When the day of the mission came, I didn't go; none of us did. It has been confirmed that if I try to fly at all for the next few weeks, i'll do permanent damage on my wings. I've pushed the date for another two to three weeks.
The whole school knows about our little fiasco with flying. I've been getting sneers and glares all week. It's ridiculous, actually. I don't see why they're angry. At least they can go back to their dorms straight after school and take a nap or whatever. At least they don't have to go through three hours of boring detention just doing homework, reading, and eventually just staring at the clock waiting for time to go by. According to Hayashida sensai, I also have an extra three days because I was a witness to someone breaking the rules. Ridiculous rules.
I check my wings everyday when I wake up. They look to be getting better after everyday, but my left wing is still scorched; not as bad as before, though. Everyone else seems to be getting better also. I think Ikuto can walk on his own again, and Yaya can hear out of her right ear, too.
I walk with haste, trying to make it to the detention room on time. I almost got double detention for being a second late yesterday. I turn a corner and accidentally run into someone. We both stumble on the floor, our materials scattering around the ground.
I apologize quickly and start to gather up all my materials. The person tries to help me, but it just makes me slower. I get up, dust myself off as quickly as I can, and start walking away.
"Rima-chan?" The voice stops me. I turn for a brief moment to see a violet haired, amber eyed girl staring back at me. Fujisaki Nadeshiko. I haven't seen her here, I thought she might've went to a different school. She and Nagihiko are twins; so seeing Nadeshiko gives me anxiety. I do my best not to show it.
"Nadeshiko-san," I say, trying my best to smile. "I didn't know you were here."
"Neither I with you," she admits. She stands up. "Where are you going in such a rush?"
"Detention," I say. "I have to go or else I'll get into more trouble. I will speak with you soon though." Before waiting for an answer, I rush off. I make it to the room, luckily seeing no teacher. I take my seat next to Yaya and Utau right as the teacher comes in. Today is Nikaido sensai. He's my homeroom and literature teacher. He's a very unorganized man with messy red-light brown hair and glasses that are always crooked on his face. He always wears an ugly wrinkled brown suit with brown shoes that are either two sizes too big or too small. I remember him from Elements Angel, but all I remember from him is falling over his own two feet all the time.
"Hello everyone. Rules; no talking or anything of the kind in detention. Just do your work quietly." He drops his voice down to a whisper. "If you all behave, I'll let you talk after an hour." I smile. The only ones here in detention are Yaya, Kairi, Kukai, Ikuto, Utau, Amu, and I. I already like Nikaido sensai a lot.
"Weren't you four part of the Student Council back at Elements Angel?" he asks, pointing at Yaya, Kukai, Kairi, and I. We nod. Nikaido sensai shakes his head. "Rules in this school. I have half a mind to march to Miyake-san's office and demand them to be changed." He continues to talk about the rules and Miyake-san being a, and I quote "An idiotic ass unfit for controlling a school." I don't say anything, but I do agree.
Nikaido sensai is a really cool teacher. He isn't as uptight about the rules as the other teachers. He even keeps up with his deal and lets us speak after a long hour of detention. He didn't object, just put his feet up on the desk and reads the newspaper. I see Nikaido more of an ally instead of just a teacher.
"You think we should let him in on the plan?" I whisper to the other quietly. They look at me with shock.
"Rima, have you lost your wings! He's a teacher, why should we trust him? He'll go and tell Miyake about it, then we'll get in more trouble," Utau snaps.
"I think we can trust him. Besides, you heard him rant about Miyake, why would he tell?" I ask.
"He could just be saying this to throw us off so we can get even in more trouble, we don't know for sure," Ikuto says.
"I think Rima-chan's right. He was my teacher, I trust him," Yaya defends. At least I have someone on my side. Amu has an uneasy look on her face.
"We don't think this is the right thing to do. What if-"
"Are you talking about me?" I freeze and turn to see Nikaido. The newspaper is lowered from his face and he's looking at us with curiosity. My mind tries to find an excuse. There are a lot of things I can say, but none of them meet my mouth. I hear the scraping of a chair and I turn to see Ikuto.
