Debate

On Sunday afternoon, when everyone had caught up on their necessary hours of sleep, the debate took place: whether to tell the truth or not. Three in favor against two against. However, against all odds, the negative won. A rumor says that someone used their power, that is, the power to insist that since they were being welcomed into their home, they should listen to them.

One of them was completely indifferent to the discussion and the other decided to move house at that moment, inviting herself to another (Teresa’s) abode and complaining that it was not a democracy, which was not without reason, but they were already a minority.

For this reason, Coral was taken by surprise when on Tuesday, after training, the journalism club attacked her, well, the two members who made it up. That day nobody was expecting her, Teresa did not want to leave Adassa alone at her home. Who knows what could happen.

“Excuse me, we are Carmen and Iker from the school newspaper. Would you mind if we interviewed you?”

“Act normal, act normal," he ordered herself.

“Sure. What do you want to talk about?” She did his best to suppress a smile.

“First the photos, we have to show the leader. That will attract more readers” They said to each other.

“Mmm, like this?” She was already posing without any request.

Click .

“Yes, show us your most natural self.”

Two photos.

“How am I?”

Three photos.

“That's it, that's it. What a bearing.”

“Really?” She changed his position. “It's not that bad…”

More photos.

“Come on, now sit down again.”

“The afternoon sun will make you more beautiful.”

And more .

“How about a back view? And like this? Do I show a tender side…?”

And more .

“You look perfect.”

“Now one on the track.”

Even more.

“Yes!” She said enthusiastically.

The question was… Were so many photos really necessary? Maybe, I am a narrator, not a journalist, but it is possible that everyone got carried away by emotion.

When they finished the unexpected and intense photo session, Coral sat next to the couple, in the stands, with one leg bent horizontally and the other fully stretched out, she held her right foot with her hands, and her face had a sincere smile.

“And… if I may ask, why the interview? To be the fastest in the 60-meter sprint? Or the most enduring in the middle distance? Maybe last month when I did a perfect tube at the beach? Or because I removed the new school-menu that smelled like farts mixed with garlic?”

“What? No, no” the boy was surprised.

“So, you're encouraging little girls to do more sports?” she said, somewhat surprised.

“No, you already know. It's because of this” they showed her a clipping from the local newspaper: “Teenagers and a macabre discovery."

“What?” She was startled.

“I know, the title is flat and the macabre discovery thing is overused…” one of them complained, there is no more good journalist as before.

“Don't say that! It's considered unfair compe-ti-on.“ The other corrected him.

“It's com-pe-ten-ce, and please don't embarrass me in front of the guest.”

Coral had stopped listening to them a couple of seconds ago and was now on her phone. She didn't know who to talk to, whether her brother, her best friend, her guest or the pain in the ass she considered a friend. She opted for the second option. Maybe she wouldn't discover anything but at least she would calm her down, or, failing that, she would divert her attention by claiming that phones spy and listen.

“Shall we begin?” they ask together.

“Hm? Yeah, yeah!”

They took their time with the interview, a long time, a long time compared to the length of the institution's magazine, a time of distraction before the dispute that would take place later.

When she finished, Coral used her long legs to get home as quickly as possible. She had told Teresa and Imobach to wait for her there. The others didn't tend to go out, they were sure to be there. Yûsuke had gotten into the habit of going over the math, Spanish, history books, whatever he could get his hands on (more like the books whose subjects weren't taught to the brothers that day); Adassa would be with the laptop. Unlike other times, she hadn't brought the desktop computer, or the tower, or the peripherals, or anything, something that had caught Imobach's attention the first day.

“Who has it been?”

Coral began the interrogation in the living room. She was standing in front of them, stiff, with her hands resting on her hips, with her elbows far apart. The rest were lying on the sofa, each in their own way, from left to right, Imobach with his legs crossed and his hands in his pockets, with his eyes slightly closed, Teresa had taken off her shoes and had her knees drawn up against her chest and held by her arms, Adassa was lightly resting her head on the blonde's hip, she was completely stretched out, occupying almost the same space as her three companions together, with one leg on top of the sofa, and Yuusuke had one hand resting on his chin, with his feet intertwined at the ankles. Only a table separated them from her.

“Seriously, who did it? Don't lie to me” Coral repeated.

