A/N: You know what's on my list of top priorities right now? Continue this story is a thing. Giving each of you a double high-five and a box full of cookies is at the peak. Why? Because you're all worth it, and you are all awesome like that! I can never thank you all enough, for taking time to read the story and leave an opinion. A thousand thank you to you lot!
If you thought that I was dead, then you're wrong. Sorry if these news disappointed any of you, but hey, life is life; you can't always have everything you want. And I apologize for the absence, and the horribly-long hiatus. I meant to write that chapter as soon as I finished the exams - I swear! - but I got carried away. Blame it on the Internet. Now that I got everything I need - aka new dvds, new music and enough courage to start a new chapter - we can move to the reviews!
InnocentDiamond: Fanfics, indeed. At first I said it as a joke, but I might consider writing a crack-fic or something more dramatic; we'll see that when I get time and inspiration, deal? :) And just saying, I stick to the English/French version of Bakugan, since in those versions Shun's mother is in a coma. I don't feel like hurting Shun's feelings - or anyone's for that matter. I don't believe I actually have the guts to come up with such drama. I like Shun enough to know that I don't want to see him suffer. Next. Shun doesn't look at Fabia, he just pretends he does, when he's not. He looks at Alice, though. It shows in the stare the two shared; when I was on that part it kept screaming "sexual tension" in my head. The amount of sexual tension I have in mind for them... Don't worry; I'll try to get Klaus out of the picture as soon as I can. On Alice's sarcasm, I had a hard time 'cause I was afraid that it would make her ooc, you see. It's harder than I thought, to represent Alice's personality in something so serious. Klaus is THIS stupid. And ah, the letter does smell sweet, but the content is not as appealing... Just saying.
Cup of Violet Tea: The relationships are not exactly similar, careful! Shun only bothers to talk to Fabia because of their mutual secret: I'm using you for my own reasons. Else, they ARE friends, but they aren't this close. Ren and Alice is something else, too. They first have a professional relationship, but it evolved into friendship. Hey, conspiration sticks to the title: my secret can kill! No more nightmares of Jessica for the moment, but more nightmares are coming...or not? Alice needs as much rest as she can, what with Klaus back on the field, I don't want to bother her with too much moral pressure. Yes, no more "freedom" for Alice. Klaus definitely NEEDS to give her some space and fresh air.
Maiden Warrior: MAIDEN WARRIOR! Come on, darling, breathe, breathe! Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale...come on, don't leave me like that! Hehe I love you too much to lose you, you know that? So don't you dare faint and leave me alone, hear it? ;) Drama, drama and drama over again, yeah - AND REN! Thanks for the love again, and get well soon! Oh, and again: BREATHE.
S. S. R : Funky? Sure, if you say so. I'm not giving out spoilers, but you got one nice theory other there... It's safe to say that I never heard of antacids - there's actually a word like that existing out there in the world? I don't know, science is not exactly my forte. Shun's glance doesn't have anything to do with Ren and Fabia, really, it's just teenage frustration and love, I would say. Can't remember why that letter was supposed to smell good, though. And it's killing me too, in its own way!
pooch pooch: Hello there, new reader! Thanks for the compliment, also! A youth tv show? I'm interested, please message me when you get the title - are you sure it isn't Pretty Little Liars? Again, thanks a lot for reviewing!
Can I just say something? I logged on a few days earlier to check on the new stories and reviews when I noticed it. The change. On the filters. Everywhere. I'll be honest with you guys, I FUCKING HATE IT. Off all updates Fanfiction had to do, they had to do THIS. I do understand that you can now add more characters in the search engine, and it's really nice and stuff, but still...the horror.
Let's not get the negativity rub off on us, okay? Or this hiatus will only get longer. I hope to finish this chapter before my sister comes back to Mauritius, or I won't have so much time to kill on my story for the rest of the holidays. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the fifth chapter of Secrets Can Kill!
