Secrets We Tried to Hide

Chapter 4

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Heat reached for his toes and groaned as soon as he felt some pain in his back. He flexed his muscles and did some jumping jacks on the spot.

I shouldn't have showed it to him.

Another boy who was leaning against the kitchen counter smirked at him. He was absolutely thrilled at what was in front of him. Who wouldn't enjoy the sight of a boy wearing a tight spandex uniform of a girl? He continually sucked on his coca cola-flavored lollipop while tilting his head amusingly.

"Feeling anything yet?" Nepper, Prominence's former forward, asked.

Heat stood up straight and made some punches in the air. "Nope."

He snickered, shrugging with closed eyes. "Continue."

Then he tried kicking twice. Still nothing happened. He swung his foot all the way to the back like he intended to make a shoot, but it only ripped off a tiny portion of the uniform under his butt. Nepper laughed and sat on the counter. "Good job, you just ruined one of her only clothes."

Suddenly, his cheeks felt extremely hot that he felt like burning and melting directly down to the core of the Earth. "S-Stop that… She might even kill me for this." But instead of trying to think of a good insult to get back at Nepper, he waved his hand and went back to what he was doing. "What else haven't we tried?" He placed his hands on his hips, waiting for his answer.

Nepper blinked and gave the blonde boy a smug look. "If Desarm sees you like that, he might regret not having you in his team."

Heat flushed for the second time, frowning. "I thought you wanted the meteorite?" Sighing.

"I do, but this is far more fascinating than I thought it would be." And there it was, Nepper's sudden attractive grin that made Heat blush for the third time. Well at least this time, he managed to lessen it and avoided looking at his grey-blue eyes. The guy can be hard to read most of the time, but whenever he liked or loved what he was seeing, you can tell it from the look in his eyes.

"Y-You didn't even answer my question," Nervously cracking his knuckles before doing a handstand. "I guess you were too distracted."

"Me? How come?" He quirked a brow, then stared at the boy's position with great interest. Nepper got down and headed to where Heat was and crouched down right in front of him.

"Don't do something silly or I might fall down." Heat's arms began to wobble and shake.

Nepper looked at him with a straight expression, the same way he always looked. He got his lollipop and poked it on his lips. Heat suddenly lost his balance and fell head first on the floor.

"I told you not to—"

Nepper immediately shoved his lollipop into his mouth.

"I think I know where it is. Stand up." He ordered.

Heat almost wanted to puke out the candy from his mouth. If it weren't Nepper who had done that, he would've shouted and kicked the person's face. It was warm, he thought. He unconsciously sucked on it for a while before following what he said. Then it occurred to him, Nepper's saliva. Does this mean we…? Taking the lollipop out from his mouth and staring at the other boy completely stuttered and embarrassed.

"Tastes good huh?" Nepper playfully licked his lips and folded his arms.

Heat gave out a baffled 'yes' without even meaning to.

"Then might as well get one, Shigeto." Leaning in towards the candy at the boy's hand, he got the lollipop using his mouth and winked at him.

"O-Oi, that's not fair. I thought we were sharing…"

His tongue made noises that caught his attention. "You were saying something?"

Heat narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to him. "Yes. I said it was totally unfair for someone not to share. Father taught us how to be generous when it came to food, am I right?"

"Father? Whom are you referring to? I can't help but wonder." The grin on his face faded away and instantly shifted to a harsher one. "Right, I haven't told you about my motive yet."

Motive. Nepper's plan.

It was also the one thing he was so interested in knowing. Heat was curious about it ever since he told him that he needed the purple meteorite. Things like, will Nepper try to use the meteorite again? Will he take it to a research facility and try to experiment on it further, making a much more effective drug? As much as he wanted to ask his close friend, he couldn't. Because he was pretty sure that he would just shoot him a smirk and tell him to forget about it.

At first he wanted to stop him, even now. His mind was still being bombarded by curiosity and confusion. Yet there was this unshakable feeling inside him that told him to wait. It was awfully weird. The feeling just kept on pulling him back.

"What are you going to do with it?" His face turned serious.

"I'm going to tell you right after we locate where the crystal is, which in this case, is probably here." Nepper tapped the small gem-like decoration on Heat's chest with the tip of his lollipop. To Heat's surprise, it clicked and opened as he pressed it, revealing a hollow part inside.

