Part Five: A Secret Exposed

Chapter Eight: Conflict

It had been bitter cold that morning and the snow had fallen without pause. However, it had nowhere near reached the level required for school to be closed. Unfortunately, the roads had iced over in several places, so Kari had chosen to walk, rather than risk it on her bike. She'd pulled a pair of leggings, along with her winter boots on, for the trek that morning and would have very much liked to keep them on in school, except the rules did not permit it; rather misogynistic in her opinion.

Arriving in homeroom, she sat down near the back beside Yolei and Davis; Cody soon joined them. They'd not all hung out together since before the new year and Kari was just about to suggest that they do so sometime soon, when the last member of the group arrived.

Without warning, TK barked, "Is it true?" at them.

She turned to look at the boy, unsure of a) what was wrong with him and b) who exactly his remark had been aimed at. Gone was the cheerful smile and the bright look behind his eyes that she was accustomed to. Instead, his eyes were dark and slightly bloodshot. Had he slept last night? And his lips were thin and his expression murderous.

"Is it true?" he barked again, still not directing his words to anyone in particular, though his gaze had zeroed in on her own.

Kari was about to open her mouth to ask him what on earth he was talking about, but Yolei beat her to it, "do you want to just relax, TK, and tell us what you're talking about?"

"Stay out of this, Yolei," TK snapped at the lavender haired girl, "this is between me and Kari." His gaze locked onto her own once more. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Kari asked in confusion.

"Are you fucking Tai?"

Shock flooded over Kari like the boy had just thrust a knife into her belly and her mouth fell open. She stared into those once warm blue eyes and found them to be uncharacteristically merciless. He needn't have bothered asking the question for she could see that he already knew the answer. Somehow and she had absolutely no idea how, but TK had discovered the secret about her relationship with Tai. Suddenly the bottom fell out of her world and her skin turned to ice.

Before she even had the chance to deny it, TK said, "holy fuck it is."

Davis blindly leapt to her defence, "what the fuck, Dude! Don't spread shit like that! It's not even funny."

While Cody took the more diplomatic approach and asked, "what is he talking about, Kari?"

Yolei, who knew the truth, looked almost as shocked as Kari herself felt.

"She's been fucking her own goddamn brother!" TK replied angrily in response to Cody's question, not bothering to keep his voice down.

"TK, I told you to shut the hell up!"

"He's not serious, Kari... is he?" Cody asked before turning to TK. "Where did you hear this?"

"Matt saw the two of them snogging in a coffee shop after school last week. He showed me the picture he took last night."

"I might have known Matt had something to do with this, " Davis growled. "He's had it in for Tai ever since we beat the crap out of you guys."

Kari could not form words to say anything. Even if she could, she had no idea what to say. She couldn't confirm that TK's claim was true, but at the same time, could not bring herself to deny it. How could she? To deny that she was in a relationship with Tai would be disowning a part of herself. Even the thought of it felt akin to chopping off her own arm. That was not the only thought bulldozing its way through her mind. Seeing TK like this, the anger in his eyes and the abhorrence contorting his features doused her with guilt and shame. This was all her fault. His anger, pain, hate and suffering, she was the root cause of it all. In her own selfish desire to deny and reject her own feelings, she had taken one of the nicest people she had ever met and twisted his heart and soul to the point that he had become almost unrecognisable. It hadn't been deliberate, but she had done it nonetheless. Memories of eighteen months ago began to fill her mind. Of the night she broke his heart and the subsequent arguments. And Kari found that she could not face that again. In the end, she found herself, in the softest, most fragile of voices, uttering the same thing she had said on that fateful date, "TK, I'm so sorry."

Though she could not see it, a look of shock had just spread across both Davis and Cody's faces; her words having been akin to an admission. "Kari," the former stammered, "tell me he's not telling the truth."

She felt the hand of Yolei reach out and touch her limp shoulder. "Kari, it's ok," she said in the most reassuring voice that she could muster.

The other groups of students had one by one ceased their own conversations as they had taken note of the spectacle and were now watching intently.

"It's not 'ok', Yolei," TK barked. "What part of her fucking Tai is in any way, shape or form 'ok'? It's completely fucking sick." The boy's gaze then returned to Kari, but she could not meet it. "Tell me one thing, Kari. That's all I'm asking. Answer me this one thing truthfully. You owe me that much. Was Tai the one eighteen months ago?"