Chapter 5: Your Secret Keeper
One would have said of Julie Makimoto that she wasn't herself if she didn't complain at least a dozen of times every day. Julie was no drama queen, far from it. She simply couldn't help it. In her actual condition, it was more than natural coming from her.
Her forehead made contact with her locker's metallic door. The cool material felt nice on her flushed skin, yet it didn't soothe her pains. Despite the painkillers Ren had given her earlier, a massive headache had established itself inside her head, drumming on her skull's sides. It wasn't all fun and games. She felt like dying right now, right on the spot, clutching her stomach. Instead of making her better, the medicine made her worse.
Inside the room, cheerleaders came in and out, fled around her like overexcited flees locked in a jar. The cheerleading training had just ended for them, the girls hurried to the showers. Julie had waited for them inside the changing-room; a sudden pain had kicked in in the middle of her performance, and had forced her to excuse herself to the bathroom, where she let out most of the remaining from her dinner and breakfast. Her coach and team mates had been surprised by her behaviour. If there was some subject Julie didn't ditch at school and showed complete faith to, it was cheerleading, It counted as a subject, and compensated for all of her classes below average. It's not that Julie isn't intelligent. She is, yet threw all of her mind in her cheerleading training. She was simply dedicated.
Julie felt a hand on her shoulder. A fellow cheerleader looked down at her with concerned eyes. "You okay, Julie?"
She quickly nodded, not wanting to worry her. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm good...period, you know?"
It seemed normal to say it, since she usually had pains this strong on periods. Only she didn't stay that calm during her times of the month, and she didn't hurt this much. It didn't bother the girl though, as she nodded herself in an understanding manner. "Ah, it's that! It'll be okay, just go to the infirmary if it gets worse." Finishing, she walked away to her locker, leaving Julie to her own troubles.
She straightened as much as she could, leaning along the metallic locker. Others before her team mate had approached her to try to understand what was up, and she'd given them the same answer. Cheerleaders, she reflected, weren't all as mean as the ones on American TV. They did stick to themselves yet were capable of solidarity towards each other. There were a few exceptions, such as Jenny and her clique, the cliché clique and school-bitch of Bayview. Still clutching her stomach, she glanced sideways at the girl, going through her hot fuchsia locks with a brush, the other hand retouching her lips with gloss. Classical antagonist, she thought.
Her reflections ceased with a new pain kicking in her belly. Julie groaned, the back of her head hurting the locker. She would have to go to the infirmary again, yet she didn't want to. She didn't feel like going back to see Ren and ask for some more pills. He looked pretty annoyed earlier, and if she were to go she'd have to get Alice to tag along. The red-head was easily the only girl he seemed to appreciate. But then, she thought turning back to the contents of her locker and undressing, everyone likes Alice. She stuffed her uniform in her back, throwing in her books. When she tried to close the oversized bag, something fell from her locker. Curious, she bent down and picked up the paper fallen on the floor.
It was a letter, she could tell, the envelope in her favourite colour, a bright hot pink. Turning it, she looked over at the back. A simple word was written at the back: Julie. Her own name was on it, scribbled in a quite fashionable way. The handwriting was neat, just like calligraphy, printed on the paper in a big and cursive black handwriting.
Admirer's letter? The thought made her smile. Like many popular girls, she was used to getting fan mail, and she didn't hide it. This letter looked slightly different from the usual, though. Few fan boys - and fan girls - bothered to send her letters in envelopes this fancy; they usually went for more direct ways, like notes quickly done on pieces of paper or leaves. And none wrote this well. The girls made some effort, yet had small handwriting most of the time, not always this elegant. The boys, well, they were boys; doctor handwriting was the word. It couldn't be Billy either, he was the same if not worse.
The bell interrupted her trail of thoughts, and she simply stuck the letter in a book before moving to her next class.
"We both see that you did well, Master Runo, yet you do understand that you're not exactly worthy of this grade..."
"And now, we'll move onto the next question which, surprisingly, you almost all failed..."
