Thursday, September 30th, 12:00 pm
"Please listen to me! My father could never be a criminal!"
This had been Mei's plea ever since the court case became public last week. Outside of Phillip, no one in their classroom believed her, and some even started calling her an accomplice. They never said it to her face, though, as Phillip made it quite clear how well doing so would go for them. The first person that did so wasn't able to sit for quite a while afterward.
However, it wasn't just the classroom, as most of the student body had joined in on the belief that Ryoma Raiden was a criminal. The only ones that seemed to believe otherwise were Mikoto and Kiana. Even Yuki appeared to accept the hyped-up negativity rather than Mei's own word. Phillip had no clue how that came to be, but he was betting on a certain black-haired girl having something to do with it.
As Mei was rejected by her classmates once more, she slumped a little, eyes staring down at the white tiles. Phillip stood up from his desk and walked over to her, stopping at her right side. She looked up at him with an expression that displayed both dismay and hope all at the same time as he grabbed her arm. He gave her a slight pull, not enough to drag her but able to get her to shuffle her feet, and guided her to the door. With a warning glance at the rest of the classroom, he closed the door and tried to tug Mei towards the stairs. He was met with resistance, however.
"No," Mei said as she pulled her arm from his grasp. "No, there has to be a way of convincing them. They need to know my father isn't-"
"Mei, all you did was ask them if they wanted to spend lunch with you, and they threw a fit almost immediately." Phillip turned entirely to her, catching the grimace she made at his rude comment. "No amount of pleading is going to convince them that your father is innocent. Nor will it tell them that you had no part in it."
"B-but...I-" Mei stammered at this, looking down at her feet as if they would hold the answer she sought. After a breathless sigh, she looked back at him with desperation on her face. Phillip knew what she wanted of him, despite how apparent the vanity of the effort was, but he couldn't refuse the silent question.
"I'll try convincing families outside the school, but I can't guarantee they will listen."
Some minor relief found its way onto Mei's face as some of the stress melted away. She picked herself, pulling her proper stance back together despite her disheveled uniform and hair, and walked beside him to the roof for lunchtime.
The roof was far more vacant than it was last week. Most of the student body stayed indoors, to begin with, but now all of them stayed away. They did try to get Mei off the roof (sometimes forcefully) but were met with Phillip at every attempt. It had gotten to the point where they called him the "rabid dog of the criminal family."
Mei had apologized to him several times for the nickname, to which he vented right back at the student body. They made sure to steer clear of Mei when Phillip was around since that Monday.
Back to the present, the only face there to greet them was Mikoto, who strained a smile towards the two as she waved. Mei waved back with an only slightly stronger smile while Phillip's face contained traces of concern in it. As Mikoto's hand fell back down to her side, her sleeve rippled and showed a bruise underneath that only an untrained eye would be unable to detect.
It just so happened that Phillip was the only one to catch it.
Once the group gathered, they talked about everything that occurred over the last couple of days: the trial, how Mei was trying to clear her father's name, and the sudden shift in atmosphere within the school.
All the while, they chowed down on the lunches they brought. Phillip shared some of his with Mei, whose lunch was only slightly edible due to a lack of cooking experience. However, it was a far cry from her first attempt, where she came out with several burns and a deathly concoction that was both under and overcooked.
Mei refuses to talk about it.
As the time slowly disappeared from their lunch period, Phillip felt it appropriate to try and learn of Mikoto's bruise, something she had yet to explain. Casting a minor genjutsu over Mei to trick her into going to the restroom, he was left alone with the shorter girl.
Mikoto seemed to understand what he was going to ask. "You want to ask me about it, right?"
"How did you know?"
"I caught you glancing at my arm a couple of times. So, I determined you wanted to talk about it."
Phillip nodded. "Alright then, do you want to talk about it?"
Mikoto left out a sigh as she clenched her shoulders. "It's nothing bad. Just…people not understanding what I'm doing."
