E Is For Enemy

Chapter Fourteen

Karma's P.O.V.

It was nearly an hour before Gakuho walked back out of Shuu's room.

I had been tempted to listen by the door, but decided not to. This was a private moment that was a long time in the making and I didn't want to ruin it in any way.

He acknowledged me as he left, before pulling out his phone and making the first of many calls.

I collected myself, before heading into the room.

Shuu was sitting up in bed, wearing a white hospital gown that had small blue polka dots.

He was rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, but upon seeing me enter he quickly turned away.

I knew he had been crying, which reinforced the idea Gakuho had been honest and finally had a heart to heart with his son.

"I didn't request to see you, Akabane." He said, but we both knew it was just for show.

He wanted me here as much as I wanted to be here.

"Life is too short to not have surprise visits." I said, pulling up a chair to his bed.

"Don't you tell me how short life can be." He scowled- before we both burst into smiles.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

He had multiple hospital issued bracelets on his wrists, and an IV hooked up to his arm. I couldn't see his legs, as they were under the blankets, but I assumed they were heavily bandaged.

"Peachy keen. Ready to run a marathon." He answered.

"Race you." I smirked.

After that, the mood inevitably turned somber.

"I'm so sorry," I blurted, before he could say anything. "This was all my fault."

He stared at me, mouth slightly open. "Karma-"

"No, listen to me." I pleaded.

He shut up.

"I knew something was wrong with Nagisa but I didn't do anything about it. I didn't even warn you. And then I pulled that stunt at dinner and got him all riled up. I was poking fun, getting his buttons pushed on purpose for my own amusement. And then I did it again at the dance." I looked at the tiled floor. It was a glaring white that hurt my eyes.

"He finally snapped because I pushed him over the edge and he took it out on you. He even somehow managed to convince all of our classmates to join in on his endeavor. If I had just stopped and taken a step back to see the big picture, this never would have happened."

There was silence and I tried to collect my thoughts, until Asano spoke up.

"Are you done with your pity party yet?"

He was smirking, and it took me a moment to realize that.

"It's not your fault, baka." He said. "I didn't tell you a few things. There's no way you could have solved the big picture puzzle with only three pieces."

I just stared at him.

"A few days ago, a giant snake attacked me when I was alone in the woods. It was the same as that ox and horse monster. I would have been killed if it weren't for Nagisa jumping in at the last moment. He saved me and killed the snake. I had to tell him how to kill the beast or we would both die, but by doing so, he caught on we knew a thing or two about these monsters. That fueled his inner turmoil, he was furious you and I were working together on this, because he was jealous and because he thought I was directly putting you in danger. Which is so stupid, everyone knows you don't need any help in getting yourself into dangerous situations." He meant the last part as a joke to lighten the mood but I wasn't laughing.

"You were attacked again? By yourself? Why didn't you tell me?" I grabbed his hand, maybe a little too tightly, because he squirmed uncomfortably.

"Because there was nothing you could do," he replied. "And besides, I survived so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is this is starting to sound more and more like it's all revolving around you!" I said, my mind racing.

"What are you talking about?" He frowned.

"The first monster, it attacked you when you were alone. I just happened to be nearby and joined in. It wasn't after me." I stood up, pacing the room. "Then the horse, it ambushed us, but it went straight to you. However, it didn't attack. And now the snake- also attacked when you were alone."

He was silent, and I could see he was thinking this over too. He looked torn, like he had something to say but didn't want to say it.

"Spit it out." I demanded.

He looked caught off guard by my outburst, but sighed and looked at his hands under his covers. "Another thing about the snake attack...it wasn't trying to hurt me, just like the horse. It grabbed onto me and was trying to drag me somewhere. Like its goal wasn't to hurt me but to...bring me somewhere."

I bit my nail again, eyes narrowed as my brain tried to connect the pieces. It's like we had all of them, but they were constantly changing shape, so we couldn't connect them together to form the answer.

He was about to say something but I interrupted.

"You're not going anywhere on your own ever again." I decided.

He blinked at me. Then he got angry.

"Don't be stupid. I don't need a fucking bodyguard, I can take care of myself. Besides, how would that even work? We can't let anyone know what's going on, how can we hire someone if we can't give them any explanation for needing their services?"

"Simple. We hire a person who already knows the situation." I grinned.

His face hardened in realization.

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"You're still at the old campus, and we don't live close together- so how would any of this even work?" He pouted, crossing his arms.

"I'll be back at the main campus soon, and your dad said I was welcome over any time." I smirked, planning this all out in my head.

"Yeah, he meant you can like stop by whenever to visit, he didn't mean to move in!" He protested.

"He didn't say I couldn't move in."

"I didn't say you could move in."

"You didn't say I couldn't move in."

We stared at each other for a moment, each of us thinking about this plan.

Finally, he said, "I don't fully believe this is about me. If we get some new developments that reinforce the idea this is somehow centered around me and I really am in danger, then I'll let you temporarily move into a spare bedroom until this is all resolved- no questions asked. But only when and if we get more proof. I can handle myself, I don't need you to babysit me."

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

The nurse walked back in at that moment.

"It's time for your check up, Asano." She said.

"Again?" He groaned.

"Let her do her job." I chided.

He shot me a glare.

"Well, I'll stop by same time tomorrow, Shuu," I said, rising up from the chair. I squeezed his hand one last time.

"Bring me a book or something, I'm bored as hell here!" He called as I walked out.

Before the door shut all the way, I overheard him and the nurse.

"Your boyfriend is cute." She said.

"He's not my boyfriend." Shuu scowled.