Runo only half listened to Tigrerra and Mrs Suzuki's babbling, her ears receiving data and not making any use of it. The rest of the economic class was loud, too, but the noise hardly reached her. It wasn't just the sounds nearby. She hadn't even shown excitement over the test Mrs Suzuki had given back - "excellent," she had remarked upon handing her an A-graded paper, "a true example to all your classmates, Runo" -, or the prospect of having Dan sitting next to her again. Because yes, even if she wouldn't admit it, she didn't mind at all, except when he was at his worst. No, today her mind was set on something else.
She examined the letter sitting on her lap, the paper almost disappearing on her white mini-skirt's fabric. It was immaculate, clean, so close to a paper she'd mistaken it for a page when she'd found it in her agenda. The difference was, there weren't any blue lines traced on the envelope. The only thing close to blue about the letter was the single word written at the back, in a black ink close enough to midnight-blue: Runo. Her name, her own dull name, done with such an elegant twist it made her shudder. The calligraphy was perfect, too, like a piece of art ready to frame. She'd believed the letter to be some joke, yet upon examining it she'd decided not to throw it away. A shame it would be, if something were to happen to something this worthy-looking...
"Fan mail, Runo?"
Runo quickly placed the letter in a book which she shut. The pages made a soft thud when the book closed. The bluenette looked up to make eye contact with Dan Kuso, his brown eyes playful yet intrigued. She narrowed her eyes at his amused expression, trying to look annoyed. She could tell it hardly work on him, for he kept a straight face all the time. Damn you Kuso, you and your cutie smile and gorgeous eyes and -
"None of your business, Kuso!" she retorted in what she supposed was a dry tone. The last thing she needed right now was to be face to face with Dan. He didn't seem to mind, though. He raised his hands above his shoulders, palms open, in a surrendering gesture. Still, she could tell from his goofy grin that he wouldn't let her go this easily.
"No need to be so rude, you know. Is this how you treat all your friends?" His phrase had the effect of a pang inside her chest. It brought back old memories from the times when they were all kids, and they'd spent every day nagging each other. It had always been their type of friendship, in a weird way. They were always together, except for the times when he was with Shun and she with her other friends. Yet things had changed, she realized sadly. They were still friends, yet Dan had moved on. He had his own crowd now, as she had hers. All was well that way.
She shook her head, raised an eyebrow. "No, no, just you Dan." She gave him a small smile. When was the last time she had called him by his name?
He seemed startled, yet quickly responded with a grin. "Fancy way of loving me. No but really, was is this?" He suddenly became serious, if that was possible. Serious Dan was something she only witnessed during some hard-core battles, not in class.
She sighed, slightly annoyed by his insistence. "Really, nothing. At all." She turned to the black board, making it look like she was truly concentrating on what Mrs Suzuki was saying. Dan wasn't giving up, she could tell, staring at her intently. Finally he shrugged.
"Sure, if you say so," he said in a bored voice. "But who says it might not concern me?"
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She started to grow suspicious. What could Dan possibly have to do with this letter, which she hadn't even opened yet? Nothing, absolutely nothing probably. Unless...
"Oh, I don't know," he continued in the same tone. "School stuff, you see. We are both only children, might be mail from the secretary."
"Huh, sure," Runo's voice replied, playing with a blue strand from her pigtails.
"Or," his voice trailed, suddenly closer, "test results."
His sentence almost made her choke on her saliva. She coughed a bit, feeling her skin turn several shades of pink - or was it red? What the hell?
"Hah, very funny, Dan, really." She replied between cough fits. "Seriously, where do you get all these ideas?"
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow, only he didn't look as annoyed as she'd been earlier, He grinned his usual grin, the one he used to make girls fall all over him, the one that could charm anyone of the female gender. Only the playful smile he harboured now didn't have its common effect on her. It spoke of mischief, it scared her this much.
"Oh, from everywhere, Runo, everywhere. Especially from watching you."
