章節 39: A Permanent Wound
Before the assault at Base Trupriv/Betty, at Tsuchiya... A little recall of the past had happened before the whole thing. "How are ya doing?" Maeru surprised Mark by teleporting behind him. He was sitting on a stair outside of the former building of the Tsuchiyan leader. Mark jolted up and quickly regained his cool with a sigh. "The spy Shichiro sent after those Americans found out that they are tricking us" He said. "Huh?" Maeru looked very curious and sat beside him. "The spy has been following them and listening to their conversations. Those pirate women, Annabelle and Christine, they are the one who seems leading their operation or whatever they're trying to do..." He said. Then he faced her with a smirk. "Imagine this, Maeru. They sent some punks to mess with us like that!" He said. "What did you expect? This is not the same world we live in, maybe they have their own strategies" Maeru giggled. "So, is there anything else?" She asked. Mark looked at her with excitement. "We're gonna run siege on Betty, completely annihilate the whole base. We can just rebuild it right after..." He said. "I'm gonna go all out now, Maeru! This is the time I fucking rise!" He said, fists clench. Maeru giggled. "Good!" She nodded. "What about you?" Mark asked.
"Me? Well, those Chinese are putting up resistance and doesn't want to cooperate. We're trying our best to stay as calm as possible. We don't want them alerting Saiju" Maeru responded. "Saiju? We're planning on taking that one out after Betty. So you can do whatever you want with them" Mark smiled at her. "I see..." Maeru nodded. They fall into silence, watching soldiers and civilians pass by. Then Maeru spoke up. "About those Americans..." "Yeah, they don't know that they are being tailed yet and will probably never will. So we're gonna wait for them to show up and pretend that we don't know shit" Mark quickly responded on her. "Once we got them near us, I'll kill them myself" He said. "How about trying to take them alive? We could run a ransom at their home country" Maeru said. "Those low-life punks? I don't think they will care about them" Mark scoffs. "You never know. They might be carrying a worthy title, I don't think they are just gonna pick up some random punks at the street and send them for a very important mission, especially when the country's safety is at the line... At least they have to be notorious ones, those who have a lot of connections or very wanted organized criminal groups" Maeru said. "Nah. I'll kill them" Mark firmly said. "Here I am, thinking you were a good guy" Maeru smiled. "They are liars, Maeru! You know well that I and Shichiro hate those kinds of people!" Mark raised his voice. "Hmm..." Maeru thinks of the past. "That event really gave birth to a monster inside you, huh?" She said as she looks up to the sky. "Damn, don't say it that way..." Mark was disturbed by how she emphasized her point.
"And yeah, that's right..." Mark nodded. Then he started to recall Shichiro's unfortunate event. Back when Maeru haven't confessed to Shichiro of her feelings, Shichiro had a girlfriend. She was a classmate during his high school days. Mark and Shichiro's four other best friends are supportive of his relationship. Despite him having another girl, Maeru chose to support him as well. One night, Mark was walking back to his house. He was holding his phone with his right hand and the groceries on his left hand. He was on a group chat with Shichiro and their four friends. Until he got to cross with Shichiro's girlfriend on a corner. Her blonde hair and her voice lightened the dark and quiet surroundings. She was happily talking to her phone, she didn't even notice Mark. Somehow, Mark managed to listen to a bit of their conversation. "Huh...?" In surprise, he stopped walking and turned back. It was really her voice, all cheery and girlish. In the split seconds, he thought she was talking to Shichiro with all the flirting words. But he quickly realized that Shichiro was actively chatting on the group chat, totally laughing out loud with the other guys. He jumped into many thoughts like there's no way Shichiro could switch between flirty, sweet, and totally laughing machine to him hiding that he was talking to her. They are so close to each other that he wouldn't hide this from them. His heart races quickly as the realization finally hits him. Along with his body tensing up in nervousness. Mark then quickly made an excuse to the group chat so he can leave the conversation for a while and quickly trailed the girl.
"There's no way, there's no way..." Mark gulped hard as he didn't want to quickly jump to conclusions. "This girl..." He said as he stares at her back, still talking to the phone. At some point in their walk, he can hear the girl saying 'I love you' often. "Hitsumaki-san... Who are you talking to...!" He angrily whispered. Few minutes of stalking Hitsumaki, they have arrived in a deserted park. The winds of the night gently blow on the park. Mark hid to a wall and peeks at the corner. "Hitsumaki-san..!" He heard a male's voice who sounded very happy. "Seiji-kun!" replies Hitsumaki. "I fucking knew it!" He whispered, his heart is uncontrollably beating fast. He started catching his breath. "This girl... did she just met this Seiji dude...?!" He asked himself as he listens to their conversation. "So, like... I saw your pics on Heart Catcher... They were nice, Hitsumaki-san!" The guy said with excitement. "Are they? That's nice to hear!" Hitsumaki replied. The guy then asked Hitsumaki to sit along with him on a bench that is facing towards Mark's direction. "My name is Hitsumaki Hana. Nice to meet you..." She introduce to the guy. "You already know me! Haha! I have my whole name on my bio!" He said as if he was boasting on it. "Seiji Kanara, right? I think your name is cool!" Hana said. Like that, they exchange compliments as Mark listens to the whole conversation.
