Disclaimer: Yugi-Oh GX does not belong to me neither its characters or rights over the story.
Warn: This story may have heavy and uncomfortable themes/situations like use of drugs, violence, abuse, sexual harassment, rape, depression, trauma and bad language. If you do not like such, Do not read this.
presea221: Thanks for the review! Yes, I wanted to portray the unhealthy type of fangirl there, and you bet they'd totally think it's cool to torture people and would be fine if their dear Kaiser does so. Ran is not the ringleader XD but she is almost as crazy as those girls. Asuka's and Ryo's interactions in the anime caught my attention, you can totally see that sense of older brother she gets form him and she is also a leveled person herself (unlike her brother XD), which makes their conversations very interesting imo. As for the psychologist, I first planned for him to be just a normal person, but I ended up changing a few things here and there to connect the plot better overall.
ToBlazePurple: It's just my insight into Ryo's persona. We will see more of Rie's problems, and also how Ryo will try to deal with the whole delicate situation, but it wouldn't be easy on anyone to cope with so many problems at once.
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Chapter 4: Avoidance
Ryo has a duel inside the precincts of the academy. It doesn't last long, with dozens of eyes watching him, he remains undefeated, destroying his opponent in a few turns.
The excitement of the crowd would always make him feel even more how fun it is to duel, yet he doesn't feel any enjoyment in that last duel, his mind is elsewhere, always considering the facts and those past weeks. Maybe it would not be a bad idea to go to the lighthouse and watch the sea to calm himself down again.
It is almost dusk, he walks towards the place. If he waits long enough, he can go into those woods and finally visit the forbidden dorms. It would be a serious offense to be caught, enough to result in expulsion and he wasn't fond of thinking of that possibility, but he still needed to know the truth.
As he walks on that bridge, he can see someone else there, from afar. His eyes widening slightly, it is unexpected. The person standing there at the end is none other than Rie Kinomoto herself.
Her expression is less gloomy than before, but he can still see the crying marks and she holds something on her arms, some sort of cloth bundle. The wind constantly makes the pink strands of hair block parts of her face, she is unfazed by it.
He can see her more clearly, she is just a couple meters away. Now that he met her from closer, he can see she is a tad shorter than Asuka. His steps halt, he is hesitant to proceed upon reminiscence of the words of that therapist.
Surprisingly, she takes the initiative by approaching calmly, but also stops with enough distance from him. Stretching her arms, she offers him that cloth, bowing her head lightly. He doesn't know whether it is to avoid his gaze or simply in apology. Could it be…?
"My uniform?"
He takes it back, it is completely clean and neatly folded, there is no vestige it'd been soaked in water and dirtied with sand. But why was she giving it back now…? His brow curled up in compassion. His voice is tranquil and cool as habitual:
"You didn't need to-"
As he handles it to hold with only one hand, a paper falls from the folded cloth, she flinches in nervousness, he grabs the paper quickly before the wind takes it away. It is a handwritten note:
"Stay away from the forbidden dorm grounds, please."
"So she could communicate after all..." he thinks to himself.
His lips open taking air as if he is about to say something, but he stops himself, looking at her with a perplexed gaze, she averts her blue orbs and tries to walk past him without saying anything else.
"Wait!"
It comes off more like an order, she freezes on her tracks, having a shiver and turns around halfway, letting her frightened expression be seen.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
She denies with her head, biting her lips in an effort to seal them shut, even though she technically couldn't speak.
"Even if you ask me this, it is all the more reason for me to delve further into it. The truth of the missing students and what happened to your colleagues too, it is all connected, isn't it?"
He asks with a straight face, she cannot look at him, her gaze diverts to the ground, her expression is even more horrified.
"If I find out who did this, I will make sure they pay. I will see for myself what is so terrifying in that dorm."
He hears a gasp of surprise, she turns around fully and nervously, he clenches his fists and looks directly into her eyes.
"You are not the only one. My friend disappeared there. I will find out why and how!"
Turning around he continues his way towards the lighthouse, she trembles in fear while walking to the opposite direction, not because of the dorms, nor because of what happened, but in fear for him. She feels she needs to do something, act before it is too late, but how?
