Chapter 25: Aftermath
Shop class was the last subject of section 2-A every Thursday afternoon. It was the class where the students tended to linger the most, since they had a free run of the lab equipment for as long as Professor Cadmon remained in the faculty area (Despite his tendency to require the dreaded 40-page technical essays, Professor Samuel Cadmon was considered as one of the most easy-going teachers of Carona High, along with Ms. Belle Brie). That afternoon, however, there were only a handful of students who were still in the workshop. The ambient mood of section 2-A was still gloomy, apparently.
Rue and Neil were part of the said handful who had remained after class. It was a typical scenario, since their kendo practices were MWF only. What wasn't typical, however, was straight-A student Rue Kincaid botching his shop class projects more than three times in a row.
What was even stranger was that Rue himself didn't seem to notice it. His favorite volume of discrete mathematics lay wide open on the workshop table, and he was using his new multi-tool's bottle opener to bore a dowel hole in the wood he was working on.
Neil was watching him, and he seriously wondered at what could have caused Rue to suddenly act like this. Rue palmed his face in frustration, and Neil heard him mutter, almost incoherently.
"Aagh, she was drunk! It doesn't mean anything!!"
Neil rolled his eyes. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure he wanted to know it now. No matter—Rue would probably snap out of it soon enough, give or take a few days.
He stepped out of the classroom and into the corridor, his hands in his pockets. As chance would have it, he saw Tonia at the far end of the hall. He walked towards her, and Tonia acknowledged him as he approached.
"Is Mint alright?" she asked. "I heard that Rue found her."
Neil answered, "He found her at Jargen's and he took her home last night. I couldn't get anything more out of him than that—he's being as tight-lipped about it as ever." He sighed deeply. "I wish Annette was here. She'd know better how to handle these things."
"Tell me about it," Tonia said.
Neil turned squarely towards the upperclassman. "Tonia, I've heard the rumors, but I want to know the truth from you. What really happened?"
"That's already common knowledge. Mint fainted in the middle of her performance—"
"No," Neil said, "I meant, do you know who accused her of cheating?"
"It was an anonymous tip directed straight to the school board. But, there's only one person who had any motive to do that." Neil quizzically raised one eyebrow at her, but Tonia's silence meant that she wasn't about to tell him who it was.
"We know it's a false charge. Is there any way we can prove it?"
Tonia pulled something out of her pocket and showed them to Neil. "I got the wanted bracelets from Mint's dormitory yesterday. I was right, and Mrs. Cartha still had them stashed away in her safety vault." Tonia smiled knowingly. "But I'm not the one taking them to the school board."
"You're not going to try to clear her?"
She shook her head. "I won't have to."
Mira Klaus was the one who usually picked up her adopted six-year old son from preparatory school, but Elena had volunteered for that duty this week. This week happened to be Elena's junior high's foundation celebrations, so she could get off school early. Besides, what with the recent events in the school where her father was principal, Mira was needed more in the high school, and Elena wasn't feeling up to browsing the booths of her junior high fair anyway.
Elena sat on a sidewalk bench outside of Prima's prep school. Her eyes were busy studying the concrete, but her mind was on other, more important matters. She was worried about Mint, of course. Although it seemed to some that Elena was nothing more than the stereotypical 'bubbly blonde' (her naturally pink hair notwithstanding), she was actually more perceptive than most people give her credit for.
For one, she had known Mint for about a year and a half now, and she had always known that the redhead was psyche-strong. The wine-red eyes were a dead giveaway for those who knew what they stood for, and being the daughter of a former Cosmos Corp researcher who once dealt with psyche-amps meant that Elena was more familiar with their history than most kids her age (or most people for that matter). Klaus didn't know that she knew about Mint, although he probably suspected. Despite her reputation as being very talkative, Elena did know how to keep secrets.
In her own way, Mint was just as hyperactive as Elena and Prima were, and ever since she came to town, Mint had a habit of tirelessly traversing the many and varied ruins of Carona—often on her own, although there were a few times when Rod accompanied her. Elena had never known anyone who could even come close to matching Mint's spunk and spirit. She knew that with or without psyche-dampers, a dance sequence lasting no more than five minutes would never have tired Mint out the way it happened yesterday.
She was sure that there was something else to it, but what it could have been, Elena didn't know. But she did know that Mint had been …slipping… lately, as if Mint was often tired. She first noticed it a few months ago—Mint wasn't as spunky as she should or would normally be, and whatever this tiredness was, it had gotten worse over the past few weeks. As proud and high-strung as Mint was, of course the redhead would do her damnedest not to let anyone catch on to it. Offhand, Elena wondered if she was the only one who noticed.