Tears began to form in Kari's eyes and she could not force her eyes to look into those tortured blues. TK knew anyway, what was the point in denying it now? She'd always regretted the fact that she had never been able to tell him who it was she had been in love with. That she'd never trusted in him as a friend, sat him down and explained everything to him. Would he still think her abhorrent, possibly. However, it may well have lessened his pain and allowed him to properly move on. He was right, she did owe him the truth. In a broken voice that could barely pass as a whisper, Kari spoke a single word, "yes."

There was a loud gasp from the two boys sitting next to her and one or two from people in the nearest cluster of onlookers. After a moment or two, voices began to whisper and like a wave, the gossip spread throughout the room.

"You're a cruel, despicable bitch, Kari," TK spat.

TK's words piled upon the torrent of guilt, shame, fear and self-loathing that wracked Kari and finally became too much for her to bear. Hot tears now streaming down her cheeks, she did the only thing she could; she ran. Faceless heads turned to look at her and voices rose up around her as she ran through the desks. Her vision blurred by the tears in her eyes, her hip caught the corner of one but she did not stop. She just had to get out.

Kari did not see what happened next. Had no knowledge of the crowd that began to swarm around TK. The question of whether or not she was actually fucking her brother being asked from every direction. Nor did she hear the warning Yolei gave him to shut up, the boy ignoring her as he uttered the word yes or the deafening sound of the lavender haired girl's palm hitting his face as she slapped him. Kari witnessed none of this, but that does not mean that it did not happen.

##

Across town in Odaiba High School, Tai Kamiya was sitting in a maths lesson completely bored stiff. With his university entrance exam now out of the way, his aptitude for study was sub-zero. This was completely pointless, he thought bitterly for the umpteenth time. For what purpose did they need to remain in school, now that the exam was over and done with. The entire year had been devoted to preparing for that singular test and now that they had sat it, why did they still have to go to school for the next two weeks? At this exact moment in time, he could be sitting at home playing Mario Kart. Attempting to up his skill level for another rematch against his girlfriend. This was stupid!

Tai pressed too hard on his pencil and caused the tip to break. Cursing, he reached into his bag for another one. He had just finished fumbling around when the bell to signal the end of class and the subsequent start of morning break sounded. Sighing deeply, he dropped the pencil back into it and then shoved his books in on top. Rising from his chair, he slung the bag over his shoulder and slouched off towards the door.

His eyes scanned the faces that surrounded him. It seemed he was not alone in his boredom. In fact, the bulk of the final year students still looked worn down from the weeks upon weeks of relentless study and exam prep they had endured. Maybe that was why so many adults we're so boring; they never recovered from sitting their university entrance exam. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his earbuds and popped them inside his ears. He was in no mood to socialise today and by the looks of everyone else in his year, neither were they. Flicking through the albums, he eventually settled on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. By the time the guitarist played those haunting four notes for the first time, he'd found a quiet spot in a social area. Allowing all thought to slip from his mind like sand through his fingers, Tai sat back and allowed the music to soothe him. Inside his trouser pocket, he was consciously aware of his phone vibrating, but he ignored it for now. Indeed, only when the closing notes of Shine on you Crazy Diamond Pts1-5 faded into the opening of Welcome to the Machine, did he bother to take it out and look at it.

A smile formed on Tai's face when he saw who it was from; Kari. Only it quickly vanished when he read, "Tai, I'm in serious trouble and don't know what to do. I need your help."

His eyes widened in horror as he read his girlfriend's message and he felt a wave of panic crash over him. What had happened to her? What trouble could she be in? Oh god, what if she was seriously hurt? Hastily he typed back, "Kari, what's happened? Where are you?"

The wait for her reply was torturous for Tai, as images of possible things that could have happened to his girlfriend filled his mind. After what felt like an age, but in actuality was less than a minute, she messaged back, "I think I'm in the park near my school. Tai, I'm scared. Please, come get me."

As soon as he read the message, Tai was off. Like a bullet train, he ran through the corridors to the main exit. On his way, he passed the vice-principle, who yelled at him about running in the corridors, but he completely ignored the man. Kari was in trouble and he had to go to her. That was all that mattered.