"I'm home!" The man said, tiredly as he closed the door. "How's school, Fa–"
"I hate you! I'm fucking going to kill every last one of you!"
"Huh?"
The man immediately alerted, looking straight at what he thought was a man's voice. However, instead, he sees a little girl with black hair and purple eyes staring at the TV closely.
"This hate crime incident happened on Wednesday, January 18th when the single father went shopping to buy baby formula for his newborn daughter. The culprit who injured him is 31-year-old—"
Before the voice on TV could say anything more, the man immediately turned it off.
"Faith, you shouldn't watch those stuff! It's not good for you!" The man exclaimed, worriedly.
The little girl tilted her head in confusion, looking at him. "Why?"
"Um," The man avoided her gaze, pondering what to say to the little one. "B-Because you're still young. Yes, that's it!"
"But some kids at school do that too."
"They what?!"
I'll sue the school when I get the chance! The man screamed at the thought to himself. But first–
He then looks at the girl.
How should I explain this to her?
While thinking about it some more, without knowing, the girl was also in deep thought about something.
"....Uncle, why do people hurt other people?" she asked. "Is it really like what that man said to the dad on TV? That… he hated him?"
"…What made you think that?"
"Well…" The girl looks down. "The mean man on TV said that he'll kill every person who looks like the dad. Does that mean he wants to hurt people who are different from him? When he said that, it made me think–"
The little girl stopped at her words, unsure if she should say anything further because to her, it might hurt the man's feelings.
"It's okay, Faith." The man placed his hand on her shoulder, assuring her to continue. She then took a deep breath.
"When he said that, it made me think: is this how mom's family feel towards us? Towards me? Mom's family never said that they wanted to kill us, but… They hated us because we're different. Sometimes it made me wonder if I did anything wrong to make them like that."
Without any hesitation, the man immediately embraced the little girl tightly, trying to hold back his tears.
"It's not like that, Faith," The man said, trembling. "You didn't do anything wrong. The same goes with the dad on TV. Like you said, the mean man who wants to hurt the dad hates him because he is different."
The little girl noticed him shaking and pats the man's back, hoping it could comfort him.
"You know," he continued. "There are many ways to express how a person feels about things they do not like. Some might say they dislike it, but other times, they use "hate" instead. People don't know that hate is a strong word, and their actions for it don't help when they use it to hurt someone."
"Is it… the same with mom's family?"
He didn't respond. Instead, he answered, "Always remember, Faith, hate is a really strong word. Can you promise me–"
Not to use it so often?
***
Monday, August 25th, 20XX
"I freaking hate work! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"
"You're blasting my ears, Ms. Song," I said, placing the phone on my shoulder while finishing the rest of my homework on the computer.
"I don't want you to walk alone though!" pouted Serena on the phone. "It's sad that I have to stay here overtime too!"
"Do what you have to do, Ms. Song. You need that extra money."
"B-B-But I would rather spend time with you, Serenity!"
"Please don't mix your personal life and professional life into one place, Ms. Song."
"Y-You don't have to be so formal to me, deary!'
"That's because I have a feeling someone's going to knock on your door in 3, 2, 1–"
"ACK! Someone knocked on the door! Are you a psychic, Serenity?"
"I just have a feeling. I'll hang up, so–"
"W-Wait!"
"Yes?"
"Do you still have the spare key to my house?"
"Yes."
"That's great! Um, be careful walking on your way there."
"I will. See you in a couple of hours, Serena."
"See ya!"
As Serena hung up, I placed my phone down and double checked if I missed any questions on my homework and submitted it to one of my professors. When finished, I quickly left my seat and went outside, knowing that the sky is now gray.
"The weather looks awfully gloomy today," I murmured, walking my way towards Serena's house which is not far from the school.
As I stopped, waiting for the Pedestrian sign to allow people to walk, a few raindrops fell on me.
Ah, it's raining. I thought to myself, looking up and raising my hand to it.
"I used to dislike it, but… just listening to it sounds very pleasing."
It reminded me…
The thought of the man I encountered on that rainy day came into mind.
"I wonder if he's doing alright," I murmured.
"Excuse me."
Startled, I looked to my right, realizing a boy with spiky maroon-hair with black eyes and light skin besides me. He's wearing a gray shirt and brown pants with white sneakers.
"Yes, may I help you?"
The moment I asked, an umbrella was covering my head, leaving the boy in the rain.
"Oh no, Miss. It's just… you'll catch a cold, and it's not good for a lady to be soaking in the rain," he said.
"That's very kind of you, but what about you?" I asked, reluctant.
"I insist, Miss, and I'll be fine. Besides, my workplace is over there."
"Over—"
"I have to go. They're expecting me. Have a great day, miss!"
And just like that, he left without me asking, going the opposite direction.
I sighed, "It'll be a hassle if I don't return this to him, but…"
I have this feeling that we won't bump into each other anytime soon.
At least, that's what I thought.
***
Tuesday, August 26th, 20XX
"…"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...You're that boy from yesterday."
"Haha, I'm surprised that you still remembered me, miss."
"We saw each other yesterday."
