"What do you mean you aren't Yuki? What are you talking about?" Eli says in a confused tone. Your heart starts racing and your chest begins to hurt.
Why did I tell him that? You think to yourself. You panic trying to think of a way to explain it to him. You take another deep breath and then look back at Eli. He stares at you waiting for an answer.
"Mmm... Well... I randomly woke up one day in this body..."
"You randomly woke up in that body? I don't understand..." He huffs. You furrow your eyebrows and soften your eyes.
"The day the both of us went to Yuki's grandparents house... the same day where I saved you from Toman guys... Was the day I appeared in this body..." You answer. Eli's eyes widen. He slowly looks straight ahead and then down. His eyes relax a bit, and he slightly smiles.
"I had a feeling..." He softly says. Your eyes widen and you quickly look at Eli in shock.
"What? What do you mean?" You question. Eli looks back at you and smiles.
"When you followed me to the art room that day... and asked me to go with you to your grandparents house is when I realized something was different about you..." Eli implies. You raise an eyebrows and look at him confused.
"I don't think I understand... You realized that fast?" You ask. Eli softly chuckles and then takes a deep breath.
"I didn't think you were someone else... but I did believe you were different. It was like a sudden switch- a very random switch." He picks the can back up and shakes it a bit before taking a sip. He slowly looks out at the street and rests his arm on his thigh. You tilt your head to look at him, your hair falls to the side as you do. "You know... the Yuki I met or knew before... she was very- quiet and... obedient... If that's the word for it... She would always follow Hana around and would do anything anyone told her. She wasn't much of a talker and was mainly a follower. So, when you followed me into the art room to invite me to come with you to your grandparents it surprised me." He places the can down and looks back at you. "Everyone else noticed it too..."
"Noticed me being different?" You ask. Eli slowly nods.
"Hana was the first one to point it out... At first, she seemed very weird about it but lately she had told me you weren't Yuki... she thinks Mikey tainted you... I thought the same thing. But I didn't really think you were a different person." Eli chuckles. You furrow your eyebrows, looking at Eli confused.
"Why are you laughing about this... Do you think I'm joking?"
"No. I don't think you're joking. I do believe you... It actually makes sense... a lot of sense in a way. You have a completely different personality than Yuki does. You're the complete opposite than she was..." He laughs. You feel very off in this situation. His responses feel unreal and strange... Why does it feel like he isn't taking any of this seriously?
"You're laughing about it... but doesn't this upset you? I'm not the friend you met... I'm-" Your eyes widen, and you look away feeling a sense of confusion and shock.
"You're?" Eli leans towards you waiting for you to speak.
"I- I can't remember..."
"What do you mean?" He questions.
"I can't remember who I was before I had became Yuki..." You softly say. Eli stares at you and looks out at the street again.
"I question... If you're in Yuki's body... then where is Yuki?" He asks. You slowly look at him with a sad look on your face, he looks back at you waiting for an answer.
"That's the complicated part..." You sadly say.
"What do you mean?" He questions. You scratch your head and rest your hands on your thighs.
"I believe I woke up in Yuki's body after she had passed away..."
"Huh? Yuki passed away?" He looks at you with a mixture of confusion and shock in his face. You tilt your head a bit and sigh.
"I was very confused when I woke up in this body. I didn't know or understand much of anything. All I had was the clues around me and the very faint memory Yuki had left." You rub your eyes and then head, pushing your hair back and out of your face. "Not long after appearing in this body I had found a bunch of scattered pills underneath the bed that I haven't noticed until very late... and it triggered a very painful memory... a memory that I didn't experience... I thought Yuki had committed and I woke up in her body right after she did." You sigh.
"You thought? Was that not the case?" Eli questions.
"No... I- I recently found out that... She was murdered..."
"HUH? MURDERED? BY WHO?" Eli shouts.
"Was it necessary to shout that?" You question. Eli looks back down at the ground and furrows his eyebrows.
"How did you find out about that?" He calmly asks. You relax your eyes and sniffle a bit, preventing your nose from dripping.
"I found out earlier today..." You answer. Eli stares at you before speaking.
"So, someone murdered Yuki and you appeared in her body? How was she murdered?"
"Suffocation... and then made it look like a suicide." You reply.
"Oh."
"When I had thought she committed suicide... I believed it was because of all the bullshit she was being put through. It made sense then... but now- I really don't understand... what enemies did she have exactly that would hire someone to kill her..." You slugglishly say. Eli scrunches his face up a bit, trying to process what you just told him.
"I don't know what enemies Yuki had... So, I don't have an answer to that... nor do I have anything that could help..." Eli sighs. You stare Eli in the eyes, causing him to stare back into yours.
