Chapter 20:

You Don't Care

The Portable School of Villainy


“I need to find it.” Kaden said, determined, as he lifted himself up.

Amene pushed him back down gently.

“What you need is rest.” She said sternly, her dreaminess suddenly fading completely.

“Amene, if Shisu gets it first–”

“He’s also been brought to a hospital wing.” She said, as she pushed Kaden back down, this time slightly harder.

Kaden flinched as a pain shot in his chest when Amene touched it.

“I don’t see him…” Grumbled Kaden.

At that moment, the school nurse walked into the room.

“We didn’t think it would be wise to put you two together.” Her high, shrill voice said.

She was a small, bright-haired lady. Smaller than Kaito even, which Kaden did not think possible for an adult. Her eyes were close to a pink hue, and the icy look she gave suggested not to mess with her.

“Still, I need to find it before he does!” Kaden said, getting annoyed at Amene, who pushed him down again, after attempting to get up once more.

“You are not going to do anything, except rest!” The nurse sneered. “Black eye, twisted ankle, broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a bruised neck! You’re lucky you’re even alive, boy!”

She had moved herself to beside Kaden’s bed, and her angry eyes were peering over the top. Kaden gulped with difficulty, which hurt his sore throat immensely.

She turned her head to Amene and Haido.

“And you two girls should not be out of bed either!” She spat. “Just because you got off with minor injuries, doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you want!”

Both of them hurried back to their beds.

“And don’t let me catch you out of bed again, or I swear–”

The nurse forcefully put down some water for Kaden and Kaito, before walking off again. Kaden could hear her mumble something about punishment and fights, before she left the room.

Kaden let out a deep, quivering sigh. What was he going to do now? If Shisu got his hands on the device again, he would surely activate it after what happened. He might even have it on him, still. He closed his eyes and let out another sigh.

“We could search for it.” Kaito said, suddenly.

Kaden slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to Kaito.

“I can’t let you do that.” He said slowly, trying to not hurt his throat.

“Why not?” Amene asked.

“You’ve all been hurt because of me,” Kaden explained, “I can’t let you get in trouble for me too.”

“Well, what’s a bit of trouble to Team Not-So-Bad!” Satoku’s voice suddenly said.

Kaden looked over in surprise, and saw that he was sitting up.

“I could search the school in no time, before miss– ouch, ouch!”

Satoku clasped his wrapped up stomach, as the bandages began to turn slightly red.

As if she was summoned, the school nurse stormed back in, with a look of fury directed at Satoku.

“What did I say about moving?!” She said as she jumped up on the bed and started removing the bandages forcefully.

“Ah! Ouch, ouch! N-Not to do it! Argh!” yelped Satoku.

“That’s right!” She said sternly.

In record time, she had patched up Satoku again and changed his bandages. She jumped off the bed and gave a stern look at everyone, before walking out.

“I think just us three should go.” Said Kaito quietly, after some time had passed.

“Kaito…” Kaden said softly.

“We all care about you, Kaden.” Kaito said. “You would do the same for us, right?”

Kaden looked at him intently, and then nodded slowly.

“But, you don’t even know what for, why would you–” Kaden started.

“No buts, we’re going.” Amene said sternly.

“And I’ll fight off every maggot that gets in our way!” Haido added.

“That’s what best buds are for!” Satoku exclaimed cheerfully.

“You’re not going, you’ll die.” Said Kaden coldly.

He sighed.

“Thank you, everyone…” Kaden then said quietly.

Kaito, Haido, and Amene climbed out of bed and sneaked out of the room. Kaden waited for a moment after they had left, then sat up.

“Whatchu doing, dude?” Satoku asked, looking confused.

“If they can’t find the device, I need to get home and take out the tracker.” Kaden responded.

He had difficulty getting himself up. Every part of him ached.

“Everyone just made such a noble sacrifice for you!” Satoku exclaimed.

It seemed the nurse had bound him in such a way that he couldn’t move again. That did not stop him from trying, however.

Kaden felt around the brace on his neck and clicked open a clasp, making it fall off his neck.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, dude!” Satoku called out, still struggling.

“I don’t care.” Kaden said determinately, grabbing his stuff from the desk next to him. “I can’t risk it.”

Carefully, he sneaked out of the door as well, with Satoku calling his name after him, in an attempt to get him back. It was hard to move around fast, but considering that he was trying to be stealthy, that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Fortunately, it seemed the school was standing still. If Kaden could find his way out before it moved again, it would be perfect. The halls were deserted and dark. It seemed like it was nighttime. He eventually made his way to the entrance hall, through the twisting corridors of the school.

When he opened the doors, he almost fell down. The school had perched itself on another building. Kaden thought this place would be too obvious, but when he looked down, he saw that the school perfectly blended in with the building it was on.

There was only a small ledge that Kaden could stand on. Carefully, he placed his foot down, and then not so gracefully climbed his way to the ground. He had recognised the location of the building, so he knew the best way to descend. Luckily, it was only a street away from his home. He made his way to his house as fast as he could go.

When he reached the house, he saw that the lights were still on. Kaden didn’t know what time it was, but he had hoped they were already asleep. That way, he wouldn’t have to confront them.

