Guren chased Shizuka all the way to a park, where the mute seemed to have disappeared.
"Senpai! Where are you?! Hey!" she called. "Come on, you have to give me a chance to explain!"
Unknown to her, the mute was hiding in a large tube, crouching in place, holding her knees close to her chest, as she tried to hold back the urge to cry, not wanting to be found by the one person she thought had felt the same way she did from that session. To think, the one time she wanted to form a band with someone, that very person did not want to be in her band. Was she not allowed to be in an honest band? Was she not allowed to jam freely as other people do in bands? If such a thing was her fate, if she had known this is what would become of her after taking the slightest interest in music, she might as well...
"I thought I heard shouting," came a different voice. Shizuka peeked out from the end of the tube and saw an officer approaching Guren. "Causing trouble again, Sakura?"
"Seriously, Daisuke? I don't have time for you," the girl said to him, baffling the mute for the tone she used towards the law of all people.
"As if those crimes weren't enough, now you want to disrupt peace? How low you've gotten these days. And this time, you can't say you didn't do it when I saw firsthand," Daisuke accused, much to Shizuka's shock.
"Oh, so when you're searching for someone, you don't shout for them? Even a child knows you're suppose to call out for that person's name if you're looking for them," Guren argued.
"Add in arguing with the police to the list. It's off to the station with you." Daisuke reached out to grab the girl, who took a step back.
"That's just bullshit! Just because you don't like me does not give you the right to arrest me for something so trivial! And you call yourself a cop?!"
"Now you're resisting arrest and questioning the police. You just love to go against the law, don't you?" Shizuka noticed the guy reach for his baton by his side and quickly rushed out of the tube. "What's next? Assault?!" Just as he said that, he took his baton out and swung... only to hit the interfering Shizuka instead of the intended Guren, and knocked her hat right off her head.
"Shizuka!" Guren cried out, catching the mute who held her head in pain, right around her left eye. She then glared at Daisuke, knowing full well that hit was truly meant for her. "Bastard! What the hell were you thinking?! What kind of cop just attacks someone?!"
Said officer himself was panicking before he recollected himself and said, "Pushing your problems away, are you?! This wouldn't have happened if you just complied-!"
"Complied to what?" came a voice familiar to the girls, as the trio looked and saw Yukina and Lisa approaching them.
"What the heck is going on here?!" the bassist of Roselia questioned.
"I don't have time for you, kids! I only have business with this criminal here!" Daisuke said.
"Criminal? For what crime?" Yukina questioned.
"Disrupting peace, resisting arrest, and attempting assault. You kids should learn this, so you don't end up just like this bitch!"
"You're the one disrupting peace, here!" Guren argued. "All I did was search for Shizuka, whom you had attacked! And I didn't attempt any assault at all!"
"Making up lies in front of the law, as well. You're not doing yourself any favor at all, Sakura!"
"I don't want to hear that from you!"
"Neither do I," Yukina agreed with the teen staff. "Lisa and I didn't just arrive here. We didn't hear everything, but we did see what happened."
"Yeah. Guren didn't make any attempt to attack at all! You were the one who just swung your baton out of nowhere! This is that convenience store incident all over again!" Lisa added, clearly remembering this officer falsely accusing the staff member of CiRCLE.
Yukina turned to her childhood friend at those words. "'Convenience store incident'?" she repeated.
"Remember that officer Moca and I spoke about? The one who just went and arrested Guren for no reason? This is that same guy!"
"What do you mean 'no reason'?!" Daisuke demanded. "And more so, you two are covering up for this criminal?! Do you girls want to be arrested, too?!" he then questioned, waving his baton at them threateningly.
"Hey! I don't care what you do to me, but leave them out of this!" Guren shouted, setting Shizuka down and standing protectively between her and the cop before them. "It's one thing for me to constantly be accused of things real criminals had done, but you're going to do that to them, too, on false charges?!" At those words, Yukina, Lisa, and Shizuka looked at her in shock. Guren was what?
"Over here, officer!" came another familiar voice to the teens, as they faced the direction of the voice and saw Ran approaching them with another officer following her, this one also familiar to Lisa.
One look at the group, mainly Daisuke and Guren, and the guy simply sighed. "This again?"
''Again'?' the band teens plus the mute thought.
"Chief! Thank goodness, you're here!" Daisuke said. "This criminal here is resisting arrest! She's disturbing the peace, arguing with an officer, and tried to attack me!"
"That's not what I saw," Ran spoke up, unamused with the lie. "You were the one who attacked first."
"All right, quiet down," the older officer told them. "I'll need everyone's verdict. Tell me what happened really."
And that they all did. As they said their piece of what happened, Shizuka typed in her side of the story in her phone, while getting her bruise treated by Guren, who soaked her handkerchief in the water fountain and rested it gently on her head. Thankfully, the hit wasn't hard enough to spill blood, but it still hurt the mute.
