The Great Adventures of 207

by Mind's Odyssey

(AU) Characters are in the real world, and the main characters are school detectives. Nemix (OC), with Zexion, Roxas, Axel, Demyx and Xion, solve every mystery and case like going on adventures. Rated T for some language, some violence. May contain some social/sensitive issues one might be offended by, some very mild suggestive themes. View full picture at DA!

11. A Vacation to the Beach in Spring?

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT A PART OF THE PLOT!

Chapter 11 – A VACATION TO THE BEACH IN SPRING?!

Soon, March arrived. It was a fresh spring day…

The cherry blossom trees in the school had bloomed. The faraway spring breeze blew petals of cherry blossom, composing a spring symphony, bouncing in the air. The petals landed on the surface of the pond, forming gentle ripples, fiddling the clear water, waking up the fish in the pond. [Authoress: Yeah, yeah, whatever… Quit showing off! Get to the point!]

I really could not concentrate in class, every now and then I peeked at the spring scenery outside, watching the cherry blossom trees in their full bloom. Suddenly, Xion, who sat beside me, poked my left arm, bringing me back to reality. Geez…

Miss Aqua was making an announcement in front of the class. "OK everyone, our class had been falsely accused, thus getting the unwanted 'economic sanction'. So, to make it up to us, the school had decided…" She stopped midsentence, drinking some water. We leaned forward a little to listen well, very eager at what she would say. Oh come on! Quit beating around the bush!

"… The school decided to arrange our class to go on a trip to the Atsumi Peninsula surf beach in the Aichi Prefecture for a fifteen-day vacation!" She said with a happy expression on her face.

The whole class exploded.

"Woohoo! This is awesome, man!" John was the first to jump onto his chair. Antonio and Carlos high-fived each other. Laura's eyes seemed to glimmer and she almost drooled (maybe she dreamed of someone at a beach… What the…), Anne stretched and said, "Ausgezeichnet! Self-rewarding isn't a bad idea!" [Translate from German: Excellent] Soo-Ji muttered to herself, "No way… Are we going out under the sun?" Yuanfang nodded (silent approval, I presume), Katra rubbed her hands with glee and said, "Yes! This is great! I had always wanted to go to the beach!" Ian also commented, "… A beach? I do miss sunshine. It is a fantastic opportunity." William was very excited; he could not help but did an Egyptian dance.

Harayuki said, "I haven't been to Aichi Prefecture before, and haven't been to the beach for a long time too… A good chance…" Ryutaro said nothing, but I could see that he was grateful as well that he could go on a vacation. Xion dropped her head onto her desk, her face on a random page of a book, and moaned, "OMG! I had been living in a tropical country and almost tanned myself, and now they want to turn me into coal?!" I patted her shoulder and said, "Look on the bright side; it's good to synthesise more vitamin D!" Honestly, except for the year when I was nine and our family went for a picnic at the beach, I never got the chance to set foot on a beach anymore, because a tsunami hit South East Asia and some other Asian countries that very same year, and it made me acknowledge its presence. I was sleeping in my house at that moment. Luckily I only felt a little shaking, that was all. And I got busier and busier later, so I had long abandoned the idea of visiting a beach. Therefore, I was really looking forward to this trip!

Axel looked like he was about to do the hula dance, and it was kind of funny. Zexion also said, "Perhaps it is time to relax." Demyx and Roxas had two contrasting expressions on their faces at the same time; happy and worry (about the sun, maybe).

Miss Aqua asked, "Is there anyone who cannot participate?" The whole class (well, some of them, but their volume made up for the whole class) shouted, "NO!" Whoa… Chill dudes… Just then the bell rang. Recess time!

"Recess… Oh yeah…" Xion lifted her head, but the book got stuck on her face. We were all staring at her. The book could not defy gravity and finally dropped. However, it was better if it stayed on her face; on her forehead printed a laterally inverted lens equation: 1/u + 1/v = 1/f… (Mind you, we were having algebra lesson, and were currently learning how to express a particular term in terms of other terms… We were not having Physics lessons yet…) Maybe the ink had not dried up when she slammed her forehead onto the book… Axel was the first to burst out laughing, destroying the awkward silence. We could not take it… It was funny to see something so ridiculous happening in person.

I accompanied Xion to the washroom to wash off the equation, and were now heading to the canteen. But, by taking this route, we had to pass by Class 3-10, and it reminded me of Big Sis. She was suspended for a while now. I hoped she would reflect on her wrongdoings, and stop creating trouble. "Oi… Nemix, there's a pillar in front of you!" Xion said, I spaced out for 0.1 second, and then I stopped dead in my track… Wait a minute… What pillar? This corridor had no pillars to begin with! "Nice one, Xion…" I turned to her. She said, "Why are you spacing out while walking?" "Nothing, I was just thinking about Big Sis," I shrugged and said.

"Oh right, she's suspended, wasn't she?"

"Yup… *Sigh*"

"What?"

"Hmm? Nothing."

"Don't. Lie. To. Me! *pinching, pulling my cheeks, stretching*"

"*Shrugged off* … Geez, alright, I'll tell you the truth… This reminded me of Fayra again."

"Oh. Why?"

"Well, don't you think Big Sis's situation has some similarities with hers?"

"… Um… In the sense that they've been fooled and didn't realise it?"

"*Nod* But more appropriately, in denial?"

"Oh well, just ignore her. She did not appreciate our help, so why waste your breath on her?"

"… Yeah, you're right… That g-"

"BONK! KABAM! OW…" I was about to continue, suddenly there was a mixture of noises, um, I meant, diffracted noises; in front of us stood a wall. "What happened?" Xion asked. "Let's go and see." Then, we ran towards to source of the noises.

[To the crime scene]

"おい! どうした?" [Hey! What's wrong?)

"速く立って 戦え!" [Hurry get up and fight!] [Authoress: For those who know Japanese or other foreign languages, from now on the translation will be like crap (thanks, Google Translate). I will try to translate using what foreign language skills I have, but mistakes will still be made. Sorry for the inconvenience and inaccuracy!]

In front of the lockers, there were three tall boys, surrounding a boy whose body size was comparatively smaller. The smaller boy curled up on the floor, with a pained expression on his face; it was obvious he was hit by the trio. The students passing by were shocked, but one of the boys glared threateningly at them, so no one was brave enough to stay there, let alone stop them.

A boy who had a hairstyle resembling a seahorse grabbed the smaller male's shirt collar and lifted him up, and taunted, "おい! 臆病者! よく聞け、今日もの すっごく機嫌が 悪いんだ! お前が 俺を 怒らせた…" [Hey! Coward! Listen well, I'm in an extremely bad mood today! You pissed me off…] He raised his fist and focused all his strength onto it, ready to land a punch anytime. The smaller male had a hairstyle almost like Zexion's, but shorter and the slate colour was lighter. However, after getting beaten up, his hair was a total mess. His visible left eye was staring at the fist, revealing fear and trauma. He was shivering involuntarily, ready to endure the incoming attack.

The other two boys were cheering on, prompting their leader to make a move. Just then…

"Hit him if you dare!" I had just passed by a corner, and when I found them, I shouted. At least hit him after I got there so I could accuse them, goddamn it. [Authoress: What?! You were supposed to stop them ASAP!] Xion said, "Um… Nemix, they might not understand English though. What if they mistook it as 'go ahead and hit him'?" "… Oops, too hasty. Let me try this… おい! お前! やめろ! Knock it off!" (Hey! You! Stop!) I added English in just for emphasis.

This time all four boys looked over at us, eight eyes versus four eyes, oh, I mean eight vs. eight (I wore glasses and Xion wore contact lenses). Sir Seahorse turned around fully and glared at me, not loosening his firm grip. The smaller male also looked over, signalling me via eye contact, telling me to run while I could. I ignored his warning and walked towards them. I really wanted to see if they dared to do anything to me in broad daylight.

"Huh? You, pip-squeak, are gonna ask me to knock it off?! How lame! Haha!" he commented sarcastically. So you did know English… this should make my life easier. There were only three of you, should I be scared? I would have him know that I had taken on classes of people before! "I should tell you that if you hit him, you are SO gonna regret!" I gestured at the smaller boy, warning them in a serious manner.

"Oh yeah?! Knock it off, eh?! So here ya go!" He mocked my words. And then he landed a punch on the left side of the smaller boy's face, sending him flying towards the locker and crashed into it. He then slid to the ground, moaning in pain quietly. What the hell? How dare you hit someone right in front of me, even after my warning?! "Haha! There, he's been knocked off, happy? Hahahaha!" The three of them laughed. I was shell-shocked; no one had ever taken my threat this lightly. This time Xion was even more impulsive than me; she shot out a fist to hit Sir Seahorse. He easily caught her fist and threw it off. He then delivered another punch, and it was about to hit Xion! Time to act!

I only aimed at one place, one weakness. But, would it always be where the sun did not shine? Think again… I saw an opened locker door and flung it open forcefully, hitting directly on Sir Seahorse's face! PIANG! I had to say that the quality of the lockers in Matsuaki Academy was too good. He wanted to punch Xion so he lurched forward, and I swung the locker door opposing his motion. The momentum turned to zero in not even one second, but the door was not damaged; not even a dent. How hard it was…

Everyone was dumbfounded, and then I pulled the door away. Holy Bananas! He… his… his… nose was crooked, and he had a double nosebleed (coming out from both nostrils). The blood flowed out and formed two lines that went around the mouth and met again at his chin, like a moustache! Seriously, it was hilarious. Sir Seahorse's right eye twitched for a second and he fell down backwards and fainted. What? His bravado was just for show; he could hit people with such great force, but I did not expect him to faint after one hit by a locker door in the face… He really was useless… What a shame! I stifled a laugh, or else the shocking effect on them might wear off.

