“May I?” She says, asking permission to sit next to me.
“Oh. Hello there Brugière.” trying my best to act as normal as usual. “Sure.” answering to her permission before.
She sits right next to me.
Glancing over at her, she doesn’t wear her school uniform, just her casual outfit.
Both of us stay silent for a few minutes.
I hate this feeling..
Tightening the grips in my hands.
“Ahh..” Brugière lets out a loud sigh and at the end of it she laughs lightly.
Take a glance over at her place.
My eyes open wide, surprised at what expression Brugière makes right now.
She puts her palm on her forehead, her eyes are all teary and there’s a smile on her face.
Her face looks painful..
Looking at her, my chest only becomes even tighter.
“I’m sorry, Valter. I really try my best to hide it since I have something to tell you.” She says and finally a tear drops from her eyes.
“It’s alright. I completely understand. Take your time.” replying to her.
Unexpectedly, she scoffs at my reply to her.
Moments of silence fill in between us again.
While waiting for her to calm herself, I’m checking my phone if there is a message from the twins.
No messages.
With that, I put back my phone into my pocket while letting out a sigh.
“Worried about the twins?” Suddenly Brugière asks.
When I look at her, she is already looking at me.
“Yes. I will go to the hospital after school.” replying to her.
She doesn’t respond right away but her eyes are still looking at me.
“You know,” She finally replies and takes away her eyes from me “Gofar is such a dumb, naive, and headstrong person.” she says with chuckles.
As expected, she must be going to talk about Colombain with me.
Looking at her confusedly.
“Why would you say that to him?” I ask her.
“Dumb for always doing silly things even the silliest thing in the world. How stubborn he is when he has already set up a goal.” She replies, her eyes still looking up to the clouds.
With that, my eyes join hers with looking to the clouds as well.
Now, I just notice that the weather is really nice and clear today.
“Yet because of that, he brought us this far together with Henry.” She continues.
“Never thought that Colombain is that kind of person. I thought he would be that calm person.” replying to her.
She giggles again from it.
“The calm person is correct but his persistence to always granting what he wants is on another level.” She says.
“Hoo.. he’s a very ambitious person, huh?” the grips on my hand tighten a little bit while replying to her.
Why does it hurt when I get to know something about him..?
“But because of that, he always pushes himself too much. How stupid is that right?” She chuckles again.
“May I know one of the examples of it?” Asking her.
“Entering this school. This is his idea for the three of us to get into here.” She answers.
With that, my eyes open wide again and look at her.
She caught me by surprise again.
As far as I know the students who are getting to this school must be invited by the embassies or from this school itself.
“Hehe..” She giggles “It’s actually a secret between the three of us.”
No response coming from me, just staring at her.
“Just like what you’re thinking, Valter. We didn’t get the invitation to get in here. We joined it through a test that only has less than one percent to get acceptance, which means only two people will be selected.” she continues.
Even though they joined it with a test, only two students will be chosen.
Not only that, the test is on another level of difficulty than any other test.
“I’m sorry to ask this, but one of you must have gotten an invitation, right?” I ask her.
She giggles again.
“Yeah, that actually still a mystery though. How can the three of us get accepted here even though the school only accepts two people through the test.” She replies.
At this moment, I think something is weird about the school system in this year's generation.
Why are there three students accepted from the test?
After that, another thought comes through my mind which is about Sneg appearances.
How can a transferred student join in?
These two things never happened before since my parents always told me about this school before.
“But anyway,” suddenly she speaks up and that makes me get out from my own thoughts.
“We just tried to put that aside and be grateful for what happened to us.” she continues.
“Actually this is one of the other reasons why I came to school today.” She says while searching for something in her bag “To hand it to you.” a beautifully decorated envelope comes out from her bag.
Taking it from her and only finding who this letter is.
To : Vilheimina Valter.
Looking at her confusedly, I have no idea who sent me this letter.
