Yuki Perspective
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It has been three days since we last looked for the whereabouts of the two brothers, Sung-ho and Nickson. We found no clues from our investigation, and now the fourth day is ending.
Despite the rainfall, Roxanne and I search for anything around the Clock Hotel, hoping to find the two Korean guys within the vicinity. Despite our continuous lookout, we remain luckless for the past three hours in the morning after moving to one room and restaurant after the other and see no familiar faces greeting our presence.
After going in and out of the building, we head over to the convenience store and fill our rumbling stomach. We grab a pair of onigiri (rice balls) and two melon sodas, both popular in Japan.
Roxanne slouches at the metallic chair with her eyes shutting tight before heaving out a sigh.
"Why are we going in for a chase of cat and mouse!" I shuffle my hair and chug the carbonated drink through my throat. I could not care less about the chilly atmosphere as I resume consuming the can of the container into nothingness and gobble my triangular shapes omusubi.
"I am tired, Yuki. Can we just go home and play games?" Roxy squeezes herself to me while resting her head on my lap. On some occasions, this position might get us in trouble, but I pay no attention to that matter and let Roxanne recover for the time being.
"We need to find them, or else we will lose our positions as officers. You know that is going to happen, right?" I reach out for the matcha flavoured pocky and help myself with the emerald-looking stick as I ask my best friend a question.
She wants to retaliate but could not do so, knowing that being an officer would bring more benefits to our current conditions. However, we are already running out of time and options. If we cannot find Nickson and persuade him to come back to the student council room, then all of us will kiss our badges goodbye.
After waiting for three and a half hours of idling and Roxanne eating her fill, we go out once more. The shower descending upon us makes our journey worse as we slog through the puddles.
"If we want help, then we better ask the surrounding people." The sound plan is manageable upon hearing it for the first time. However, we soon realise that we do not have many friends around the neighbourhood.
"There is a place that we could try," Roxanne lifts her head and gawks at the orphanage. I follow her gaze and eventually knock on the front door.
"Is anybody home?" I ask.
I know this is not a sensible idea that we need to do since the people inside are mostly children below our age or caretakers that rarely go out for a walk. Although we can depend on our luck with them, we might not grab any information about the people we are finding. As I glance behind and look around, I see nobody visiting the park, considering the heavy weather and the dark clouds hovering above us.
"In a second, dear. Please wait." The caretaker nudges the door open and sees our two figures.
"Oh, dear me, why are you here, Yuki and Roxanne?" With widening eyes, the old lady slides the door open, revealing more of her shocking expression.
"I am sorry for bothering you, but have you seen Nickson or his brother?" I give out a faint smile, knowing how troublesome our requests are in the middle of the pouring rain.
But instead of pushing us back, the steward directs her finger to our right. Roxanne and I follow her gaze and spot the only building that meets our eyes.
"The school?" Roxanne ponders to herself, thinking that it is nearly impossible that we could find the mangaka there at the closed gates.
"Nickson came by and brought an umbrella a while ago. I think he was in a rush about something and left that way." The lady squints her eyes at the location but gives up afterwards.
Roxanne and I know the caretaker is not telling us a lie and is only explaining what she has seen earlier. However, there is something off about Nickson. That guy has never visited the school, so why now?
"My apologies, I could not give you some spare you some snacks. An older man went by a couple of minutes ago and took all the cookies away from Himari." The woman continues as she flashes us a regretful beam.
My friend and I jiggle our heads, telling the lady that everything is fine.
"We already have our stomachs full, so do not need to worry about us!" The two of us recite in unison, hoping that the woman could understand.
The keeper of the shelter shifts her faint smile into something more sincere and expresses her relief. She usually offers us snacks and refreshments every time we visit the foundling home, and rainy days are unexceptional. However, by listening to her story, she mentions a man who has stopped by and accompanied Himari.
"Do you, by any glimmer of a chance, recognised this person?" I lean closer to the caretaker upon concluding.
No, it cannot be, is it now?
"I forgot what he looked like, but, ah!-" The lady pounds her hand on her palm as she ignites a light bulb over her head. "He looked like Nickson!"
Bingo!
I do not expect the shadowy figure I have seen from last three days ago is Nickson passing by inside the school. Everyone knows that the academies and other stores are closed down for the duration of the rain. Once the weather lifts, they will resume once again.