Looking at his back going into the distance, tears form into her eyes, his image is blurry. If he goes there, he will… She hastily makes her way out of there, nibbling on her nails. Uphill, she walks back and forth looking from afar at Ryo that is still nearby the lighthouse. She can't let it happen again.
Late at night
The light moves around guiding the ships, it enters the woods flashing through the darkness. The crescent moon doesn't provide the right amount of light, but the woods invite him menacingly, and he embraces its shadows.
The sound of the night animals echo in the distance, besides that, he can only listen to his own footsteps breaking apart some small branches and crumbling them under his feet. His ears catch the sound of leaves bustling behind. His body halts instantly, bringing his eyebrows together, he looks over his shoulder.
There is no one, but he feels a presence nearby, as if there is someone or something watching him. In distrust, he continues his way to the dorms, discreetly looking back without being noticed to see who it was. Sighing heavily he turns around with a scowl.
"I know you are there! Reveal yourself at once!"
His serious voice is full of authority, he is not afraid of whoever it is. The tension swells up in the air and the wind blows past howling. From the bushes, a silhouette appears, being slightly illuminated by the faint moonlight.
His expression dissolves into a slight surprise and the coldness of his gaze is also gone, instead he has calm, confused eyes.
"You..."
In front of him, the pink-haired girl, her round eyes narrow lightly, she looks anguished in seeing him there, her lips are curved down and her hands clenched strongly.
"What are you doing here? It is dangerous for you to be out this time of the night."
His scolding tone holds some sort of concern for her wellbeing, but that doesn't affect her. An awkward silence installs between both of them.
After dozing off for a few seconds, as if considering something, she hurriedly takes a note from her skirt's pocket and slaps it into his chest, so abruptly his torso is pushed back a bit, startling him. He just affords a glance, it is enough to see the whole content of the note written in big warning letters.
"YOU CAN'T GO THERE! IT'S DANGEROUS!"
His bluish orbs land on hers, a scowl on his face. He doesn't say a word, however she knows exactly what that gaze means, he earnestly wants to hear the truth from her, otherwise he will not accept a no for an answer. To think the cold looking Kaiser could have such intense emotions inside him.
"You know I won't recede now. I am already here, there is no point in trying to stop me." he closes his eyes for a brief second, disapproving of her actions.
He feels a tug on his sleeve, her hands reach to his arm, she pulls his hand, holding it with both her hands, in a plea. Her fingers are so thin and cold, to the point he questions whether she has been skipping meals since what happened that week.
How long had she been waiting there outside and following him in that cold? He can't help but wonder, his facial expression softens even more as she tries to convince him to turn back.
"Why are you so adamant about this? Are you really so afraid you followed me all the way here despite what happened before…?"
He pulls his hand back abruptly, getting free from her grip, she seems sore because of his refusal, her eyes flicker and she casts her gaze down. What is this extremely perilous thing that forces her to foil his attempt of investigating? Putting herself in such a dire situation, she barely knows him, just because he helped her once, it doesn't mean she needs to go that far. It is almost infuriating.
"I am sorry, but if you have nothing else to say, you should go back to your dorm."
Astonished by his declaration, she flinches and stretches her arm, he turns around with a gelid mood hovering in the air, and gives a few steps, her eyes reflecting the image of his back as he walks to that dreadful place.
Again. It is happening again, the images of her friends get all muzzled in her head, their faceless heads and all that transpired, passing through as a movie, in a flash, their screams, their desperation. Those ghosts, will they ever stop haunting her?
She dashes as fast as she can. In a minute he feels someone pulling him harshly. When he comes to his senses, he can feel Rie hugging him tightly from behind, he gapes for a moment, in shock. Her arms clutch him so firmly he finds it hard to believe those slim muscles of hers can muster such strength.
"Rie Kinomoto, what are you doing?!"he calls out half flustered and half in disbelief.
He tries to go step forward to get free from her grip, but she pulls him even closer squeezing him even more. He can feel her heartbeats pounding heavily on his back, this is just too close. That is not the only thing he can feel, but he prefers to keep the other sensations and thoughts to himself.
