章 18: Episode 18: The Two That Wandered
Middle of Who-Knows-Where
Who-Knows-When
Outside Atdonus Highschool.
9:30am, Yuki Herro was at home.
Yuki was at his home, putting books into these brown boxes. He looked around his room, the boxes getting too many for him to manage. He wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead and stacked the boxes.
Ever since school ended, Yuki had returned home like the other students. His parents had greeted him warmly back home. His parents had yet to change one bit, his mother an energetic freak, and his father a quiet and composed person. His father had slick black hair and his mother the same yellow hair as he did.
He was an only child, it barely bothered him, but he thought about what he could spend his time doing instead of watching random shows on the television. He looked into the box he was carrying, pieces of paper with scribbles and detailed drawings on them. He put the box down and sat down next to it, pulling the piece of paper out. The drawing was of a girl with long hair with a sly expression, a headband around her forehead, a piece of red cloth dangling and covering the right side of her head. He put the piece of paper back into the box, he had spent too much time writing the story, and there were no more ideas in his head.
He laid down on the ground. Previously, the floors were covered in boxes and papers, all randomly thrown around with no sense of tidiness. After cleaning, it seemed like such a big space, he had no idea what to do anymore.
10:02am, his mom shouted for him.
“Yuki! Someone’s here to see you!”
“Coming!” He shouted back, getting up.
He paced down the stairs slowly and relaxed. His mother had closed the door again and gone back to dealing with the dishes. Yuki reached the bottom floor and walked past his father who was reading the papers. His father saw him and shook his head, saying, “Kids nowadays, why do people keep thinking jumping off a building is the only solution?”
Yuki thought it was a weird topic to bring up, it was not as if he himself had any desire to jump off a building and commit suicide. His father should know him better than to do something so preposterous. He took a glance at his father’s paper and sighed, “Just because it’s on the news doesn’t mean I’m going to do it.”
“You never know...” His father muttered.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Yuki asked, an elbow on the backrest of the sofa.
“It’s a Sunday, no one works on a Sunday.” His father replied simply, not looking away from the paper.
Yuki shrugged and went to the door.
10:06am, he opened the door.
Standing there was a girl. She stood 170cm tall, long black hair. She was slim, with long limbs that made her look like a model. She stood there, glaring at Yuki. She wore a sharp suit and heels, making her seem about 4cm taller. Yuki was 181cm tall, so she was still shorter than him regardless. He looked her in the eyes, it was unusual for her to be without her half veil, but it was more unusual for her to be at his house in the first place.
Yuki cleared his throat. “Why are you here?”
“It took you four minutes to answer the door,” Scarlet stated, frowning. “Four whole minutes.”
“Yeah, I’m a bit slow.” He said, not the least bit apologetic.
Scarlet glared at him, but there was something obvious. Scarlet could move her right eye but was unable to see through it. So her right eye looked at Yuki but was seemingly devoid of any emotion of life. He returned his gaze to both her eyes, not just her left.
“Whatever, just follow me.” Scarlet demanded.
Yuki looked back at his father who was very obviously pretending not to notice them while staring at the newspaper. He was unable to see his mother, but he guessed the both of them had the same idea. He took a deep breath, not looking forward to speaking to his parents after.
“I’m going out for a bit!” Yuki shouted.
His father gave him a nod of approval while his mother shouted from the kitchen, “Go get her!”
Yuki closed the door behind him, leaving the house with a long sigh, producing mist in the cold air. He gave Scarlet a sheepish grin as he shrugged, feeling embarrassed for his parents. Yuki wore a pair of casual shorts and a random shirt he had found in his room. The weather was cold, but not cold enough to bother Yuki yet. He walked forward in silence, Scarlet following after him angrily.
10:13am, one of them finally spoke.
“What do you think you’ve been doing?” Scarlet asked, walking beside Yuki.
“What?” He asked, slightly confused.