"Should I tell...?" Mark looked at his phone, who he hasn't put back to his pocket yet since he started following her. "Goddamn it...!" He hesitated then decided not to do it yet. "Ah!" As he was nervously flipping his phone on his hand, he saw the camera and quickly thinks of an idea. "How about some evidence...?" Mark happily chuckles. He opened his phone and used the lock screen camera to quickly put it up. He carefully placed his phone to the corner of the wall as if it was peeking. He immediately recorded a video once he adjusted enough. Like that, he continued to listen. "Have you done it?" Hana asked. "Hm?" Seiji seductively looked at her. "This guy's face!" He angrily whispered, shaking the camera. Seiji has a short olive green hair with matching eye color. He has a long face. The guy is taller than the six of them. He was disgusted by how handsome Seiji looks like. And the current situation where he is seducing Hana disgusts Mark even more. "Have you done it?" Seiji asked again. "Nope~ Haven't..." Hana raised her shoulders as she rest on his shoulder. "Wonderful..." He responded. "It will be my first time with you... Hana...." As he said her name, he slowly grabbed Hana's chin and brought her lips to him. Mark gasped hard. "Motherfucker...!" He started speaking English in rage. "They kissed like they've been seeing each other for a while...!" He said to the camera. He thought it was a quick kiss, but they eventually switched to a deep kiss. Noises of smacks and the saliva when they swirl their tongues together fill the area, putting more disgust to Mark. "Fuck, fuck...!" He just wanted to jump in and stop them but it would be a bad approach. Then suddenly, something came up with his mind.
"Heh... I have plans for you, Hitsumaki..." He said to himself, not to whisper for the phone to hear. He realized that he can control Hana with the video afterward. They continued to do it for exactly five minutes before pulling away from each other. "How about we spend the rest of the night in my place?" He said in a very seductive tone. "You're in a hurry? We haven't even dated yet~" Hana goes along with him. "Tomorrow, let's spend the day strolling around town. You have said that you're attending the Saizana High, right? It's Saturday tomorrow, so you should have no class right?" He asked and Hana nodded in response. "I'm studying at Tonowa, it's not far away from here" Seiji said. "What?! That private school?!" Hana sounded very amazed. "Haha... Isn't Saizana good as well?" He asked. "Well, the school couldn't match with Tonowa when it comes to money, and designs though!" They laughed together. "She's even saying shit to our school..." Mark whispered. As if they hit another romantic conversation, they have started kissing again. "Yeah... Kiss him more motherfucker... Show how much of a bitch you are...!" He suddenly takes joy recording her of her cheating. "I'll ruin your fucking life, motherfucker... I'll tell and show this to every single fucking people you fucking know in your life!" His phone shakes as he whispers to himself. They kissed longer than the first one before breaking away. "Come on, let's go home, shall we?" He asked Hana. "Sure~! It's getting cold out here, anyway..." Hana replied sweetly and they both stood up from the bench. "Shit..." Mark quickly moved away from his cover. The entrance of the park was where he was hiding and he moved a block away and hid into a corner and continued to record from there.
As they made their way out, they made a quick kiss. "How many times are they gonna kiss like this?" He whispered. As they are walking away, Mark turned the camera to himself. "This Seiji dude is now leading this girl to his house and probably smash all night!" He said to the camera. He suddenly realized that he planned on sending the video to the group chat, so he started speaking Japanese again. "I'm gonna follow them very stealthy... Locate this motherfucker's house and sell the location to the black market, motherfucker!" With that, he ran quietly to follow them. After following them for a few minutes, Hana sparks up a question. "Where is your place exactly?" She asked. Seiji suddenly chuckled and sent the two in curiosity. "I guess I should tell you more..." He said in a boastful voice. "I live in the Kanou Estate!" He said, surprising the two completely. "No way!" "No fucking way!" The two reacted the same. Mark quickly turned the camera to himself. "Y'all heard that?! This fucking guy lives in that big ass mansion!" He said to the camera. "Wow! That mansion?! There's no way!" Hana sounded very happy. "And this motherfucker happy!" Mark said then turned the camera back to them.