“You can open it.” She says.
With that I start to open the envelope carefully, don't want to ruin the letter inside of it.
Dear Vilheimina Valter,
If you received this letter, I must have failed to tell you something hehe. First of all I want to start by sharing my secret to you. I never got an invitation to enter this school. You must be surprised now, right? I always wanted to know what kind of expression you would make when you hear this (lol).
Reading the last part of it, makes my chest even tighter before I met Brugière.
On the other hand, I need to keep up my figure because she’s still sitting right next to me.
Take a deep breath and I try to continue reading his letter.
Do you know why I’m so persistent to get into this school? Well.. the answer is simple and.. It's a bit embarrassing to say it and I need to build up a whole night for courage..
There are like three lines spacing between the sentences.
It’s you, Valter. I always admired your figure, your achievement, your personality, and everything about you. You’re just too perfect to be true and I can’t help it that I got this feeling for you.
That part makes my eyes open wider again.
His words caught me by surprise.
Then I start to embrace myself to get into the same school as you. You know.. The school invitation is really easy to find (lol). But I also thought that I could never talk to you if Henry and Célia were not there. That is why I dragged them here and we really studied hard to pass the test! As the time went by, the three of us passed the test and we were super happy back then! Remember the cafe we went to together? Yes, we celebrated a small party there!
Just by reading his letter, I still can hear how he tells this story.
When those memories come back to me, I can feel a bit of pressure in my throat.
Hopefully, my eyes are not that teary.
What kind of feeling made you like that?
This is the question that pops up in my head.
Take a deep breath once again and read the last three parts of this letter.
I never get a chance or even have that much courage to talk to you in the first semester even though Henry and Célia always encouraged me back then. Funny right? If only I knew back then it would be like this, I would just talk to you from the beginning! Oh yeah! My first time seeing you in person was when we were in our entrance ceremony.
From that, I also just realized that I never met him in the first semester.
Thinking about it, I thought our first meeting was at that dinner party at the school white hall.
Well, enough of that I will just get straight to the point. Just like I just mentioned, yes, I have this feeling for you. A special feeling that I never had before other than you. I’m not the best at putting my feelings into words, but my courage is already piled up right now. Whenever I lack the inspiration or dedication to do something, I think of you. You’re my driving force each and every day, and I can’t even begin to thank you for that. I have no idea where my life is going right now or what is going to happen to me, but I’ve come to know one thing for sure. Whatever happens, I want you to be a part of that. I want to stay by your side, admiring, and loving you every moment of that. Loving you is my choice and my choice is that I love you as you. As Vilheimina Valter, not as a queen Valter.
Gofar Colombain,
A normal person that always admires you..
The letter stops right there and I don’t know how to respond to it.
One thing for sure, there is something dropping on the letter.
A water.
Water drops? Is it raining right now?
Without noticing it, it’s actually my tears.
My face doesn’t change at all and my eyes just stare at the letter.
Again, my chest becomes even tighter than before, a lot more.
The throat also gets more pressured.
At this moment, I don’t really think about Brugière who is sitting right next to me.
The twins who are still in hospital.
Everything seems to stop and the memories that I have made with Colombain rush in my head.
It really breaks me when I realize what I just did to him.
With that, I finally realize and regret of what happened that night.
Finally, the figure that I tried to keep up before, falls apart and lets it all out.
Brugière, who is sitting right next to me, tries to comfort me by wrapping her arm around.
Even though she tries to comfort me, I still can hear and feel that she is crying as well.
After a few minutes passed by, both of us finally calmed down.
With that, I can finally pull myself from Brugière’s hug.
“Thank you for calming me down, Brugière.” I say to her.
“Yeah.. thanks to you too, I calmed down as well.” She replies while looking at me.
Unlike Brugière, my eyes still can’t look at her since I’m not used to doing that.
Out of nowhere, she slightly lets out a laugh.