"Hahaha…"
This is how it went. I got up, went to school, finished classes and homework, and walked back to Serena's house to end the day; however…
I glanced at the boy who then smiled at me. Unlike his attire yesterday, he looked professional, wearing his tuck-in blue shirt, black coat, pants, and shoes.
It's as if–
"I didn't introduce myself, huh? I am Detective Aiden Blair. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Fate."
I feel like I'm a freakin celebrity wherever I go.
"...I presume you know me because of Serena."
"Ah, Miss Song speaks very highly of you. In fact, she's also very proud of yo–"
"Please get straight to the point. You're here to question me about what happened last week, aren't you?"
"Miss Song is not wrong about how quick-witted you are, Miss Fate."
I'm also going to assume that he is the person Serena spoke with yesterday. I mean, our meeting yesterday can't be a coincidence.
"Before I start, shall we go somewhere to eat and talk from there?"
"And why would I want to do that? Wouldn't it be better to talk about it here, or at the police station?"
I glanced at my surroundings, making sure there are people in case this Aiden does something weird to me.
For all I know, he could just pretend that he is a detective.
As if he read my thoughts, he scratched the back of his head, awkwardly.
"I'm not a suspicious person, you know. I'm one of the good guys."
"That's what they all say."
"What? Who told you that?"
"Oh, did I speak my thoughts aloud? My sincere apologies."
"Why do I feel like you're being sarcastic about it? Okay, changing the subject here: I have this feeling that you've haven't eaten anything all day."
As if on cue, my stomach growled.
"Am I wrong?"
"You heard it wrong."
Again, it growled but louder.
"If the Miss' stomach agrees–"
"I will only go, if we're in a place where there's lots of people."
"You have my word."
Just as the detective promised, we settled on a nearby cafe with a lot of people, and sat at a table in the nearest corner and ordered lunch.
"I'll pay."
"No, no, please allow me. Excuse me, please put this under my tab."
"Yes, sir."
"Besides, there's no need to be formal, Miss Fate. I am two years younger than you, after all."
"You're in high school?"
"Homeschooled actually, and I recently graduated just this June."
"Congrats."
"Hehe. Thank you so much."
Where is this conversation going?
"Is that why you're buying lunch? To make me comfortable since the topic is about that?"
"And the miss got it right again."
Aiden then takes out a recorder.
"Let me click this recorder here, and–"
Click.
"Okay. So, before I start, I would like to let you know that I'm recording our conversation as proof as we're speaking about the events that happened to you last week. You have the right to–"
"There's no need. I consent and speak the truth about what happened."
"Very well then, Miss Fate. Oh, let's call each other by our names, so is it alright to call you Serenity, or would you prefer to be called Faith?"
"To make this talk faster, just call me Faith."
He chuckled, "Alright then, Faith. You can call me Aiden."
As the waiter brought our lunch, we began the talk. Just what Aiden wanted, I discussed with him about what happened last week–the picture, the mailbox, and the incident with Neura, Monica, and Gorin messing up with the dorm.
"That reminds me, did you consent with Ms. Song to install security cameras outside your dorm?"
"Yes. I had a talk with Serena before coming here, and we thought that it would've best to install them in case of safety measures."
"I see. May I ask why Ms. Song installed the app for the security cameras instead of you?"
"Both my uncle and I installed the app together with Serena. That day, I forgot I had access to the app due to my memory loss from the picture incident."
"I see."
Truthfully, I never wanted the security cameras nor the app when I came here. The reason why I HAD to was because uncle was too overprotective and scared for my well being. It was also to the point where Serena would call the police to patrol around my dorm.
And I didn't want any of that.
Aiden writes something on his notepad.
"May I ask where you and Ms. Song were on the day and night of Thursday through Sunday?"
I then looked at Aiden confused. "How is this related to last week's incident?"
"Let's call it a hunch."
That doesn't explain the question you asked of me.
"…I was with Serena on Thursday through Saturday at her place. And… on Sunday, the two of us went to the store, and then went to the cemetery."
"I see. So you stayed at her place due to the dorm incident. Then…"
He then turned off the recorder.
"Ms. Song wasn't lying."
I smacked the table and stood up from my seat.
"What are you implying, Mr. Blair?"
"Haha, calling me mister makes me sound kind of old."
I didn't say anything more when Aiden stopped chuckling.
"But if the miss allows me, I will explain everything."
"How can I trust you?"
"You…don't have too, Miss Fate."
"What?"
"I've confirmed my suspicions, so… if you like, would you care to hear me out?"
He may be younger than me, but is he serious?
I sighed. "You have 60 seconds."
"Are you serious?" He stared at me in shock, mouth agape. "How about a minute?"
As I expected—
As I was about to stand up from my seat—
"Okay, okay! I'll talk!" He exclaimed. "Out of curiosity, have you been listening to the news? Anything recent lately?
"I haven't. The last news I watched was a hate crime 11 years ago in 3rd grade."
"That… happened a long time ago, Miss Fate. "Well… given within your circumstances, I can assume that you don't know."
"Know what?"
"Your bullies—Neura Hellabeth, Monica Zen, and Gorin Nitt, passed away… 6 days ago."