"Mark, wait...!" Maeru suddenly laughed, stopping Mark from telling the story. "W-What?" Mark chuckled. "The way you talk to the camera...!" Maeru was trying to suppress her laugh by placing a hand on her mouth and to her stomach. "Haha, what?! Don't you know how a vlog works?!" He asked. "You considered it as a vlog?!" Maeru finally burst out laughing. "Yeah! It is a vlog! A perfect vlog out of any goddamn video from Ontube!" He said. "Whatever...whew..." Maeru calmed herself down. "Next thing, they reached the populated area, right? They took off with a car?" She asked. "Yeah..." Mark focused back on the story. Few minutes of tailing the two, they have arrived in the urban area. Few people and cars are still passing by despite the time. "It's awfully busy tonight..." Mark whispered to the camera. After a while, Mark knew that they are going for the overpass. He stayed on his side of the street and carefully record them walking across the platform. "They are crossing the street..." As soon as they were out of sight, he dragged his camera down where they would reappear. There was a 24/7 convenience store just a few feet away from the overpass and a black car was waiting in front of it. "Is that their car?" He asked. "Shit. This guy is a real deal dweller in that damn Kanuo gold dump" He said as he zoomed in to the rear of the car. It has a golden '可能' insignia above its gas tank. "No wonder Hitsumaki was baited..." He whispered.
"No, no... Maybe she's just a real bitch..." He smiled. After a while, the two finally appeared at the other street. Their voices are faint and he can't listen well. "I want to follow them, but..." As he was looking around, he saw a lonely bike stand. "Well... I don't regret stealing a pencil back in kindergarten..." He hurriedly took the bike and went off. He went around and stopped behind them. "Ah!" Mark saw that the bike had a basket in its front. He placed his phone on it, standing to record his travel. "Alright, I'm gonna tail them back to that place..." He whispered. The car took off as soon as they got in and Mark let them distance away before following them. "I hope they won't notice me..." It didn't take them long before leaving the urban area. The surroundings are starting to transition into rural areas. Then eventually, open fields. The Kanou mansion was now visible from their distance, mainly due to the lights lightning certain spots of the mansion. It was an addition to its bright interior shining through the darkness of the empty fields. "There it is... The fucking Kanou Estate. Home of rich families, owners of successful businesses running the whole city" He said. "I secretly admire them, despite that they are hated by most of the people. But now? Now that I knew that one of them is baiting school girls on the Internet?! It'll be huge hate coming down at 'ya, Kanou fucks!" He cursed. "You messed with the wrong people!" He said.
On the distance, he saw the car stopped in front of the entrance, also stopping on his bike. "Ah... The princess has arrived!" He said as he took his phone from the basket. He looked at the camera. "Alright, I'm near the gold dump. As you can see, the whole area's a nature then suddenly there's this fucking big mansion out of nowhere..." He said as he recorded his surroundings and stopping at the mansion. "Alright... they are inside..." Mark waited for a few moments before strolling ahead. He stopped in front of the mansion. A big gate is preventing him from getting inside. Past the gate and its designed paths is the mansion. It looked bigger than how it was from a distance. "Look at this...." He said as he slowly moves the camera from bottom to the top. Then suddenly, two guards came from the inside. "Hey, you!" They shouted. "Oh shit...!" Mark hid his phone away without stopping the recording. "What are you doing?" The guards asked. Their black suits terrifies him. "Oh, uh, I was taking pictures if that's allowed?" He pretended to be a follower. "Scram! Before I drag you inside and let the master talk to you himself!" The guard said. "Right! I'm sorry!" He bowed and drove away. "Heh, cunts..." He chuckled. He stopped in the middle of a dark road. He took his phone and faced the camera. "And that's your bitch princess Hana Hitsumaki. This is Mark, signing off!" He ended the video with him saluting at the camera. Then he sighed heavily. "What just happened...?" He asked himself as he unlocked his phone and pressed the video.
The video started with them in the park. "Ugh..." He skipped a few minutes ahead and stopped at when they were crossing the street. "Everything happened so fast..." He said as he rubs his forehead in stress. He then shook his head clear and went home. He spent the rest of the trip in thoughts.
"You didn't outright tell Shichiro about it, right?" Maeru asked. Mark nodded. "Yeah but I couldn't hold it anymore and become suspicious to him the next day..." He smiled shyly at her. On the next day, Mark quickly get up from his bed early and took his phone. He started recording himself. "It's Saturday now and they both had a plan, remember? I was thinking of going to the park earlier than them but I guess the girl stayed on that gold dump" He said to the camera. Then suddenly, a notification showing new messages from their group chat has appeared at the top. "Ah..." Mark paused the video and instead used his computer to chat with them. The phone would cut the video even if it's paused when he switches to the chat. He waited for computer to boot up and quickly opened his browser and to their group chat. He saw Shichiro happily chatting with their friends about the game he was making. "Shichiro..." Mark sadly reads his chats. The fact that he was chatting all happily while he discovers something disturbing about his life makes him sad. He then proceeded to make an excuse to take himself out of the conversation. "yous a busy man, mark! give it a rest lol" Shichiro replied on his message. "Heh... I'll be..." Mark chuckled and replied to him. "lol stfu i have other stuff to do than chat with u crazy dudes xD" He said to him. "i'll hit u on monday!" Shichiro's reply makes him chuckle again. And finally, Mark said his goodbye to the chat and set foot outside.
