Sokudo: Villains Always Win (ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ)

Chapter ten | guilt

She couldn't do anything, just stand there and watch as the scene unfolded. She almost couldn't believe it, she didn't... she didn't think... she didn't think that things would end this way. It couldn't. Two doctors entered the room, and Satou, poor Satou crying and reaching out for Minji had to be pulled to the side.

Minji, who had previously been choking on her own blood, now laid on her bed unconscious, clothes splattered with her blood. One doctor desperately tried to revive her, doing chest compressions in hope of getting her breathing again. Chieko hadn't even realized her heart had stopped.

The other doctor, who looked at Minji with her hands over her mouth and eyes wide, turned to Chieko and Taichi. She told the both of them to leave, when Taichi tried to make her let him stay, she just shouted at him to go, and pushed both of them out of the room. Chieko, still in shock at what was happening, looked back to see Satou still in the room, tears streaming down his face and the most heartbreaking cries escaping his mouth as he reached out his hand to Minji, while the doctor tried to force him out of the room, standing between him and Minji.

If this was a dream, this was the perfect moment to wake up. She waited for it to happen, for her to wake up in her bed, Minji safe enjoying life, not on her death bed.

But she didn't wake up.

This wasn't a dream, or a nightmare. This was real life.

─

After the traumatizing event she had just witnessed, she fully expected herself to be a mess of emotions. Fear, guilt, sadness... but instead, her emotions were dull. A few tears fell from her eyes, and they wouldn't stop, but her heart didn't clench in pain, she didn't feel the need to cry out, not even her expression changed from one of shock.

She should feel something, for all she knows Minji could have died in that hospital bed. But with Taichi taking her away from that place, leaving Minji and Satou behind while he insisted on walking her to school. Maybe she was still in shock, that'd explain why nothing felt different but there were still tears falling from her eyes.

She didn't care about school anymore, whether she'd have to deal with those girls again, a huge pile of homework, or overall a day of stress and anxiety ─ nothing, not even getting beaten to a pulp, could make this day any worse. She wanted to go home, where her sweet loving mother could give her comfort, bring all of her emotions to light. Even though she couldn't tell her what really happened, it didn't matter.

She noticed the glances Taichi had been giving her, of obvious concern the way he wore a frown on his lips and a sad look in his eyes. She had expected him to break down just like Satou, and he did, until he ran out of tears to shed. His eyes were red and puffy, but not as bad as before.

He should understand that she didn't feel like going to school, right? She stopped walking and turned to him, he was obviously caught up in his thoughts because he kept on walking. She had to grab his arm to make him stop, and he was pulled out of his thoughts. She let go of his arm when he turned to look at her, it was weird, seeing him so out of character... before today, he barely showed any emotion, besides rare smiles, he just seemed to be an arrogant teenage boy.

She had been oh so very wrong. He wasn't some stuck up teen, sure, sometimes he just didn't seem to care and did whatever he wanted, while blaming Chieko for their petty argument. Minji meant a lot to him ─ of course she did, and now he was completely heartbroken, he looked nothing like the Taichi she knew. Cheeks stained by tears, messy hair he ruffled up when he saw Minji coughing up blood and panicked, a dull and empty look in his usually bright green eyes, and no snarky comments.

Seeing him like this, so... broken, gave Chieko an emotion to hold onto. She felt hurt, as if she was physically injured. She felt tears form behind her eyes, but she blinked them away and shook her head. She then lifted her head and tried to avoid looking into his pained eyes. "Taichi..."