Is it really…? Was the crystal hidden in here?

Mutou was happily dancing to his 'Party Jam Galaxy' playlist in his room. Out of all the members in Epsilon, he was the only one who has some stereo speakers, which he got from the Burn—sharing with Burn. He wasn't technically the first one who found it; it was Diam from Gemini Storm. According to Burn, Diam showed it to Midorikawa that very same day. But for some reasons, Midorikawa thought it would be useless for him, so instead, he proposed something else. He suggested that they should sell it. Of course, Diam questioned him and was reluctant on doing so.

Burn overheard the entire selling thing and got insanely furious because of some old speakers. The next day came and Diam was shocked to see that they were actually gone. What actually happened was Burn asked Mutou, who was in charge of cleaning the dishes that night, to hide the speakers. Mutou did agree, only if he would get to use the speakers whenever he wants.

Burn almost sent him flying to outer space, almost. But he insisted on a heavier consequence and that was, one week of cleaning the toilet. Mutou tried to negotiate and told him that one week was too much. So Burn decided to challenge him by whoever gets to make Nemuro cry, will be the winner.

Unfortunately, no one was hailed as the winner. Even when Burn tried smashing one of his favorite Bugs Bunny mugs, the little guy ignored him. Then the next day, when he woke up, he found all of his clothes being burnt just outside of the apartment. So Burn had no choice but to borrow Midorikawa and Hiroto's clothes before they went out to shop for some new ones.

For Mutou, he did something much simpler. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up so his feet were dangling in the air. Nemuro winced in pain and kicked his chest real hard that it almost made him puke out some blood. From then on, he never messed with the goalkeeper.

As he raised the volume up, he started swinging his hips and making pop and lock moves like he was totally rocking it. That was when he bumped to a hard object. He turned to look behind him and was startled to see that it wasn't the couch or the cheap lampshade from a 90's motel. It was definitely a person.

Droll, Diamond Dust, and Chaos' midfielder placed a hand on his hip and pointed the door behind his back using his thumb. "You gotta go," He said unemotionally.

"Go where? Oh, oh. I get it my music's too loud." Despite the vibrating music that was making their bodies thump, he halted. "Wait why are you even here anyway?"

Although Metron was screaming, Droll pointed behind him again, signaling for them to head out.

Metron lowered down his music and asked what was going on. Then Droll clicked his tongue and pointed at the door again. "One of your teammates is losing it."

"What? Who?"

"A girl."

"Like what? Another emotional breakdown?" Metron asked concernedly.

He nodded, opening the door for both of them.

Right after they went out of his room, Metron heard some noises on the left side. Plus some muffled screaming coming from the same direction. When they stopped in front of the room, they both almost jumped in shock after hearing a loud pound on the wall.

"Woah, I didn't mean to bother you…"

Wait I'm not even sorry for that. Why am I saying this?

Droll knocked on the door for him and swung it open for him to enter. And just like that, he went back to his room like it was a normal day in the orphanage.

"Hold up this is… I thought Segata went away?" Counting the room from his room. Surely it was Zel's.

The other guy gave him a casual shrug.

"Not again…" He sighed and scratched his head a bit irritatingly. "So who is it today? Maquia? Moll? Crypto?" Walking along the corridor that led inside the living room. A thing flew past by in front of him—a pillow that almost smacked his face for good. "JESUS—WHO WOULD DO THAT?!" Turning to his side, seeing a figure of a woman in the dark room.

The woman was holding a string that had a glowing pendant. And it only took Metron a quarter of a second to notice what she was holding. The Aliea Meteorite, a maleficent creation of a devil.

"What on Earth!?" Metron couldn't get his eyes off the thing. It was drawing him back again. Drawing him nearer, pulling him like a magnet. Then he saw who was holding it. The light of the meteorite lightened those bewildered red eyes.

He ran to her and held her wrists against the wall, not letting them go.

"Mutou!" Fuuko still held the string of the necklace. "Listen to me." Her eyes were still shocked from the recent happening.

"No! You listen to me." He was completely aware of the meteorite's aura, coating itself around them. The feeling was unrealistic. It was far more tremendous than his first exposure to the crystal. "You… what are you trying to do!"

"Mutou I need you to hide it."

"Hide it?! Why would I hide that thing!?" He shouted close to her face.

