Chapter 14 Keeping a Secret

Just then, Shujinko spotted Akarui walking by, casually taking a bite out of a snack. The crunchy sound of his snack echoed slightly as he chewed, his eyes scanning around. As their gazes met, both of them froze for a moment, and simultaneously, they said, "Oh!" in unison, like they had just been caught in the act.

Akarui swallowed his bite with a dramatic gulp and immediately, with a grin plastered on his face, shouted out, "Hey! I thought you said you didn't want to go out and have fun in town! And here you two are, ditching class, huh?"

"Wait… Wait one minute—" Akarui’s eyes narrowed, scanning them both like he was putting a puzzle together.

 "Sitting together all cozy in the park… You, all beaten up, and her, looking super annoyed but still here…" he gasped dramatically. 

"OH MY GOD! Are you two finally on a date?!"

Shujinko nearly choked on air.

 "WHAT?! NO!"

Makiko burst out laughing.

 "Oh, I wish."

Akarui clasped his hands together. 

"Oh wow, I’m so sorry!" he said, though his tone was anything but apologetic.

 "I didn’t mean to interrupt your cute little secret moment! Please, go on! Continue your date. Don't worry, Shujinko, I won't tell professor Ichiban you are cheating on her. Your secret is safe with me."

Shujinko groaned, face turning red for the hundredth time today. 

"It wasn’t—That’s not—That’s not what happened! It's not like that!"

Shujinko covered his face with both hands.

 "I hate you both so much right now."

Akarui’s playful grin faded slightly as he tilted his head.

 "Okay, okay—jokes aside. What actually happened? You don't look too good."

Shujinko groaned, slumping further into the bench like he was trying to sink into the earth. 

"I don’t wanna talk about it…"

Makiko gasped in mock offense.

 "Oh-ho-ho, no way am I letting this opportunity slip by!"

 She turned to Akarui with a wicked grin. 

"You have to hear this."

Shujinko sat up. 

"Makiko, no—"

"Makiko, yes," she corrected with a smirk before launching into the story.

She told Akarui everything. How Shujinko had swooped in like some knight in shining naivety to "protect her honor," how he threw the most pathetic punch in history, and how the guy barely even reacted before knocking him into next week. She made sure to include every single detail, exaggerating some of them just to twist the knife.

Akarui listened with his arms crossed, nodding slowly. Then, when Makiko finished, he turned to Shujinko.

"So let me get this straight…" He rubbed his chin, suppressing a smirk. 

"You saw a situation that wasn’t even dangerous, jumped in like an idiot, threw the first punch, got your ass handed to you, kept talking crap while bleeding on the pavement, and still somehow thought you were in the right?"

Shujinko grumbled. 

"It… It sounded better in my head…"

He let out a tired sigh.

 "Seriously, dude. If you keep acting like this, one day, someone’s really gonna mess you up. And I don’t mean a bruised face—I mean hospital bed level messed up."

Shujinko muttered something under his breath.

Akarui frowned.

 "What was that?"

Shujinko looked down. 

"I said… I’d still do it again."

Makiko facepalmed. Akarui sighed again, rubbing his temples.

"You really are hopeless."

Shujinko groaned in annoyance, rubbing his face.

 "Okay, okay! Enough about me. Let’s talk about something else before my dignity completely evaporates."

Makiko smirked.

 "Oh, my honey, that ship sailed the moment you threw that punch."

Shujinko shot her a glare before turning to Akarui. 

"You—what were you doing this whole time? I highly doubt you were just wandering around stuffing your face with snacks."

Akarui dramatically held up the half-eaten snack in his hand. 

"And yet, here I am, living proof that I can multitask."

Makiko laughed.

 "Uh-huh. Sure. You, of all people, multitasking?"

Akarui smirked.

 "Hey, I take offense to that. I’m perfectly capable of walking, eating, and scheming all at the same time."

Shujinko narrowed his eyes.

"Scheming?"

"Well, since you two were out here getting into street fights, I was actually being productive."

Makiko asked, "Productive? Doing what exactly?"

 "I may have been… doing a little snooping."

Shujinko straightened up slightly. 

"Snooping? About what?"

Makiko rolled her eyes. 

"Oh, for the love of—spit it out, Akarui!"

Akarui's easygoing smirk faded as he crossed his arms.

 "Alright, listen up. After I left school, I swung by to see my old man. You know how he works in the military, right? We had a short talk just a moment ago—nothing long, he was busy—but let’s just say, something’s definitely going on."

Makiko asked, "What do you mean?"

Akarui swiped his hand around, gesturing at the empty streets.

 "Look around. Didn’t you notice how quiet it is? I mean, sure, this town isn’t exactly bustling on a normal day, but it’s way emptier than usual."

Shujinko frowned, suddenly aware of just how eerily still everything was. No casual chatter, no shopkeepers calling out to customers, only a regular salary man walked past. The only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the tired sight of the salary man.

Akarui continued, his tone more serious than usual. 

"My dad told me that all military personnel are on high alert. Something happened at Helios 9. They lost contact."

Makiko’s eyes widened slightly.

 "Wait—lost contact? Like, completely?"

Akarui nodded. 

"Yeah. Radio silence. No one in or out. Something went wrong, but they haven’t made anything public yet. And get this—Dad said that if things go really bad, they might declare martial law right here in town. Meaning everyone will be ordered to stay indoors."

Shujinko stiffened. 

"Martial law?"

Akarui sighed. 

"Yeah, but dad assured me it’s probably just a technical issue. Some malfunction or whatever. But honestly? I think he was just saying that to keep me from worrying. A few minutes before running into you two, I saw military trucks heading toward Helios 9. And not the usual transport vehicles—armed ones."

Makiko crossed her arms, her playful demeanor completely gone.

 "That… is bad."

Akarui nodded, "I just hope things don’t get ugly in there."

Shujinko's breath hitched as the weight of Akarui’s words sank in. He shot up from the bench, his expression twisted with worry.

"Professor Ichiban—! She’s in Helios 9!" 

His hands clenched into fists.

 "I have to find out if she’s alright!"

Makiko and Akarui exchanged a glance before Akarui sighed, "And how exactly are you gonna do that? You think they’ll just hand over classified information to some university kid who calls in all panicked? ‘Oh, excuse me, sir, but I’m worried about my pretty professor, can you confirm her status?’ Click. That’s what you’re getting. A dial tone. You do realize that Helios 9 is a high-security facility, right? Even if we somehow make it all the way there—which is already a stretch—how the hell do you plan on getting inside? Just knock and ask nicely?"

Akarui jabbed a finger at him.

 "We are nobodies, Shujinko. Students. That’s it. You might be the top genius in our class, but without the right access? Forget it. That place is locked up tighter than a vault."

Shujinko suddenly gasped, eyes widening as if a switch had just flipped in his brain.

"Wait! I know!" He dug frantically into his pocket, fingers fumbling for something.

 "Earlier today, I was with Professor Ichiban in her office—she was going to show me something! She invited me to her lab in Helios 9 after class. She said she needed my point of view… new ideas…"