"Alright..." Mark sighed deep and resume the video on his face. "I will first visit the park in case they are there... If not, then I'll watch the roads for their cars. It is way too early for them to go outside for dates" He said. Then he proceeded to the park. He found people hanging around on the park, some benches are occupied by couples. However, the bench where he witnessed everything is empty. "Shit... I don't know if the girl made her way home or she stayed..." He said to the video. "...Maybe I should wait at the road for their car" With that in mind, he planned on waiting at the convenience store and proceeded. Luckily, the seat that is facing outside is empty and he quickly took the spot. He switched the camera to the front and lay it in front of him. "Here I am... at the convenience store..." He then quickly realized something and looked back. The male clerk was glancing at him. "Damn, mind your own business..." He whispered. After that, he stares at the passing cars, looking for the same car he saw last night. He spent an hour waiting there. The clerk had to walk up to him. "Sir? Are you waiting for someone, perhaps?" He asked, surprising him. "Oh, uh, yeah..." He nodded. "I see... People are waiting for the seat, it would be wise to leave if you aren't waiting for someone..." The clerk said. "Yeah, I'm waiting for someone..." He said with a grim smile, driving the clerk uncomfortable.
After hearing the clerk return to his counter, Mark sighed and looked at himself at the camera. "Ah..." He saw eyebags thickening under his eyes. "..." However, he gave no care. Almost half an hour has passed and finally, a car pulled over in front of the store. "Fuck...!" He quickly covered his face with his phone and switched the camera to its back. Like that, he watches them with his camera. "There they are..." He saw Hina and Seiji getting off the car. "She sure looks happy..." He whispered. Hana then started pointing everywhere, showing where she wanted to go. Then all of the sudden, the clerk appeared behind him and puts his hand on Mark's shoulder. Mark looked at him through the reflection of his phone's screen. "Excuse me sir, but you're getting suspicious here..." The clerk angrily said. Mark was angered as well but held it in and faced him without turning completely. "Mind your own fucking business..." He said. However, the clerk insisted. "Sir, I'm gonna call the cops on you if you don't stop doing that!" He threatened but Mark was unflinching. "Someone's getting cheated at..." Mark told the clerk and he gasped. "That enough for you?" He asked. The clerk didn't know what to say. "B-But sir, doing this kind of stuff..." "This is very personal, mister. So why don't you lay it off before I tell everyone that you like to stick up your nose to the customers and make your life harder than it is now?" Just a little bit of his interference and Mark would definitely explode at his seat, he glared at him hard. And finally, the clerk let him go and returned to his counter defeated.
As if they were doing something else during his talk to the clerk, the two just started walking and their car just left the store. "Ah... they're moving" He said as he slowly stands up. He steadied the camera on them. Hana was grabbing Seiji's arm as they go and it made Mark sicker. "Time to go..." He said as he make his way towards outside. He stopped as soon as the doors opened. He faced the clerk back, who was looking at him as he expected. "Next time, try not to be a hero, 'cause you're not and will never be" He said, making the clerk uncomfortable. "One mistake and your life are done for, Kenji..." He read his name using his ID. He left him in a tight spot. "Alright... Obviously, they're going on a date..." He said as he records both of them walking together. "I'm not following them all day... I just wanted to record more evidence..." With that, he stopped the recording and went home.
"You've really held everything up... You managed to stay calm after all those..." Maeru was impressed. "I would jump on that girl the moment I saw her with another guy if I were on your situation" She said. "So you can have Shichiro all by yourself, of course" Mark smiled. "No-!" "Ah ah!!" Mark suppressed her as it was obvious. "You were in love with him during those times, and killing people wasn't a problem for you back then" He said. "So I don't think you're gonna do it for their relationship" He chuckled. "Fine... you got me" She pouted and looked away. Her admitting defeat made him chuckle even more.
After Mark got home, he holed himself up in his room, replaying the videos mindlessly. "This a life changer..." Life was going as usual for him, Shichiro, and his four other friends. Same goes for school until it happened. "What made you astray, Hana?" He rethinks of certain times where she was clinging to Shichiro very much without care of the people around her. Some think she really loved him, some said that she wanted to show off and some said she just wanted to show love. Those affections she was showing towards Shichiro had become dull to him. He started to believe that those are fake acts. While everything is going through his head, a notification started showing at the top of his screen, indicating that the group chat has started to become lively again. "Grr... Keep it together! I'll never do anything if I stay like this!" He slapped his face with both of his hands. Then he took a deep breath before joining the chat. He spent the rest of the day talking to the group chat, and to Shichiro in full English conversation once the others have signed out.