"Don't shout and just listen to me for ONCE, PLEASE." Mutou's eyes were terribly bothersome. Especially how hard he gripped her wrists like she was some kind of a stray animal.

Metron's mouth hung open as he shaked his head frantically. "No Crypto just what is this? You think I can let this pass just like that?!"

Fuuko gritted her teeth and kicked his crotch seeing no other option. She swiftly sat on his abdomen, covering his mouth like her life depended on it. Metron struggled and slapped her hands away. She made an shh sign with her forefinger, glaring at him.

"Listen to me carefully shithead. I need 'ya to hide this for me, just not 'ere. Hide it somewhere else." She whispered in a very small voice, releasing her hand from his mouth.

"NO, I CAN'T—"

Slap.

"OUCH!"

Slap.

"Ouch." He whispered and rubbed his red cheek. "Okay."

"Good." She sighed in relief after she took a quick glance at the door.

"I mean no it's not okay! Tell me what the hell is going on here! Why are you even in Segata's room? I thought he went away and how could this even…?! Your room is like two doors from here!"

"Just!" Fuuko covered his mouth and punched his side, enough for him to wince and crumple on the floor. "Somethin', I forgot somethin' and could 'ya just listen to me for one-second dammit."

"I won't accept this."

"Forget that we're in Sega's room and shut up for once, please. I need 'ya to hide this for me." Pulling up the string up to his eyes.

"Where did you even get that? Throw it away. No, hand it over," He held out his palm. "Now."

"I will."

"You will?"

"Yes."

"What? You know what I don't get you at all. Seriously. I thought you were having some kind of a massive baby tantrum and then here you are acting like a total mess."

"In one condition."

"I'm not listening."

"Then listen." This time, she pulled the end of his hair.

"Ouch hey, stop abusing me!"

"Keep it but never throw it."

As if. Mutou grabbed the pendant as quick as he could but just before he could get it from her, Fuuko was still tightly gripping the end of the string. They both gave glares at each other while they were holding the necklace. I don't even know what you're up to. Or why you're even in here.

"So," Fuuko was still holding the other end. "Do we have a deal?"

"You haven't even explained why you're in this room." He pulled the pendant to his but Fuuko pulled it back so it remained in the middle of both of them.

"I needed to cry somewhere."

"Why not do it in your room?"

"I was sick of my own room. I needed to be in Sega's room and I told 'ya, I forgot somethin' in 'ere." She narrowed her eyes in the darkly lit bedroom.

"Show me."

For a second, Mutou knew she hesitated. She needed to think of something and it took her about ten to fifteen seconds to answer back.

"The meteorite."

"So this is yours?"

"That's why I need 'ya to keep it somewhere safe 'cause I'll be needin' it. I'm goin' to sell it somewhere. I need the money to bail out my brother. Older brother."

"You… have a brother? What?" He looked like he didn't understand what she said. Mutou failed to hold the pendant and stood in his place, digesting what he heard. "T-This is obviously a joke! Crypto I can't believe you're doing this, are you out of your mind?! No, get out. Shut up I don't wanna hear any of this! Hand it over!"

"Kuri Takegawa!" She shouted very loudly. "That's the name of my brother."

"Let me guess. You just made that up while I was saying all those things? TRY HARDER CRYPTO."

"I have! Now keep this or I'm gonna march straight to your room an' destroy those damn speakers right before your eyes. Now do we have a deal or not?"

"How unfair is that?"

"Speakers it is then."

This time, Metron wasn't in the mood to jam to his party playlists no matter how good the songs were. He was slumped back on the couch with his chin resting on his palm. It can't be helped, he thought. Who cares if he was frowning at her, showing his grumpiness and annoyance? Fuuko totally ruined his night. She messed up his 'normal nights where he can stay up late without being consciously bothered or feeling guilty'. What's worse was this girl decided to stay in his room for one night. When he disagreed, she kicked the speakers hard enough that created a bent.

Metron knelt down in front of the speakers to check and good thing it wasn't malfunctioning. But every time the music hit the highest notes, it made this creaky sound like it was about to break down.

"So if that thing was in Segata's room, what was it doing in there? It's yours isn't it?"

Fuuko turned down the volume and didn't dare face him. "Must've forgotten it."

"You forgot the meteorite in his room? You forgot the one and only thing that you should have hidden?" He finally turned off the speakers and sighed. "We all know what you were doing in his room." Metron's eyes met the wall right beside him.