"ボス!" (Boss!) The other two screamed, and then they stared at me. "You…!" They stuttered. I said, "I… I what?! Huh?!" "You… you'd better run! Or else…" One of the boys who had a durian hairstyle threatened me. "Or else what?! HAH!?" Glaring at them, I cracked my knuckles and my neck. I pulled up my sleeves, flexing out my hard-trained biceps to intimidate anyone who wanted to share the same fate as Sir Seahorse. (Yeah, I was acting OOC here…)

"OR ELSE-! …" Three seconds ticked by. Their voices stopped midsentence. "…. Or else we surrender…" Now they were kneeling down, begging for forgiveness… I did not really see this coming, but I quickly composed myself and said, "If I ever see you twerps around, I'm gonna kick your sorry behind! NOW SCRAM!"

In just one second, they were gone. Sir Seahorse was dragged behind them.

It felt like my blood rushed to my brain all this while, and when I cooled down, I felt the blood draining back down, as if all my energy drained out. Ugh… Bullies… I hated them… "Nemix! Nemix! Hello? Possible code blue here!" Xion shook my arm and said. "Oh, yeah, right," I said to myself, crouching down to see. He had passed out from the pain. "We carry him to the infirmary, and then we go eat," I said, pulling up one of his arms, Xion pulled the other one too. We hurriedly brought him to the infirmary. After making sure he was in good hands, we left.

When we reached the canteen, we still had ten minutes left, Xion and I gobbled everything up in our bento (the serving size was big, but we did not want to waste it…) while narrating the reason as to why we were super late to the rest of Lucky 7. "No wonder I heard a very loud metal door noise when I was putting books in my locker, like when Roxas was locked in the metal cupboard! So you guys were kicking butts?" Demyx said, drinking his unfinished miso soup. "I regret not taking a picture of his eye-twitching face for you guys!" I swallowed a rice ball and said. Zexion said with a chuckle, "It is alright, both of your descriptions are funny enough… Oh yes, do you want to check up on him after this?" "… I don't know? I had never seen him before…" Roxas said. Xion suggested, "Why don't I, Nemix and Zexion go?" "… Good idea…" Lawrence said. Obviously, the urgent document on his hands were to be handed in to the teacher; he was out of the list.

When we reached the infirmary, he was already gone. I asked the nurse on duty, and she said he took a short rest and left for his class. She also stated that he was not completely patched up. WTH! How would someone who was beaten up so badly not do anything about their injuries? Did he know healing magic? Curaga?

Since another new bully appeared, we had to find out who this smaller boy was; he was a witness and a victim as well. We checked the infirmary records, only then we knew his name. He was named as "Ienzo Ishida" (Just pretend Ienzo and Zexion are two different persons, OK? They were not related in this story). I asked the nurse. She recalled and told us something.

Nurse: "Ienzo Ishida?"

006: "Yes, him, do you have any information on him?"

Nurse: "He… um, I don't know, he's, like, all quiet… I do know that he's Japanese-American…"

207: "*Facepalm* Another one… Is this some kind of joke?!"

383: "Chill…"

006: "Um… Any more info…?"

Nurse: "Well, for all I know, he's in 9th Grade, a nerd… and uh… He looks withdrawn and always pays visits to here every week…"

383: "Oh god, he was sent here at least once a week?!"

006: "*Scribbled down info* OK, do you know why he got injured?"

Nurse: "*Thinking* *Shook head* He doesn't say much. When I asked, he only claimed that he fell from a flight of stairs or something like it."

207: "*Mumbling* Are you kidding? He looked like he fell off a three-storey building. 'A flight of stairs' my head…"

383: "But he-"

006: "-OK, we had better get going now, ありがとう ございます。 (Thank you) *Bowing a bit*"

Zexion interrupted Xion and dragged us out.

Xion asked, "Zexion, what are you doing? Why didn't you let the nurse know?" I said on behalf of him, "To not create chaos yet. We investigate it secretly then plan the next move, right?" Zexion nodded and said, "The most important thing now is we have to find Ienzo, and tell him to confess everything to capture the bully." Good point… But, we did not even know which class he was in!

Oh well, we had plenty of time, and we could investigate online! We just had to log into the confidential school database Miss Aerith approved and trusted us to use… Hehe, regardless of identity, as long as he was not a ghost, we would find him! Ohohoho~ [Authoress: Hurry up, get me a bucket of cold water! I want to pour it down her head for being such a narcissist…]

Later that night…

What a miracle; Zexion, who was always the most responsible one, fell asleep due to fatigue! Now, I was the only one wide awake in the dorm room… Naturally, I was the one to investigate the victim. I sighed at the sight of a sleeping Zexion and proceeded to sit in front of the writing desk, using the computer to surf the net.

The information was as follows:

Name: Ienzo Ishida

Age: 15 (Thoughts: Uh… his smaller body size did not agree with this…)

Class: 3-1 (Thoughts: My glasses dropped off. How did he study?!)

Conduct: Excellent (Thoughts: Too excellent, much?)

DOB: 21/02/19XX (Thoughts: Seriously?! Same date here!)

Academic performance: Straight A's. Obtained first placing in 9th Grade English Literature (Thoughts: Holy Bananas…)

Extracurricular activities: Average, not very active (Thoughts: Ha! That was why they said no one was perfect in this world!)

POB: Tokyo

Date of school admission: 03/01/2008; Matsuaki Academy Middle School

Family: Only child. Parents died in a car accident in 2002. Currently living with the stipend aid from the academy (Thoughts: … Did not know what to comment…)

OK… I really took pity on him… seriously. But, he was too awesome. He got straight A's and the first placing of 9th Grade for English Literature (which I found kind of boring)! Good god… OK! Now let us investigate those three for revenge- Wait… I did not even know their names! Epic fail… Forget it! I would have to find the witness/victim and go from there.

Anyway… I should get some sleep… Zzzz…

I saved my tabs before I went out for classes for others to refer to after school. Our trip to the beach was fully sponsored by the school; we just needed to kick back and relax. "We will depart four days later, be sure to get everything ready and gather at the foyer. Understand?" "Yes sir!" John jumped and saluted to Miss Aqua, some of the classmates laughed. He was too energetic… Wind down, OK?

It was 1500 hours when school was over, but I still had things to do, so I parted ways with the rest of Lucky 7 who were about to return to the headquarters aka dorm room for discussion. Today I had to attend something called "juku", equivalent to tuition classes. There were two types, academic and non-academic. Actually, I thought this was one of the reasons why academic pressure in Japan was too high. Juku was also known as "cram school", meaning mentally squeezing and stuffing, without thinking, a lot of rigid, undigested information into the brain. It did not matter what they were, one just had to memorise and remember them. Almost all students (especially middle and high school students) took juku, lasting about four hours. Not shocking enough? Well, there were sources pointing out that some students spent a whopping six hours on it. Think about this, schooling took up six hours (the shortest schooling hours excluding extracurricular activities). After juku, remember, there was still homework to do, and I meant a lot of them… Let me ask you, was there even time to eat, sleep and bathe? Luckily I was an exchange student, so I just had to attend two hours… Thank god… Oh, a message to all students, especially those in my country: do not just always whine how your life sucked. If you had time, quit getting too obsessed with social media and actually use the net properly for once and search around: many countries in the world had cram schools and we did not. Subsequently, the pressure was comparatively lesser. I did agree that time was not enough for us, but under comparison, who was more miserable?

I was going to, sadly, cram Japanese, I could pronounce the characters (without time pressure), but I lacked vocabulary (I had only 1%…), I could not help but stare blankly at the teacher in classes, so I had to work on it. After the chalk and talk session, now it was time for exercises. I was thinking while writing: how should I find this Ienzo who was beaten up badly? Being a nerd, surely he did not need to attend juku to cram nonsense. I could not go to his dorm (security was too hard to bypass)… Where would nerds go to? I was not a nerd, of course I would not know a nerd's habits.

Later, there was a short break for the students, and it was time for me to leave. I packed up my stuff, planning to put my books in my locker first. Speaking of lockers, I could not help but laugh. Sir Seahorse must have done cosmetic surgery on his nose before, or else it would not make sense for it to become seriously flat and crooked with one hit, despite looking so enlarged. Served him right! I did warn him; he was SO going to regret! I kept my books and was about to turn around, suddenly a big hand slammed into the locker right in front of me, blocking my way. I turned to see the hand's owner; a girl, her body size was almost like Big Sis's, but thinner. I stared at her, moving to leave by backing up. But someone smacked my back. I jolted back to the same spot. OK… I was surrounded again…

"Well? Are going to apologise or what?!" The plump girl asked. I steadied myself, crossed my arms in front of me and said, not even looking at her, "Beats me, care to explain?" "… You…! You hurt our idol! And you're still playing the fool?" she said angrily, someone at the back shouted, "Yeah! She hurt our Brother Sato…" "This is too much!" "Teach her a lesson! Sister!" Etc. etc. etc. I replied disdainfully, "So it's Broken-Nose Seahorse's fan club? *Snicker* I can only say that he was in a bad luck, hitting someone before my-" "What do you mean by 'bad luck'? You're the scumbag that hit him! And what's with the 'Broken-Nose Seahorse'?! Do you want to die?" Another very skinny Bonehead could not take it anymore and "shot" me back.