“If you explain to us what…” said her brother. That same afternoon he had taken the opportunity to go over the cut on his eyebrow. And if he was honest, he preferred to have repeated dessert with his new friend instead of the cake he expected to make.

“Well, who let the cat out of the bag, the negligent person who told us about our misfortune on Sunday morning.”

“Ah,” Adassa said lazily as he twisted the septum. “It was me.”

The emotions of the rest of those sitting on the sofa were mixed: anger, despair, apathy and disgust, respectively.

“How could you do that?!” Coral tried to control her tone, she tried.

"Who else…?" Imobach thought, but preferred not to say anything hurtful out loud.

“It's not that bad, there's no need to be alarmed.”

“It's a crime…” Teresa complained.

“An illegal raid!” this time he spoke.

"Well, they didn't think much about it before going in, they only worry when they get caught?" Adassa replied, rightly.

“Didn't it occur to you to omit information?” added the dark-skinned man. "But he's not wrong," he thought.

“Alexa” Adassa interrupted, “Alexa, how do you win a fight when you are outnumbered?” She paid attention.

“This is ridiculous” Coral lowered her head and slapped her hands against her thighs.

“Tsk” he muttered, he wanted to hear carefully.

“We're going to end up in jail.” Coral lost hope.

“No, man, no” Adassa played down the matter.

“What do you mean? They're both almost 17.” She pointed at her brother and her friend. “I will end in a juvenile center… and… I don't know what's going to happen with him.”

“It's not that easy in this country, I can tell you from experience.” said Adassa with a tone somewhere between proud and affected. “If they really went to jail, we can claim temporary insanity for Teresa and you... you're very handsome, you're not going to go to jail, right, blonde?” Adassa gave her a weak nudge to get her to respond.

“Hm…Y-yes” She answered shyly.

“And if you go… well, your fan club will grow. Like the katana assassin.’

“Are you listening to yourself? It's bordering on idiocy!” Coral was the angriest, and that made him even angrier.

“The damage has already been done, we must focus on how to repair it.” Yûsuke remarked, still with his hand on his chin.

“I… I want to go…” Teresa suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom.

Imobach put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

“No way!” She stood up to be serious. “You are too emotional, calm down.”

“But how can you be so calm?” At that moment it was like a tennis match, Coral threw it to Adassa and she returned it.

“Nothing is going to happen, it was a mistake by the city council, we literally did not have to force the door.”

“Theoretically, yes.” The other three looked at Yûsuke in disbelief. “There were no signs that set an entry and exit time. They also had no preventive measures for the tunnel, we discovered it, yes, but if something happens to us, the blame falls on them. Now then.” he smiled. “When are you going to come back to your house?”

When the straight-dark-haired man smiled, he didn't do it out of joy, he smiled to hide something, he kindly hid his true interior.

“Everything is already tied up. And I am not as unconscious as you think.”

“Oh no?” Imobach raised his eyebrows.

“Well, no. I looked at the BOE, and before giving names I spoke to the interviewer so that we would be anonymous in any case.”

“But people lie… for greed, merit, money… love… people lie.” Teresa murmured, her head buried between her legs.

“Yes, how do you know it wasn't a trick?” Coral said, leaning slightly, in a motherly tone, a tone I had rarely heard.

“Because before they screw me, I screw them. I wouldn't do this if there were no benefit.” She replied rubbing his fingers in a money gesture.

“Did they contract you or did the spies?” Yûusuke deduced.

“Second, they don't have very good security for a company. Neither do you, how do you think I got the photos you took?” Adassa looked at Imobach. And the latter didn't think of anything else but to turn off his cell phone.

It seemed that tempers were calmer.

“But… what about him?” Teresa pointed to the traveler. “If they decide to look for him with the census or see his face, someone will discover the secret…”

The slanted-eyed man leaned forward, resting his right arm on his left knee, waiting to see what he would jump up with this time.

“Ah… but he didn't do anything for the adventure, I barely mentioned him. Did I mention him?” she asked herself.

Imobach did a quick search to read the news even faster.

“No, they refers to hers the brainiac, in quotation marks.” he announced.

Yûsuke felt relieved, he wouldn't have to come up with a plan in case something happened, nor did he mind not taking the credit.

“By looking at us, it is a springboard for our own.” Adassa stressed.