The bell rang before her, yet she didn't notice. Her face had already lost all colour. Winking at her, Dan packed his things and got out of the classroom with the other students, leaving behind a stunned and quite frightened Runo.
The break was already over when Mira got back to class, surprisingly not followed by Mr Grit. Other students rushed inside as she stood at the front, winking at Alice. The red-head smiled back, as her friend got back next to her seat.
"Had a good time?"
"You bet!" Mira replied, making the both of them giggle. They stopped when the teacher got inside, still exchanging a knowing smile. Everyone was settled down by then.
"You don't look like you had as much fun as I did, though," Mira whispered, gesturing with a nod to Alice's book. She had a chemistry book in her hand, next to her English books. Alice sighed.
"Huge test next hour, my friend." It wasn't just the chemistry test coming up next hour that made her look this upset. Alice Gehabich hardly stressed over a test, especially over a science one. It seemed more personal. Mira raised an eyebrow.
"Klaus?" Alice nodded. "You know what they say about long-distance relationships? I wish it worked for me." Said boyfriend had just come back yesterday, and he was already all over her again. Like the trip to Hong Kong hadn't happened at all, like he'd taken a good hundred shots of caffeine. Classes weren't so easy to follow anymore, what with him always sitting next to her and keeping her from concentrating properly. It didn't help that he was a few seats away from theirs right now, seated next to Joe. His accusing gaze almost bore a hole in Mira's head, and it took all her strength not to turn back and give him a death glare. If it weren't for Alice being excessively nice, she'd have done genocide long ago.
"I swear, if looks could kill, I'd have him down any moment," she muttered. Alice gave her a gentle yet disapproving look.
"Now Mira, don't be like that. He hasn't done anything to you, as much as I know." Mira simply rolled her eyes in response, to which Alice smiled.
"And, no offense, but you'd need more than just your gorgeous eyes to have him down. Shun could train you on that," she continued. Her cheeks flushed a bit at the end, yet she had a straight look nonetheless. It made her friend giggle.
"Now, you admit he's good at something!" Alice rolled her eyes.
"At something? Please, we both know that he's good at everything."
Mira shrugged. "Sure, except at choosing his girlfriend." She looked around, making sure no one was looking. Everyone else was talking and not taking any notice of them, Ace on his part was scribbling something on the board that she couldn't read properly. At the back, Shun was leaning back, arms behind his head, probably relaxing or meditating as usual. Next to him, Marucho was reading.
"Anyway," she started, leaning her elbow on the table, "I have something more interesting to show you." She grabbed her bag pack, fumbling with the messy books and papers. Now she had Alice intrigued. In the end, she got out her agenda, with a green paper held between the pages. It instantly caught Alice's attention.
"What's this?" she asked, regarding the paper with curiosity.
"I'm coming to it," her friend replied. "You see, after Ace and I...er, finished having fun," Alice gave her a funny look, somewhere between amusement and embarrassment, "well, I went to my locker to get my stuff. And when I was about to close it, this thing fell off and I caught it in mid-air."
Grabbing the corner between her index and middle finger, she swiftly removed the paper from the book. Alice leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at it. Without waiting, Mira handed it to her, giving her friend an encouraging smile. "Do it like Sherlock, then. So, what do you think?" A little hesitant at first, Alice curiously took the paper, in a gentle way as if the paper in her hands was made out of gold.
It wasn't made of gold at all, and it wasn't even a simple paper. It was an envelope; not of the plain kind you use at the post office, far from it. It was green, a light green similar to a ripe apple's, or at least pale enough to remind her of mint. In fact, she thought while examining it, it does have a scent of mint. Peppermint, to be more exact. There she had in her hands two of Mira's favourite things: the colour green and her favourite mint perfume. She turned the envelope. On the side where the address was usually written, Mira's name was written in a very fancy way, calligraphy done in black ink. The writing was perfect, without any single blotch or stain. It was amazingly well done, so well done t looked like it might pop out of the paper and come alive before her. It all seemed pretty familiar, too...