“Is it funny that I just thought, Colombain must be jealous of me because I just hugged you that long before? Hahaha.” She says with a nervous voice.
With that, I respond to her by laughing with her jokes.
Thankfully, her way to decrease the tense and lift up the mood is right.
Deep down inside, she must be in a more painful position than I’m right now.
She checks the time on her left wrist watch.
“I should go now, Valter. Henry is going to pick me up ten minutes from now.” Brugière says while standing up.
“Oh, yeah. Sure. Take care on your way back home, okay?” I say to her while standing up as well.
“Thank you for bringing me his letter, Brugière. I will treasure his letter.” I say to her when she cleans up her back.
With that, she only laughs at me and throws her arms once again at me.
“Hahaha! Why are you so stiff at me?!” She says then rushes to hug me.
“Wai- what? Isn't this supposed to be a sad farewell?” I ask her while returning her hug.
“Stop it! Hahaha!” She pulls herself from me “We’re all friends here, Valter! If I had a chance to get closer to you, I would love to take that!” She says with a wide smile on her face.
With that, she cures a little pain on my chest and a small smile appears on my face.
“Yeah. Let’s do that, Célia.” replying to her and calling her first name.
Because of that, her eyes become wider and go the same with her smile.
“Yes! See you later, Vil!” She says while giving me a last hug.
This time her hug feels like how the twins hug me.
When she pulls out, she walks back while waving at me and I respond to her waves.
Now, my chest feels a lot lighter than before.
My mind becomes a bit clearer as well.
Stretching my body and lunch break bell is finally here.
Alright, let’s finish today’s school.
**Arrive at The Hospital**
“Excuse me.” I say while knocking the door for Mana’s room.
“Please wait.” Mari replies, I can hear her footsteps getting closer to the door.
Waiting a moment until she opens up the door and her eyes look swollen.
“Hi, Vil.” Mari greets me with a forced smile. “Come in, come in.” She steps aside to let me in.
“Thank you, Mari. Have you eaten yet? I brought this for you.” handing her a foodbox that I just bought on my way to get here.
“Ahh.. my favorite pasta! Thank you, Vil!” she replies excitedly but it still feels soulless from Mari that I know.
In my perspective, her smile starts fading away.
Not as bright as I know.
After giving Mari my gift, I slowly walk toward the bed where Mana is laying down.
There is a lot of bandage on her right side, it seems like those parts got burned from the explosion.
Looking at Mana’s horrifying condition and how Mari feels, the pressure in my chest comes back at me.
Slowly my hand starts to reach Mana’s hand.
“Thankfully, Mana’s condition is stable, Vil.” Mari says while approaching me from behind “The ambulance got her real quick last night.”
“I hope everything will be better.” replying to Mari and my face turns to look at her. “That’s our Mana. She is really strong.”
At first, I thought she would hide it but she couldn’t.
This view really breaks my heart and puts more pressure on it.
My eyes also become crystals when I look at Mari’s face.
She is smiling but her tears keep dropping from her face.
“That’s right.. she’s my twin anyway!” She replies with a totally cracked voice and a smile on her face.
With that, I rush myself to hug Mari tightly.
One of my hands keeps patting her back, trying my best to comfort her.
“Just let it all out, Mari. I’m here for both of you.”
Mari, who is holding herself when I get here, finally gets to let it all out.
She hugs me back and cries as loud as she can in that moment.
That also goes for me, I can’t hold back anymore and just cry with her as well.
After a moment, she slowly pulls herself away from me.
“Thank you for coming today, Vil.” she sniffles, her nose becomes red.
“No.. don’t say that, Mari.” patting her head “I’m glad that I can comfort you.”
“I couldn’t thank you enough for that because I really need that.” she replies.
Just now, it’s really different from how she usually responds to me.
Mari always acts childish around me but now she just gives me a cold response.
“Mana’s condition..” she breaks the slight moment of silence just now “is actually not as good as it looks, Vil.”