I turned to her and retorted, "If you would let me finish… He resorted to violence first. I just taught this useless bully a lesson, why was it my fault?" Another girl yelled, "Sister! See?! She was humiliating Brother Sato over and over again! This hooligan… Sister! Don't waste your breath on her anymore!" What, so now I transitioned from a scumbag into a hooligan? Please figure out who were the scumbag and the hooligan! Idiot! "Hmph! Today I will have you know just how miserable the fate is for those who hurt our most handsome, coolest and most stylish Brother Sato! Take this!" As soon as she finished her words, a palm swiped towards me. Whoa! I used my hands to catch the incoming wrist. Her force was too great, I could barely hold it off… There were too many people here. I was all alone, one against too many… I had to get away first!

I swept my leg against Fatty's legs and she lost her balance and fell, crushing some girls in the process. Now was the chance! I escaped. I heard the angry mob chasing, so I quickened my pace. But for some reason my speed decreased over time, my legs were getting tired, and my hands were paralysed. Crap, my breathing got too rapid; the relapse again!

I had no choice but to stop at a corner and gasped for air. "Hey! You! Hold it right there!" Their cries were getting louder; they were coming! Great… I tried to formulate a plan, but I was not familiar with the place here, (I still got lost even though it was March already…) so I was stuck. Suddenly, a hand shot out and pulled me to the right. I did not know what was going on but to run with the unknown person in front of me.

After about five minutes, we stopped at a secluded corner. Once I stopped, I immediately peeked outside; I did not turn to see who pulled me. "Phew, the coast is clear, uh, thank-?" I said while turning around, only to see no one. What the heck! Why did everyone like to disappear for no reason nowadays?! Geez! Then again, the person's hands were so icy cold; they were even more anxious than me. Really? They were not even the one being hunted down.

I regained my breath, and my hands were back to normal. OK… At least I now knew that Broken-Nose Seahorse's surname was Sato. That should be useful. I was so bored but I did not want to return to the dorm yet, so I decided to go to the library to check out the books, and return later. I was very careful along the way. Once I saw people in a bad mood, I changed routes. Great, now I had to change routes once I saw crazy fangirls too! I finally arrived at two large wooden doors. I opened the doors and the warm air greeted me. Although it was spring, it was still chilly. I shut the doors quietly, and strolled while surveying the enormous library. There were a zillion of books in here, each and every category was arranged neatly on the wooden shelves. The floor was coated with dark purple carpet, no sound was produced when walking on it. Looking skyward, one could see the ceiling was high to reach the stars, not bad for a three-storey library. At the centre of the ceiling was a gorgeous crystal chandelier, emitting a pale yellow light that illuminated everywhere in the library. Next to the chandelier were frescoes of the sky, there were some lights in some corners. Below them were the curtains like waterfalls, their purple fabric with golden tassels portrayed classical elegance. Also, with the pale yellow painted walls, a few royal blue sofa, oak chairs and marble desks, that vibe grew stronger and obvious. But, to put it seriously, it was not as quaint as it may seem. Besides having free Wi-Fi, there were dedicated computer working areas. And there were touch-screen computers on each shelf, helping the users to locate the exact location of their desired books.

Even so, it was not noisy in here. You could only hear fingers flipping pages and faintly smell leather and paper. On the marble pillars were spiralling stairs penetrating the second floor all the way to the third floor. Students and teachers were either walking around finding books or sitting quietly reading them. A piece of silence and peace, indeed. The ticking of a clock on a wall could be heard faintly. On every desk was a small glass pot of evergreen plant, adding some vitality into this library. [Authoress: Enough talk! You were here to read, not to brag about the library, right?]

I arrived at a bookshelf twice my size and grabbed a book on Japanese grammar and vocabulary. It was too high, I had to use the ladder… Hey, there were Chinese explanations and translations in this book! Fantastic. The gods still loved me. I held the book and was walking to an unoccupied table, just then a panic shadow flashed between the shelves at my right. I saw it from the corner of my eye; the person might have been observing me for a while. I decided to track them down. But it was very quiet here, any noise would be a dead giveaway of my presence. I had to be careful… I followed the person to a somewhat dimly lit corner, I hid behind a massive bookshelf and popped my head out to see. A boy with messy hair had his back against me. He was facing a shelf, mumbling something I did not catch. Eh? Was he not the key to all the problems, Ienzo?! The gods were helping me…

I tiptoed towards him. He was totally oblivious of my presence. Now, I could make out what he was saying, "Oh god! 彼女はどうやってここに来たか?! 僕に聞いたらどうしよう? 本当に大変…" [How did she get here?! What if she asks me? This is really bad…] I was already behind him, I cleared my throat and asked, "Ahem… すみません、何を言っているのですか?" [Excuse me, what are you saying?] "それはあああ~~~!" [That's WAAAAAAA~~~!] He did reply and spin around, but he never expected to see me behind him, and he lost control and screamed his head off. Out of panic, I grabbed a very thick dictionary and stuck it in his mouth (well, it was not completely in it). "Shush! ここ [Here]- I mean, you are in the library, keep it down! I'm sure you don't want any attention, do you?" I was saying in a hushed tone. He let out an "Mm!", nodding his head. I said again, "No shouting or running away?" He hesitated a while, and answered with a nod, "Mmhmm!" OK… I removed the dictionary, he gasped for breath, but then he ran away! What the crap! I shot out a hand to catch him, but I never caught him; he tripped over his feet and fell down… I held onto his sleeve and said, "Sorry, I have to hold onto you now, since you seemed to be very sneaky…" He struggled, but without much strength, maybe due to his old wounds.

"Let me go… Why don't we find a place to sit down and talk?" he pleaded in a small voice. I said, "Yeah, and let you escape once again. The same trick won't work twice on me." Although we were conversing in low voices, some people were staring at us… I apologised and dragged him to the vacant third floor. I said, "Look, I don't want to be a bad guy too and not let you go. I just wanted to ask you a few questions and when I'm done, I won't stop you even if you want to crash into a wall, OK?" He opened his mouth, about to say something, but he shut it again. Later, he said, "Alright then…"

I let him sit down first, and then I sat. Firstly, I apologised for the dictionary attack, which he fortunately accepted. After that was three seconds of silence… "Uh… OK, um… How did you offend Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse?" I posed the first question, or else it was awkward… He was confused, "Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse?" "Sato, I mean. I don't know his full name." Ienzo shuddered and said, "I don't know, he always picks on me ever since 7th Grade, with physical violence…" "Er… well… sorry… Anyway, did you, like, for example, see something you're not supposed to see? Or did you get higher grades than he did? Or something like it…?" I watched my words, for he seemed to be very scared of me. Maybe it was the OOC act days ago. Did he faint because of that? It was a real possibility…

He recalled carefully, and said slowly as he went through the memories, "I… don't think it's the academic results, he never mentioned anything about it when he beat me up… He never mentioned other things as well… Saw… saw what's not supposed to be seen…" He stopped there and started to frown, concentrating. I was traversing in unknown territory here, and I was unsure how to proceed, so I stared at him to observe his reactions. He maintained that state for about thirty seconds, and then he supported his forehead with his hand, pressing his temple with his fingers. A headache? "… I'm really sorry, I don't remember. I really don't know why he did this to me… 本当にすみません… ごめんなさい," (P.S. All meant "sorry") he lowered his head and thought for a while, and then he looked up at me and said. I guessed I would buy that for now, for I had no clue at the moment too.

I shook my head and replied, "It's OK, I'm the one to apologise. It's just… I don't understand, why did you… cover your right eye with your hair?" OK, I knew this was a very stupid question. I was just curious, would that be fine? Zexion never answered me when I bugged him with that. [Zexion: Ahem, I heard that you know… Nemix: Oops…] His left eye widened only a little bit, and lowered his gaze. He was hesitating again, so I said, "Uh… it's nothing… just a random question, it's totally fine if you don't want to answer." Maybe I stumbled upon some sensitive issues. Oops… He looked up slowly and said, "You… you won't tell anyone?" "… Ah?"

"I will tell you the reason, and you will… keep it a secret?"

"… Of course, why won't I?"

"… OK."

As soon as his words left his mouth, Ienzo used his right hand to brush his long bangs aside. Oh my god… There was a deep scar starting from above his right temple, extending over his eye and ending near his nose. I pretended to be perfectly calm, but I kept staring at the scar. "Aren't you freaked out?" he asked quietly, totally not expecting this reaction from me. "… I had seen worse." This was obviously a lie (unless counting movies and books), I continued to say, "Sato again?" "… He pushed me to crash into the glass window, and…" he trailed off, not wanting to recall that. "… At least I could still see…" he added.

I asked a question, "He almost made you blind, and he has been bullying you for the past few years. Aren't you going to report him?" Now he was looking at me in panic, shaking his head vigorously. His bangs flopped back to their original place, obstructing his right eye from view. "No!" "Why not?" I asked him back, thinking it even stranger. How could someone suffer in silence even if he was bullied constantly? He said, "Sato's father… he's…" But then he swallowed his words back, and said something else instead, "I cannot tell."