Phillip's eyes narrowed at this. "It's the bullies, isn't it?"
"Friends," Mikoto explained, her eyes finally meeting his. "They're friends. Just misguided."
"They hit you for associating with Mei."
"… Very misguided friends."
Phillip breathed a sigh to calm his increasing rage, though only to a minimal degree. He looked over Mikoto, trying to notice any other bruises on the girl. If there were, they were well hidden, so Phillip dropped the subject as he returned to his food. This eased the atmosphere the two had for a moment before completely disappearing when Mei returned soon after, completely confused that she lost her restroom needs upon getting to the lower floor.
3:35 pm
"Look at her!"
Phillip lazily looked up from his book to see the gray fur of a tabby cat being shoved into his face thanks to a certain Kaslana. He would have moved the cat away but decided to accept his fate before the cat started scratching him. Besides, he still needed to finish his current thought process at teaching Mikoto's "friends" without Mikoto finding out.
Kiana pulled the cat back to nestle her face into the cat's fur, cooing each time as she rubbed her head into the coat. After a second, the cat squirmed out of her grip to land feet first on the couch but didn't go far as it settled into Kiana's lap and curled up. This, Kiana agreed with, simply petting it as it tried to sleep.
"Sora is a really good kitty. Really lazy, though."
"So, it matches its owner, huh?" Phillip spoke offhandedly; his eyes returned to the book as he flipped a page.
Kiana pouted at this before glancing at the book herself. "Whatcha doing?"
"Studying."
"Seriously?!" Kiana exclaimed, falling backward in exasperation, landing on the cushion next to the right arm. "You're seriously the single most boring person in the world."
"There's a lot to study for in life, Kiana," Phillip explained as he moved on to the next part of the book. "It can go a long way if you do it."
"I wouldn't be caught dead studying," Kiana stated as she puffed out her chest and closed her eyes as she looked off to her side.
"Hm."
She looked back his way for a different question. "When's Mei-senpai coming back? "
"You know, you could just come up to the roof during lunch if you really wanted to see her," Phillip stated, eyes still on his book. "That's our go-to place."
Kiana seemed to ponder it for a moment, something he highly doubted she did, before gaining a smile. "Your food and Mei in the same place? That's super awesome."
Phillip let out a "hm" and then looked back up to Kiana. "Was the only reason you came by was to show off your cat?"
"No, duh! I have other reasons."
"Like what?"
"I was bored."
Phillip shook his head at this, already feeling tired of the girl's random reasons. The last week had already been a grind, to begin with; he didn't need Kiana to pester him whenever she felt like it.
"Then turn on the television. There should be something you can watch on there."
Kiana had a huff and crossed her arms in disapproval. "I don't want to watch TV. Couldn't we play some games on your laptop?"
"You can. It's back under my pillow."
Kiana walked over to his room at this, placing Sora where she sat before she did, and, suddenly, a question appeared in Phillip's mind. It was an odd one, something that he would typically push down, but it stayed this time. As he pondered it for a moment, Phillip looked down at the cat and reached over to pet it.
"What do you think, hm?"
The answer to his question was simple: a quick swipe with claws that scraped five lines onto the tanned skin of his hand. Phillip pulled the hand back with a hiss of pain, while Sora let a hiss on anger before scampering off to the bathroom.
"You little motherfu-"
Phillip cut himself before the first came out, fearing Kiana might overhear. He looked down at his hand, the question long since gone from his mind, to find the wound had drawn blood, a couple drops landing on the cushion below him. He grabbed some napkins left on the table and got as much of the blood as he could, which left the little blood already soaked in. Not feeling like doing anymore, he crossed his legs to hide the new stain and continued reading, trying to forget that the last couple of seconds had happened as his wound began healing.
September 31st, 6:55 am
"I don't think Sora likes you."
"Oh, you think?"
Kiana blew him a raspberry as they continued their walk to the campus. Phillip once again shook his head at this while keeping his attention on the road before them.