At first, he was casually talking to him over something. But the next day, the temptation was too overwhelming and he started giving out hints. Then at night, Shichiro finally became suspicious. "Why are u asking all these dude?" Shichiro asked at their private messages. Mark became nervous as he was finally taking notice. "did something happened? did u somehow got a one day girlfriend? hahaha" He added. Mark got a bit of a chuckle and decided to give it a rest and change the topic. However, as he was typing a response, Shichiro sent another message before him. "but seriously..." He said, halting Mark on his words. "what happened?" He asked again. "u don't normally bring up topics like this mark i know something's up" He said, now fully aware of the situation. Mark was nervously reading his messages repeatedly. Both tension and temptation overwhelmed him and decided to tell him. He nervously typed 'Hana' and sent it. Shichiro saw the message and was quiet for about three seconds. "and what about her?" He asked. Mark then proceeded to tell him. "he's cheating on u dude..." He took a breath to calm himself, his hands are shaking and cold on nervousness. Shichiro took a few seconds before replying. "no wonder she's not answering her phone... how can u make sure?" He asked. "on friday, i was going home after doing some errands and i caught up with her on the way..." He sent the message before doing another one. "when i said that something came up? that was the time" He sent. "huh..." Shichiro replied quick. "i followed her and she made her way to the park dude! and he met a guy there!" He sent. "u know what happened after that! They flirted with each other, tell their lives and sh1t, then kissed and went home!" He sent, totally very satisfied with telling him everything.
"i video'd everything dude! just like vlogs!" He sent and Shichiro replied a laughing emoji. "how abt this? u crash to my place rn and ill let u watch everything? dat cool?" He sent. "i mean, it's only 7 pm, it's too early to be afraid of creepy old men xD" He joked to get rid of the tension. "haha stfu im on my way there" Shichiro replied. "aight dude see u" With Mark's reply, they both signed off. Mark nervously wait for him in his room. He tried to play on his computer but got the feeling that it won't help. After few minutes of re-reading their whole conversation, he heard their doorbell rang. "Ah!" He jumped on his bed and ran outside. "Mark!" Her mother called. "Shichiro's here!" She said. Mark stopped on the stairway for a second before going down. He ran on her mother's side. "Hey man..." Mark greets and they exchange a troubled smile. "You two should avoid meeting up at these hours" Her mother scolds them. "Ahaha, sorry! Mark said that he broke his PC and asked for help" Both of them were surprised by Shichiro's response. Her mother glared at him. "How many times you will break your stuff? Your father can't pay all the troubles, you know?!" She shouted. "Geez, it's just a minor bug, uh, a virus! I just needed him to do it since he knows them more than I do!" He said. "Good grief..." With that, her mother walked away. "If you need something, call me" She said as she's gone inside the house.
"Shit's fucked up, huh?" Shichiro then showed a saddened smile. Mark felt the same way. "Yeah, man. Everything happened so fast..." He sighed. Shichiro then looked at his face. "You didn't got any sleep? You look like a mess" He asked. "Yeah. I was too busy thinking about all of this..." Mark scratched his head. Shichiro smiled as he knew how worked up he was. "Alright then. Let me take a peek of those videos..." He said as he walks inside and closed the door behind them. "Up to my room then..." Mark said then they both headed up to their room. Mark peeked outside first before locking the door. "Did you knew who the guy was?" Shichiro asked as he sat on Mark's desk seat. "He's a son of a family in the Kanou Estate" Mark replied as he sat on his bed. "Kanou Estate..." Shichiro furrowed his eyebrows, can't believe who they got into. "You said it. His name is Seiji Kanara. They met at that damn app..." Mark said. Shichiro looked at him. "What app?" He asked. "Guess it!" Mark shouted. "Heart Catcher?! That paid fucking app?!" Shichiro can't believe what he just assumed. "Yeah. It seems like Hana was still using it even though you're both in a relationship. Here, watch everything..." Mark showed him his phone's screen. It has the video on pause at the start.
"..." Shichiro quietly walked to his bed and sat with him. Like that, they watched it together. Up to the video he made yesterday. Shichiro was sighing often, holding back his tears together while Mark sadly watch. At the end, Shichiro managed to stay his cool. He handed the phone back while looking away. "So..." Mark waits for his reaction. "I honestly don't know..." Shichiro shook his head and covered his face with his hands. Like that, he sighed heavily. "Let's not stay sad for this girl, Shichiro..." Mark planned on telling his ideas. "This girl is nothing but a bitch now, we don't need her anymore!" He said. Shichiro looked up to him with tears at his eyelids. "Uh..." Mark realizes that it might be too much. However... "Yeah..." Shichiro slowly nodded. "I'm... breaking up with her, I guess..." Though he just said it like that, he still finds it hard. Shichiro then wipes his tears and smiled. "No second chance..." He said. Mark also smiled. "No fucking second chance" He said. "Death marked!" They both shouted at each other then laughed. "I can't believe we're referencing games over this shit..." Mark said as they both stopped. "So, I wanted to use this girl..." He then proceeded on telling him his idea.