I did not know whether to be mad or amused, and I almost yelled at him, but I kept my cool and said, "Are you implying that his father is the President or a god?" He remained silent. I sighed, and said, "… Which VIP is he? Be honest." "… Once I tell you, don't go against Sato anymore, or else you will be in trouble." I snickered mentally, thinking, "Oh please! You don't even know who I am, and now you're underestimating me?" I replied nonchalantly, "OK, go ahead." "… He's the director of this school and the CEO of Matsuaki Business Group."

"So what? I thought he's the Japanese Emperor…" I mused quietly, and then I told him, "Then it is even more necessary to expose his wrongdoings! You will have to aid us as a witness." I caught a glimpse of my watch. Crap! It was already seven! If I did not return now, Lucky 7 would slaughter and chop me into pieces for soup garnish… I mentally gulped and said, "It's getting late, I should leave. Thank you for telling me so much, I'll have to get going now." I stood and bowed slightly, and then walked towards the stairs.

"Wait!" I had not even walked a few steps when he grabbed my left arm. I turned my head to see him getting up from his chair, but his foot tripped over the table leg and he was falling down. Luckily he was holding onto my arm, so I was able to pull him up before he hit the ground, if not he would have fallen face first again. Why was he tripping over all the time? "… Ow… Thanks… Ah! I mean, mind your actions! Or else the school's done for!" "… Explain?"

"Matsuaki Business Group holds great power and provides the school with financial aid. If one offends the CEO, the school will lose all its support and meet its end."

"So? His son committed such a serious offense, shouldn't he also be responsible for disciplining his son? If he cuts off all support to the school, that will be an act of avenging a personal grudge in the name of public interest!"

"… You'd better think thoroughly about this… Things would be chaotic if this was exposed… *Sigh* Just… think twice before you act, OK?"

Ugh, how troublesome… "… OK fine! I will bide my time for now. I'm just short of proofs… or else he will already be finished!"

"…Phew… Good to hear that…"

His hands were getting colder by the minute. Did he have to get so nervous? Seriously. "Um, my friend, I really miss my blood circulation, can you… eh…?" I nodded at my poor hand, only then he realised. "Oh! すみません! すみません…" [Sorry! Sorry…] After he let go, my hand quickly regained its warmth. Wait a minute! His hands were as cold as those that yanked me to escape from the angry mob. He rescued me? [Authoress: How did I manage to create such an oblivious main OC like you?]

I added, "Oh, yeah. Thank you for helping me earlier and saving my life. Gotta go, bye." I left as soon as I was done talking, and I could hear him mumbling to himself behind me, "EPIC FAIL… She still found out! Why am I such a failure…" I could even hear him facepalming. Good god, this dude sure was strange…

I rushed back to the dorm, also checking the GPS device's mailbox in the process. I had thirteen unread messages and six voicemails… Great… I did not dare to open them. If the voicemails were from Axel, I would be deaf in a matter of seconds! I would explain when I got back. Holy Bananas…

Once I opened the door, I was tackled down by Demyx. And man, that hurt… "207wheredidyougowhyyounoreadourmailandyoudidn'treplydoyouknowwearesoworriedwhattheheckareyoudoingwethoughtyouwerekidnappedordisapperedlikelasttimewecan'tsleeporeatandevenIconstipatedwhenIwenttothetoiletyou-" I cut him off, "STOP! DEMYX! Get up first, will you?! People might think you're going to do something to me…" My face turned red. Luckily no one came out of their rooms. That was embarrassing! Since when did Demyx learn to speak in one breath without any punctuations? Secret training?

I told them everything from the end of juku until Demyx tackled me. Then, they were satisfied. Zexion said, "So, it seems like the one we are up against has a strong background, we have to be careful." "Yup, that's what that Ienzo told me. Ugh! I probably should not criticise, but he's too meek, too scared of everything. He lived in trauma and fear, but he never told on Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse. What was he thinking?!" I sat on the bed, munching away on an apple and said.

"I guess besides the school, he would be finished as well," commented Roxas, tearing away from his laptop. "Why?" I and Demyx asked at the same time. "Do not forget that Ienzo needs the stipend in order to live, and it is sponsored by Matsuaki Business Group. Once we inform the school about this case, his living expenses are the first to go," Zexion explained. "… Aww, Zexion, let me be the professor for once in my life…" Roxas pouted. He looked funny. Suddenly…

"OI! Zexion! I can't find Nemix everywhere! What to do?!" A noise of the door opening reached my ears and next came Axel's voice. Oh crap… If Axel realised that his search earlier were for nothing, hell would freeze over if I survived his wrath! I was about to hide in the washroom without being seen, but Demyx just had to shout now, "Hey! Nemix! Where's that plate? I want an apple too!"

Dong… I. Was. Done. For. Big time… One-Winged Angel started ringing in my head. Someone scarier than Mr. Sephiroth walked over to me… I watched Axel coming over. I slowly backed up to the bedside table and was about to grab a pillow as a shield. And then…

"NEMIXAREYOUTROLLINGMEWHERETHEHELLYOU'VEBEENFORTHELASTFEWHOURSIHADAHARDTIMELOOKINGFORYOUYOUKNOWYOU'DBETTEREXPLAINTHISORELSEYOU'REDEADIHAVEN'THADMYDINNERANDIT'SALLYOURFAULTYOU-" I could not take it anymore, I grabbed an uneaten apple and stuck it into Axel's mouth! "Geez, have an apple and I guarantee you a better appetite. Should you have any inquiries you can always ask Zexion," I said while walking to the kettle to get some green tea. I was actually freaking out internally. And did he learn this chant from Demyx?

After dinner (I was forced to treat, if not I would not be able to see tomorrow's sun…) and homework, time to get some sleep. Phew! What a day…

---

In today's Science lesson, we were conducting an experiment, which was to burn marble powder and then add water to convert it to calcium hydroxide. We were, in fact, playing while working, Demyx even almost broke a test tube… The first one to finish the task was Yuanfang. He was the quietest in the class (quieter than Zexion), he seldom talked in class, but he was very disciplined to say the least. I hope he could open up a little, or else his life as an exchange student would be quite boring… "BOOM!" We jumped out of fright. I guessed it must have been John and Carlos, the two mad scientists. When they teamed up, no one would be safe in the room, especially in the Science lab… It was normal to see one or two broken test tubes or beakers in the trash can.

Laura was grouped with Soo-Ji, but none of them dared to light up the Bunsen burner. Finally, Soo-Ji mustered all her courage to do the job. When the flame appeared, Laura was so scared she clung onto Soo-Ji, almost squashing her alive. Antonio was staring at the flames, but he was spacing out. Did it reminded him of pizza or spaghetti? Lawrence and Ian were discussing about calcium, both boys had heavy accents, anyone would have mistaken that they were quarrelling…

Katra and Harayuki managed to prepare the calcium hydroxide in the end. William and Ryutaro were too hasty; they added water into the test tube of hot calcium oxide (one of the products of decomposition of calcium carbonate upon heating) as soon as they removed it from the fire. As a result, the calcium oxide powder burst out everywhere. The boys were so startled they threw the practically erupting test tube into a basin of water, and then… pieces of broken glass settled at the bottom… [Authoress: That was what I exactly did when I was in 9th Grade!]

Later, we were having PE, Xion and I waited for the boys at the corridor and after they had done changing, we headed towards the field, but we came across someone. Guess who?

"Nemix! Look…" Xion tugged on my sleeve and said. Yo! Well howdy do! It was Broken-Nose Seahorse! His nose had wound dressings on it. Once he saw me, he was furious, his anger-filled eyes were glaring at Xion and me. If looks could kill, I would have been gravely injured.

I planned to ignore him, but he wanted a fight nonetheless. He extended his arm and blocked our path. I tried not to be impulsive and said, "Say, Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse, why didn't you stay under the sea peacefully and not obstruct us? Get out of the way!" He said, "You imbecile, I'm not done with you yet! Thanks to you, the thousands of dollars I spent on shaping my nose were all wasted! Even if you're not apologising, I still demand compensation!" Xion retorted, "If that was valid, you would also have to compensate your victim for his medical fees, no? Accumulating from 2008… You would still lose a lot of money… Is the deal still on?"

"You…!" He was on fire but at a loss of words, so he could only shoot angry looks dripping with venom at us. Axel was getting impatient, "What the hell you're staring at? Get lost!" After that, he tried to bypass Broken-Nose Seahorse, but he sure was stupid enough to stop an irritated Axel… Axel walked to him and stomped Broken-Nose Seahorse right on his toes. A flurry of emotions flashed on Broken-Nose Seahorse's face, and it looked very awful. He held onto his painful (and almost exploded) toes, hopping on one leg. We made a run for it.

Today we were playing volleyball… Crap… The last time I touched this ball was in 5th Grade. I looked at the white ball, feeling really anxious… Well, let us do this! I was practicing with Lucky 7, the ball flew to and fro, and the blood capillaries in my hands were going to burst… Suddenly… "BAM!"

I turned to look at my right just in time- HOLY BANANAS! A volleyball was coming at me! I ducked, the ball flew over me, and it landed on none other than Axel's head! A "BONK" was heard and Axel fell over to his left. Uh-oh… Whoever it was, they messed up… Big time…

"Ouch… What the hell… WHOEVER THE HELL THREW THIS SHOW YOURSELF NOW!" Axel had gone berserk. I covered my ears just in time and blocked that fatal blow from my eardrums. Cue One-Winged Angel! I pulled Axel up, also looking to the right to see if I could find the culprit. And guess what I found?

