Chapter 18
An insistent banging on the door caused Camie to stir the next morning.
“Camie!” her mother’s voice carried through the door with urgency.
The high pitched screech rattled Camie’s already ringing head. She slowly lifted her head from the pillow, her hair following suit in a tangled mop, not bothered by the increased urgency of fevered banging on the other side of her room. She slowly brought her hands up and moved her hair back from her face before wiping the sleep from her eyes.
“Camie?” her mother’s voice sounded through the door again, desperation starting to seep into her tone.
Camie moved her tongue around her mouth a few times to loosen it up. She hated mornings like this; mornings that made it seem like your life had fallen apart the night before.
Although I suppose this time it kind of did, in a way.
“Yes?” Camie groggily responded which finally halted the noise from outside.
“What took you so long to answer?”
“I just woke up,” Camie called out.
“Well, hurry up; you’re going to be late for school.”
“Ugh,” Camie flopped back down onto her pillow, grimacing as the action brought further pain to her head.
Locking that door last night was simultaneously the best and worst decision I’ve ever made.
She slowly got out of bed and walked over to the mirror. Her eyes were still slightly puffy from all the crying she had done the previous night.
Deciding not to put too much effort into getting ready, Camie changed into her uniform and went downstairs, heading straight to the door.
“Here take some lunch since you don’t have time to eat,” her mother handed her a bento box.
“Thanks,” Camie turned to leave after taking the box from her mother.
“Um, Camie...” her mother’s voice stopped her again.
She turned to look at her mother, waiting for her to continue.
“You can always talk to your father or me, you know that right?”
“Yes mom, but don’t worry. Everything is fine.” Camie managed to conjure a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m going to head out, any longer and I really will be late.”
Camie closed the front door behind her and as was habit she looked up and down the street before realising Inasa wasn’t there.
Right, we had an argument yesterday. I should probably sort that out today and apologise for being a bit harsh.
She set off at a slightly slower pace than normal, trying not to agitate her pounding head. The source of pain that had collectively joined just behind her right eyebrow, combined with her blocked sinuses, caused a nauseous feeling to rise up within her chest. Before she reached her class, Camie decided that if the feeling hadn’t passed by lunch; she would visit the school nurse.
“Everybody take your seats. I have a few announcements to make before class begins,” the teacher explained as Camie walked in through the door.
“Sorry I’m late,” she excused herself before walking to her seat.
“Not a problem, just don’t make a habit of it.”
Camie pulled out her books and turned to speak to Inasa to find that his desk was empty. Confusion clouded her face as she let her eyes roam over the whole room.
No, he isn’t in a different seat so where is he?
During the first intermission Camie turned to the person behind her. “Do you know if Inasa is coming in today?”
“No, I haven’t seen him today and I didn’t hear anything about why he isn’t here either.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Camie got up from her desk and walked out into the passage. She went outside the building for a minute, trying to escape the noise of the crowded rooms. At the beginning of the next class, Camie excused herself and headed to the school nurse who gave her a tablet for her head and let her lie down on one of the beds. After an hour, Camie woke up still feeling slightly nauseous. The nurse gave her permission to leave school for the rest of the day and head home.
Camie decided to take a longer walk home, hoping the fresh air would help to quell up the uneasiness that had settled into the pit of her stomach. She eventually came to the park that she and Toga often met up at. Camie cut through the park, glancing around every so often, disappointed when she didn’t see Toga.
Why are you disappointed? It was very unlikely that she would be here in the first place...
She was almost home when she heard scuffling coming from an alley to the side of the street she was heading down. Camie peered into the alley and managed to make out a few shapes further in the dark street passage way. She walked towards them until everything became clearer. At the end of the alley, three men in hero suits stood over a cowering person that lay on the floor, in a pool of her own blood.
“What happened to the tough act?” One of the three sneered down at her. “I thought you were going to teach us a lesson or are the standards of villains just not as high as they used to be.”
The other two laughed at the first’s apparent joke.
“...ry,” a mumble came from the woman.
“What was that?” the first man spoke again.
“I’m sorry,” the woman sniffed, “I’ll turn myself in.”
Suddenly the man straightened a cruel smile on his face. “Oh no, I think you’re getting the wrong idea here. See, we don’t have time to teach every villain a lesson and arrest them. If we arrested every villain we came across while on patrol, we’d never get the paperwork done in time to go home and I for one despise working overtime.”
The woman shuffled into a sitting position, giving Camie a better look at the stat she was in. Her face was already swollen and bruised. One of her eyes was shut and her lip was split open. Blood matted the woman’s hair and a huge cut spilled red from her lower stomach.
Camie’s eyes widened in shock and her hand flew up to her mouth. She took a quiet step forward, unnoticed by the three heroes who stood over the woman. One of them raised their fist and brought it down into the woman’s face, knocking her back to the floor. The sound of her head hitting the ground ricocheted through Camie’s mind and she took another step forward. The woman lay dazed on the floor for a moment before she spotted Camie creeping forward. Her one eye widened and pleaded with Camie desperately. Camie was about to respond to the plea and launch herself forward until she saw the woman mouth a single word: ‘Run!’