☆27. flowers on the desk
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[ACT. 2]
« What are you afraid of? »
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ALREADY CONCERNED ABOUT something more important, reality finally caught up with Nana: Sunghoon had kissed her. Although it's saved her life, she couldn't help feeling embarrassed and frightened.
As she cursed herself for almost giving in... The protagonist locked herself in her room until sunrise. When she plucked up the courage to come out, the ghost was gone. The ritual was over.
She wanted to scream, so many questions mixed up in her head. It was an unimaginable mess and all her thoughts were tangled up like threads.
However, one thing was sure. She was so much better; no more headaches, hallucinations or even strange feelings. Everything had disappeared when the boy had kissed her.
That kiss. It was as if it had cured all this. It didn't make sense to her, who thought it was just a coincidence, but it was far too obvious.
Even so, the girl didn't feel like going to school. She didn't want to face him, not after that. Of course, if the kiss had made the other one disappear, she'd have to thank him, but... How could she?
For Nana, a kiss is not a simple and irrelevant thing. There are many ways of rousing someone enough to wake them up: pushing them, or even hitting them.
She knew Sunghoon was probably panicked, but why one kiss out of an infinite number of choices?
If he'd decided to kiss her, it was because he'd felt the need to for a long time. Now, every time she thought about it, her heart beat a little faster and her face warmed.
What could she say to him after all this? Did she have to pretend it never happened?
The young woman had finally decided to leave for school. In any case, she had to find out if the other one had been eradicated from her mind and, if so, tell Rachel and Jungwon.
With a lump in her stomach, Nana slammed the door of her house and started walking. Her steps were slow, constantly hesitating to turn around and go home again.
Courage was leaving her once again, but it had to be done. Both for her and for the skater, who was also drowning in remorse and questions.
Once inside the school, the heroine walked to the gymnasium. There were very few students in the corridors, so she hoped to be alone with her friend.
She opened the door, heart instantly raced. It was the first time she had felt this way, she who had previously considered the young man like a safe place...
Now here she was, helpless and embarrassed.
The gymnasium was empty, with not a single student in sight. Even the ghost seemed at first sight to be nowhere to be seen.
However, he was sitting comfortably on the bleachers, his hands clasped and his gaze lost.
He wasn't really surprised to see his friend; it was as if he'd been expecting her for a while. Without even greeting him, the girl climbed the stairs and took a seat right in front of him, in the row below.
It had never been so icy between them and she was really afraid that this abrupt gesture would change anything.
After twiddling her thumbs for a few seconds, Nana had stealthily turned around and was now facing him. The blond boy didn't escape her gaze any longer and stared back.
"Hey."
"Hi. How's it going?"
"I'm doing surprisingly well. I don't have any more headaches."
"Good."
The heroine would have preferred a long, awkward discussion rather than a cold, abbreviated one. Sunghoon quickly stood up, ignoring everything and calmly made his way to the ice rink.
"Wait—"
"You should go to class. With the new security, you could be in trouble."
Nana frowned, almost disappointed. That was the first time he'd wanted her to leave, even though he enjoyed her company.
He continued to ignore her and put on his ice skates. The protagonist swallowed her disappointment and relativized.
She set off in his direction and put on the most reassuring expression she could muster.
"About yesterday... I don't want it to change anything. It was sudden but I don't blame you, okay?"
"It's fine. It wasn't a love kiss, I just panicked. There was no feeling."
"Right. I get it, you don't have to be so..."
"So what? I'm just being honest, I'm not crushing on you anymore so it won't change anything believe me."
That was what the teen wanted, that it wouldn't change anything in their purely friendly relationship.
Yeah, that was what she wanted. So why was she in pain?
Nana was furious and strangely
hurt by the young man's words. It seemed childish and immature, but she didn't want to talk to him again for the rest of the day.
Classes were about to start so she tried to get through a usual morning before turning her attention back to her problems.
The protagonist then set off to retrieve some books from her locker. Later in the day, she was determined to return to the spiritism club and hope to see her classmates there.
She was beginning to miss Rachel and was very worried about her. She wanted to know more about her history and experience. As Nana opened her locker, she heard footsteps coming.
Reflexively, she closed it and watched them, who sighed as their eyes met. It was Junko. She rolled her eyes and walked past her friend as if nothing had happened.