"Who?" She turned quickly, feeling a sense of heat in her neck.

Was it too obvious? No one should know… I mean was I acting differently?

"Quit that look. You don't want them to know right?" His hand reached for a soggy dry towel and folded it into half, wiping the dust from his beloved machine. "The others don't know a thing about it. As far as I know, I'm the only one who knows what's going on. But that doesn't mean the others are far too innocent not to get suspicious. Careful with Epsilon… our team members." The warning made her feel slightly uneasy.

"Desarm?"

"Moll asked me once." One of the knobs suddenly fell down on the floor and caused him to curse in Korean.

"Did 'ya just—" Fuuko gave him a quizzical stare.

They both stood still and gave each other weird awkward stares. It took him half a minute to realize what had just occurred, before giving the girl a response.

"—Don't ask any further, I like k-pop. Moving on," Picking up the black knob that was on the floor, he carefully placed it back on its spot.

"Moll." She whispered, reminding herself where they left off. "But she left a week ago? She probably won't come back for months so there'll be no threat."

"But what if she comes back, say a week or more?"

"Wha'ever." Shrugging her shoulders, glancing to her side.

"You can't just whatever that." Metron faced the blond girl, folding his arms as he tilted his head concernedly. "How do you… feel about this anyway? No offense but Segata, that guy's a crazy son of a gun. He's a…" Then he finally decided to throw the dry towel on the couch and cut off his sentence. "A piece of advice, just know what you're up to."

Wow. This guy must know a lot.

To think that he, of all people, would give an advice to her just like that is plainly shocking. She was uncertain of him; she wasn't that even close to him. They only talked to each other when they had to. Therefore, everything that was happening right now wasn't right. It was totally weird. Too weird that she felt like fleeing immediately.

Fuuko narrowed her eyes at him, shooting him a huge smirk. "What made 'ya think that I wasn't prepared for the consequences? Do I look that stupid to 'ya?" Her hands twitched, wanting to grab the nearest thing that she could and hit him straight at his face.

"Just consider it as a warning." Another unnecessary precaution from the purple alien. "Anyway, I've got bizarre news."

"Spill it." Unemotionally fixing her tight sleeves.

"I was walking down the canteen hall and when I was about to leave, I heard Hitomiko talking to Desarm. I couldn't hear what they were saying at first but when it got somewhere in the middle… you wouldn't guess what… I heard." Metron's eyes flashed with suspense like he wanted to tell it right away.

"He got a death threat from his family?" Making matters worse.

"No. His family is dead."

What?

"And one more thing. I got a message from Maquia asking if you're doing well. She's worried sick about you that she'll be coming here tomorrow."

"Nothin' happened to me why would she even…?"

"Didn't you phone her or something?"

"No. Why would I tell her to come back here if she just left this place?"

"Why are you asking me? She said there was something going on, that's why she's going back to check on you. Are you sure you didn't call her?" Metron gave me another worried look that brought the same effect on her.

"No! Who would even call her? No one has her number except for me an'—"

And just like that, a spark ignited in her brain. Fuuko quickly got a pillow and threw it out of the window without even realizing that it hit a stray cat. "Shit!" She cursed for about fifteen times before she started thinking of a plan with one of her former teammates.

To be precise, it took both of them two hours to think of a decent plan. Metron got slapped on his cheek for being a lot more nervous than Fuuko was. So in the first twenty minutes, they were simply shouting and hitting each other's arms to get their shit together. Not even his Summer Chill Vibes playlist could calm him down at first. The only thing that made him sit down was when Fuuko ate his one and only Snickers bar in the fridge.

He stood up just in time when she finished all of it, just like on cue. But right after he took three steps forward, he totally forgot what he was supposed to do so he sat back down. "What was I…" Metron mumbled and headed to the kitchen, opened the fridge and finally remembered what was on his mind. "That was my only Snickers! You could've eaten Reese's or Hershey's but instead, you ate the last piece of Snickers that was in the very side of the fridge. Very side. Very. It was UNDER THE EGGS… side… under the eggs, well you get me anyway."

Now the funny part was, Fuuko told him to head out and cool off his head but she was the one who went out to buy some Oreos for her own. Mutou kept sighing as he paced back and forth around his room, waiting for her to come back when someone rang the doorbell. He looked through the peephole only to see a little girl with purple hair tied into two big buns.