Regardless, he carefully opened the door. There was no time to waste.

Upon seeing him, Rowena put her hands to her mouth and burst into tears.

“Kaden! You’re back!” She sniffled, as she ran forward to hug him.

Kaden shrieked, as his mother’s embrace made his bones ache, but he hugged her back despite that. He wanted the moment to last forever, but he had to keep moving.

“What happened to you? Why are you…” Rowena cried.

“Mom, I’m sorry, but I have to hurry.” Kaden said softly.

She looked at him with her pleading eyes, wordlessly telling him not to go just yet. This time, however, it did not work on Kaden.

“It’s just you home?” He asked, shuffling past her.

Rowena nodded.

“Perfect…” Kaden mumbled.

“I’ll explain everything,” He said back to his mother, who stood there, completely still, “I just have to hurry now.”

She nodded.

Slowly, Kaden made his way upstairs and to his room. Painfully, he reached under his closet and dragged out his suit. He patted it up and down, but felt nothing.

Then, he heard the door.

Hurriedly, Kaden inspected his suit. His Hoodie, his pants, his shoes, but nothing.

He heard voices downstairs. The deep voice of his father, then the voice of his mother, before it was silent.

Kaden scrambled around, desperately searching his suit again.

Slow footsteps now came from downstairs.

Then Kaden halted, as if he had just remembered something. He dropped the shoe inside his hand and picked up the hoodie. Forcefully, he tore away the symbol of a coin, on the chest, to reveal a small circular device, blinking dimly. He snatched the device and hurriedly stuffed the suit back under the closet. Kaden practically ran towards the window and had his hand on the handle, before the door opened.

“Not so fast.” The deep voice of his father sounded behind him.

Kaden could feel the intense fury from his father as he was silently dragged downstairs. At the brisk pace they were going, every step hurt him.

Once they were in the living room, Axel gestured Kaden to sit down, and Kaden obeyed. Rowena was quietly sobbing at the table. Kaden still held the tracker in his clenched fist. At any moment, Shisu could wake up and use the device. Kaden wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. To get rid of it, and protect his family.

“I can not believe you!” Axel’s voice boomed, snapping Kaden away from his thoughts.

Axel looked more furious than Kaden had ever seen him.

“You don't show up for weeks, and then you come home like this!”

He gestured to all of Kaden, with his hands. Kaden didn’t say anything. He did not want to make the situation worse than it was.

“You know your mother's power relies on her positivity! She hasn't been able to produce a single Positive Bubble since you left!” Axel shouted.

Kaden could hear his mother sobbing louder.

“Axel, please…” She sniffled.

“No!” Axel shouted, and pointed to Kaden.

“You should know how to act better. You're selfish, and careless.” Axel told Kaden, thrusting his finger into Kaden’s chest.

“And you're a disgrace of a hero. A disgrace of a son.”
Kaden clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. If that was how he really thought of him, then…

“You don't even care, do you?” He said, tears forming in his eyes. “You don't care at all what happened to me, or why I left in the first place! All you care about is upholding your status as a great hero!”

To Kaden's own surprise, he did not feel angry at all. All he felt was sadness.

“You don't care where I've been, or what I've done!” He cried, “You don't care that I almost died trying to protect you!”

Rowena looked at Kaden, stunned, but the expression on Axel’s face hadn't changed.

“You know, the last thing I saw before I thought I was going to die was you. A memory of us training together.” Kaden said softly. “At the time, I thought you helped me because you wanted me to get better. Because you cared about me, and loved me.”

He stood up.

“But that wasn't love at all, was it? You were just tired of me not getting it. Of me failing. It was just another step to creating your own perfect hero.” Kaden said disgustedly.

“Is that what you think?” Axel grunted.

“That’s what I know!” Kaden shouted. “I was never going to be a perfect hero! I could never live up to your name! Everyone knew it, but you did not care!”

Kaden's throat was on fire from shouting, but he ignored the pain. He needed to get everything out.

“Do you know how hard it is to grow up, knowing you'll always be a disappointment?! To be forced to do something you don’t even want, knowing you’re gonna fail?! But I guess you don't really care about that either! You don't care about your father! You don't care about uncle Morey! And you don't care about me!”

Kaden looked at his mother.

“Sometimes I wonder if you even loved mom. Or did you just marry her, so you could create your own perfect little hero?” He said coldly.

“Get out.” Axel said darkly.

Kaden looked over at him again, and saw a cold, angry look.

“Get out!” Axel thundered.

Kaden inhaled deeply.

“Fine.” He then said shortly, before walking towards the door.

As Kaden opened the door, his mother’s hand grabbed his arm.

“Kaden, you don’t have to do this.” She cried.

Kaden couldn’t bear to look at her.

“I know things aren't perfect now, but we can't change anything if you leave… I know I should’ve… I can…”

She was interrupted by her own crying.

“I'm sorry… mom…” Kaden said softly as he pulled his arm back from her slowly.

She didn't put up a fight. She let his arm go, and turned back towards Axel.

“Axel, say something! I know he’s made mistakes, but this is not going to solve anything! He's your son!” She cried out.

Axel turned his back on both of them, before saying,

“I don't have one.”