They made it just in time as their teacher whistled for everyone to line up in separate rows. Eika tossed her bag on the bleachers and made her way to a column that"s away from Mei Qian"s reach. Sometimes she forgets they are cla.s.smates until she saw her face.Mei Qian shot her a glare as she walked down to her own line. Eika looked away, "What"s her problem?" She hissed under her breath. She rubbed her temple.
"Let"s start with stretching, Ms. Miyamoto, are you sure you"re able to join us?" Their teacher asked and, everyone in the room turned to Eika"s direction. Some of them were giving her sneers.
"She should stay on the bleachers," One of her cla.s.smates whispered to one another and, Eika lowered her head. She needed time to think and, yet every situation wanted to push her to act fast.
"I"m okay, my ankle is fine," Eika said bravely, she straightened her back and showed her ankle. Their teacher raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes down at her clipboard.
"Once I ask you to sit down, you better follow my directions, understand?" Their teacher inquired and, Eika nodded in response. She gestured Eika to move aside and, she headed toward the platform.
"Suzaku, lead the counting," Their teacher commanded. Everyone began stretching up their arms to the side. Eika followed but, Hikaru inched closer to her.
"I think you should sit this one out, who knows what they could do next time?" Hikaru whispered and, Eika waved her hand as she extended her legs.
"It"s better if I see who sabotages me, I can help Noriko that way," Eika insisted. She twisted her ankle and, she winced. She lost her balance and, Hikaru intended to catch her but, Eika held her ground. She flailed her hand to send Hikaru away back to his line. The boy frowned and, he quickly stepped away nearby Eika"s line.
He mouthed the word "You"re too reckless!" to her and, she ignored it.
After the exercise, the whistle beeped and, everyone jogged around the gymnasium. Eika falls behind everyone in front of her and, her cla.s.smates zoomed past her. She"s knocked down on the floor. She gritted her teeth and slammed her hand on the ground. She pulled herself up and kept on jogging on her own.
Hikaru watched from afar and sighed to himself. He could see his other cla.s.smates were ready to crash into her again. Hikaru sped up from his jog and crashed into them from behind.
"Try catching up to me, losers!" He yelled as he jogged backward. He gave a provocative smile and dashed away from them. Eika wiped her sweat and, taken aback when she saw Hikaru was being chased by their other cla.s.smates.
Eika looked down on her feet as her ponytail swings behind her. She"s depending on Hikaru again. She couldn"t do that anymore. She had to find the person who asked Noriko to sabotage her.
Mei Qian caught up with her, "Is that all you got?" She remarked when they were running at the same pace. Eika ignored her and jogged away from her. Mei Qian furrowed her brows and hurried to catch up with her.
"Still hate me for the airplane incident?" Mei Qian said sarcastically, Eika glanced at her. She narrowed her eyes at the girl. What is her deal? What does she want from her? Could it be she"s the one who asked Noriko to sabotage her?
Eika lost in thought. She avoided Mei Qian"s gaze and raised her head to look at the ceiling. She saw a CCTV camera from above. She squinted her eyes to ponder. She wondered if every room has a camera in them?
"No, you"re right. Airplane food... sucks," Eika replied lamely and, she forced herself to catch up with everyone else. Mei Qian is a daze. She stopped running and saw Eika limping when she came to a stop.
Their teacher called them over to gather. Mei Qian was about to make her way towards the line until her best friend patted her on the shoulder. When Mei Qian turned around to face Ling. Her eyes are swollen with tears.
"Ms. Miyamoto, can you get the volleyball b.a.l.l.s inside the storage house?" Their teacher looked over to her. Eika smiled toward her and bowed her head. She could tell that her teacher doesn"t want to give her the burden of having to play volleyball with the others.
"Do you need-" Eika raised her hand at Hikaru. Not letting him finish his sentence. She gave a thumbs up to him. "I can do this alone," Eika rea.s.sured him. She waved her hand and left the gymnasium to find the storage house.
"Where are we going?" Mei Qian asked she was dragged out the gymnasium by Ling. They headed nearby the storage room and Ling knelt down on the gra.s.s.
"I lost my pendant somewhere," Ling searched on the ground. She pulled out a few weeds and Mei Qian"s furrowed her brows. Her lips quivered and, she knelt down on the ground to find the pendant for her friend.
"You go check there! I"ll check here!" Mei Qian called after her. She pointed at the corner of the field. Ling nodded her head. She dashed towards the other side. Mei Qian pulled herself up and rubbed her eyes. She checked each nook and cranny until it led her to the storage house.
Mei Qian peeked inside the storage house. She cringed at the sight of darkness. There"s no way she"s looking inside. She locked the doors and raced away to find another site to seek for the pendant.
When Eika heard the door close behind her. She quickly got on her feet and, she banged on the door from inside. "Who"s there? Please! Open the door!" She begged from the other side. She continued to hammer her hand on the door. She couldn"t breathe inside and, the room was dark for her to see.
"This isn"t funny!" She cried out. She slides down on the ground and holds her knees together. She rested her head by the door and prevented herself from fearing the dark.
She"s trapped. No one could save her.