"Penny for your thoughts, Alice?" Mira broke her out of her daydream, and she looked up to see her gazing at her with concern. She must have been in a trance-like form for a long moment. The red-head shook her head, puzzled by the letter.
"Not sure. It does look like a love letter or a secret admirer's work, but I don't know -"
"Who could that be, then? Ace, probably, he's the only one who knows this stuff about me, no one else can relate -"
Mira suddenly paused. Alice could tell she was about as confused as her. "Yes, you were going to say?"
Mira pointed a finger at her. "No one else can relate, except for the others. You guys are the only ones who know the rest of it, right?"
Alice raised an eyebrow. "So you think that someone from the group is playing a prank on you?"
Mira nodded. "Could be that, yeah. Not you, though, I know you're not into this stuff."
"Now that you're talking of it, I know why this looks so familiar," Alice started. She grabbed her bag herself, and got out an envelope. It looked just like Mira's, only it was pink, and had her own name at the back. Mira leaned forward, examining the letter now. She narrowed her eyes, definitely confused.
She sighed. "Okay then, now I don't understand at all."
Alice shook her head, "Neither do I. Let's just wait for lunch break to go to the girls and ask, no?"
Mira thought about it for a second, and then nodded again. "Sure thing."
They turned back to face the board and Ace, who'd started a lecture on a forthcoming homework they would have to do in pairs. The pair only listened with one ear, their minds set on the mysterious letters they'd just received.
Usually, the group met on Thursdays on the parking at Runo's car. Since they had most of their common hours around lunch on Thursday, they had made it a tradition this year to have lunch together out of school, and then to come back after for their remaining classes. Mira and Alice walked together to the Impala, while Runo and Julie came separated. Julie being the last to come, the trio leaned against the car in an awkward silence, all because of the same reason even though they ignored it. It took Julie's arrival to loosen the tension, as she came to them running with an overexcited look. They winced; when Julie was in this mood most of the time, squeals and yells were to be expected. She arrived panting, a huge grin on her face.
"GUYS, GUYS, I GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU! OMG THIS IS JUST -"
"LOWER IT, JULIE, JUST LOWER IT!" Runo screamed at her friend's attitude. The red-heads standing nearby sweat-dropped a bit at the scene. It had always been Runo's job to calm down Julie.
"Oh, okay, no need to yell at me! Geez..." Julie muttered. "Anyway, I just got something soooooooo cool, I so have to show it to you!"
"Can't it wait for us to arrive at the mall? If we don't hurry, up any more, we won't be in time for classes," Runo said, getting on the car's front seat. Alice and Mira shook their heads and followed suit.
"Rah, fine then," Julie's tone was slightly exasperated, yet she struggled to keep from having a fit. She got in the car herself, and the vehicle drove the quartet to the mall's cafeteria. Julie kept twitching on her plastic seat at their table, yet she managed to contain herself. The girls quickly ate burgers and gobbled down milkshakes, and finally it was time for Julie's announcement. She leaned her elbows on the table, and dug into her bag for what she was looking for. In the end, she got out a slightly crumbled piece of pink paper. Confused, the girls watched as the silver-haired cheerleader flattened her paper and explained at the same time.
"Well, you see, I was changing after cheerleading training. When I was about to close my locker, this," she pointed at the paper, "fell out. I'm not sure what this is, but I'm intrigued."
She placed the paper flatly on the table, the others leaned other to see it. The letter Julie had gotten earlier was there, the bright pink still immaculate. They turned it, to see Julie's name carefully written at the back. Smiling brightly, Julie looked up in time to see Alice and Mira exchange looks, and Runo starting to look confused. Her grin faltered a little.
"Guys," she started, growing worried, "something wrong? You look all funny suddenly."