The two held to the tradition of walking to school together, though with a lot more reasons attached to it. Phillip wanted to be there early to prevent more harassment dealt to Mei, while Kiana did it to chat up the girl. Either way, it did keep Mei from spiraling down that dark abyss called depression for the moment.
"Seriously, though. Sora isn't normally hostile to people. Did you do something to her?"
"I tried petting her."
Kiana rose a brow at this. "Is that all?"
Phillip shrugged his shoulders just in time for the light to turn green. The crowd the two found themselves in pushed forward. Phillip and Kiana went with the flow of the group, with Kiana trying to continue the topic of her cat. The group dissipated as they reached the school street, where a black limo was seated right before the school entrance. A flutter of purple hair on the opposite side was enough to send Kiana racing over the street to greet Mei. Phillip let out a sigh but hastened his steps to prevent Kiana from harassing Mei.
Once he was on the school side, he looked over to the two girls. Kiana was flailing about, as if in explanation of a wild adventure, while Mei simply did there with a vibrant smile as she listened to Kiana. A glance out of the corner of her eye caught Phillip and Mei waved to him, a gesture he replied with a lazy rise of his right hand to his head.
Kiana noticed the interaction and grabbed hold of Mei's hand. Mei was shocked but not as shocked as when Kiana pulled her towards the school. However, they didn't get far as Kiana only took a couple of paces before stopping at the gate. Phillip didn't see what they did, but the sudden change from joyous to terrified was enough for him to sprint to them.
Once he was there, he looked through the gate and watched as Mikoto's head ricocheted off the pavement.
Phillip and Kiana were the first to react.
He covered the distance almost immediately, taking the crumbled girl into his arms. She was bleeding out from the side of her head that hit the walkway, while several new bruises appeared all over her face. He shot a murderous glance at the perpetrators, who Kiana showed her distaste for rather openly.
"What the hell do you think you're?!" Kiana screamed as she held the boy's arm behind his back.
"Ow! You stupid bitch, let me go!"
The response was Kiana pushing the boy's arm higher up his back, inciting a yelp from him.
Kiana looked behind her where another boy and one girl were standing, doing nothing to aid the other. "What about you two? Want to tell me what's going on?"
The girl simply let out a huff as she crossed her arms under her chest. "We have nothing to say people who remain friends to her." The girl nodded over to Mei, who stood like stone at the gate as her eyes started to water.
Phillip picked the girl up bridal style and paced back over to Mei, leaving Kiana to clarify the reasoning. Mei took several steps back once Phillip was near, terrified of seeing the damage done to the girl in his arms. Luckily, her chauffeur had stepped out from the limo and moved to intercept Phillip.
The older man held out his arms. "I'll be certain to transport the young lady to the closest hospital. Please don't let this incident affect your day." The chauffeur shot a worried glance at Mei's distraught form before looking back at Phillip, signaling the more significant issue. Phillip nodded, transferred Mikoto to the older man before turning to Mei.
Mei looked even worse than five seconds prior. The tears that pooled at the corner of her eyes threatened to fall, and her body violently trembled as Mikoto was placed into the backseat. Phillip gently pulled her attention to him as the car began the drive to the hospital, giving Mei a gentle smile as he did.
"She'll be fine. Don't worry too-"
"This was all your fault!"
All tranquility on Phillip's face gave way to righteous fury as he spun back to the group that assaulted Mikoto. The boy Kiana pinned was now free and was storming up to the two while screaming his head off, only to stop when he realized Phillip was glaring at him.
Phillip kept his eyes on the boy while reaching out to Mei with his right hand. He tried resting his hand on her shoulder as a means of showing support, only to great air as he did. Phillip looked over to where Mei once was and found she had left.
Anger back at full force, Phillip glared at the boy, who decided to open his mouth.