The caretaker adds Himari is currently sleeping in her room after drawing an image of the three of us. Himari also mentions including a fourth person on the sheet of paper, despite meeting him for the first time during this spring.
After seeking help from the caretaker, we express our goodbyes, exchange bows, and hurry ourselves to the front gate of our school. Upon arriving at the scene, we see the entrance locked with a guard sleeping inside his post. We can even hear his violent snores in our direction.
"What do we do now?" I could see Roxanne sweating profusely, knowing the adventure lies beyond that ingress.
She knows we need to bust our way and find a path inside. However, we need to slink our way through and avoid detection from the guard and the surrounding people passing by.
As the two of us circle the structure, our efforts are all for naught upon searching for an entry. Our sweats fall off the ground, yet we have not reached the insides of the building. After minutes of yanking the bars and pushing the stone, we descend flat on the soil, hitting our bottom first.
"We cannot go inside at this rate," I cannot help but state the obvious after witnessing such a disastrous feat of breaching inside our school.
As if to make matters worse, the bar at our fore slips from its place and unlatches itself and eventually slams into the ground. Upon contact, the sudden blast resounds throughout the vicinity.
Roxanne and I snap our heads at the corner and notice the guard with broad and raving pupils, now sitting upright. After fixing his oversized belt, he takes a pistol and his cigar and advances in our direction.
"What do we do!" Roxanne panics and plans about darting away to the streets.
Luckily for me, I have mastered the art of grabbing my best friend on the shoulder before she could run away from me. As my hands reach for her dress, I drag her back beside me and shut her mouth using my hand.
Who knew that this skill I exercised throughout my time spent with her would come and save us today?
"Quit it, Roxanne!" It is the first time that I let out a growl at Roxy. If that guard sees us right now, attempting to trespass into the academy, we will be in gigantic trouble afterwards!
My heart races like a speeding bullet, and my hormones activate my flight or fight response. I, too, want to run like Roxy and hope for the best about him and avoid his line of sight. We still have a mission to accomplish.
We have not come this far to flee from the fray. If we want to see Nickson and save our precious position of being officers of the student council, we need to do something before that wandering guard catches us off guard.
"I have an idea!" Roxanne exclaims with a stuttering accent. She even pronounces the words in Japanese because of the intense fear of the approaching sentry.
I do not know what plan she is talking about for our problem. Even if I have a grasp of it, I may be wrong about our solution. With our current situation, I have no other choice but to listen to her instructions.
"Go hide somewhere else!" Roxanne commands me and pushes my body away from the site. She then rolls on the ground, kicks the metal bars, and wounds herself through the process.
"Ittaiiii!" A wailing sound of a dying whale echoes throughout the streets, even notifying the nearby citizens who have heard her blow. As if nothing has happened, Roxanne glances at me, hiding behind the bin as I wait for an opportunity to sprint and pass the guard.
"That idiot! I told her not to do stupid things!" A grunt escapes from my mouth while I rest my head on the palm of my hands.
Despite the crimson liquid dripping from her thigh, she gathers everyone in the vicinity, including the guard that terrifies us all. The security looks at her with pity eyes and concern instead of assessing the surrounding environment. He even misses the clustered bars beside his feet as the watchman kneels to help my friend.
"Now is my chance!" Not letting Roxy's efforts go to waste, I scamper through the entrance, get the keys and unlock the gate. I even have the time to return the back on the table before going inside the academy.
Upon gazing below through the window, Roxanne has an ambulance and a few medical staff dragging her inside the vehicle. It has not been long, but that girl draws a mass of attention. Like a miracle in the movies, my best friend pushes her limits and walks back like a healthy person. It is as if she has suffered no injuries, unlike before.
She vaccinated herself and took a tetanus shot two months ago before applying to this school. Roxy knows she is immune from taking the bacteria and would unlikely infect him and lock her jaw.
Roxanne does not want to go to the hospital, knowing that I am already inside and searching the classrooms. She looks through the holes of the gate and discerns me running around, finding that damn Nickson.
"Roxy planned that all along," I snicker envelopes in my mouth as I proceed towards the ghastly hallway.
The silent rooms ward me off from the school. With the rain pouring heavily outside, this once lively academy turns into a haunted house, starring me, finding a lost person who has been out cold for four days!
However, another crisis arises during my trip.
"Where the hell will I look for him!"