Chapter 13:

Unexpected meeting

The Sanctuary of Seven - Vol. 1


I open my eyes, looking around, and waking up in my own room before the alarm goes off. I rise to my feet and feel a wave of loneliness embracing me, realizing that Nagamine is no longer with me since last night.

I get out of bed, take the bedsheets, and put them on the windowsill. My life should return to normal as quickly as possible. Not only do I have to give an example of behavior appropriate to the rules imposed by Golden Power, but it would be advisable to stop putting other people's lives in danger. At this point, I have to deal with the high investigation against me, my soulmate, my little brother, and the backpack that has the two contraband products that Mrs. Tomiko took from the black market.

The clock rings through the room and with a quick movement, I run out of the window and turn off the alarm. I go back to the window, seeing another car similar to the first, but with all the tires intact. When I think about all the hard work Nagamine did with me last night and the feelings I had to go through, all in vain, I just feel like a stupid kid.

I go to the office and take out my new To-Do List, which I recently changed to NPI when I received my sentence from school. Today, June 5, 2216, Thursday, is my birthday when I am 16 years old and I can celebrate it only in one way, this way being only by knowing my soulmate chosen by the National Institute of Distribution, NID.

Normally, I should be allowed absences from this day, having a day off from school, but because I am suspected of so many crimes I am forced to attend classes today, and immediately after school I will go to NID.

I put the To-Do List back in the folder I carefully place in the drawer of the desk. Then I go to the bathroom and do my morning routine, taking the concealer tube from behind the sink. No matter how much I want to throw it away and get rid of all the illegal products that poison my eyes, my dark circles are far too prominent.

I look at my face in the bathroom mirror, analyzing my color that is too pale and my eyes too swollen and red. As much as it happened to the blow to the head that I fired when I fell off the bike, there should be no suspicion about the redness in my eyes.

I get out of the bathroom and walk into my room, changing into my school uniform from pajamas. Then I take the airy bedsheets and lay them on the bed carefully. Then I go to the kitchen where I meet my parents to whom I did not say a word. They treat me the same way, they are all tense and stressed. My parents are alarmed and probably disappointed, trying to somehow manage the situation. We eat breakfast in silence, then they go to work, and I wash the dishes alone without Nagamine's presence.

When I finish, I take my backpack and ride my bike to high school. Behind me, along the way, is the car with the two agents sent by Golden Power for close surveillance.

I get to school and I am led by them to the entrance of the high school, then I go straight to my closet to leave some books and notebooks and to take the necessary ones I need now.

The classes pass very quickly, without escaping the curious eyes of my colleagues as if I were a circus acrobat doing some very bizarre things with his body. During the lunch break, not only does the whole school look at me and talk about me all the time but I am forced to eat alone, not being allowed to stay with Furukawa, Hokama, Imada, or even Mano.

I take only a second-course tray and dessert and go to the yard where every mouthful is carefully observed by anyone in the canteen. They probably all received a letter informing them to keep an eye on me and keep their distance from me. But most of the strange looks I get from Nagamine's sister, who do not give me any meaningful or special curiosity, but an understanding and calm look. However, she doesn't take my eyes off her either.

After the lunch break, I go straight to the closet and take a deep breath, putting my head inside to avoid all the strange looks and insistence that my own group of friends throws at me. I leave the books I don't need anymore and when I take the ones I need the next hour, I find a small, rectangular metal box among the notebooks.

I don't take it, knowing that I'm being watched by so many pairs of eyes. Next to the box, I see a note and I keep it dead so that only I can take it. I look around and people look at me, so the only solution is to put the note in the physics notebook for the next hour and run to the bathroom with it. I slip the note between the pages of the notebook, close the closet, and head for the bathroom.

I close the door behind me and open the pages in the utmost silence, given that anyone could follow me now and leave me, thus becoming the hero of the high school that caught the murderer of Iwamoto doing another illegal thing.

Meet me after hours in the bathroom on the ground floor next to the secretariat.

The first bathroom is next to the wall opposite the sinks.

-AK

I fold the note and put it in my bra. I get out of the bathroom and go straight to class. The thought flies to a possible student with the initials AK that I should know. There is no one in my group of friends, not even in Nagamine's group. However, it could be someone known to Nagamine. Or could it be someone from Tsutsui Koichi's group, Imada's secret boyfriend, or whatever? In fact, at the moment, it could be anyone in school, given that everyone knows me. But I don't understand who would risk so much to send me tickets like this during this time. Or maybe someone was forced to leave my note to test me to see if I could report it or not. This thought makes me shiver.

The hours are coming to an end and I have to get ready to see the stranger in the bathroom. Given that the place he chose is in the girls' bathroom, this person is obviously feminine. After meeting her, I will have to clean the school, and then I will have to go straight home and get ready to meet my soul mate at last.

I leave everything in the closet, watching each student leave the school in turn, the hallways soon becoming empty. I close the closet and without thinking about possible problems that may arise after this meeting, I head to the bathroom.

I enter the first door next to the wall and to my surprise, I come across Asato Keiichi, Nagamine's sister. Her blond hair falls over her costal shoulders, realizing how much she's lost weight and how much she looks like Nagamine. He puts his finger to his mouth, motioning for me not to say anything, and pulls out a sheet of paper and a pen, starting to write.

Hi, Iwamoto! I'm glad to see you again, she writes to me, handing me the sheet and the pen.

Hi, Asato! I also write, smiling.

I'll get to the point because we can't stay in the bathroom too long. Nagamine sent me a box full of letters as you've probably heard. Some were for you, praying in the letters for me to hand them to you. By the way, Nagamine told me to take care of you at all costs. And you, kind of need help right now. But tell me, Iwamoto, did you go to Nagamine's grave and pretend to be me?

Yes, I'm sorry, but I had to visit him.

It’s nothing. Iwamoto, how can I help you?

I would need a little help with a backpack if you can. It's where I fell off the bike. You will see that place very clearly because it is surrounded by a yellow stripe that shows that the place is a crime scene. There I have a backpack that I really, really need.

All right, I'll take it today and bring it to you tomorrow.

Can you bring it home to me?

How do I do that?

You say I forgot a physics notebook for the people you'll see guarding my house. Then I'll go out with another backpack because I can't receive you in the house. You will pretend to take something out of the backpack, and I will take it by putting it behind the door and giving you the other backpack at the same time.

Okay, Iwamoto. I'll be at your house in about two hours.

I smile at Asato and she returns the same smile, but with a more compassionate nuance. We take turns leaving the bathroom, me first, then her. She shakes my hand when no one looks around and goes invisible, leaving school. I start cleaning the high school hallways with the maid, constantly thinking about Furukawa, Imada, and Hokama, which I only saw during class. However, Hokama, if I think about it, it wasn't at any time.

Did Hokama agree today? Was her testimony believed? I have a vague impression that the reason Hokama failed to come to school today is precise because of the testimony. This means Hokama is in big trouble and I'll have to find out exactly what's going on. That with Nagamine's help. I can't let another life degrade in a cell because of me.

Verson
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