"Good riddance. She may have said otherwise, but everyone with a brain knows she was an accomplice to-"
The boy's following words were ones he was forced to swallow as Phillip grabbed him by the neck with extreme force. Phillip dragged him back towards the school as the boy struggled for air. Kiana attempted to stop Phillip, but a single shared look between the two caused her to hesitate.
Phillip dragged the boy up two sets of stairs, all the way to the third-grade classes. The boy was turning blue at this point; something Phillip ignored as he looked down both sides of the hallway before starting down the part to his right. Once he was at the end of the hallway, he opened classroom doors to find the boy's main class. He found it in the middle with a middle-aged lady wearing a bright green suit as the primary teacher.
"Excuse me," Phillip said as he presented the now-purple boy. "Is this your rodent?"
The woman seemed confused until she noticed the boy in Phillip's hand. She placed her hands on her hips and made a demand.
"Drop Nakamura-san. I'll be sending you to disciplinary actions regardless, but acting now will lessen your punishment."
Determining that meant this was indeed the boy's room, Phillip stepped in, hand still clutching the boy's neck. Finding a lone empty chair in the back, Phillip placed over to it and dropped the boy a little before getting there. As Nakamoto gasped for air, Phillip picked up the chair and inspected it before returning to the boy and pinned him with one foot on his back. Doing a few practice swings, Phillip brought the chair behind his head with both hands before bringing it down onto Nakamura just as his teacher made one final attempt at stopping him.
"Enough!"
THWACK
8:30 am,
After several minutes of scolding later by the principal and a schedule filled with detentions for the next few months, Phillip was forced out of school for the rest of the day. Because of this, he decided to check up on Mei and Mikoto at the hospital.
Once he gathered the necessary info from the nurses, Phillip found Mikoto's room on the second. He took a single step inside and saw Mei sleeping on the bed rails, her hair cascading out from her standard bun. Mikoto had many bandages wrapped over, some in places Phillip couldn't see before. However, in this one moment, the three could hold a form of peace missing in the last week.
It was, however, ruined as the door shut behind him, jolting Mei enough to awaken her. She pushed the disheveled hairs back into place as she turned to him as sleepy eyes became wide at his appearance.
"I-is everything alright?! Did the doctor say anything?!"
Phillip raised his hand in an attempt to calm the girl. "I haven't heard anything yet. I just got here."
Mei let out a slightly defeated sigh before looking out the single window of the pure gray room. Her eyebrows knitted together as she gave him a more suspicious glance.
"Why are you here so early? Classes should still be in session."
"No reason. Didn't feel like sitting class."
Her brow furrowed at this. "That doesn't sound like a valid reason coming from you. Kiana-san, maybe, but not you."
Phillip shrugged his shoulders at this. "Even I lose tolerance when my friend is hurt." Phillip walked to the other side of Mikoto and sat down. The bedridden girl hasn't even flinched at his heavy steps or when the chair creaked under his weight.
"You shouldn't sacrifice your education for us," Mei explained, worry laced in her voice before her features darkened. "At least, not for me."
"Mei-"
"What if they're right?" Mei blurted out, interrupting Phillip. "What if all of this–what happened to Mikoto, Yuki, Ayame – is truly my fault?" She looked him in the eyes, her own ready to tear up. "Do I deserve-"
"Shut up." As harsh as they sounded, Phillip's words startled Mei enough to pause her tears. "Mikoto isn't in a bed because of something did. Neither was why Ayame left your fault. Nothing that had happened recently needed your action or consent. So, don't try acting like you could control what occurred."
" But, I…"
"And if someone tells you differently, please tell me their name so I can beat their heads in."
"Please don't," Mei slowly rubbed her eyes as she allowed herself to send him a slight frown at his statement. "I don't want anyone to be hurt."
Phillip nodded at this before looking over to the peaceful face of the sleeping Mikoto. The two of them spent the remaining time in silence, watching and waiting.