After hearing all the sides to the story, the older officer sighed again. "Daisuke... You know as well as I do, although Sakura was arrested multiple times on multiple charges, she was only falsely accused of them all," he said, increasing Shizuka and the band girls' shock even more about the new hire. "Moreover... you struck a mute, and attempted to strike a citizen without sound reason. A search for a person is not one that is to be done silently, therefore is not a disturbance of peace."
Daisuke was at loss for words. "B-But... They... She-!"
"Enough. I will not give you another warning." At those words, the immature cop went silent, as the older cop turned to Guren. "I am so sorry for my disciple's action. I thought it was weird how happy he was when I punished him to do simple patrols around the city. So this was what he was after..."
"It's fine. You and I both know I was going to get in trouble with the cops one way or another at some point, anyways," Guren said. At this point, the other girls didn't know what other shocking revelations was going to be heard.
The older cop, on the other hand, only sadly nodded at the part-timer's words, before turning to Shizuka. "I'm sorry for Daisuke's actions. If there's anything I can do for you in return-"
"Don't bother," Guren spoke. "These girls may not know, but I do." Without another word, she grabbed Shizuka by the hand and dragged her away. "Come on. We have better things to do than be around manipulators."
"Guren?" Ran questioned.
"Hey, bitch! Who are you calling a-?!"
"Be silent, Daisuke," the older officer warned, prompting the guy to be silent. He then turned back to the band girls and said, "She's right. We've been keeping you girls here long enough. You should best get home now."
The trio hesitantly nodded before following Guren and Shizuka away from the cops.
Once they were away from the cops, the three band girls caught up with Guren and Shizuka.
"Hey Guren. What was that back there?" Lisa asked.
"What was what back where?" Guren asked back.
"You know what I mean! What did he mean you got arrested multiple times?! And on multiple false charges at that! Not to mention you said something about getting in trouble with the cops at some point any how. In fact, back when you saved me and Moca from those thugs, when that Daisuke guy went and arrested you, you didn't even bother to struggle, much less say a word against it!"
"Now that you mentioned it, you two did say something along the lines of that. The only time she struggled was to stop one of those thugs from reaching his weapon, wasn't it?" Ran recalled from the story.
"Yes, exactly! Guren, what the heck is the meaning of this?!"
"I was cursed since childhood. That's all you need to know," she simply said.
"I disagree," Yukina said. "You're our schoolmate, and a staff of CiRCLE, the live house of the event in which we are taking part of. I believe we have the right to know more about the girl who is to be working with and supporting us. Also, you told us we can rely on you for things involving the event. Why can't you do the same to us outside the event?"
Lisa looked at her vocalist in surprise. "Yukina, I'm impressed you said such a thing," she admitted.
"But she does have a point," Ran said. "What exactly is going on with you?"
At the question, Guren stopped in her tracks, prompting the others to do the same. She then glanced at them and took a breath. "Well, you're not making assumptions about me like everyone else, so I guess I won't waste my breath in telling you."
"'Everyone else'?" Ran repeated.
"I wasn't joking about being cursed. Ever since I started middle school, I always find myself at the scene of a crime just as it was happening, no matter how big or small. And whenever the police would approach, the true criminals always pushed evidence of their actions to me."
"If that's true, then why didn't you get away?" Lisa asked. "If you did, you wouldn't get caught in the crossfire then."
"Tell me. What would you do if you saw someone commit murder in front of you?" At Guren's question, the girls went silent in shock. "If you've seen it happen for the first time, then maybe you'd run, or be frozen in fear. But what if it wasn't the first time?"
"What... do you...?" Ran only trailed off.
"The first time I saw murder... I was a child... The victims were my parents." That... left them speechless. "When I saw the murder happen a second time, I didn't just freeze there in fear; my mind went back to that horrid night, and I just... shut down. By the time I was back to my senses, I was on the ground with the knife in my hands, and the police arresting me. I tried to tell them that they got it all wrong, that it was someone else. But to them, just seeing the end result was all they needed to make their verdict."
"B-but... if that's true, then shouldn't you still be in jail?" Lisa stuttered out.
"Fortunately, there were people who knew me better than to commit murder, or any sort of crimes for that matter, like that chief of police. After proper inspection was done on the murder weapon, they found the other guy's fingerprints on it, and arrested him. But... the damage was already done to me. No one believes me, much less trust me, save for a few. And as it turns out, that false charge was just the beginning. Various other crimes started occurring near me, and the moment they saw me, the criminals instantly pushed any possible evidence onto me, just as the cops were about to catch them. Did I try to avoid them? Of course I did, at first, only for those crooks to lie to the police and claim I was a part of their group in some way."
"And the police believed all of that?!" Yukina questioned.