"Aw! I thought I could hit that idiot who hit my nose! But it's still good to hit the one who squashed my toes! Haha!" Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse, who apparently had not tasted death, was laughing maniacally. Durian Head and Grassy Head (another henchman) was cheering beside him, "やったぜ!" [You did it!] "すごいだ! ボス!" [You're amazing! Boss!] Now, Axel was only one hair away from assassinating them. He went over and growled, "You sneaky bastard! You have the guts for a one-on-one battle?! Coward!" "Oh yeah?! Bring it on!"

Broken-Nose Seahorse clapped his hands twice, and ten or more boys joined him. I also gathered all members of 3-13, and they all decided to help us. Time for some kick butt! But, we were not going to fight… Lay off the boxing gloves, we were about to have a game of volleyball…

---

The ball whizzed back and forth between two groups of students, and only sounds like "Bam! Bong! Pak! Dong!" could be heard. We were sweating profusely, and they were breathing heavily as well. At that moment… "Ouch!" Zexion turned around towards the voice; Soo-Ji sprained her leg. After we helped her to the side of the battlefield, we were now short of one teammate. Just as we were getting desperate, here came an unlisted help… "Psst! Hey…" I heard a rather small voice from my side. While the opposition was having their own group discussion, I turned to see- Ienzo?! That was unexpected… "What are you doing here?" I slipped to a bush, where he was hiding in apparently and asked him. He answered, "Nothing, I see that you're short of people, so… uh…" He was stuck on his words again, so I completed his sentence for him, "So get over here and join us! Come on!" After I finished, I pulled him out and dragged him towards my group. Actually, he was also having his PE lesson now too, but he would rather not play with his classmates. Weird, but I would take whatever help I could get.

Once I got into position, I told him, "I don't care what tactic you use, just send the ball to the other side." "Ah? N-no! You misunderstood me! I-" Just then, the whistle blew! "Hurry up!" I hissed, gritting my teeth. He became desperate and shouted, "OK! Here goes nothing!" And he made quite a good shot. I wonder how much force he had applied to it. It seemed to fly in an alarming speed. The ball flew, but he stumbled over his feet again and fell onto his back. What the heck…

Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse saw one of our teammates fell down after hitting the ball (but he did not notice who it was) and he laughed hysterically. His annoying laughter never ceased, but… "BAM!" The ball crash-landed square on his face. Direct hit! Again, we all stared at him… The ball fell off his face, his nose was crooked again, but to the other side. And it seemed that some of his teeth were nowhere to be seen… "Five to four! 3-13 won!" Soo-Ji acted as the referee and announced. Our class jumped out of joy. Woohoo! We did it!

Ienzo immediately freaked out and tugged on my sleeve and panicked, "Crap! I'm doomed! I'm finished! Why did the ball hit Sato's face?! I'm finished… I'm done for!" I interrupted him, "STOP! You helped us, we should be thanking you. Everyone! He made that decisive hit! He's the MVP!" I grabbed his hand and raised it a la boxing tournament referee and announced.

"Wow! You're superb!"

"Thank you!"

"Can I get an autograph?"

"Eh? Aren't you Ienzo Ishida who got the first in English Literature among 9th Graders?"

"Both your academic and athletic achievements are good! Not bad!"

"You fell down just now, are you OK?"

"You sure showed him! That's great!"

My classmates surrounded him, thanking and praising him endlessly. His face turned into a tomato. "Actually… Actually… I was here to provide a plan, by using tactics and strategies… You guys were short of people… I'm not… not here to play…" he said sheepishly to me, only then I understood what he meant by "misunderstood him". I said, "Sorry about that… we won anyways! Ignore that… hehe…"

Once I thought about Broken-Nose Seahorse's face, I just wanted to laugh my head off: his face was stiff and twisted with a silly smirk on it, and his nose was crooked again… Good god, his face would be the death of me. "Ding Dong Dang Dong~" We had to return to the classroom again. I was about to leave but Ienzo stopped me, "Wait! I still don't know your name… Ah! I'm Ienzo, Ienzo Ishida, pleased to meet you!" He bowed. I reciprocated, "I'm Nemixiljix, Nemix for short. I'm a Malaysian exchange student. You can address me as 207. Nice to meet you too."

I also introduced him to Lucky 7, but we did not tell him why we used codenames and the real motive of the group. It never hurt to be careful… He started to get less intimidated by me. Well, at least he did not shy away from my questions anymore.

Now, that twerp should know not to mess with us.

---

Today was the day we were departing for the beach. I was so excited. We packed up and double-checked everything, and then we waited at the foyer. "I'm really looking forward to this, I wonder how does a Japanese beach look like?" I said to Xion. "Well there's sand and seawater… and it's spring! Who would go to a beach in spring?" she commented. "Us, apparently… *anime sweat drop*" I answered.

Miss Aqua clapped her hands to get our attention. "Alright! Everyone! Let's have a roll call before we get on the bus." After everyone was accounted for, she muttered to herself, "如月せんせいは どこですか? 速く…" [Where's Miss Kisaragi? Hurry up…] I knew this one, and I thought, "Miss Yuffie is coming too?" Soon, the answer came to me eventually.

"豊口せんせい [Miss Toyoguchi]!" A voice came from afar. All of us turned to the source of the voice, only to see Miss Yuffie carrying a big backpack, running to us hurriedly. Another person was behind her, how familiar… WHAT?! Ienzo Ishida?! Again, that was unexpected… "遅くなって すみません、豊口せんせい。この学生も 一緒に 行ってもいいですか?" [Sorry to be late, Miss Toyoguchi. Is it OK for this student to go with us?] Miss Yuffie was breathing heavily, bringing Ienzo along to Miss Aqua. "あ、そうですか? どうしたの?" [Ah, is that so? What happened?] Miss Aqua asked. "はい、僕の地理教師は 僕に 来させました。渥美半島の海辺の情報を集めるつもりです," [Yes, my Geography teacher let me come. I intend to collect information on the Atsumi Peninsula beach] he said.

"Is that so… OK, welcome onboard!" Miss Aqua said, smiling. And then she asked, "それはすべてですか?" [Is that all?] "はい," [Yes] confirmed Miss Yuffie. "Alright! Let's go!" Miss Yuffie pumped her fist into the air. "YEAH!" John and Carlos joined her.

We took a bus to the Shinkansen station to board the bullet train. After a few hours, we reached the Aichi Prefecture at half past nine. We then took another bus to Atsumi Peninsula surf beach. (P.S. If you happened to be listening to "Bustin' Up on the Beach" from Kingdom Hearts I, it suited the mood) "Beach! Here I come!" I jumped off the bus and ran towards the sea. Axel caught the back of my shirt and said, "Yo Nemix, you haven't taken your backpack yet and you're going to relax already? Settle down first and no one will give a damn if you want to jump into the sea after that, got it memorised?" … Fine… I would wait then.

We checked in a chalet nearby called "Destiny Island Chalet". Sora would get hyper if he was there with us. We settled down, got ready and gathered outside. "OK, Class! Today you are free to do anything, and we will do something else tomorrow. Our area for activities is from here *pointing* to there *pointing*. We will gather at the chalet at noon, is that clear?" "YES!" "OK, off you go!" We were all gone by the next second.

Lucky 7 and I were the first to jump into the sea, swimming near the shore. John and Carlos went surfing, but the waves surfed them instead, and they fell into the water. Sometimes they would crash into Antonio who was scuba diving; what a mess… Anne, Harayuki and Laura were playing beach volleyball on the sand (would they ever get bored? We had just played that three days ago!), Soo-Ji was collecting seashells for the sandcastle.

Katra and Yuanfang were having an exchange of martial arts (or should I say, a friendly fight?), and they were really good at it. When I took a break from swimming too much, I would just float on the water and watch them. Katra was using Thai boxing and Yuanfang was using Chinese kung fu. They were well-matched, but they knew when to stop to not hurt each other. Well, they were still classmates, right? Ryutaro took Ian and William on an exploration trek, wherever they went, I just hoped that they would not get lost.

I was swimming back and forth along the coast near the shore, I swam with freestyle and switched to breaststroke when I got tired. Axel and Demyx tried to open their eyes underwater, but after one second they resurfaced, complaining that the water burned their eyes. Roxas was standing at where the water reached his waist, feeling the sea breeze blowing slowly and the waves pushing him. Zexion was tired, so he sat at the shore, watching the faraway seagulls flying freely. Lawrence was swimming too, but he occasionally dived into the water, because he had goggles… Xion was not into swimming very much, so she decided to let the waves at the shore beat on her feet.

After an hour of swimming, I was really tired. I proceeded to get back to the shore, wiped myself dry and strolled on the sandy beach. I changed into a white T-shirt, red shorts and blue slippers. I walked on the sand. The waves rolled onto the shore, producing white foams; some of them clashed with giant reefs that silently guarded the shore, creating majestic spindrifts, rustling throughout the bay.

"Full fathom five thy father lies; of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea change, Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding Dong. Hark! Now I hear them - Ding Dong, bell." I was only a few minutes into my stroll when I heard someone reciting these quietly (well, to me, it was like alien language… I was more into STEM subjects). I gazed ahead; no one. I was pretty sure I started walking away from where all the people were, which meant no one would be in front. I strained my eyes and I finally spotted the "culprit" - Ienzo, who was sitting on the sand.