7:30 pm,
Phillip and Mei were forced to evacuate from the hospital once visiting hours were up. Mei was picked up by her chauffeur, who Phillip thought of asking why he kept helping Mei after her father's arrest but never got to it as Mei's safety matters more. As Mei and Phillip swapped goodbyes and she was taken away by her chauffeur, Phillip started on his and cleared several buildings with one jump as he aimed to enter his apartment.
It was as he arrived at his building that he felt something off. Not wanting his gut feeling to be correct, he rushed to his apartment on foot and quickly unlocked it. He took a step inside, flipped the lights, and saw… nothing.
The living room was completely untouched, not a speck of dust misplaced. Going between the other rooms showed the same picture. However, Phillip's instincts were still warning him, so he started looking closer.
He found it when looking at his couch. The blood once spilled by Kiana's cat, the drops soaked into the cushion, were gone.
"Shit."
The apartment complex's housekeeping was never thorough enough to find a couple of blood drops and could not clean it if they did. So, the only type of person who could have grabbed it was someone looking for it and had the tech to get it. Only one person came to mind.
Damn it! Cocolia has a blood sample.
Phillip got ready to set out and tackle this problem, but Gabriel stopped him. "Don't worry about it. The only thing she could possibly do is clone you, and I'll lock her out if she tries."
Could she work around it?
"Potentially, but she lacks the means of doing so. You'll be safe for now."
Phillip contemplated whether to follow what the angel suggested. The lack of action on his part hurt Mikoto, but Gabriel always made sure that the overall populace was okay, as per his duty as an angel. So, Phillip decided to ask one last thing.
Nothing terrible will happen if she has it, right?
"Can't tell the details, but I assure you nothing cataclysmic will occur while she has that blood."
Phillip nodded silently at this, mentally ready to go to bed now. However, a knock on his door pulled his attention to it. He walked over to it and looked outside the peephole, finding someone exactly who he thought would come. Pulling the door open, he was met with the pouting face of a peeved Kiana.
"Sup," was his response to the girl's expression.
" 'Sup'?!" Kiana yelled, obviously not satisfied with this. "You go off with a kid by his throat, looking like going to kill him, and the next time I see you is when you're back home, and all you can say is 'Sup'?!"
Phillip scratched the back of his head with his right arm. "Would it lower your aggression if I told you he's not dead, just unable to sit for a while?"
Kiana held her expression for a moment before it dissolved into a simple pout. "Fine, I guess. It was scary that you looked so cold when you did that, though." Kiana entirely dropped it as she rolled into another topic. "How's Mei-senpai? And who was that other girl?"
Phillip nodded as he invited Kiana into his apartment. "Mei is shaken, but she's a strong girl." Kiana was happy to hear this while she situated herself on his couch. For the second topic, Phillip breathed out a sigh before jumping into it. " The other girl was a friend of Mei and mine. She's been helping us with the recent problems Mei was having."
Kiana's expression shifted through a couple of emotions; one seemed like slight jealously. However, she seemed content with the information as she stretched out and leaned back to lay on the back of the couch.
After a moment of silence, Phillip stood up and moved to his bedroom door. Once he reached it, Kiana called out to him, forcing him to turn towards her. She rewarded him with a bright, goofy smile that spoke the words she said.
"I bet you Mikoto-senpai will get better, and everything with Mei-senpai will blow over. So, don't worry too much, alright?"
Phillip looked over at her with a blank look before opening his door and taking a step into his room. "Get some sleep, Kiana. You'll need it."
"Wha-? Hey, I'm trying to cheer you up here! At least make me some food to show you appreciate it!"
Sorry if this chapter feels filler-like, or if the characters are OOC. Getting into that area of the story where there's very little to go on, and coming up with some character interactions will take some time.
Anyways, constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I see you in the next one.
Note: The name DOES NOT come from the better fanfic. It came to mind when I was typing, and only just realized that it matches. Don't relate the characters with each other. Please and thank you