"Tomorrow, we'll pretend as if nothing happened. Let her do what she wants and we'll watch her go. Then we'll tell her at the end of the class. Then we can manipulate her life!" He said. "You monster... Fine" Shichiro happily nodded. "A bit mean but it's fine" He said. "It's definitely alright! She lied and fucked up your relationship, with JOY!" He shouted. "You saw how happy she was, man! She's hanging out with that dick like you two had never met!" He said. "Yeah, unbelievable..." Shichiro sighed. "It'll be interesting tomorrow, Shichiro..." Mark said. "We know everything and she has no idea..." He sounded very excited. "We'll slowly fuck up her life and I hope you don't hate me for it..." He added. "Oh please. Why would I defend a bitch?" Shichiro smirks. "Hah, yeah. That's right..." Mark said.
"Shichiro's amazing, isn't he?" Maeru said. "He didn't give any second thoughts to the girl and went along with your silly ideas" She added. "Yeah, and I like him for that. He's my best, best friend! He's the man!" Mark cheered. "The dude didn't even sulk on the bitch nor gave her a second thought!" He shouted. "'Cause it's all in those videos!" He said. Maeru giggled. "Then? The next day?" She asked. "The next day's the best day..." Mark said. The next day, the two rode on the bike together and went to the place where he stole it and placed it on the ground a block away. Then they made their way to the school. "Ah! That day! I was stalking Shichiro since the moment he woke up!" Maeru breaks the story. "I actually knew that he went to your place but I wasn't sure why. And I had my guards up and thought that you were talking about me!" She said. "Wow, you thought he was on you during those times?" He asked and Maeru nodded. "I had to stay up all night, watching him in case he does something during the night. Then eventually, I slept at the neighbor's sofa for the rest of the night" She said.
Right after arriving at school, the Great Six gathered in the left corner of their classroom to talk about it. They were surprised about it as well and one of them went against their idea but eventually joined them after being convinced. Hana would arrive ten minutes later after the Great Six, so they disperse first. After a while, the door slide open. "Good morning!!!" Hana appeared from the doorway and greeted loudly with her hand up. "Aaaand...!" She ran straight to Shichiro who was sitting at the other side of the room at the last row. She threw herself on Shichiro and gave a kiss on his cheek. "Shichiro~" She gave him a lovely gaze. As usual, the Great Six would gather around Shichiro after she arrived, in which they did. "Sup, Hana" Mark greeted. "How's your weekend?" He asked. "Oh!" Hana jumped on his question and faced Shichiro. "Sorry~!" She slapped her hands and bowed. "I was busy the whole weekend! Family day, you know!" She said. "As far as I know, family day only means a whole single day with your family, not three days" One of them said, making them turn to them. He then cleared his throat. "C'mon Hiroshi, it's Monday, don't make it more annoying" Mark laughed. "Whatever..." Hiroshi sighed. "So, you spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with your family?" Shichiro asked her. "Yes!" Hana happily nodded.
"Hmm...?" He stared at her. "W-what?" Hana was embarrassed. "You're a family girl, then?" He joked. "Well, not much of a clingy person to the family..." She responded. The whole time, the Great Six would exchange glances every time Hana tells lies when they ask what she did the whole weekend. During lunch, they have decided to confront her after their class ends. After that then, they would watch her acting around them as if nothing had happened. The smile she used to bring them happiness is no longer and they would be annoyed at some point.
After their class, Shichiro and Mark told her to stay with them in the classroom for something important. Hana felt a little curious. Once everyone is out of the classroom, Mark locked both doors. "What's the meaning of this?" Hana asked them. "Mark, take my phone will ya?" Shichiro took his phone out and handed it to Mark. "Now..." Shichiro faced Hana with a serious gaze. He unblinkingly stared at her sky-blue eyes. "I want you to tell the truth, since nobody is here" He said and Hana quickly gasped. "W-What is it?" She became unsettled. "What have you been doing this whole weekend?" He asked as he stood up and stand before the windows. "I... I told you...!" Hana tried to smile at both of them. "I spent the time with my family, and... and..." She stuttered, slowly fading her smile away by guilt. Shichiro sighed deeply. "I have reciprocated your feelings, Hana. I was happy. You WERE happy..." He said. Hana started to shiver. "I cherished every moment we have spent together... You have no idea how happy I was..." He turned around, his eyes are totally red. "So why?" He asked. "Shichiro..." Hana was then struck with curiosity on how she was found out. "Everyone else was happy for us. Mark, Akira, Hiroshi, Kisho, Goro, Kozue and the whole class..." He stared straight at her wavering eyes. "Both of our parents, oh, the sweet smile of your mother..." He smiled, remembering the times he spent with her parents. "Knowing that their daughter will end up in good care... They would try their best to show the best of what they got for us to be successful, but ugh..." Shichiro was visibly disgusted at saying 'success' and shook his head.
