that his mom was looking for tenants to stay in the two spare bedrooms she had in the house, saying that if they were vacant- then they might as well be put to use for those that needed it. He also seemed to suggest that he would put a good word in for Chrys and her sister with the help of Ruby and Josh, something that you knew would greatly help the two of them out.

You were going to remain on your phone for a little while longer to chat with your friends about how their days went and that, but when you saw a message from a user that had nicknamed themselves as "KKat_XxX" pop up on your screen- you immediately gave your friends a hasty goodbye and said that something had come up that you needed to attend to, not saying much else and ignoring any message notifications that came from your phone from then on- opting to leave your room and closing the bedroom door behind you to go and prepare your lunch for the next day.

Hoping and praying that the real person behind the alias of "KKat_XxX" would leave you alone and stop bothering you- even for a little while.

It seemed to work temporarily, and you were able to prepare your lunch in peace for the most part- at least until you heard the phone ring by the front door.

You had been minding your own business washing up a bowl you had used to wash some fruit in, when you were startled by a loud ringing noise coming from the small hallway.

It gave you such a fright that you dropped the bowl you were cleaning- smashing it into bits as it collided with the metal of the sink. You were deathly afraid to go near the phone, choosing to ignore it despite the annoying repetitive noise it caused.

After the third ring or so- maybe more, you had gotten sick and tired of listening to the phone ringing over and over again, that you opted to turn the phone off at the wall before you blocked the number that had been calling you repeatedly- plugging it back in afterwards to ensure that you wouldn't draw any suspicion.

You noted down the amount of calls that you had received from that particular number and at what time, on a bit of paper from a notepad in the kitchen used to write down reminders or shopping lists. You quickly shoved the offending bit of paper in your pocket when you heard someone coming out of one of the rooms.

You went over to the sink and began cleaning up the broken pieces of ceramic when Maru had come out of the office to check on you to see if you were ok, to which you explained that you dropped the bowl on accident because of the phone ringing.

He then asked if the phone had gone off and you explained that you just let it ring out and assumed that it was just a scam caller or something of that nature, but your heart sunk to the bottom of your stomach in dread when he told you that someone had repeatedly called him asking for you on his office phone and that every time he hung up- the person would call back within a few seconds, almost instantly.

He could tell that you were bothered by this news, but you just brushed it off as nerves for the upcoming Student Council Elections and a presentation you were doing for your Weapons Club. He didn't seem to buy it fully, but he trusted you enough that he didn't go into it any further and wished you a good night as he had work to do.

You wished him the same and went on about the rest of your evening, getting ready for the next day before you got ready for bed and headed off for the night.

You tried your best to not think much of it, distracting yourself by writing in your diary for a bit to take your mind off of what had happened before you felt that you were ready enough to finally head off to bed and go to sleep, trying your best to not think about the messages that "KKat_XxX" had been sending to you over the last week or so that haunted and plagued your mind.

Despite that incident however, the rest of the week went by fairly smoothly with a few bumps and scrapes here and there- but nothing too serious. Tsuyo seemed to be in better spirits for the most part- whilst she was stressed about having to prepare things for court and that, as well as getting all of her affairs in order- it seemed that being away from her 'old man' had a good effect on her.

Everyone else was in good form as well, Josh had learnt how to perform a new trick with his skateboard; Connor had learnt how to create a new makeup look that he showed off to you in photos he had taken; Leah had learnt how to make her own earrings and proudly showed off the small pair she had created to you all- with Maki showing interest in the small leaf earrings Leah had made, asking them to teach her how to make a pair of her own even though she didn't have her ears pierced at all; Ruby had learnt to make a cake that went well with one of her favourite teas- whilst Brianna was excited about the Basketball Season that was going to take place in the winter.

Chrys and her sister were going to move into Connor's house briefly until they got on their feet after the baby was born- an opportunity that Chrys was immensely grateful for after Connor's mother learnt of their situation. She was also surprised with the care package on Wednesday morning, something that you didn't expect either but were pleased to see since it proved not only to you, but to her that your friend group all cared about one another and their wellbeing.

Chandler had started making more changes in his life fairly recently, the most major one being his preference to be called by his middle name Adam- rather than his first name. He also started to apply for part-time jobs he could do outside of Grizzco or playing Turf War and Ranked Mode, so that he could be more independent- with Maki and him starting to learn how to cook after-school by your Aunt Castella, which was a great source of amusement for her according to the many phone calls she made to Maru about it.

He wasn't quite ready to start making changes to his appearance just yet- but he mentioned that he had bought some new clothes for himself that he was storing in Maki's house for safe-keeping, as well as new accessories; shoes; and even hair dye and hair products to change the colour of his hair as well as different ways of styling it.

He was looking forward to the possibility of moving in with Tsuyo now that her father was gone, so that he wouldn't have to live in a large house by himself most of the time- when his father was away that is. But he planned on doing that at a later date when it would be suitable for him to do so, and when Tsuyo had all her affairs in order.

Overall, he had been in fairly good spirits this week as well outside of the occasional outburst or two- but he was getting better at managing his feelings and you were very proud of him for making this progress, as you knew how difficult it could be for him at times when he had problems keeping himself in check.

You were hoping that he would continue down this path of self-improvement as he had been doing so rather successfully for the last few months, and that these new practices and habits would stick for him in the long run.

On Friday, when the two of you were walking home together after he had a practice game of Baseball- you were going through Inkopolis Square like you would usually do so with him before you both went your separate ways to get home, when you saw the large screen above the Deca Tower change over from some advertisement they were showing with a news broadcast detailing shocking news.

The intro to the Inkopolis Daily News Channel started to play and the usual hosts explained why they were live at the moment, outside of their usual broadcasting times. 'We have breaking news coming in from the Inkopolis Business District and we're coming to you live from our reporter Alice Carter.'

Live footage began to play as the reporter explained what was going on to the large crowd of people that had gathered in the Square to see what had happened. 'It's certainly a shock to many within the Business and Financing industry- and this afternoon will be one none of them will forget. 47 year old CEO Richard Simmons and several associates from White Lily Accounting have been arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering; whilst Mr Simmons partner, 28 year old Lexi Simmons- has also been arrested on various drug charges at her home 10 minutes ago.'

Footage of many adults had been arrested, one at a large office style building in the heart of Inkopolis' Business District- and the other being a large estate with a manor in the middle surrounded by woodland that would be a good distance away from the city. You look around at all of the people in the Square and everyone around you was in complete and utter shock at the news, the reporter continued on with her work stating-

'The Inkopolis State Police hasn't issued a full statement yet, but it is believed that they will do so in due time. As you have just seen, Richard Simmons; his partner and his associates have been taken into police custody and are currently being questioned on their charges. As the story develops, we will be sure to update you as there is more news to come. This is Alice Carter with Inkopolis Daily News at 3:45PM, back to you at the Studio Tom.'

The reporter then disappeared from the screen and the main host of the news channel showed up again to discuss his thoughts with his co-host on the situation, with many people around you muttering about the situation and it's possible connection to the disappearance of Mr Simmons first wife and Adam's mother- whose name you weren't aware of.

You looked over at Adam to see that his face had grown pale and his mouth was slightly open as if though he was going to say something- but was lost in his thoughts as his mind was running a mile a minute. You were rather concerned over his sudden silence, and despite your hesitation- you asked him. 'Adam- are you alright?'

Chapter 4, Part 3, End.