I quietly walked towards him, planning for a surprise attack. One… two… three! "Yo." I put my hand on his shoulder. He was shoved back into reality abruptly and jumped out of his skin. Calm down… "Wah!" "Hey… It's me…" "Huh?! Oh… ah! You scared me…" He patted his chest, calming his wildly beating heart. Geez, no need to overreact… "…*Sigh*… No need to be so startled… Anyway, the poem you recited just now wasn't so bad. What was it?" I asked, diverting his attention so that he would not be so jittery.

"… You had heard it all?" He lowered his gaze, his bangs covering half of his face again. I nodded and said, "Every last word." I heard him mumbling, "Great, you heard all of it…" "Hey, it's no big deal, which poem was it?" I asked. He looked up again and said, "It's from one of Shakespeare's most famous work, 'The Tempest', in Act I, Scene II, called 'Full Fathom Five'."

OK… I knew Shakespeare by name only. That was how bad I was at this. I sat down beside him and asked, "What was it about?" He gave me a "seriously, you don't know?!" look, and then he said, "Prospero, the main character, wanted to guide Ferdinand, who had just survived a shipwreck, to him, so he appointed an 'airy spirit', Ariel, to do the job. Ariel made herself invisible and then recited this poem to get Ferdinand's attention, and then led him to Prospero." [Authoress: I hoped this piece of information was correct! Forgive me if there were mistakes!] I heard 100% of it, but 90 % of them was infected by virus; undecipherable. My brain crashed like a malfunctioned computer for three seconds… "Er… OK… And why did you recite this poem?" I asked again. "… Um, there's this phrase 'sea change', it means a transformation or a change, idiomatically…" "It has something to do with the sea?" This could be the best reason why he recited it. "… Yes… Actually… It's like my life…" His voice diminished as he said, like there were some sensitive issues in it.

Well, I was not really good at consoling people, and I was very likely to misspeak, so it would be best if I remained silent. I could probably guess what his life was like anyways: his parents died when he was little, living on his own, being bullied at school, achieving excellent grades and everyone perceived this as arrogant superiority and to isolated him. Hey, I was also somewhat boycotted; there were some people who were willing to do the cleaning duty in the first place, but ever since I got the first placing in class (to my dismay), no one would ever do the job anymore. Some people even stopped talking to me. Oh well, I could live with that, anyways…

"… Argh! Let's not talk about this anymore! Why don't we go and see if there's anything nice to eat, to kill boredom…?" I said while looking around the shore. I scolded myself mentally, "Are you daft? You didn't even see any stalls on your way here! Terrible liar…" "… Ah! I know, when I came here to look at the sea, I saw an ice-cream stall somewhere over there," Ienzo thought about it and said. The gods did not hate me after all… "… Let's go," he said, standing up. We walked to the stall. [Fast-forwarding a little…]

It was now half past eleven in the morning, we were sitting on the sand, watching the faraway mountains. "It's been a good while since the last time I went to a beach, it sure is fun!" I stretched and said. "I remember that Malaysia has many beaches, didn't you go?" he asked. I shrugged and said, "Ever since the tsunami attacked Southeast Asia in 2004, everyone was traumatised, so my parents never thought of taking me and my bro to the beach again." "… Oh…" Awkward silence…

"Er… Um, Ienzo, let's be honest, is your real motive of coming here to avoid Sato?" I decided to break the silence, but he almost choked. Whoa! I slapped his back a few times and he stopped coughing. "… Sorry, I choked on my own saliva… [Authoress: Relatable, I did that sometimes.] Oh no! No! It's not like that! Where did you get the idea?" He muttered during the first part of the sentence, after that he went into spaz mode; panic? I analysed, "As a student from the first class, one would complete their work if granted the time, so one would not relax first; also, today's technology is well-developed… For this information-gathering type of work, there's no need to come here personally, right?" He blushed, and then he said, "You got me again…" "… *Sigh* If you would just report him, you would have nothing to worry about, right?" I supported my chin with one of my hands and looked at him.

"… You also realise what would happen after that, huh?"

"Of course, but we cannot leave it be, no?"

"…"

"I'll tell you what, you- What the…?!"

I was about to say something, but I saw an USO (Unidentified Shooting Object) out of the corner of my eye! I pushed him to the left, and I jumped to the right myself. The USO flew through between us and fell into the seawater. I stood up abruptly and turned to look behind me.

"Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse?! Not you again!" I exclaimed. I never thought he would be here as well! What an annoying lingering spirit! "You…! YAAAAHH~~~~~~!" As if possessed, he was so mad he charged towards me. Of course I was not that stupid to just let him run into me. I pretended that I was going to fight him, and readied myself in a battle pose. Bring it!

His displacement decreased, the distance between us was shortening. We were about to clash in any minute, and then I stepped aside when he was about ten steps away. "OUT OF MY WAY!" he screamed, rushing past me, my gaze locked on and followed him. He passed by me and towards… the sea?! H-hey, do not tell me he had had enough of my provocation and was going under the sea to be a seahorse for good?!

But, the truth proved that… I thought too much…

"My Salvatore Ferragamo Italian luxury branded shoe!" His voice died down and the sound of water splashing came. What the heck?! Do not tell me the USO earlier was a luxury item! … Why had I not heard of this brand before? [Authoress: 207… Do you think the Internet was created just for the heck of it? Look it up!]

When I regained my senses, I said, "This is the first time I see something thrown at people being a luxury branded shoe… What Figaro?" Ienzo got up and said, "It's Salvatore Ferragamo, the prices of this type of shoes are off the charts…" I scratched my head and said, "I only know 'Marriage of Figaro' and… Bata only…"

"… I'm speechless," I commented. Ienzo asked no one in particular, "Why was Sato here?" "Ask the ones above…" I answered no one in particular too.

"Yo! Nemix! Eh? Ienzo's here too? Gathering time, let's go." Axel, Zexion and Xion came over. I turned to face them. Xion asked, "What are you guys standing here for?" I jabbed a thumb at the sea behind me, she looked at said direction and shouted, "HOLY CRAP!" I closed my eyes in annoyance and crossed my arms before my chest. I nodded and huffed, "Yup, it's him."

383: "NO WAY!"

207: "… Yes way…"

383: "IMPOSSIBLE!"

207: "I'm possible."

383: "What now?!"

207: "How should I know?"

006: "Think of something! Now!"

207: "On it… Troublesome seahorse…"

222: "HE'S DROWNING!"

207: "Uh-huh, he's- WHAT?!"

I whipped around to look at the sea- Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse was about to drown! Holy Bananas! At that moment, a black shadow whizzed past and I only saw it going into the water, swimming towards the Seahorse who did not know how to swim (how ironic). After the person caught Broken-Nose Seahorse's arm quickly, only then his head surfaced from the water. It was Yuanfang. Broken-Nose Seahorse clutched onto him very tightly like he himself was going to die in any minute (which he kind of was), effectively constricting Yuanfang. I was not sure if the situation would worsen if I decided to jump in to save them… Just then… "John Davis to the rescue!" "Geronimo!" John and Carlos, the two inseparable bros, jumped into the water.

Result: The four boys were tangled together. Luckily the gods were not asleep at that time, and used the waves to wash them ashore. Now, I could only say they resembled a sandwich; stacked up. "Mom-mom-mom-mom-mom-mom…" Broken-Nose Seahorse could not stop stuttering. The blood circulation in poor Yuanfang's arm was almost cut off by his firm grip. "I told you not to struggle, and you ignored me. 搞啥的真是…" [Translate from Chinese: what were you doing, honestly] Yuanfang grumbled helplessly. "Dude, get your butt outta my face!" John struggled while saying, Carlos retorted, "Get your cara outta my butt!" [Translate from Spanish: face] "My shoe! Phew… it's still here… haha~"

"SHUT UP!" I roared, only then they stopped altogether. "You! Let go of his hand! You get up! You shut up! And you! Stop whining!" The four of them stared at me with wide eyes. "NOW!" I added. They all jumped into position and stood still. "Ahem… Sorry, can we go now?" I calmed down first and said.

"Sir Yes SIR!" John and Carlos saluted and Yuanfang nodded. They still could not stop staring at me (I guessed I broke them). Broken-Nose Seahorse only cared about his stupid shoe, he rubbed and wiped here and there. "… My Salvatore Ferragamo… You idiot! Why did you evade my shoe?!" He looked at his shoe with much pity and then accused me. "Are you daft? If I just stood there and let your Figaro-whatever-the-hell hit me, would I be normal then?" "… Ugh! Forget it! I don't want to argue with you no more!" said Broken-Nose Seahorse, he whistled loudly and soon a limo appeared on the paved road. "SO LONG, LOSERS!" He threw this at us and left with the limo.

"You are the loser! Stupid!" I was so mad, Ienzo noticed the state I was in and dared not speak a word. "… Guys… We are ten minutes late…" Zexion said quietly. "What? Let's go then!" said Axel, and we followed behind.