Come to think of it, she hadn't been feeling that well herself recently. She placed one palm over her forehead, and then decided that it was only a slight fever. Definitely nothing to be concerned about.
She heard the dismissal bell. Parents had begun to arrive to pick up their children, but Elena paid them no mind as she looked for her adopted brother. "Prima!" she waved. "Prima, over here!"
"Elena!" Prima greeted cheerily as he ran to meet her. He stopped in front of her, noticing something amiss. "Elena, Sis?" He looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just a little tired," she forced a smile, and then changed the subject. "Lookie, Prima." She pointed towards a pair of twin calico cats sitting closely together on a fence across the street. "Those cats must be brothers—they look so alike. They're so cute, aren't they?"
Prima looked, and then he blinked his huge eyes at her. "I only see one cat, sis."
"Huh?" Elena squinted. "Oh, that's right. She's a very cute cat, isn't she? What say we go to Mel's for an ice cream before we head home?"
"Yay! Ice cream!!" Prima jumped up ecstatically. "I'll race you!"
Tonia confronted her the next day. It was after lunch, and Kirielle was on her way back to class.
"Lockheed," Tonia called softly, but her voice carried an edge. "There's something you should know."
Kirielle narrowed her eyes, even as she turned to meet the other. "I don't want to hear it, Tonia. I only did what any right-minded citizen would do."
But Tonia shook her head. "Mint is innocent. Do you remember these bracelets? She wore them in Gamul." Tonia held them up for Kirielle to see. "They do happen to be psyche-dampers."
"No." Kirielle frowned, suddenly feeling caught. "No, Tonia. Why should I believe you?"
"Perhaps because nothing I tell you now will change the fact that Mint had been publicly humiliated and stripped of her medal. Nothing I say will change the fact that she fainted in the middle of her second performance. It wasn't the first time—did you ever know that? She almost fainted in the locker room after her performance in the Gamul games, because of those bracelets." The way she talked, it seemed as if Tonia had been keeping those words in for a long time.
She continued, "Not only has Mint been removed from her position as team captain, but she has been kicked out of the gymnastics team altogether. And yet she has done nothing wrong." Except to beat you time and again. The words were at the tip of Tonia's tongue, but there was no need to say it aloud. "Let me tell you something that Annette told me. Do you know why Mint worked her butt off for the Gamul games? Because you're graduating this year. These were her exact words: '[Expletive], we need Kirielle.'"
Kirielle could only listen, at a loss of what to say. But she wasn't about to give in. "No. Ever since she came to Carona High, you and Annette have always been covering up for Prissy Miss Vanguard." Her eyes narrowed lividly. "You're lying, Tonia." Tonia merely shrugged.
"Perhaps, perhaps not. I guess there's nothing else for us to talk about." She handed the bracelets to the other girl. "Goodbye." She looked back, just once, before leaving.
It was the third straight day Mint was absent, and for some reason Rue couldn't take it anymore. Without a word to anyone, he stomped off to her dormitory immediately after the dismissal bell, totally forgetting about kendo practice and ignoring the puzzled glances that Neil and the rest of his classmates exchanged.
"Mrs. Cartha?" he asked. "Mint has been absent from school for a while now. Would you happen to know where she is?"
But Mrs. Cartha shook her head no. "I haven't seen her recently, but she hasn't come in late after curfew, I'm sure. We could check if she's in her room if you want to." Rue nodded his agreement.
The door was locked when they got there. Rue banged loudly upon it. "Mint! Mint, open up! After the trouble you put me through two days ago, the least you could do is be sober on me…!" Mrs. Cartha placed one hand on his shoulder to stop him knocking, and she took out her keys. She unlocked the door, and they both stepped into the room.
They found her sleeping peacefully on the bed. She was sleeping in the exact position that Rue had tucked her in a couple of days ago.
Rue rushed to the girl's side, urgently grabbing her wrist in an effort to check for a pulse. But his fingers were trembling too much, and Mrs. Cartha took over. "She's alive." Rue held his hand over Mint's mouth and felt the faint exhalation of breath. Thank the heavens.
"Mint, Mint! Wake up!!" he shook her roughly, but she wouldn't move. "Mrs. Cartha…!"
"I'm on it," and with brisk steps the landlady disappeared into the corridor.
Mint… please wake up… you've got to wake up… Rue fell on his knees beside the bed, his hand still holding tight to her wrist, and his head drooped to lean against the girl's coverlets. There was nothing he could do now but wait for help to come.