Like that, he stared at the ground with his hand on his chin. "I didn't... How did you...?" She looked at Shichiro, then to Mark. She saw him smirking. "Mark...?" Her eyes widen. "Yup..." Mark took his phone out with a sigh and went to the video. "The Great Six is on you, Hana. You think us fools" He said. "What's done in the darkness..." He said. "...comes out to the light" He faced the phone to her with the thumbnail of the video. Sending her to gasp. "That phone contains everything, Hana..." Shichiro said as he walked towards Mark. They exchanged look before handing the phone. "Secrets will be eventually found out, no matter how concealed you think it is" Mark said. Shichiro walked in front of her. "That's how it works. No secrets have remained a secret" He smiled at Hana, who was shivering in fear. Then he chuckled. "God I shouldn't be like this, it's just you're not worthy of those words..." He said. "You're just one cheater of a woman" He shrugged. Shichiro then shoved the phone to Hana. "Watch" He said. Hana slowly took the phone and pressed the video.
"Have you done it?" The video started when they were sitting in the bench at the park and Hana gasped hard after seeing herself from the video. She watched the video in shock, with her other hand covering her mouth. When the video was about to show their kisses, Hana cried and the phone slipped from her hand. "Oops!" Shichiro caught the phone. "Damn woman... You have broken a relationship and now a phone?!" He half-jokingly said to her as he hands the phone back to Mark. "Hey, what the hell? That was not all!" He shouted. They both look at her. "You still haven't watched the whole video! How you walk with arms linked, being so happy that you 'dated' a guy from the Kanou and how you happily hopped into their car!" He shouted. After that they were quiet. Hana had to speak. "S-Shichiro... That..." She tried to think of other excuses despite being clearly exposed. "I...I'm sorry...!" She finally broke down. "He's... I was..." "Ah, shh..." Shichiro shush her off. "It's okay, it's okay..." Shichiro then hugged her. She also wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I'm sorry, Shichiro! I was... I didn't mean to..." She said. "Yeah... yeah..." Shichiro then tapped her back. "It's just a small mistake, right? A mistake that can be healed through apologizes..." He sent a hint to Hana that he wasn't actually forgiving her. And in her surprise, Shichiro chuckled. He pushed her and looked at her. "I don't care anymore, Hana. We're done" He quickly changed and now wears a pained smile. "I'm definitely not the guy who would keep you around after all that" He taps her shoulder. "No! Don't break up with me!" Hana pushes herself to Shichiro as she breaks down.
It is hard than Shichiro thought it would be. They were supposed to manipulate her but their emotions are all over the place. He knows that she is remembering their times together as well and is so sad to lose it. "Come on, Shichiro. Those are fake tears! She already has that guy from the estate!" Mark tried to control Shichiro but he was quiet. Hana hugs him tighter as he tried to. "It's not over yet..." She said. "It IS over, Hana! Not only you wrapped your tongues around that guy's but stayed over his place as well!" He shouted. Hana couldn't answer back to those. Then suddenly, Shichiro pushes her slightly by her shoulder. "He's right. We're done" His straight-forward answer beats her, she froze in place. "Also..." Shichiro parts himself away from her and tapped her shoulder. "Those two videos are supposed to be around the school at the end of this day" He said. Hana tensed up in fear that they might expose her. "But, for the sake of our times. We will consider it" He said. Then Mark walks closer. "Instead! You will listen to whatever we tell you to do. And these videos will not be in the phones of every people you know" He said. Hana shivered in her place. "W-wait..." She looked at the two. "If you don't, we will spread it like virus" The two of them smiled.
"It sucks that we have to do this to you. Consider this as your punishment for your lies and unloyalty" Shichiro shrugged. "We will keep you like a servant until we feel like letting you go. So, for now, be a good girl, alright?" He tapped her shoulder once more. "I hope you'll learn that cheating is the worse thing you would do in your life and could break one's life apart..." His expression changed again and quickly walked away. "Let's go home man..." He said. "Say hello for Seiji-kun for me will 'ya?" Mark said. "Tell him I would like to buy one of their jewels!" He laughed as he jogs out. "Actually, I'm serious. Do tell him because my mother's birthday is coming up so I needed a gift" He peeks back to her and then immediately left. Hana was left standing on the corner of the room.
At night that day, Mark sent
"What happened to the girl when you left?" Maeru asked. "Well... We heard that two students heard her sobbing and saw her sitting in fetal in that same spot..." He responded. "They brought her to the infirmary and she went home after the students calmed her down" He added. "That's when you started to become a bad person, both of you..." Maeru slightly sighed. "Yeah. He became so down after that stunt, when he realizes that we're blackmailing a person for the first time. One time he chatted me that he could just stab the girl, but I'm glad that he was joking. Even if he wanted to kill her, he couldn't because he's aware of everything he does..." Mark said. "Hm..." Maeru nodded. "So, what happened after that?" She asked. "Well... Her worse part of her life has started. We started ordering her around while maintaining the same acts in the classroom to avoid any suspicions. We forced her to continue her relationship with Seiji to juice him out of money. Then we would use that money on buying what we want, games, consoles, some PC parts, stuff like that. It was very sickening" Mark laughed. "When we needed a cooldown on begging for money, we would use her own earnings. Especially, for our everyday food and snacks" He added. Maeru watches him with conflicted expressions.