“Your books!” She emphasised. “Why did you write it about me?”
“Why couldn’t I?” He countered. "Are you going to copyright me?"
There was silence between the two as they continued to walk. Scarlet was thinking about what to say, Yuki was thinking about how to reply, and Scarlet was trying to think about how to counter Yuki’s reply. They stopped near a playground that had a thin layer of snow covering the slides and sandpit. There were kids playing there, the both of them stopping in their tracks. The kids seemed to have fun, throwing snow at each other and falling into the snow. They were laughing loudly, laughs neither of them had heard from the other before, a pure laugh, filled with childish innocence.
“What? Do you want to watch kids? That’s kind of weird.” Scarlet commented.
“I thought it was your idea,” Yuki told her.
“In your dreams.”
“Actually, in my writing, there was this sc-”
“Don’t say another word.”
Scarlet looked at the kids for a few more seconds before turning around, sighing. She walked back to where they came from, Yuki following her. They were silent again, the awkwardness having not left the air at all.
“My legs are freezing.” Yuki said.
“Then you should have worn something warmer, idiot.” She said, almost nonchalantly.
“You forced me out of my house.”
“You were the one who decided to leave the said house in the first place in those clothes.”
“Okay, fine, I give.”
10:25am, Scarlet stopped.
“What is it?” Yuki asked.
“Explain yourself.” She told him.
“What’s there to explain?” He asked.
“Your books! Why did you write them about me?” She said, half shouting. “I acted as a villain, I introduced so many unique people, and the best you could do was a lame three-part series that featured me as the protagonist.”
She pulled out one of the books. “And worst of all, the ending really sucked!”
“I thought the ending was good.” Yuki defended himself.
She hit his arm lightly with the third book of the series. Scarlet said to him, “The ending’s really bad.”
“Why?” He asked, smacking the book away.
“Because I wouldn’t have closed the school after realising I had to become the mayor. The story is false.” She told him, pointing at him. “I have a younger brother to do that for me. I’m not that easy to get rid of.”
“But I got pretty good reviews for it though.” He said.
“Those reviews were by people other than me, so they have bad opinions.”
“Hey, everyone is entitled to their opinions.”
Scarlet shook her head. “Then, in my opinion, their opinions are terrible, and the ending to your story is bad, maybe the worst I've ever read.”
Yuki threw his hands in the air, giving up. He sighed, saying, “It’s not like I can change the ending anyway, what’s your purpose of even coming here, also how do you know where I live?”
“I’m the principal, genius, you think I don’t have your personal information?” She asked, rolling her eyes.
“Okay, then?”
“I’m here to complain.” She told him, stabbing his chest with her right index finger. “What do you think you’re doing by wasting my time, huh?”
“It’s not a complete waste.” He tried to defend herself.
Scarlet opened a book, the first book, to a random page and started reading aloud, “I've really liked this girl since we first met, I wish she would like me back.”
“That was not in there!” He exclaimed, his face slightly hot.
She shrugged and put the book back in the bag she had carried. She threw the bag at Yuki, Yuki catching it with surprise. She told him, “Explain yourself.”
He scratched his head, unsure of how to phrase his words. “Um... I just felt like it? No, rather, I have been interested in you since the first time I saw you sitting at the side when playing soccer.”
Scarlet raised an eyebrow.
He shook his head, waving his free arm between them. “It’s not that kind of interested, don’t misunderstand.”
“I’m writing this down somewhere,” Scarlet said, holding back her laughter.
“Don’t!”
She put her notebook back into her suit and crossed her arms, looking at Yuki. She gestured for him to continue.
“Um... Yeah, so I thought you were an interesting person.”
“So you kicked a soccer ball at my head.” She commented. “A genius like you haven’t been seen since the birth of Albert Einstein.”
“Stop with the insults.” He begged.
“Then stop dragging it out. I don’t have all day.” She said.
“Really? What do you need to do?”
