I wish I could save you from the hurt, but things will never go back to how we were... ― In Another Life, The Veronicas
xxxxxx
[Rinako]
I didn't know what I should consider as hard. If it was to approach a stranger to introduce myself or to ask that person about certain things where trouble could be rooted.
Seriously, why does curiosity have to even exist?
But if I had to blame something for that curiosity of mine to even exist at the moment, that could only be one person. Do I have to say who it was? I didn't think there was a need to do that. It was already obvious, anyway.
So here I was, just walking down the hallway leading to the rooftop where I knew the person I needed to talk to was possibly waiting—-the person who could tell me the truth about that jerk who would always mess up my mind. But I just noticed. My movement seemed weak at the moment. I wasn't like that even in the mornings. I could say that I could keep up with Mayu's level of hyper activeness in the morning and when I was in the mood.
So what was happening to me?
Until that question I thought of made me stop in my tracks. I sighed soon after.
That was right. I felt out of it because of Setsuji who crossed paths with me at the campus gate. He was blank-faced while I stiffened slightly. It was a weird reaction, right? It looked like the situation between us would become harder for me than ever, huh?
Why was it that I ended up learning the truth?
I continued traversing the path going to the rooftop of the College of Arts building because that person was studying there who was majoring in Fashion Designing. It was a good thing that I didn't have any class in the next three hours that morning. I just hoped that person would allow me to discover more about the truth that I needed to know.
It wasn't long before I finally reached the rooftop. But for the entire duration of the walk just to go there, my heart won't stop beating so fast for unknown reasons. Great! Why did I have to be nervous at this time?
"You can do it, Rinako... You can use your curiosity as a driving force." What the heck? Did I have to talk to myself at this crucial time?
I looked like a crazy person here, you know.
I heaved a sigh—-heavier this time—-as I proceeded to open the door to the rooftop.
I didn't see anyone standing near the door who could be waiting there when I opened it. What greeted me was the sound of ocean waves tossing to the boulders as the ocean seemingly sparkled because of the light coming from the morning sun. To be honest, it was truly a relaxing sight to see.
I couldn't even help smiling at it. If this would greet me every day that would pass, maybe there wasn't a day that my mind would end up in a mess. But then, what should I expect? I guess that even the sea could never get rid of the reason for my mind to become like that.
"You must be Fukuizumi Rinako-san."
I was inwardly startled when I heard that. I turned instantly to the source of that voice. What greeted me was the sight of a beautiful girl's innocent face. She was fair-skinned—-maybe even fairer than me which made me unable to stop feeling insecure.
Of course, I thought it was quite weird for me to feel that way. Not to mention, absurd.
Sporting that person's a simply elegant outfit which consisted of a ruffled blouse, jeans, and doll shoes was a beige summer hat. I remembered that the hat was said to be Izumi Kiho's trademark whenever she was outside of the campus.
"How did you know?" I asked with a frown when her words finally registered in my mind.
That girl smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth and a warm welcoming smile. "My name is Izumi Kiho. You can call me Kiho. Mayu mentioned that you would come here looking for me."
I groaned upon hearing that. I even scratched my head because of that. "That girl is seriously a tattletale."
Kiho just laughed at that, though. "You're right. But it's okay. She already explained to me the real reason why you're looking for me."
That was when I looked up and faced her. "I guess I don't have to state my reason for seeking you, huh?"
She shook her head which confused me, of course. But what confused me more was the thing she said next.
"You don't have to say that. Ever since then, I wanted to meet you. You have no idea how popular you are even here in the College of Arts. To be honest, I was glad when Mayu told me that you were looking for me. At the time, I thought that maybe it was also the right time for me to tell you the truth," she said in a way that told me she felt... relieved.
What? "I-I don't understand..."
Kiho just smiled again. "Forgive me for talking vaguely about this. But I'm really glad I'm finally able to meet you. Is it okay if I call you Rinako? It's a bit unnerving for me to be so formal to a cousin of a friend of mine, especially when I know that person can help us solve this particular problem that we've been dealing with for a long time now."
Okay... Seriously, I couldn't understand her more because of what she was saying. "You're only making things confusing for me, you know that? But yeah, you can call me Rinako. I guess it's better that way."
"Why don't we find a seat so that I could finally start telling you the whole story?" she said to me.
This had gotten a lot weirder than ever. But was this supposed to be alright?
"Are you sure... about letting me know this?" I wasn't sure why I thought of asking that. But I had to ask that, right?
A few moments of silence surrounded both me and Kiho. Her expression turned serious. I didn't know but I thought that perhaps I stepped on a landmine on that one. I couldn't help feeling nervous because of that.
But that feeling soon vanished when I saw Kiho smile again. It looked like Kiho's model-like smile was also her trademark.
"Rinako, you of all people right now should know the truth. Maybe that way, you can stop him from doing his way of taking revenge." Kiho's face looked kind of distraught, though.
But even so, I could understand her. A lot of people had been suffering. It was about time that something or someone should put an end to this.
Kiho and I went to a shaded part of the rooftop where a wooden bench was placed there. We sat there. As soon as both of us were seated, I saw her taking a deep breath as if she was preparing herself before facing me.
"It started when Setsuji-kun was in the senior year of high school," Kiho started. "I was also a senior but we were not classmates. His classmate was my twin brother Kira who was older than me by three minutes. Setsuji-kun and Kira were close. Their closeness even beat that of me and my brother. That's why Seiho and I felt that we were outcasts because of that. Of course, that was just a joke. It was a good thing that Mayu would always accompany us. She was the one who would entertain us whenever Setsuji-kun and Kira would suddenly disappear."
I noticed that the nostalgic smile on Kiho's face didn't disappear as she was telling me that. As for me, I was just being quiet here. I couldn't think of what to say. That was why I waited for her to continue her story.
"At the time, Setsuji-kun was already known for being a heartbreaker but not as worse as he is now. It only got worst after what happened to Kira."
I frowned when I heard the last words she said. So Kiho's brother was the catalyst?
"It was late October, we were surprised when the police told us that my brother was found dead when he fell from a six-story building. Their initial conclusion about the event was suicide but we knew that something was wrong with all that. Even so when Setsuji-kun went home sustaining a lot of bruises on his body... and his eyes were filled with hate."
I saw Kiho clasping her hands placed on her lap. And it looked like they were slightly trembling. In my guess, Kiho's body was reacting as she was remembering a lot of things while telling me all this.
"Kiho..." I called out gently as I held her trembling hands. I noticed that she was startled because of what I did. "Maybe you should stop."
She shook her head firmly. "I won't stop. You have to know the truth. Only you can help us stop Setsuji-kun's actions."
I decided not to speak anymore even though, to be honest, I wanted to contradict the words she said that I was the only one who could stop that guy from his vengeance spree. In the first place, what exactly could I do?
"That was the first time that we saw that kind of hatred in Setsuji-kun eyes. Even I had to stay away from him because of fear. We couldn't understand the reason for us to see that emotion in his eyes. That is until we found out that Setsuji-kun knew something about what happened to Kira."
"So... the initial conclusion which was suicide wasn't a suicide?" I hesitatingly inquired.
My eyes widened when Vivian nodded.