Now that she was feeling much better, Nana was in a position to talk with her best friend. It didn't do her any good to argue with her.
So without thinking, she caught up with and intercepted her. The brunette turned her head in surprise and widened her eyes.
"Can we just talk? It'll only take a few minutes."
Junko remained silent, "If you don't want to talk to me that's fine but listen."
Her best friend turned completely around and remained motionless, as if ready to listen.
She mustered all her energy and took a deep breath before letting go of everything that was on her mind.
"I've been a shit."
She began, "It's horrible what I told you, despite my anger I didn't have to talk to you like that. I love you too much to pretend, to stop talking to you and not try to make things right."
In the end, she didn't have the strength to say more, for fear of crying in front of her. Nana's face was flushed with shame at this ponderous silence, and she didn't move or even express another emotion.
"...I just came to ask your forgiveness, that's all. I won't bother you anymore and don't worry I'll change seats for math class."
Just as she was about to leave, Junko grabbed her arm, surprising her on the spot.
"I'm worried about you, Nana."
She'd almost missed the sound of her voice. "You've been strange lately."
"When I get a chance I'll tell you all about it, promise."
The bell rang at the same moment and Junko nodded, agreeing to be a little more patient. The protagonist went back to her locker and opened it, her friend still at her side.
She picked up a thick maths book and put it in the bag. However, her eyes fell on something that suddenly froze her body: a small paper stuck to the spine of the book.
Instinctively, Nana looked at Junko, who was busy on her phone. She also looked around, but there was nothing suspicious. The paper was folded in two. Hesitantly, she unfolded it discreetly and her heart gave out.
forget me already ?
playtime's over. look what you did.
last warning. :(
The heroine tried to act normal but she wanted to cry in fear. Of course, every possible shit was happening and she had no more moments of respite.
Now that she was feeling better and the other one seemed to have less control, the killer was back and threatening her. Whether in the occult or the real world, Nana was not safe.
"Shall we?"
Junko called out as she put her phone away.
As usual, the protagonist hid every problems from her. She had a lump in her stomach and a feeling of great danger hovering over her head, it wasn't good.
What was stressing her out so much was the fact that it was in the locker. It was stuck to one of her books, clearly showing that it had been opened, and it gave her the creeps.
She wanted to understand how he'd done it this time. Every move he made was just another clue.
If the killer knew a way to access the student's lockers, he must be...
"What do you do when you forget your locker password?"
She asks, eyes drifted to the cameras installed throughout the school.
"Don't know. Gotta go see the headmaster, I think."
Now she officially suspected someone of being the killer.
Nana dragged her feet, hands clammy and forehead damp with stress. Luckily for the girls, the teacher was late and students chatted amongst themselves.
Suddenly, as the two friends walked into the room, all eyes were on them. Confused, Junko raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.
"...What's wrong?"
Some of them laughed while pointing at Nana, who was expecting the worst. Another bad news today? What was it, then?
"Nothing but... Suzuki! Check your desk, you've got a secret admirer."
The brunette rushed over to her friend's table, Nana slowly followed and widened her eyes.
She'd expected the worst, but... there were nothing but flowers on her desk. No kidding, it was a few flowers in a small glass jar.
"Nana has a secret admirer?!"
Another student retorted.
"It's not funny guys, that's strange as fuck."
Junko wasn't too pleased and even a bit scared.
A jar of flowers... In such a complicated life? It seemed almost unreal and suspicious.
A trap?
The heroine examined the gift from afar, and all her muscles relaxed when she noticed one detail too many: there were 4 flowers.
A small note was placed between the petals of one flower. Nana stretched out her arm to take it, but Junko was quicker. She winced as the girl unfolded and read it.
"Know Japanese culture before accepting this gift..."
Suddenly, she crumpled the paper in her hand, "Who did this? It's not funny, I will report this."
Clearly, the two friends seemed to be the only ones who understood the hidden meaning of this sentence. All the students stopped laughing, surprised by their attitude.
"What's wrong with that?"
"In Japan, we put flowers on a desk's student who died. It's a mark of respect but... When the student isn't actually dead—"
"It's wishing them dead."
Nana finished the sentence.
Suddenly, she sent the vase tumbling to the floor. Anger bubbled up inside her as she realized something. There was only one student who could give her flowers so easily.