"As a matter of fact, we were." I don't say anything. My shock is too great for words. "We have something to tell you, sensai; something very important." As Ikuto begins to explain the situation, Amu tackles him to the ground.
"Ikuto!" she shouts. "What are you doing!"
"Say, what is going on?" Nikaido asks. He takes his feet off his desk and suddenly becomes very interested. I start to get nervous and my hands get clammy.
"Amu, I think Rima's right," Ikuto says, trying to pry Amu off of him.
"Ikuto, have you lost your mind, too? Are you really going to risk it?" Utau asks.
"If Rima trusts him, I will, too. She's leading us. We agreed to do this mission, so it's our duty to listen to her," Ikuto persuades.
"Tell me what is going on right now," Nikaido demands. Amu, Ikuto, and Utau are still arguing over weather to tell Nikaido or not. As each second passes, Nikaido becomes more and more frustrated with us.
"We have a plan and we need your help." My head goes straight to Kukai, who has been silent this whole time. The three have stopped fighting and are staring at Kukai in awe.
"It all depends, what kind of plan?" Nikaido asks. His tone of voice is curious, but also full of mischief. Kukai starts to explain my plan about saving Nagihiko and how we need someone at the school to cover for our absence.
"I'm guessing you would not like me to mention this to Miyake-san?" Nikaido asks, his glasses falling to the edge of his nose. For a moment, I think he's going to go snitch to Miyake about us. I slowly nod. "Very well. You said Mashiro-san is the leader of this expedition, am I correct? What are my orders Mashiro-san?" I'm stunned to silence.
"Mashiro-san?" My head snaps up and Nikaido is staring at me intently, waiting for an answer. "Is this just a joke you wanna play on the detention supervisor?" I shake my head.
"It's the truth. I am the brains behind this operation," I say. Nikaido nods.
"You expect me to conjure up something to tell Miyake-san why you are missing from classes now, right?" I nod again. Nikaido sighs and adjusts his glasses properly on his face. "It won't be easy, but I'll think of something."
"Why are you helping us anyway?" Utau asks. I can see she is very weary of Nikaido, and doesn't trust him like I do.
"For one, it'll be a good reason to tick off Miyake. Two, I want to help you find your friend. Three, Fujisaki-kun is a good student, from what I am told, and Isamu is a very dangerous person to deal with," Nikaido says. "I'll make you all a deal. If you can give me an excuse as to why you should not be in class for a while, I'll find more information about Isamu and Vultures for you." I smile.
"Give us three days and we'll have an answer for you," I say. I walk up to Nikaido and extend my arm out. We shake our hands in agreement.
"Mashiro-san, I do hope you succeed in finding your friend. He must be very special to you if you are willing to go to the end of the world to find him," Nikaido comments. I gladly hold down my blush and walk back to my seat.
All of this just got more and more interesting.
(LINE BREAK!)
The day of the trade came, and I still did not know what to tell Tsukasa. We agreed it would be during detention. It's amazing how everyone else here can stick to these rules like second-nature. I can't stick with these rules. If I wasn't already going to get in trouble for escaping, I sure was for breaking every single rule in the book.
In order to prevent any of this from occurring, I need to think of something; and quick. I only have ten minutes before last period ends and I have to head straight toward detention. If only I have more time. Even if it's only a measly few seconds, I'll take it. I have my last class with Amu.
I catch her eye and she mouthes to me "Did you think of anything?". I tear my gaze away. It's enough of an answer for her. I just need a little time. The clock is taunting me. Does time always go this fast? The second hand just keeps ticking faster and faster until it hits the twelve. Every time it does, I wince slightly. I lower my gaze to concentrate on my notebook.
I've scribbled down notes of ideas I can give to Nikaido, but all have huge gaps of holes in them. Miyake would never believe any of these without having at least a bit of suspicion. I read over all I have. It's a long list, about half the page, and I have a few circled and underlined that are the best ones. There are four.