“What is ours?” The brunette stepped forward.

“As for solving mysteries, I've created a website and we already have a request.”

Coral was ready to object, hers would mean less free time and more concealer to apply in the mornings, but then she thought better of it, it would also mean more time with the boy, preferably alone, like the other day. Besides, maybe, if something reached her parents' ears, they might interrupt their busy life to talk for five minutes with their children.

“I accept!”

“Me too”, said Yûsuke, leaning back on the sofa.

Several seconds passed in silence, Coral's gaze went from the floor, to her friend, to her hands, then to her brother, and back to the floor.

“Could they have something to do with chronicles or archaeology?” Imobach broke the silence.

“Possibly, all events have a logical explanation and have had repercussions at some point in history.” said Yûsuke.

Now all that was missing was the passionate Victorian girl.

“Okay… but,” Teresa had a hard time setting the rule. “No more illegalities or things that could go wrong.” She was really looking forward to it, she wanted to have more discoveries like the first one. Could she ever meet a relative of Carmilla?

“Since I was the creator, I put the name: Adventurous Duty Against Suspicious Secrets Association.”

“Adassa?” Teresa asked.

“What?”

“No, I mean… the acronym stands for ADASSA”

“Ah… pure coincidence.”

“If I remember correctly, it was also a mere coincidence when, at the summer camp four years ago, in the artisanal cheese making contest, yours was the only one that came with a plastic that fit perfectly and with marks that looked like they were made by a machine.” Imobach said ironically.

“I don't care.” The conversation had taken a backseat for Yûusuke.

“But we could be more original with the name… Arcane Alliance, The Shadow Assembly, The Feat of the Inexplicable, The Oath of the Strange, The Knights of Truth , The Celestial Kings of Mystery…” Teresa displayed her wide creativity for a good while.

“I'm happy if everyone's names are mentioned.” Coral pressed her lips together.

“Well no, because the page has already been created, but I liked the alliance thing.”

He nodded positively to the girl with the eye patch, apparently she still had conjunctivitis, and she responded with a smile.

“Well, that's it.” said Imobach, getting up from the sofa.

“And now that it has been discovered…” Teresa said. “Can't we tell Mr. Chinea about... his son? He has never had a place to worship, and sooner or later he will find out.”

“Yes” Coral moved her lips from side to side, thinking. “They will probably end up opening it to the public, or putting out a newscast with the names and more.” She looked around, and everyone agreed. “Well, we already have the next mission.”

“But all of them?” Imobach was still standing, he didn't want to sit down and get up again shortly. “It would be very aggressive for him, I think only one should go.”

“I agree” said Yûsuke.

“Same, if you don't mind, I'd rather go.”

Coral was the one who trusted Mr. Honorio the most, and the one who would really know what to say to console the gentleman. She had met the united couple when she was eleven years old. Apparently, she and her brother were already old enough to have an au pair all day long, and now only one person came to clean them and leave the fridge full of tuppers, because many children of her age in other countries were already looking for a way to live on their own. "Yes, well, there are also people my age with children and I'm not going to do that either," thought Imobach; The case, one day, at the end of school, Coral had lost her balance because of the stampede of the other children and her knee had turned red, as a result, the drops ran down her skin and began to stain her socks, her brother covered the wound with paper and cleaned it with water, but walking down the street with a handkerchief stuck to her leg attracted attention, and when they passed in front of the gentlemen's house, Mrs. Milagros became alarmed and invited them in. A few days later Coral appeared with a cake, inedible, but everyone pretended that it was very good.

Coral showed up at Mr. Honorio's house the next day, not wanting to sweat too much in training to be more or less presentable, even though the tournament was only a few months away. She told him quickly and bluntly, like when you wax for the first time, and how bad news should be, although first, she made sure he was sitting down and had drunk enough water. He remained silent for a few minutes, in his mind he must have had an interesting debate, but he didn't shed any tears, not in front of her.

He was the one who insisted that I call the rest to invite them for a drink. Half an hour later they were all there, talking, eating and drinking, somewhat embarrassed, but pretending, as if no one was thinking about how uncomfortable the situation was. In the end, everyone enjoyed it, except for one, Imobach, who although he smiled, in the lottery of eating at someone else's house, he had been given the glass that tasted like egg...