"When she ran out, we would tell her to ask her own parents for more. From that point, she started breaking down. Sometimes, she would break into tears and beg us to forgive her already, that she learned her mistake. But, boy!" Mark happily stood up. "Shichiro didn't give a shit, and so we did. We would just let her cry beside us... I have a little respect for her for surviving through up to that day though, most would like to hang themselves..." He said as he sat back. "Her cries didn't stop us. We continued using her for the rest of the school year. The more we continue on treating her like that, the more she cries" He said. "One day her mother found out that she was always sobbing in her room and she had to lie again. But her mother knew her playful nature and wouldn't just become like that because she failed in an exam" He said. "She knew that she was studying well so she wasn't convinced. She had to go to the school with her to talk to our homeroom teacher, we were nervous!" He laughed. "I swear the look on Shichiro, he was ready to jump on her and kill her if she exposes us out, but luckily she didn't. She was scared of what we might do to her" He said.
"Wow..." Maeru heavily sighed. "I keep thinking that we are the evils, us that live in the Hell..." She said. Mark curiously looked at her. "We were aware of what humans thinks of us, and we loved it. We were the bad guys. But look at that..." She turned to him. "Turns out the humans are never better beings than us. We were the same, you can be as evil as the entire body of the community in Hell" She said. "I... we heard that already, haven't we? How many times are you going to tell us that?" He scratched his head. "Well, sorry! But I can't just believe it!" She shrugged. "My entire race was told to believe that humans are actually better beings than us for ages! If I'm right, I am the first one to witness this and learn the truth!" She said. Mark was quiet and they stopped for few seconds. "So... what happened next?" She asked. "Well..." Mark thinks of where he stopped. "We survived her mother's interrogations and we continued to abuse her like that. Up to the point where Seiji notices that she was using him for money. She gets to argue with him and she had to lie again. Then few days later, he broke up with her, saying that he wanted love in his life, not a gold digger" He laughed. "We felt her mixed anger and sadness when she's around us after that. We started juicing her parents after that. You had no idea how she looks like when we ran out of a rich supplier" He chuckled.
"Her begging to stop became frequent because it was her parents that we're asking money from, but we didn't give no care and even threatened her more..." "Alright, alright, enough of that. When did you let her go?" Maeru stops him from there. "We didn't exactly let her go. On the last week of the classes, we sent the videos to the school and started the rumors around. We didn't let her know this and let her get the hint from the people around her" Mark said. "Gosh..." Maeru gasped as she didn't expect it. "It didn't last three days before she notices it and became mentally ill right away" He said. "After she noticed it, she already stopped going to school. It was a bit alright because we just had a few days before the end of the school year anyway..." He added. "The last moment we ever had with her was... well... One of our friend, Akira... She passes by her house a few weeks after our class ended and she heard Hana's cries and her parents desperately calming her down... Akira was so sad when she told us this" Mark said. "You completely destroyed her life... Were you happy?" Maeru's questioned made him froze. "You were successful with your goal, but was it worth it?" She asked. "You know how this greatly affect you? People who knew your story will change, how they look on you, how they interact with you, how they treat you..." She sighed. "It will never be the same and you will never go back again. It happened and will stay until the end" She said. Mark was quietly staring at the ground.
"I know the six of you felt regret during and after what you did. I know you are not heartless. I hope this becomes a LESSON for YOU..." She smiled at her. "When we are done with this world, when we break Mariyou's seal, I will ask Shichiro to go with me to meet her and settle things" She said as she looks up at the skies. "After all that? She will 'settle things' with him?" He asked. "Better than leaving it as it is. Shichiro has a lot to say to her and I will make sure she will accept us and support her" She said. "By the way you and Shichiro describe her, she's a nice person. Perfect reputations at school, good grades, she looks cuter than how you describe her, His father is a lawyer and her mother is a therapist. She would have been a great wife. She just happened to succumb to the temptation..." She added. "Ahh... I really feel bad the more I hear about this. I would punish you for what you did as a demon from Hell if I want" She stood up and stretches her arms up. "Shichiro wouldn't like that..." Mark said. "Like I would listen to the six of you if I give punishment" Maeru shrugged. "C'mon, do your job now..." Maeru taps his shoulder and walked inside the building. "The Betty... yeah..." Mark spent a minute there before getting back on track.
創作者的想法 
Keetrix
Keetrix A little background bois. We ain't gonna dive there quick. A sudden change of topic, right? Shichiro has experience a lot of troubles his entire life and this is one of them.
Fetal* ... looks really weird, she sounds like she's sitting on a fetus, omg.
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