Scarlet listed with her fingers. “I need to go for an important dinner. Need to talk with the teaching staff. Need to speak with the construction workers about the school. Need to talk to my father about the school. Need to hire more staff for the future. Need to rethink the whole school system.”
“In a day?”
“Yeah, perfectly normal.”
“You’re going to die from stress one day.”
“So hurry up with the excuses so I can die quicker then!”
Yuki took a deep breath and continued. “Back then I really liked writing, still do, so I wanted to meet and talk to interesting people. Just didn’t know you took what I said seriously and actually started the school. I severely underestimated rich people.”
“A real rich person would have bought your house and sued you so you could write a story about being poor,” Scarlet added.
“That's exaggerating.”
Scarlet made eye contact with him. “Want me to try?”
“Please don’t.”
Scarlet looked back and then back at Yuki. She sighed and stabbed him with a finger, pushing him back as she walked forward. “Next time you try anything like this, just know that I’ll personally get you in jail.”
“Okay, okay, got it.” Yuki put his hands up.
Scarlet stopped, taking a deep breath of the chilly air. She composed herself and sighed once again. “So what? You’re going to stop writing? After all these years?”
“How did you know?” Yuki asked, surprise written all over his face.
“You literally added it on the last page of your dumb ending,” Scarlet stated.
“That damn editor,” Yuki grumbled.
Scarlet raised a hand, pointing at Yuki. “If you quit writing, I’ll quit being the principal of Atdonus Highschool.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Try me.”
They had a short glare off before Yuki said, “You spent years on that school, there’s no way you’re just going to throw it away.”
“And you spent even more years writing.” Scarlet crossed her arms. “I don’t see the difference.”
Yuki could find no counter to what she said. Scarlet told him, “This is an order from the daughter of your mayor, you better continue writing. Or else a few hundred kids will go without education.”
“Are you being serious? That’s ridiculous! Stop being selfish!”
“You’re being selfish!” Scarlet retorted, making Yuki jump slightly.
He was quiet as Scarlet glared at him. She said, “Because of you, I started a whole school, so are you just going to throw the reason I made the school in the first place just because you decided I did enough? Don’t be so selfish! Do you have any idea how much I did just for you? How much I obsessed for your own obsession?”
She walked up to him, grabbing him by the collar. “So who’s selfish now? Tell me!”
Yuki nodded, gently putting her hand away from him. He put his hands up, “Guess what? I just thought of a brand new idea for a story.”
Scarlet stepped back.
“Good, now get to it.” She demanded.
Yuki looked at Scarlet and scratched his chin. “But do you enjoy being a Principal at all? I’ve never seen you act as the Principal.”
“Of course I enjoy being the Principal. I also like being a normal student, being treated the same as everyone else, being a student... but I think being a Principal suits me best.”
She gave him a smile. “So I would like to stick to that, thank you very much.”
Yuki looked at her. He had forgotten the last time he had seen Scarlet genuinely smile like that. She stepped back, Yuki lifting the bag she had thrown at him. “What about this?”
“Don’t need them.” Scarlet waved him off. “The ending was bad.”
“Just because the ending was bad?” He asked.
“Yes, now go away, I have a full schedule,” Scarlet said.
“On the contrary, I have plenty of time.” Yuki told her.
“I’m not playing this game with you, Herro.” Scarlet said.
“And neither am I.” He replied.
They both stared each other down before Yuki laughed out loud. He turned his back to her and said, “Well, see you around then!”
“Don’t talk to me though, I don’t want to be as affiliated with a lame writer like you!” She shouted back.
“What?” He asked, pretending not to hear.
Scarlet was about to raise her hand to wave him off, but stopped herself halfway and put her hand down. She turned around and walked towards her car. She entered the car, her maid at the wheel, asking, “How was it.”
“Fine...” She replied.