*Suspended for disturbance
*On an urgent long-term errand
*Transferred for the time being
*Community service
The list already shows that, these are probably the worst ideas I might've ever thought up. Either I choose from these four or I try to figure something out in...eight minutes. I start to aimlessly scribble around the white spaces I haven't used yet.
Nikaido has told us that he has found a lot of information on Vultures and Isamu in the private section of the library. Teachers only can get in, and they can't take anything out. I trust Nikaido's word for it.
I tap my pen eagerly on my desk, trying to find the idea that I need to fool my idiot of a principle. I look over at Amu, who has a look of disappointment on her features. I let her down, I let them all down. It's also my fault for putting all this onto me. Who am I kidding? How can I be a leader? I probably wouldn't have made it two days with these guys. I just need more time.
I sit right beside the window and today it's wide open. Leaves have been blowing in all over my work space, making it hard to concentrate. It's also very windy, which forces me to huddle down in my blazer for cover. Another gust of wind comes in and blows my hair around.
I look down, ready to fix my papers that have flown away. Instead, dead center in my desk is a small notecard. It looks exactly the one I found four days ago. The one that said "I Can Help" on it. Except it has a new message on it: "I've Given You More Time, make it last." I look around, trying to find the prankster that put this on my desk.
No one looks guilty. Everyone is working as if nothing had happened. Is this some prank from Amu? I glance over at her desk, where she is working very diligently; the same disappointment on her face. No, why would she joke at a time or topic like this? Someone must have dropped this on my desk, but who can it be.
Suddenly a loud siren goes off. The lights in the classroom shut off. At least there is enough light outside to see inside. A metal door slides up over the wooden one, blocking our only escape besides the window. Just as I'm about to jump out the window, it shuts and locks itself. I see bolts lock the windows in place. I don't see what's the point, we can just break through the glass. I almost forgot to mention about the screaming kids.
"Students, please, calm yourselves! It is just a lockdown, probably a test of the system!" Nikaido says, trying to calm the class down. He's my last period teacher. Everyone, as usual, ignores him and goes on to freaking out. Amu makes her way to me.
"Rima, what's going on?" she whispers in my ear. We can barely hear each other over the noise and Nikaido isn't doing anything helpful to keep order.
"I don't know. We weren't warned about anything," I say. I slip the card under my binder. Amu doesn't seem to notice.
"Please! Just take your seats!" A few students are banging on the doors, demanding to be let out. One or two are in the corners, having panic attacks. I don't see what's the big deal; the sun is shining and we can see it. If they want to get out so bad, then simply break through the windows.
It's strange seeing them all frantic like this. The only emotion I've ever seen of the students here are serious, diplomatic, and evil-minded. I'm not used to everyone running around, trying to figure what's going on.
"Attention all students!" The loud sound of Miyake's voice quiets everyone. Even Amu and I are controlled by his voice. "Remain calm! This is just a drill! I repeat; this is just a drill! Please wait patiently and listen to your teacher's orders." The loud speaker goes off, but the class still stays quiet. Nikaido awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Yes, very well. Everyone sit down in a seat and get your work finished quietly. This is a good chance for some of you to start your homework," Nikaido says, much more calm. Reluctantly, we start to move back into our regular placement.
As everyone is too busy trying to contain themselves, something passes the window. It glides pass easily, leaving a trail of white feathers behind. Two more figures fly pass the window, after the first one. These leave trails of black and white feathers. I look under my binder and read over the note: I've given you more time, make it last. My eyes widen in realization; this is my chance.
I take out my notebook and look over all my notes. Taking in a deep breath, and letting it out after, I let my mind come up with the most lies I can think of. Without opening my eyes, I let my hand move on it's own. I write down scribbles on the paper, not knowing/caring if they're on the line or not. When I open my eyes again, my list has gotten much larger. I scan the new words on the paper.
A few are a bit repetitive, but one in particular stands out from the rest. Just as I'm about to go over the possible outcomes, the lights flicker back on. The metal door that blocks our passageway out, slides apart, revealing the untouched brown door. I hear the windows unlock themselves. No one pays attention.