They all glanced at each other for a moment, until Runo broke the silence. "I'm not alone, then." She sighed, and got out her own letter. The red-headed pair followed, Alice adding her letter to the small pile. "Neither are we." Mira nodded, and put her envelope at the top of the pile. The atmosphere was quite tense, the joy of sharing lunch together gone, replaced by confusion. It wasn't a secret admirer at all, Alice thought, it was certainly a prank played on all of them. She looked at the others, who all glanced at each other's' faces and at the letter piled in the centre of the table. No one seemed to notice what was happening around them. The cafeteria was almost empty by now. Even though there was still a good half hour before classes.
At some point, Alice had enough of this awkward silence that had been following them since yesterday night's events. She stretched her arm, and got out her envelope from the pile. The others watched her, bewildered. Alice examined the envelope again, before Mira grabbed her wrist. "What the hell are you doing, Alice?! Are you out of your mind?"
She simply shook her head, and started to open the letter. The rest of the table didn't stop her, watching her curiously. She swiftly slit the lid open with her long nails, and got out a white paper. In the process, a bunch of photos fell out. Stopping herself, Alice put back the white paper to look at the pictures. In a matter of seconds, her naturally pink cheeks paled, losing their colours, her whole face and limbs turned white, like she was about to faint. The sole members she had which still had a small pinkish colour were her knuckles, grabbing firmly the pictures.
The others started to panic. Alice never got a reaction like that, unless..
"Alice, stop it!"
"Come on Alice, this is not funny anymore!"
"ALICE!"
No one seemed to hear them yell. The shopkeepers simply ignored them, and there weren't many clients left. Tearing the pictures from Alice's grasp, Runo looked at them, only to grow as pale as her best friend. Julie and Mira looked too, and their expressions turned grave too. Alice hadn't moved, her red curls falling on her face, her eyes dark and blank. Her knuckles were grabbing something else now, and small tears started to fall from her eyes. Distressed, they grabbed the white paper she held, and read it aloud. Their voices were hoarse and raspy, like they had spent decades in the desert without drinking a single drop of water, like something kept them from speaking.
Dear Alice,
You don't know me, yet I know you. I'm the one who's been watching you from the shadows, the one who always stood behind you to witness all of the things you did in your whole life. I'm the one who watched you both at your best and your worst, I'm the one who watched and judged all of your actions. You don't know me, and I shall introduce myself to you. To many, I'm known under various names, some gross and others flattering, yet all of them depict my real self as it is. I don't know or care of what you think of me, but you shall know me as The Secret Keeper; and from now on, you will know me as Your Secret Keeper. Not only yours, but also your friends'. I shall keep all of your secrets the way they are - secrets - , and all I require from you to do so is a token of your participation, a bit of your personal acts which might be rewarded in a close future, I hope.
Accept to do all I want you to do, and I shall never reveal what's hidden in the darkest and deepest corners of your soul.
Do as I say and I shall never reveal the dark affair between Mira and her English teacher.
Do as I say and I shall never show the world how deep Julie's obsession with stealing runs in her veins.
Do as I say and I shall never tell how easily Runo gets her way with endless cheating.
Do as I say and I shall never let the world see how horrible you look during an epileptic seizure.
Do as I say and I shall never lead the truth about Jacob Hobbes ' disappearance to the police.
Do as I say and you shall never die.
You will find my instructions soon enough in one of your letter boxes, girls. You all have one week to solve my problem. Exceed this time, and you shall never see the light of day again.
Yours truly,
Your Secret Keeper.
Alice let the tears fall freely, and sobbed as the letter fell on the table, next to the pictures of Alice's last seizure.
A/N: This chapter, I hate it. Oh God. I'm sorry that it's so badly written and too fast-paced, but it's been, what, two weeks, and I got sick of making you all wait for that chapter. So I quickly wrote this. Just saying, don't expect the next chapter to arrive too fast. My sister came a few days ago, and my parents took it as an opportunity to go out. EVERYDAY. And it's winter. Humans are crazy.
Just wondering, you won't mind if I don't update this story right now, no? Because I got lots of other ideas for the Bakugan section, most involving some kind of chick-lit and paranormal. I don't know, really, I also want to write for Supernatural in French.
Anyway, what do you guys think?