For that girl that was panicked by being touched on the shoulder by another girl to do this… His blood flows wildly, giving a light color to his face, he stops moving, his heartbeats accelerate too, all her anxiety and fear seem to be contaminating him, a drop of sweat rolls down his face and a gulp soars in the air.
He grabs her arms that are wrapped around him, considering just freeing himself by force, yet he restrains himself from moving further upon realizing he'd hurt her if he really tried to break free. Her arms, despite holding him in place tremble aplenty, looking at that he can't come to move.
On his back, he feels something warm making his uniform wet. Even without looking, he knows what it is. How can she be freezing but have such warm tears?
"Why is she crying now? This is… so..."
Slowly, he lets go of her arms and sighs deeply troubled, how does this always end up with him listening to her sobbing without being able to think of a single word to say? Calming himself down and using a collected tone to talk to her.
"It is alright. You can let me go. I am not going anywhere."
His voice is not enough to tranquilize her, she still shivers, in tears, he can see her arms becoming paler with the strength she applies to keep him place. He finds his brows curving upwards again, forming wrinkles on his forehead.
She is there for a long minute just crying. Just what in the world happened in those dorms that she absolutely can't let him go? He tries again, in a stern tone:
"Kinomoto, for how long do you intend to hug me?"
In an instant, her arms clumsily release him as she bashfully covers her face, to hide both her color and tears, tumbling a few steps back.
"Fine if you are against going there, but I want an explanation of why… It is important for me to understand, do you get what I mean?" he turns around, a fiery and demanding gaze in his eyes.
Uncovering her face she casts a quick glance at him, just to look down in a depressed mood. More than that, her expression looked drained, all the energy she had before seems to have been spent on holding him back.
She breathes in relief, that is the first time he can identify an emotion such as relief on her, as she wipes her tears with one of her hands, putting a hand to her chest.
Was it really that dire of a situation for her to try so passionately to stop him on his tracks? Asking himself those questions will not get him anywhere. The best should be to postpone it until the next day, at least.
"Let's go, I will walk you out of the forest at least, this place is eerie at night."
He walks ahead, amusing her for a short moment, then she hurriedly follows him again, out of that place. Before they fully leave, she looks over her shoulder to that uncanny path, having a shiver and rubbing her shoulders that feel the cold air.
For now the predicament is solved, but he certainly will be waiting for answers, can she confidently give those answers to him? What can she do to avoid causing any harm even if she wants to tell the truth?
While distracted by her thoughts, she bumps into his back when he suddenly stops, rubbing her nose that becomes subtly red. She listens to the sound of him unbuttoning his coat and her feet slide back instinctively. Turning around, he brings the coat open and flaps it over her shoulders, adjusting it.
"You should take more care of yourself. Don't just go following people during the night."
His inexpressive face stares at the figure of that frail looking girl, his intention is not to reprimand her, even though his tone would make it look like the part. They are at the end of the woods, the coast and moonlight can already be seen clearly.
On the other hand, her gaze is fixated on him in some sort of amusement, wondering what is the purpose of his kindness. She feels the warmth on his coat, it isn't strange considering he was wearing it up until then, but… there is something more to it that comforts her.
"Wear this, you can give me back the next time we talk, by then, I will be waiting for your answers too. I want to know everything you can tell regarding those dorms and what happened to the students that went there."
The remaining walkway is crossed silently and they part ways, she watches as he goes to the boy's dorms, wondering what she should do now that he tried to go there? She prevented the disaster once, but for how long can she keep him out of trouble? Grasping the coat around her shoulders, she walks to her own dorms, thinking carefully on what to do next.
Meanwhile, a pair of scheming red eyes watches her from afar, secretly among the trees in the darkness. What is that creature planning next?
During the morning
Ryo knocks on the door of the psychologist's office, this time he was invited over. A low crack announces the door opening, there is someone else in the office.
"Professor Daitokuji…?"
He wonders what the teacher is doing there, but soon the professor waves and greeting them both, leaves the office, making space for the student. Ryo is offered a seat.