She felt her eyes water up, her vision getting blurry. She rubbed her left eye, her vision getting slightly blurred, and it was not because of sickness. She asked her maid, “Do I look bad?”
“Could be better.” The Maid replied.
“In that case, I’m fine, perfectly fine...” She muttered. “Very fine.”
The car drove off, The Maid not saying another word about Scarlet’s actions in the car. The daughter of the mayor had covered her face and broken down in tears.
10:54am, Yuki returned home.
“I’m home,” Yuki said when he entered the house.
“How did it go?” His mother asked.
He smiled slightly. His cheeks, ears and nose were red because of the cold, but his eyes were trembling when he told his mother, “Nothing.”
“He got dumped?” His father called from the couch.
“Hey! I wasn’t!” Yuki exclaimed.
“Don’t worry about it, we understand...” His mother tried to comfort him.
“No, as I said, I wasn’t dumped, she wasn’t my girlfriend to begin with.” Yuki tried to explain.
“So you got rejected, poor, poor boy.” His mother said, rubbing his head.
“I give up trying to explain anything to you folks.” Yuki sighed.
11:10am, he laid on his bed.
Yuki could not believe he had to unpack everything he had worked had to pack. He was about to roll over and maybe die when his phone rang.
“Hello...?” Came a timid voice.
“Sorry, who is this?” He asked.
“It’s... Eva... Eva Hardner...” She whispered into the phone.
“How did you even get my number?” He asked.
“Scarlet... gave it to me... recently...”
Of course she did.
“So what? Wanna hang out?” Yuki asked.
“If... it’s alright... with you.”
7:02pm, Scarlet was in her study, back home.
“Hey, Scarlet.” Came a voice from the door.
“What?” Scarlet asked, putting her pen down.
Her father walked into her room. The mayor of the town was getting old, his hair was starting to turn white from both age and stress.
“It’s about your brother...” He said.
“What? Did he fail middle school?” Scarlet asked.
“No... he did quite well, actually.” Her father said. “But he doesn’t seem to want to go to Highschool.”
“And?” Scarlet asked.
“Can you let him enrol into your school when it reopens next year? Your brother will be a first-year by that time.”
“My brother in my school?” Scarlet asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Even after what happened? I don't want to put the student population at risk of his... habits.”
“I believe in your ability to run the school.” The mayor told her.
“Fine, he can enrol into Atdonus Highschool, I’ll just put his name on the list.”
“Thank you.”
Scarlet sighed when her father left the room. Of all people, she had to deal with her brother in the school she made. Not only would it be awkward, but there was no telling what might happen to him. She turned to her computer and typed out a message to the school management. She spun her pen in her hand and looked at the ceiling, trying to think about what she was supposed to do. No doubt, with the closure of the school, many families were going to send their kids to another school, at least, the normal families.
Not only that, but there was the issue the school was handling regarding the disappearance of Alex and Angela and the current news. The injuries that had occurred. Evan Aquarius was still recovering, having suffered a shattered jaw and minor spine damage. One of the teachers, Mr Hart was still recovering from his injury, the attacker still remained unknown, and Mr Hart seemed to be on track to retirement. The most recent injuries of Sylva and Lesley was being handled, and there was no telling what may happen to them.
Scarlet sighed and penned a few things down. The school may never return to its original state, nor can she retain the current system they had. She needed to implement change, to be more friendly to the public.
Atdonus Highschool was always registered as 'lost', but after Scarlet changed the system, it started to appear on the map. Atdonus Highschool was always mysterious, no one knew what exactly went on inside, but now, Atdonus High is ready to open its gates.
There was no reason to make the scenario interesting anymore since Yuki no longer wrote about her. Her only goal was to make it a working school, one where anyone and everyone can find a place in. A place for those without a place in the city. Gangsters, Thieves, Orphans, interesting people who she thought would be able to pass school life in Atdonus. Though, she would much rather hold back on murderers and criminals on death row after seeing the events that had occurred.
Change was coming.
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