With that, my face changes to a very worried one quickly.
“Last night she stood pretty close to the truck. She tried to dodge it as fast as she could but her right side got the explosion first.” Mari explains what happened last night.
The feeling of guilt starts piling up again.
“Doctor said she needs therapy, a lot of treatment for her burn injuries, and it’ll leave a big burn mark on her back and right arm.” Mari continues to explain about Mana’s condition.
When Mari mentioned the mark, that reminded me of my mark as well.
“But I guess, Mana managed to get a little bit away from the truck because of that person.” Mari says while opening her foodbox.
Because of that, it reminds me of the distance between us last night.
We are only a few steps away from the truck, especially Mana.
But in that distance, shouldn’t I get at least a little from it?
With that thought comes through my mind, I look back at Mari's eyes.
One of my hands is still holding and rubbing Mana’s hand.
This time my mind is a bit calmer than before and that is why I can think more clearly right now
“What did you see last night, Mari?” I ask her.
“When you rushed to reach Mana, I saw someone suddenly show up from the bushes.” She says while curling her pasta on her fork.
“At first, I had no idea what she’s going to do but she just rushed and jumped on you while shouting to get away from the truck.” She continues before taking the first bite of her pasta “How can she know about that?” she asks with a full mouth.
From that, I just realized this morning Stam mentioned how she found out about the accident.
“She saved you from last night, right?” Mari asks again “She even covered your body with hers so you won’t get the explosion.” gulping her food “Who is she?”
The more I think about it, I just did something I shouldn’t have done this morning to her, even to Sneg.
This time, I must be open minded and there is no time to think that people would judge her or myself.
“She’s my coach and her name is Verle Stam the murder of Stam’s family.” answering Mari's previous question.
With that, she looks at me with a shocked face and her fork just falls from her hand.
“I’m sorry I never told you guys this because I thought this might be freaking out. But trust me, she is-” trying to explain it to Mari but suddenly she cuts off my words.
“IT IS FREAKING OUT!” She puts down the box on a table and rushes to me “How could you not tell us about this?!” she says while holding my face.
“Yeaa.. I’m sowwyy..” trying to reply to Mari and finally she’s letting go of my face.
. “She never hurt you, right?! Let me check!” Mari says while checking my whole body.
Because of that, I burst out into laughter at her reactions.
“I’m totally okay, Mari! She’s not that bad ‘bad’ person, okay?” trying to convince her and hold her hands.
After saying that, suddenly the moment when she gave a little deep slashed my neck, comes through my mind.
I think I shouldn’t hide anything from them again.
“Well.. actually she slashed me here.” showing her my left neck, the bandage gets covered up from the collar “only a little bit..” I say to her nervously.
As expected, Mari shows up her speechless face and her mouth opens widely.
“VIL! Get that person here! I’ll teach her some lessons!” She says angrily
But for me, whenever Mari acts like this she looks childish and I love that this side of her is still here.
“I’m totally fine, Mariii.” I say to her while holding her cheeks “Besides, she saved me last night, right? She’s not that bad of a person.” trying to convince her one last time.
“Alright then, I trust you, Vil.” with that, I’m letting out her cheeks “Just let me know if she did something to you again.” she says.
Suddenly, the thoughts of Stam putting on the blame comes through my mind.
On the other hand, I can’t put Mari to help me since she needs to stay by Mana's side.
“Mari, I need to tell you something but you don’t need to force yourself to accompany me. Please stay with your twin here.” I say to her and she looks confused at me.
With that, I’m starting to explain the situation after last night's accident and tell Mari that about what Stam told me this morning.
After having a small discussion between the two of us, my mind becomes clearer and figures out what I should do next.
Giving a farewell hug to Mari and telling her that I’m going to visit them everyday.
On my way back home, the thoughts of possibility that could happen and what I need to prepare start to organize in my mind.
There’s no time to stay like this.. I have to save her!
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