"I am sorry for suddenly calling you, Marufuji-kun, I know you must be busy with academic duties. I just wanted to check if everything is fine. The last time you came you sounded worried. Is Kinomoto-san adapting well to the classes? Or is she having some troubles?"
He smiles, but something about it seems off. Ryo ponders about the latest happenings in silence, perhaps, it is best to keep all the secrecy.
"She seems fidgety, but it doesn't look like she is having problems with the classes."
"What about other students? Are they still talking ill of her?"
"You know how the students of the academy can be, some people can't accept she is back, but that is how it is. If you want to know more, you can call the teachers."
"Ah, of course, that was what I was doing." he chuckles, scratching his head a bit embarrassed for having a student telling him off how to do his job.
"What about you? Is everything in order with you?"
"Yes. There is no need to worry about me. Now, if you excuse me..."
He gets up, making the talk shorter than the psychologist intended, but the man still tries to squeeze in a question before he leaves:
"Did you talk to her? Did Kinomoto-san say anything about what happened to her?"
He seems anxious for an answer for some reason, what exactly does this guy think it's the relation between them? He thinks carefully on his words before answering in his usual stoic tone.
"What would she say? She can't speak… Furthermore, we are just classmates, I don't know her well."
He closes the door after him, it is true, he barely knows her, despite having saved her life once and even meeting her again a couple times, it didn't mean they'd be buddies. In truth, he too was using her to get the information he needs. He feels it is morally wrong, but to find out the truth he may need to do it, even if he doesn't intend to be friends or keep any sort of relationship with her later.
Walking through the corridors towards the classrooms, he meets Asuka. She waves with a smile and approaches him.
"You are coming from the office's building?"
"Asuka, did our school always have a psychologist?"
She is stunned with the sudden question. Indeed, that was a curious thing to ask, putting a hand to her chin, she gives it a thought:
"Hmm… I don't think there was one when we first came, but it is possible they hired one last year… I heard a lot of students had issues and parents also complained about student's mental conditions… Plus, what happened at the dorms… Perhaps the psychologist came around that time…?"
A slight wrinkle forms in between his brows, rather than contemplative, he looks puzzled, she sighs and attenuates the mood:
"I am honored that the Kaiser has questions to ask. But what is bothering you lately? It is unlike your character to ask so many questions."
"Does that bother you?" his eyes are slightly surprised, she immediately gestures with a tiny smile.
"No, not at all. "
His gaze drifts away somewhere distant, she wonders if he can still see his surroundings or if he is aware of it. Then, he directs his attention towards her again.
"Would you be troubled if I asked you something else then...?"
"No." she flinches confused "Do you need a favor?"
"Yes, I need a favor… Can you..."
He speaks with her about, but what he asks is yet to be seen, a drop of sweat forms and rolls down her face with the request, but she nods. They part ways right after.
Inside the therapist's office, Rie Kinomoto sits idly, her gaze is low and empty, her eyes denouncing that she didn't have as much sleep as a healthy person requires.
"Kinomoto-san, did you take your pills properly?" he smiles with a friendly expression.
She is dozing off for a moment before her lips open slightly, finally understanding the question, and then she nods sluggishly.
"That is good. So, how have you been feeling lately?"
He pushes a device near her. It has a blank screen showing some sort of typing program. She slowly takes it and quickly types a message, showing the screen to him.
"Not well."
"Are the hallucinations back?" the light from outside reflects on his lenses, she can't see his eyes, but his expression becomes serious.
She flinches with the word "hallucinations". Is that what it really is? She knows her friends are not there, yet… She is sure all she saw in that abandoned dorm is anything but a hallucination.
"What did we talk about? Everything you think that happened, it is not true. Your mind made it up because it can't cope up with the truth. Kinomoto-san, we know there are no such things as a shadow realm and card game spirits. They are an escape of your mind to repress the truth."
His voice sips into her head, she feels dizzy and confused, the world around swirls as if his calm and inexpressive tone is nothing but a whisper.
"It is all but our imagination, yours just happens to strike you more because of all the trauma you had. There must be an explanation of what happened, you can't currently remember and that is not your fault. Do you understand?"