It's funny how just moments ago, they were all freaking out. Now that their precious escape has come, they are just sitting doing their work, as if this happens everyday. Unless I've been going to the wrong school for the pass weeks, I'm pretty sure it doesn't.
"I suppose the school day is over," Nikaido announces. "You may all leave." Everyone calmly walks out of the classroom. Strange school this is. It's as if Miyake's voice just soothed the beast within them that desperately wanted out of the little space. Amu waits for me near the door.
"What was that lockdown all about?" she asks. We start walking down the hallway. I shrug.
"Nikaido said it was probably a test in the system," I say. I lower my voice. "I doubt it though. Did you see the way everyone was freaking out? They only stopped when Miyake told them too. This was clearly not a drill."
"I agree, but what else could it be?" Amu asks. That's a very good question, Amu. I know this question will be the end of me. "A breech in the gates?" I pause.
"You think someone tried to sneak out of the school?" I feel a wave of nausea. Amu shakes her head, keeping her eyes straight forward.
"I think someone tried to break in." The conversation ends there, and I'm left wondering the last question; who would want to break into the academy?
I'd be lying if I say I'm not nervous. I'm freaking sweating buckets! Nikaido still isn't here and I'm still going over what I plan on telling him when he does show up. Everyone is trying to get me to talk, but I keep silent. I'm afraid that if I open my mouth, even a tiny bit, then I won't be able to speak again.
When the door finally opens, I feel my stomach start to churn as Nikaido comes in and takes his seat at the teacher's desk. Why am I so terrified? Is it because Nikaido can deny it and give up his part of the deal? Or that he might tell Miyake what we're plotting?
"Mashiro-san, do you have your part of your deal? You do remember today is the deadline, right?" he asks. I get up, trying not to shake as much, and walk up to him. I clench the paper in my blazer pocket. Instead of speaking, I hand the crumbled paper to him. He looks at me questionably before unfolding it.
I see his eyes scan the paper. I feel my friend's eyes on me, waiting for another reaction. Then his eyes shift up to me.
"These are some interesting ideas you have here Mashiro-san." Will he just get to the point already! "I suppose these will do, for now." I let out an inward sigh of relief before fixing my posture.
"I've put up my part, where's your part?" I ask. Nikaido reaches under his desk and puts on top of it his briefcase. He puts in the code before it flips open. He takes out a large stack of papers, which he plops into my arms. I almost fall over because of how heavy the papers are.
"That is all the information I have gathered. You also have my reassurance that I shall not to speak to anyone about this," Nikaido says. Kairi coughs and walks up to the desk, next to me. He hands Nikaido a thin stack of papers.
"This is a contact, stating what will happen if you break your agreement to us." Nikaido skims the pile before sighing.
"Is this really necessary?" he asks. Kairi puts both hands firmly on the desk, staring intently at Nikaido.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Kairi growls. I see his fists tighten. Nikaido just skims the words on the paper, occasionally glancing back up at Kairi in fear. I never thought Kairi could be so...scary. Finally, Nikaido signs on the dotted line at the end of the last page.
"There you go Sanjou-kun, no harm no foul," Nikaido says quickly, shoving the papers at Kairi. Kairi takes them calmly and adjusts his glasses a tad bit.
"Thank you, sensai. And I see to it that you know the consequences that will occur if you do break this contract?" Kairi asks, almost tauntingly. Nikaido nods quickly and we both walk back to our desks.
"When did you make that contract?" I ask him.
"I didn't know weather or not Nikaido-sensai would stick to his word, so I made it a few days ago," Kairi explains with a shrug.
"Let's start on these papers," Kukai suggests. As much as I hate it, he's right. Kairi divides the papers up equally among the seven of us.
Everything's set into action. A plan of escape, a cover story, and a lead of where to look. Now all I need are for all of us to heal from our injuries. My next challenge is waiting, and I already know that these next few weeks will be completely agonizing.
I think this chapter isn't really good, more like a very long filler. I'm almost done chapter 5 already, which I think it's good progress :) Thank you for your reviews!
R&R!
~HAHE~