Kui Ruru, Genesis' Quill.

Don't be deceived by its appearance, they used to tell. A cutie patootie. Your average six-year-old kid, hugging a fluffy teddy bear but instead of a plushie, she's holding a machete. Most of the Diamond Dust members call her Chucky's bride or even The Triple Six. Gazelle even said that some kind of a demonic entity made its way here on earth just to stick that Illuminati symbol up on her forehead. Little did they know, it was some sort of colored henna.

The girl rang the doorbell five more times, excitedly giggling while staring at the peephole. Soon enough, it slightly scared Metron that he reminded himself that she couldn't see him unless he decides to open the door and let the killer in.

"Crap," he muttered, biting the nail of his thumb. "The annoying brat is here. Okay, act cool. Nothing's gonna happen. She's just here for some candies." Then he peeked out of his door.

The cute chuckling continued on.

"Sooooo, how's it going for our lovebirds huh?" Quill leaned her upper body forward with both of her hands behind her back. "I wanna hear what happened. So what did you guys do, hmm? Spoon feeding each other in the kitchen or are you doing some naughty stuff in your bed? Hihi."

Oh god no. Mutou did a facepalm that lasted for solid ten seconds. Why does God hate me?

"Ohhhh so you did. Yeah you see, I don't get why people with big boobs get so much attention. Tell me, was it soft? I bet they were, fufu!"

He resisted the urge of punching her. No, wait, he couldn't. He was too tall for her. Or else, he would be punching the air instead and that would make him look like a stupid maniac and he wouldn't want that.

"I don't know what you're talking about… and geez it's half past midnight shouldn't kids be in bed at this hour?" Mutou relaxed his fists and shook his head.

"Avoiding the question aren't we?" The small girl playfully winked at the guy. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I'll keep my mouth shut." Another disgusting, irritating wink.

"Uh, no." He was getting tired of what was going on. Somehow, he just wants to slam the door right at her face. Give her a flat face so he could see her run away, crying like a real baby. Fleeing away to outer space, living in another galaxy because of how shameful and awful her flat face would look like.

"Sshh," Her forefinger was placed on her lips, winking at him again. "I get it don't worry. No one will know, not even Gran. Not even your friends, not even mine. Hihi. Shhh." Quill nodded exaggeratedly, smiling from ear to ear before she took off and ran away.

And when he was finally left with no one but himself, he let out a deep sigh.

Seriously, what's wrong with everyone?

"There's only one way on how to deal with someone like that. Ignore them." Said a boy who was leaning on his left shoulder with a cool expression implanted on his face. He folded his arms and proceeded to chew his gum.

Heat, the guy whom he never talked with, was offering him a piece of gum.

Mutou flashed his usual friendly grin and waved his hand. "I'm having coffee right now. It'll ruin the taste so…"

"Planning on staying up late? There must be something going on." That was when he saw the red flag. A major warning that woke him up completely. This guy must definitely know something if he knows something was up, he thought. Especially the suspicious look he gave him. It hit him all at once.

"Haha, well no not really." He lightly scratched his neck and shrugged at him. "I'm just waiting for one of my friends to come back. Asked them to buy me some snacks in the convenience store. We'll be having a movie marathon."

"This late?" Heat raised an eyebrow, making a small bubble that began to grow as he blew it.

"Yep. Crypto and me decided to watch some DVDs since we couldn't sleep. How about you? Are you the hallway monitor or something? Do we even have that job…?" Metron made sure he was asking nicely.

Pop.

"Hm, just wandering around. Oh, by the way, is that her room over there?" Pointing at Fuuko's apartment room.

"Yeah, why?" The guy nodded and before Heat could give him an answer, he already knew what was up. There was something just in front of her door, something small and flat. He squinted his eyes and moved closer. It wasn't a pet or someone else's cat.

"It's probably her uniform. I found it while I was walking past her room. Someone must've left it there." The boy remained unbothered despite the weird incident. "Just tell her that when she comes back." He waved the back of his palm and left.

Mutou locked the door behind him and walked to her room. Heat wasn't lying. What he said was true. There was Fuuko's spandex uniform folded on the ground. When he got the clothes and checked it, a small note fell on the ground. He picked it up and read what was written.

"Time's running out." He muttered.