She was rushed to the Carona General Hospital in an ambulance. They took her directly to the Intensive Care Unit, with Rue and Mira accompanying her as far as the emergency room. Klaus took the children to spend the night over at Mel's before going to the hospital as well. After several hours with no change in Mint's condition, it was agreed upon that there was no point in all three of them worrying and doing nothing, so Mira shooed the boys back home.
Rod came as soon as he heard what had happened. He stayed outside the ICU with Mira while the doctors attended to Mint. He remained when Mira could no longer stay, with the promise that he would call the Klaus household if anything should turn up. It was three a.m. when they finally wheeled the girl out of the ICU and into a private room.
With a heavy hand did Mira hang up the kitchen phone. She turned to Rue and her husband, who were waiting in the living room for any news. "She's still asleep. Everything turned up negative. They can't find anything wrong with her, aside from the fact that she won't wake up. They'll perform more tests tomorrow. Rod has offered to stay with her in the meantime."
Klaus sighed audibly. "Well, let's all hope for the best. You can stay in Prima's room tonight, Rue. I'm just grateful that tomorrow's Saturday." He stood up, preparing to go upstairs and get some sleep, when he noticed that the boy was oddly quiet. "What's the matter?"
Rue was deep in thought. "Claire… Claire was always weak too. We must've gone to three different clinics, but none of them could ever find anything wrong with her either."
Klaus rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and it was some time before he spoke again. "Hmm, according to her diary… Rue, did you know that Claire used to be a member of the track and field varsity before she met you?"
"I remember her telling me about it once. But that was before she got sick…" he trailed off. He turned sharply to the professor. "You think there's a connection?"
"Whatever this condition is (or sickness, if it could be called that), it cannot be natural. That simply means that both girls had been exposed to the same substance or pathogen at one point in their lives… and the only way for that to happen is if they ever went to the same place or environment. We know from Claire's diaries that she never left her hometown, and I know for a fact that Mint had never gone there in her travels before she came to Carona." Klaus hesitated significantly before he spoke again. "The only thing that both girls have in common that I can think of right now… well, that would be you, Rue."
Author's Notes
Adelaine: Wait, wait… Am I saying that Rue is the reason that Claire and Mint got sick?
Davis [CH kendo club captain]: It certainly sounds like it.
Adelaine: Good. That *is* what I, err, I mean Klaus is implying.
Davis: *roll eyes*. Girls. Go figure.
Adelaine: 0_o… *blink blink*… …*realizes what she has just done with the latest chapter*… … *hides cowering under the computer desk* Augh! Dear Readers, please don't kill me!! ToFCH has a happy ending, promise!
The series is finally approaching its much-awaited *coughhakcough* conclusion! So, more stuff to ponder, among others… why won't Mint wake up? What does Rue have to do with Mint not waking up? What is Valen up to and why did he let Rue go (two chapters previous)? Whatever happened to Claire and the raven-haired Lucine? And who really is Belle's sister…? Oh, how will I be able to fit all of these in the next six chapters (the epilogues don't count, coz I can't put those in the endings. Yes, I said endings with an 's')… Another promise, Ruenis will definitely make an appearance five chapters from now. ^_~.
I just want to say that I have NEVER gotten drunk, so don't get ideas, and the worst I've ever imbibed is one sip of sake (coz Adi can't tolerate anything stronger than dark grape juice). I put in gin pomelo last chapter because a month ago my mom found an unopened bottle of it underneath the sink with the detergent and bleach bottles (turns out she bought it without my dad's permission and without knowing how powerful the stuff actually is, and since no one in our household is going to drink that I think we'll probably use it as disinfectant or something). I'm only a college girl, and I started college at the age of sixteen (which is normal where I come from).
And yes, *sigh*… this story *is* Rue/Mint (why do I get the feeling that most people in this section of FFNet read the fics for that particular value? Just so happens that Adi is an ardent R/M fan too =P). But this is still NOT a romance fic. It's just that I don't go for romance… it's oh-so-very rare that I find one that's handled even remotely well… the ones I see are oftemmph—!! *Davis clamps one hand over Adi's big mouth*
Davis (to readers): It's a personal bias and she knows it. Don't mind her—she's more-than-slightly crazy. She extends the Sincerest Thanks to the following people, without whose support this fic would not have been possible: The Crew of Light, James Birdsong, DeEpDaRkNeSs, Tenshi Takai, Victoria, Mana Angel, Cherry Lee, TRUEHAWK, Liol, The Crew of Light and Mew, Maronne Cruz, and The Shadow Trio.
Adelaine: *hearts* Thank you so much for the nice reviews. ^_^. Adi would've lost heart in her story if people don't read it anymore.