---

"Phew! I'm so tired!" I collapsed onto my bed and groaned, facing the ceiling. Zexion saw my starfish lying posture, he shook his head and chuckled, "You ate so much at the BBQ dinner just now, I am surprised to see you not stuffed to death. Go brush your teeth and wash your face, OK?" "… *Sigh* OK, dad," I giggled and got up, also missing a flying toothbrush by a hair. Sometimes, Zexion acted like a father when he was looking out for us. At one point, Axel could not take it anymore and invented this name. It somehow fitted him. I wiped my face and came out of the bathroom, suddenly I was tackled by Demyx, again, and both of us fell to the floor. "Nemy, Zexy, this is bad!" Zexion asked calmly, "What happened?" "Roxy's in trouble! And the whole class-" "Demyx, if I'm squashed flat, I can't help you anymore…" I squeaked under his weight. He was taller than me although we were of the same age, and what the hell did he eat? Why was he so goddamn heavy?! "Oh! Sorry… Sorry… Come on!"

We reached the scene and I was dumbfounded: Yuanfang somehow climbed onto the top of the refrigerator and would not stop saying random things; he said that the "grapes" on Anne's head gobbled up people (Anne plaited her hair and tied it up in a bun on the head); Carlos tackled down Antonio and kept calling him his mother, he even asked him to buy him a teddy bear and a bunny; John was hugging a floor lamp, his face was rubbing gently with the lamp shade! What the flipping heck?! God save us all…

Anne was totally confused; she did not know whether to cry or to laugh. Harayuki and Ryutaro were working together to peel Carlos off of Antonio, but to no avail. Laura saw John's state and fainted, so Soo-Ji was about to bring her to her room. Lawrence and Ian were tied up back to back without apparent reason. Roxas was looking for a chance to slip away, but Carlos was gripping the end of his trousers. Carlos said, "Mamá, no me dejes…" [Translate from Spanish: Mom, don't leave me…] Roxas almost lost it, "What the hell? Get off of me now!" Katra tried to calm Yuanfang down and ask him to come down, but nothing seemed to get through his skull. William was in trouble; John mistook him as his crush back in the States and confessed to the wrong person! And his confession was kind of nauseating…

"*Yawn* 何ですか騒々しい… Oh my god…" [What's the fuss about…] Ienzo was awakened from his nap by the chaos and came to the lobby to see what was going on. He was also shocked.

"… Ignore that, we have to divert their attention. 207, stop John; I will coax Carlos; Ienzo, you take Yuanfang. 135, help 207." Under Zexion's orders, we set off for our duties. John was about to kiss William on the lips, I quickly took off the lamp shade he disregarded minutes ago and shoved it right in front of William's face. I managed to block the "attack" and protected William's first kiss. "MMUUU~~UAH!" John let out this sound once his lips connected with the lamp shade. I just wanted to laugh out loud, but due to my mission, I had to hold it down.

Ienzo tried to talk some sense into Yuanfang, but the effect was no good. Anne decided that this was getting nowhere, so she undid her plaits and let her hair to droop naturally from her head. She said, "OI! Yuanfang! No more grapes! OK?" He finally calmed down, but he did not want to come down just yet. After some long coaxing by Ienzo, they finally got him down. At that moment, John was knocked out by Axel. Why? Apparently, Axel was hungry and he came out from his room to look for something to eat, but he ran into John, who had mistaken him as his crush, again. Axel grabbed a nearby water bottle and swatted his head… yeah.

Carlos kept claiming Antonio as his mother, he would not let go of him. Harayuki and Ryutaro were fed up and went off to rescue Lawrence and Ian. Zexion crouched down before Carlos and Antonio and started brainwashing (perhaps coaxing too?). It was effective initially, but suddenly Carlos bawled out loud! Zexion was taken aback; he had never encountered such a situation before… "¿Mamá no quiere a Carlito?" [Doesn't mommy love Carlito (diminutive of Carlos)?] No one here knew Spanish… Zexion decided to use a quick and low hushed tone to convey his words to Antonio; he wanted Antonio to say them himself, for it seemed more effective. Also, Italian was closely related to Spanish, after all. Carlos sobbed a little, Antonio said, "No, Carlos, tua mamma ti ha sempre amato. È solamente che mamma è stanca, va bene?" [No, Carlos, your mom always loved you. It's just that mommy's tired, OK?] "*Sob* ¿De verdad?" [Really?] Carlos's puppy eyes and pout came out together, his eyes brimming with tears. He actually understood Antonio? I covered my mouth tightly; no, do not laugh! Not at a time like this! I had a hard time…

A drop of cold sweat dripped from Antonio's forehead, he continued, "Sì, mio caro. Dai, sarai un bravo bambino e andrai a letto?" [Yes, my dear. Come on, will you be a good little boy and go to bed?] "… Claro… *sob* ¿Puede mamá contarme un cuento antes de dormir?" [… OK… Can mommy tell me a bedtime story?] After Antonio's sneaky translation, Zexion hesitated; he was unsure going forward. "¿Por favor? ¿Por favoooor? ¿Mamá?" [Please? Pleeaase? Mommy?] Zexion nodded curtly and Antonio took this as a cue and said, "Sì, mio caro." [Yes, my dear] Only then Carlos loosened his cobra-like grip. Roxas' trousers' end was almost ripped off, but he kept deadly still throughout the brainwashing, so Carlos completely forgot about him. All three seemingly possessed guys were taken care of! Mission accomplished! Phew… They all fell asleep very soon. But for Carlos, he was knocked out by some sleeping fairy I did not know after Antonio had told him "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", "Cinderella", "Rapunzel" and the prologue of "The Little Mermaid". You did your best, Antonio… Luckily the teachers slept like dead pigs, if not, such a havoc we created would have freaked them out!

Now, I really was tired, it was already past midnight… I had to get some sleep for tomorrow.

---

"Flip! Flop! Fly~! I don't care if I die!" I jumped out of the bed. Goddamn alarm clock… To prevent my alarm from waking Zexion up who was in the same room with me (on a different bed… Ahem), I immediately turned it off. This song was from "Chicken Run" (I own nothing from this movie and the song), the beat was quick and somewhat crazy. The clock showed seven in the morning. I still had some time before the gathering time at eight, so I wanted to enjoy the sea breeze and watch the sunrise. I changed, washed and I sneaked out of the chalet.

I stood about thirty centimetres away from the water on the beach. I was kind of bored, so I picked up a pebble and decided to throw it out to the sea. Holding the pebble, I pulled my fist back quickly to increase the momentum of the launch, but my fist collided with… two furry yet hard things. "OW!" "痛い!" [That hurt!] Startled, I spun around to see- Roxas and Ienzo! "Ow… Darn it Nemix, how did you know we're behind you…? That hurt," Roxas gently rubbed his sore forehead while moaning. "You two wanted to sneak up on me? Not so easy, you know… Hehe! But, I will apologise. Sorry to the both of you, ごめんなさい [Sorry]," I guessed their motive and apologised. "Roxas, looks like Nemix's not the 'nasty plotter' for nothing… Ouch…" Ienzo pressed a hand on his head and said. Why, of course! [Authoress: Terrible liar, you were startled and yet you're pretending… 207: That's what I call poker face! Authoress: Whatever…]

I asked, "I'm pretty sure you guys did not wake up this early just to sneak up on me, right?" Roxas said, "Yup, I was about to get some fresh air, and I crossed paths with Ienzo, who had the same idea, and then we saw you, so we decided to sneak up on you, but then… *pout*" I patted his shoulder and said, "Better luck next time." Suddenly, Ienzo tensed up. He also started trembling. "Whoa, Ienzo, what's wrong?" asked Roxas. "… It's… It's Sato!" He struggled with his stuttering and pointed somewhere behind me. I spun around to see. That Broken-Nose Seahorse was somewhere very far away from us. I wondered what he was up to. "Wow, Ienzo, good eyesight!" said Roxas. A tint of red appeared on Ienzo's cheek. "What is he up to so early?" I asked, very curious. "… Ah! Most likely breakfast. He always has his favourite fast food for breakfast, called 'Chinese Snacks'." Roxas and me stared at him and said in unison, "'Chinese Snacks'? What the hell kind of a name is that?" Could snacks fill up a person's stomach? He merely shrugged and commented, "Beats me, it was newly opened. It operates in booths for now." "How did you know?" "I happened to pass by on a particular day. So… yeah."

Wait a sec… I thought for a while, contemplating and scheming… Then, I said, "Is there a booth here?" Ienzo nodded and said, "Yup, there's one somewhere in front of us." I strained my eyes and then I saw a yellow booth about a kilometre from Broken-Nose Seahorse, almost like a drive-through. Ha! Perfect! I snickered, spun around and said to the boys, "I've got a nasty plot again, and I need you guys…" Roxas gulped and asked, "What are you going to do?" I only smiled cheekily and ran to my destination. They followed behind.

The three of us managed to stay out of Broken-Nose Seahorse's sight and arrived at the booth first. We got into the booth, for the door was strangely unlocked all along. Luckily a "Closed" sign was hung on the door, so no one would be entering the booth except us. I turn over the sign to reveal "Open" and asked Roxas to operate the electronic devices in the booth. He also taught me how to operate the interphones which most drive-through workers used. This booth only had one door, no windows, so we did not need to worry about getting caught in the act. There was a recording camera outside the booth, so we could know whether a customer (or in this case, a victim) was approaching… hehe… Prepare for some trolling, Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse!

As expected, Broken-Nose Seahorse arrived, along with his two sidekicks. The more the merrier! Using what Ienzo had informed me, I imitated, "Good morning, Mister. May I help you?" "Yeah, I would like to order something." "Thank you, Captain Obvious…" I thought, continuing the plan anyway. [DISCLAIMER: THE BELOW TROLLING PART OF THE STORY WAS INSPIRED BY A MOVIE CLIP, I INCLUDED IT IN HERE PURELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY, I OWN NOTHING! By the way, the movie was "Dude, Where's My Car?"]