"You saw what happened back with Daisuke. With all the false charges being piled up under my name, so were suspicions of me one day actually committing a crime myself. It was so bad, there were even rumors going around at my previous schools. Ridiculous ones, at that." To Shizuka and the band girls' bafflement, Guren then let out a slight laugh.
"This isn't a laughing matter!" Ran exclaimed. "You've been accused of so many crimes, and no one believed you... Aren't you sad? Angry?"
"Oh, I was. But is there any point?" Guren questioned. "What's the point of acting like an abandoned puppy if no one was going to approach you? As time passed, after the multiple arrests, I've learned to live with the rumors and suspicions, the many accusations and falls forced onto me, that there was no point in shedding tears or pleading for my innocence since the people who believe me are those close to me. Besides, you wouldn't believe the sort of rumors that had been popping up at my old schools. There was one rumor claiming I would steal a lion and sneak it in the cafeteria. Not even a grade schooler would believe in something so stupid, so it makes me laugh how easily those idiots did, even with my bad rep. More so, instead of hearing out my story, the truth behind every act I was falsely accused of, they judged me for even breathing the same air as them." When she said that, the others thought back to when Guren had the girls gather back at CiRCLE, saying those exact words when Tomoe started losing some respect for her then.
'Back then... she said it because people did see her that way...' Shizuka thought in realization.
"But... you said there are people who know you better than that, right? Surely they said something against-"
"Why do you think I transferred to your school?" Guren interrupted Lisa. "It wasn't because of a parent's job. I had problems at my school. If I stayed there, my best friend, the only friend I had since childhood, not only would risk losing her chance to even be part of the student council, but would possibly be the next big gossip if she had succeeded. Not in a good way, and with my horrible luck, that 'possibly' was a 'definitely'."
"You can't possibly know that," Yukina denied. "Knowing such a thing so well would be the same as a live show. You can't predict what would happen in it."
"If I hadn't been living with this curse for years, I would believe that, except I had been living with this for long enough. I never caught a good break from this, even after I moved."
"What do you mean?" Ran asked.
"Earlier at school, in the cafeteria, when the other girls were staring at our tables, I've seen their eyes anywhere. They weren't looking at you guys in awe and admiration; they had their attention on me. I especially remember some of their faces; they used to go to my middle school." Those words baffled Shizuka and the Haneoka girls. "While I wasn't lying about needing to do research at the time, I was also doing you guys a favor. Had I stuck around longer, whatever odd rumors those girls would come up will spread like wildfire, and no one will look at you the same way ever again."
"You don't know that," Lisa said.
"Yes, I do! That's what happened to my friend. Despite all the false accusations, she stood by me and got angry for me whenever she caught wind of what people say behind my back. ... And she had been paying the price for it..." As Guren said that, the others were left speechless. "I didn't want her to lose any more than she already had because of me, and transferred out. Even moved out of my old place so she wouldn't find me. That's why I declined your offer." At those words, Shizuka knew Guren was speaking to her, especially as the girl faced her, releasing her grip on her hand. "If you do form a band with me of all people, my curse will spread to you. You think being mute is bad enough? What about losing someone important to you? What about getting involved in my problems, whether you want to or not? And I don't mean just talks of rumors or gossips. Being accused for so many things, I made friends and enemies in places no person should be involved in. I had hoped moving to a new area would get me out of their radar, but for all I know, I'm only delaying the inevitable, and getting more people involved in my problem."
None of the girls knew what to say then. How could they, after this revelation bomb?
"As much as I want to do you guys a favor and be out of your hair as soon as possible, I'm still a staff of CiRCLE. Once the Girls Band Party is done, consider that the last time you'll ever see me," Guren then said, much to their surprise.
"W-Wait a second, Guren-san! Don't you think that's going a bit too far?" Lisa asked.
"On the contrary, Imai-san, I find it to be quite reasonable. You saw what happened with Daisuke. I stick around any longer than I have to, that sort of thing will happen again. Be it at me, or any of you. Gotta say, though, it will be a shame when I leave. I really did like all your music." Without another word, Guren started to take her leave.
"Wait, senpai!" Ran called.
"Best not get close to me at school, either. If those girls are exactly as I remember, they'll definitely come up with some crazy stuff about you if you do."
Ran wanted to argue against that, but couldn't find it in her to say a word. Not just her; Yukina and Lisa as well. At first when the bassist saw first hand how the officer treats Guren, she had assumed that there was some bad blood between them of some kind. But to think it was that? More so, Guren had been dealing with that treatment since middle school?
Shizuka was especially baffled by what was told. Here she thought she was the most unfortunate soul, having lost her parents at a young age, constantly moved around to different foster homes, all with horrible family who mistreated her on a daily basis. Here, she thought no one understood what it was like to live such a horrible, distrustful life. But now she realized she was wrong; she found someone who really was just like her. An outcast, as Guren had called them.
The mute looked down at the handkerchief Guren left for her injury, determined to return the kindness and courage she had received in full.