She bites her lips in bitterness, she does have a hazy memory, but even so, so simply consider it all as a bad hallucination, it's not correct. The fear from back then surfaces, the sensations, a cut opens on her lower lips from the unmeasured force she applies to it.
"...nomoto-san… Kinomoto-san!" the voice of the psychologist breaks her daydreaming apart.
"I don't feel well after taking the pills. I have problems concentrating on my classes."
This is what she types next, he adjusts the glasses in a half scolding tone and wears a serious expression:
"Kinomoto-san, we went over it last time too. The pills might have side-effects, but they are important to keep your mental health in check. It might feel awful at first, but once you gradually get better we might stop with them. You should take them properly."
She sighs resignedly. Why does it need to be so life draining this whole treatment? If she takes the pills, her head becomes muddy and her consciousness hazy, as if she is not living in the real world, but trapped in a reality that only has fog and nothingness.
Sometimes, she sees her friends, but her memory becomes so conflicted and it seems like the faces of her friends are disappearing like sand being carried away by the waves. On the other hand, if she doesn't take the pills, it might be worse in the long term.
"I hope you understand that you are still undergoing treatment and we have an agreement that you will follow my instructions if you want to keep attending classes."
She bites her lips again and nods sourly. When her session ends, she goes back to her normal activities and finds herself sitting in the classroom. Her eyes are idle. Even though she promised to herself she would live her life differently, her mind just seems to not be fully able to commit yet.
Will she be able to honestly tell Ryo Marufuji what happened and even if she does, will he scoff and despise her for the unimaginable truth?
Not long after she leaves, two people enter the psychologist's office, their black shoes stop near the desk, one of them drops a bunch of folders on the top of the table.
The psychologist's eyes cannot be seen under his glasses, he hums a song, sometimes whistling while checking some papers. The said documents are files with the names of the fours students who attacked Rie.
A smirk plays on his lips as he skims through the pages, a scoff at their faces and data, also another document, a medical exam proving Rie's abuse and the matching DNA test of whose student did that according to the bio profile they had on all students collected during routine exams the school required.
He closes the files. In front of him, the same man who interrogated Ryo and another man in a white coat. The eyes of the detective are empty, as if he is out of himself. The smirk of the psychologist enlarges, mocking that deplorable appearance.
"Are those all of the copies you had of these important documents?"
"Yes…" the answers are vague and in unison.
"Good. I trust you both… Will let me take care of those important files and forget that you identified the culprits, right? You'll not remember the name of those students and how they looked, they are all unimportant… They were not bringing illegal substances and they did not hurt that girl, there was no suspicion to prove who did it, right? No matching DNA." his eyes become red as he stares right into the men's orbs.
"Right, just like I told others… Nothing happened… If there is no proof..."the detective confirms in some sort of hypnotized state.
"I found no matching samples to prove who did it, it was a mistake. It can't be a student." the medic nods.
"You will put this investigation on hold as inconclusive. "he gives the final words, dispatching the men.
"Yes… I… have to work on other things…"
Putting a hand on his head, perplexed, the detective turns around leaving the scene, the doctor also follows and leaves. The psychologist sighs in a delighted manner, sitting back on his chair, swinging it and humming a song again.
"Hah. Good I was the first one to be contacted for the exams that night, manipulating the chief of guards and the police examiner was the easiest job ever… Now no one else will have access to those documents…"
His thoughts are as wicked as his behavior. His mind recollects as he was there, taking the exam papers from the examiner's hand without resistance, and when he whispered to the chief of guards about the tests being inconclusive. All that it took was a whisper of darkness and they were consumed by it wholly.
"I am sorry, Kinomoto-san, but I need more despair in your heart… You need to let it engulf your whole being and then, my master will come. No one will ever find who defiled you, this will nurture your suffering just the way we need. You will be together with your friends soon and true darkness will bathe this whole academy…"
Dropping the files on one of his drawers, he closes it with a key and shrugs off, adjusting his glasses. Who is this man? And why does he disguise himself as a helper when in truth, he just pushes her into a pit of destruction? What are his objectives? And who is the master whom he speaks about.