207: "OK, anything you want, mister?" (P.S. BNS stands for Broken-Nose Seahorse)

BNS: "Yeah, I want, uh, three garlic chickens."

207: "*Thoughts: Is that on the menu? Ugh, who cares, whatever!* And then?"

BNS: "And then… uh, three big cups of white rice."

207: "*Thoughts: That's more like it…* And then?"

BNS: "And then… Oh! *To sidekicks* Hey, スープにしたい?" [Do you guys want soup?]

Side: "もちろん! [Of course!]"

BNS: "OK, yeah, three bowls of, um, wantan soup."

207: "And then?"

BNS: "Oh! Yes, and some of the… fortune cookies."

207: "*Thoughts: Those are not even Chinese, dammit…* And then?"

BNS: "Erm, no… um, it's OK, that's about it."

207: "*Thoughts: Finally!* And then?"

BNS: "*Confused* …Nope, that's it!"

207: "And then?"

BNS: "No and then! I, uh, that's, uh, that's all I want."

207: "And then?"

BNS: "… hehe… Hey, and then, um and then… nothing else about that order, OK? *awkward laugh*"

207: "AND THEN? *Pretending to be eager…*"

BNS: "? … Uh… no no, see. All I want is three garlic chickens and three cups of white rice."

207: "Yeah, and then? *Covered Roxas' mouth to stop him from laughing*"

Side 1: "そうだ! スープ! [That's it! The soup!]"

BNS: "Oh, and the wantan soup."

207: "*Suppressed laughter* And then?"

Side 2: "ボス! (Boss!) Cookie's fortune!" (Ienzo was trying really hard to suppress his spontaneous laughter, I also almost burst out laughing…!)

BNS: "*Speechless…* Yeah, and the fortune cookies. Yes, so it's just the… chicken, rice, soup and fortune cookies, and THAT'S it. *Smirk*"

207: "AND THE~~~~~~~N? *Dragging the syllable*"

BNS: "*Huh?* … Hehe *awkward laugh*. And then, uh, you can put them all in a brown paper bag, and uh, put it into my hands, because I'm ready to eat!"

207: "*Thoughts: And I'm ready to ruin your unnaturally good temper* AAAAAN~~D THE~~~~~~~~N?!"

BNS: "Hey! I refuse to play YOUR stupid mind games!"

207: "Aaaaaand the~~~~~~n?!" (Roxas' face turned into a tomato!)

BNS: "NO! NO AND THEN!"

207: "AND THE~N?!"

BNS: "NO AND THEN!"

207: "AND THEN!"

BNS: "NO AND THEN!"

207: "AND THEN!"

BNS: "NO AND THEN!"

207: "AND THEN!"

BNS: "No and then…"

207: "AND THEN!"

BNS: "*On the verge of killing someone* NO! NO AND THEN!"

207: "*Dragging syllables* AAANND THE~~~~~~N?!"

BNS: "*Gritted teeth* You know, you're starting to piss me off, lady…"

207: "*Thoughts: That's exactly what I'm doing!* AND THEN? *Lowered tone, like testing someone*"

BNS: "And THEN, heheh, I'm gonna come in here, and I'm gonna put MY FOOT in YOUR $$ IF YOU SAY AND THEN AGAIN! *Fists flexed*"

Holy hell, I could not take this anymore! I had to pause for a few seconds to stabilise myself. That was part of the plan, anyway. Roxas clutched onto Ienzo's arm very tightly like he was going to die soon, the arm almost broke off. Ienzo was trying to hold his maniacal laughter down, but I could assure you he would soon fail. The camera showed the three idiots outside, Broken-Nose Seahorse did a victory laugh and said, "勝った!" (I won!) In your dreams, loser! I saw the time had arrived, so I continued, "And then and then and then and then and then and then and then and then… *Ongoing*"

I was in the middle of bombarding them like a broken record when he decided that that was the last straw; he pulled out his already fired-up fists and feet and as for the speaker… it was hit, punched, kicked, mauled, squashed, knocked, stomped, clawed… anything you could think of. Either he lost it, or we broke him… I did not see that coming. He even pulled the whole speaker off, tearing and pulling out bits of what I recognised as mica components and strands of wires. Whoa! Vandalism! [Authoress along with the crew: You don't say?!] The interphones was no longer working, I was worried of one thing; would he come through the door?! Dammit, I was too careless!

But, thanks to whatever god I worshipped or did not worship, his sidekicks seemed to notice something was wrong; maybe someone else heard or saw the commotion. They quickly dragged a berserk Broken-Nose Seahorse away. Whew! We remained dead silent and stared at one another for two seconds, and then we lost it. We could not even talk, only "hahaha" came out from our throats. We were sitting on the floor initially, but now we were lying or half lying on the floor. Some of us slapped the wall repeatedly, some of us slammed our fists onto the floor, some of us rolled on the floor, laughing mad etc. We just laughed as if possessed.

After a good five minutes, we eventually regained self-control. I pushed myself up, massaging my numb cheeks and wheezed, "Oh my god… That was funny! Can't help it… heehee… ahem!" Roxas clutched his stomach, gasping for air. He commented, "Don't… ever… do that… again!" Ienzo was still laughing, but not as crazy as before, just a normal laugh, "Haha… Nemix, you're amazing… how did you come up with this plan?" "Hah! I'm not the nasty plotter for nothing!" I said smugly.

"Yeah, and I would have thought that I'm gonna get an 'and then' phobia!" Someone else's voice came in! Dead silence… We all shut up, scared shitless. Ienzo was shaking again, I found a fishing rod without the string, gripping it tight. It was my weapon now. We were going to die… big time… One-Winged Angel started up again.

I kicked the door open and screamed, "YAH~~~~! A fight to the death!" I jumped out, the door flung outwards 180 degrees and slammed onto the wall. BAM! "OW!" "What the Kingdom Hearts!" Wait… I had heard only one particular person who said "what the Kingdom Hearts" before… I then realised something was up. I put the fishing rod in my left hand and pulled the door open with the other - Lawrence and Axel stuck onto the wall. "What the…? You guys OK?" I pulled them off the wall and asked. "Do I look like I am OK?" Lawrence rubbed his nose and asked. Axel rubbed his face and said, "Good news, Lawrence, your iPad's in good shape; bad news, Nemix, you're finished!" Oops…

Roxas came out to save the day, "Everyone calm down! We're startled by you guys, that's all! Chill…" Ienzo was the last one to come out. He asked, "Lawrence, why are you here?" Then Lawrence realised and said, "Oh! Yeah, I was just passing by when you guys suddenly ran to a… booth. Then me and Axel followed you all and we saw the whole, eh, show." "We even recorded it! In the iPad!" Axel added. I snapped my fingers and said, "Good job! Can we upload it?" "… Hey that's a nice plan," Lawrence smiled and nodded.

We cleaned up the mess and got rid of any evidence, and then we returned to the chalet for breakfast. We also showed the video to the rest of Lucky 7. Demyx and Xion said in unison, "Why you no invite us?!" Zexion said, "No wonder I heard loud machine noises, so it was Nemix's nasty plot…" "You need to be our schemer!" Demyx exclaimed. "I prefer 'nasty plotter', thank you very much. Zexion's the schemer, not me, OK? Well, I granted you guys a chance to refresh your minds in the morning with this. Good, huh?" I said, smirking. "… Not bad, thank you so much, Nemix, I was almost squashed by you," Axel teased. "Sorry, Axel. That's what happens when adrenaline rush occurs." I said.

After breakfast, we were waiting for the others to fill up their stomach. Zexion said in a small voice, "Oh, yes, do you guys still remember the 'possessed' incident yesterday?" All members of Lucky 7 nodded, but some shuddered a little. "OK, just now when I passed by the chalet lobby counter, I noticed some brochures about drugs…" "Dru-" Demyx was about to exclaim, but Axel covered his mouth before he could let out a sound. "Keep it down… After I had read it, I surfed the Internet to verify the brochure's info, and now I had found out. It was powder cocaine."

We were like thunderstruck. "At first I thought I was overthinking, thus reading the brochure to check, but all their behaviour matched with the results of my research! So…" Ienzo heard all of these and he was trembling, we were shell-shocked as well. Seriously, cocaine?!

"That's it! One more thing!" Amidst the panic I realised a truth, a dreadful truth. "Wh-what?" Roxas stared at me with wide eyes and asked. "The three 'possessed' boys, namely Yuanfang, John and Carlos had one similarity!" "It's-" Demyx caught the drift. I gulped, "Yes, they had once rescued Sir Broken-Nose Seahorse; Sato!"

~ CHAPTER 11 FIN ~

TO BE CONTINUED

OMG! Now they had trouble! This time, the case involved drugs! (And no, this is not meant to be a suggestive theme, also I have to reiterate that drugs do no good to us if they are misused) The "possessed" trio, Yuanfang Li, John Davis and Carlos Fernandez Lopez had rescued Sato who nearly drowned before! What connection lies beneath?! Hah! That's Mr. Cliffhanger for you, and don't you forget it! (Yes, I stole this line from Sora, sorry!) Anyway, thanks for reading this, and you're always welcome to message me about the story, what you think of it and so on. Bye and stay tuned!