"Eli."
"Yu-... Yuki."
"Why are you just... accepting everything I'm saying? I can't tell if you actually believe me... or are joking." You say in a confused tone. Eli looks down at his hands.
"It's- hard to believe... but I believe you." He softly says.
"Why?"
Eli slowly looks back up at you and softly smiles.
"I trust your words... as scary as they sound... I trust you." He sooths. Your eyes soften and you frown a bit.
"Yeah but- you said you love me... You said that believing I was Yuki... I don't get it. How are you so calm about this... Why do you seem so okay with everything I'm telling you." Eli stares you in the eyes. You furrow your eyebrows and sigh. "How are you so okay with me telling you your real friend died..."
"Because as shitty as it sounds... Yuki and I weren't really friends."
"Huh?" Your eyes widen and you look at him confused.
"Yuki was Hana's friend. It has always been that way. No matter who tried to talk to her... she never made it easy. She was a very dense person... Like a badly made cartoon character with a personality that's as plain as a slice of white bread..." He sighs. "What I'm trying to say is... the person I was really friends with was you... not Yuki."
"But-"
"And the person I fell in love with was you... not Yuki."
"I thought you liked Yuki before... I don't understand-"
"I did- as a friend. I really wanted to get to know her but she never wanted to talk to anyone. She wouldn't hang out unless it was with Hana. At first I believed it was because she was shy but- all she cared about was Hana and her mother." He sighs. "So, no... I had no interest in her in that way... Ren was the one who did-"
"Ren?"
"Yeah..."
You furrow your eyebrows and look down feeling extremely confused. Way more confused than you did before.
"It wasn't until the day you saved me from Toman... that day is when I started to really... become interested in you." He sooths. You stare at him with wide eyes and then softly smile.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For believing me." You softly say. He smiles and slowly nods.
"Have you told anyone else about what you told me?" He asks. You shake your head. "Why not? Why did you choose to tell me this?" He questions. You softly smile and look out towards the street.
"Because I trust you." You reply.
"You do? Even after everything?"
"Mhm." You hum. "Even though you are a blabber mouth... and you tend to do a lot of stupid shit- you have always been there for me. I felt like- if I needed someone to let out all my pain to- it would be you." You sooth. Eli softly smiles.
"Are you planning on telling anyone else?"
"No. I don't think I want to or should." You reply.
"Oh? Why?"
"I don't think everyone should need to know. It just seems better that way." You imply.
"Oh. I agree"
"But- there are somethings I want to know and understand." you continue.
"What do you mean?"
"I want to know why Yuki was killed..." You say slowly standing up. Eli looks up at you and then stands up also.
"So- you want me to help?" He questions.
"Mmm... You want to find your mom... right?" You ask. He slowly nods. "I will help you find answers on your mother... but I would also like if you were to help me find out why Yuki was killed." You add. Eli stares at you and then smiles.
"Alright." He says in a tired tone. You smile back. You hold your fist out to fist pump him. He clenches his hand into a fist and fist pumps you.
"Let's do this together." You sooth.
"Together." He bubbles.
Koda sighs and leans against the wall outside the school, watching students leave the school as the festival ends. Ryo is standing beside him cleaning the blade he cut you with.
"Do you think she pretended to have died?" Koda asks. Ryo's eyes shift towards Koda. He sighs and flips the blade downwards and puts it back into its cover.
"No. She died. Not possible to fake." Ryo huffs. Koda furrows his eyebrows at Ryo and then laughs.
"ugh... what an annoying brat!" Koda laughs in a stressed way as he rubs his eyes. He puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out a box of cigarettes. He pulls one out and flips the box close, putting it back into his pocket. Ryo quickly jerks his head toward the right causing Koda to look in that direction.
"Who's there?" Ryo rasps. A figure walks over to them. Ryo squints his eyes trying to make out who it was. Kasumi walks out from the shadows and stops in front of the two.
"Who're you? And why were you creepin?" Koda questions. Kasumi furrows her eyebrows and looks down.
"You do jobs right?" Kasumi asks.
"Mmm... depends on what type of jobs you talking about..." Koda chuckles. Kasumi slowly looks up and sighs.
"Like stealing" Kasumi softly says.
"Oh?"
"Mhm..." She hums.
"Maybe... It all depends on the price you are willing to offer... and what you want to be stolen." Koda scoffs. Kasumi reaches into her pocket and pulls out an envelope and handing it to Koda.
"What about this..." She says. Koda takes the envelope and opens it. He smiles when he sees the amount of money in it.
"So- what was it that you want us to steal?" He asks in a cocky tone.
"... A Kidney." She replies.