Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Defy and Comply ❯ Lesson 7: The Depth of Sanity ( Chapter 7 )

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Defy and Comply

By: Melissa Norvell

Lesson 7: The Depth of Sanity

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Sunoma stared blankly at the screen in dismay, her form bathed in pale light as tears flowed down her reddened skin. She could do nothing but stare at the form before her, lying deceased on the ground.

"I can't believe this shit," Taiga closed his eyes and clenched his fist, head tilted down in pain and anger. "Fuck everything," the yakuza got up and turned to leave but Sunoma grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. Her arms looped around his stomach and her tear-stricken face buried into his chest in an act of comfort.

Aqua eyes widened and shock erupted through his form. The fact that someone would even act in such a way shocked him beyond words. "S-Sumomi..."

"Mispronouncing my name ruins the moment," the girl shot in sarcasm as her grip on his form tightened.

The blonde glanced down at the girl, his voice gentle as his arms wrapped lightly around her form. "I'll try to remember it. No one's ever...dared to touch me."

"You shouldn't have to had to have seen that," Sunoma's voice was trembling with sorrow. She could only imagine what kind of pain was ripped fourth from the man's heart. If ever there was solid proof that the graduation's nefarious plans had been executed that was all that she needed.

"I had a feeling I would again." No doubt it would have been used as a scare tactic, or in a manner that would try to provoke him into killing someone else. He had expected that much at the very least.

Sunoma pulled back from him, wiping the tears from her face. "Let's just go back to our dorms."

Turning to walk away and go give herself some time to think, the girl took a couple of steps as silence rang through the room. When she had been a full four steps from the man, his voice cut through her senses like a knife.

"Stay with me for a while."

Blue eyes widened and she froze in place. "What?" A small blush crept to her face.

"I want someone to watch me for a few hours. I don't trust myself otherwise," Taiga knew his limitations, and he had felt that if his anger and emotional turmoil mounted anymore that he would fly into an uncontrollable rage and do something he would regret. Having the lolita around would help calm his nerves and keep some sense of logic flowing through his veins.

"I'll make sure you're alright before I head back," she didn't know what to expect, but she was happy that the yakuza entrusted her with his comfort. To be truthful, Sunoma didn't mind spending a little extra time bonding with him.

When she got to know Taiga, he was actually a pretty okay guy.

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In Kiyomaru's room, the blue-haired teen lay, nestled below three layers of rich, lush sheets and a bed spread. He was sound asleep as the room peeked in his window, bathing his form in a milky light. The sky was still dark and the stars twinkled high above. In two hours, he would be wide awake and on his way to make sure all of the student body rose and shone for their class preparations.

However, he was jolted from his sleep by frantic knocking at his door. It was almost as if someone was beating it down frantically in an attempt to get inside. Kiyomaru glanced to the clock through sleep-filled eyes to check to the time. It wasn't even time to get up. Why had anyone even been awake at such an obscure time?

Yawning, he threw back the covers to reveal what he had been wearing, striped boxers and a sleeveless shirt. As he walked over to the door, muffled crying could be heard. He opened the door to see a diminutive girl with robin's egg blue hair that was cut at an angle, being shorter in the back and longer in the front. She was dressed in a white, short, nightgown that had spaghetti straps.

As the door opened, she looked up at him with glassed over, large, round sky blue eyes. "Kokken? What are you doing up so early? Why are you crying? What happened?" Kiyomaru's face lit up with concern.

"I don't know what to do. My roommate hung herself," the girl sobbed loudly.

Those words struck Kiyomaru to the core. His green eyes widened and he could hardly believe what he had heard. "What?"

Tears still streamed down the girl's face as she continued to sob. "I'm really scared. Last night, I went to bed before she did. I was really worried but I couldn't stay up any longer so I dozed off. When I woke up, she wasn't there, so I went to look for her and I found her hanging from the beam in the closet."

Kiyomaru slammed the door behind him, bolting out of his room in his sleeping wear. His heart slammed in his chest at a crushing speed, sending sharp pains to his joints. His feet beat fast against the floor as he ran along the hallway, followed by the sobbing girl as they both found their way back to her room.

By the time they had gotten there, the room was full of students and faculty members. The two of them pushed through the chattering crowd, half of them still clad in their pajamas, yawning and stretching. Some cried and others gossiped idly to each other. The two of them made their way to the front of the crowd, where familiar faces had been looking on at the horror before them.

Taiga and Sunoma were dressed in the same clothes they had been in the night before. Both had disheveled hair and clothing, and looked groggily ahead of them. Kraki was in a long-sleeved gown that was a light pink and fuzzy penguin slippers of the same shade of pink and white. Ame wore her typical lolita dress, adorned in the latest fashion of black and white she appeared as if she had been up for hours. Masato stood there, shirtless in a pair of red pajama pants with no shoes. Inori had also been clad in his student council uniform, as if he had been up for hours. Gaz stood there, clad in nothing but blue boxers as he tried to see through the haze of his vision. Zoen wore a white t-shirt and gray pair of sweat pants and Tsukimi wore a pair of white slippers, in yellow shorts and a spaghetti strapped shirt with white cats printed all over them. Kiyomaru pushed past her and jolted to a stop, horror was etched on his face.

Before him was a girl, tall with long legs, dressed in a bright red, turtle neck sweater and black skirt with panty hose dangled from a thick rope, tied around a pole that was used for hanging clothes. Her short, pixie cut hair, curled up in the middle had lost its luster, dull, red lips and lifeless red eyes stared back at her.

"What happened here?"

"She's dead, of course," Ame was the first to point the situation out to him.

"I knew it," Taiga deduced. Someone had ended up dead. No doubt it was tied to graduation somehow.

"Do you think she saw something as well? A lot of students use the library," Sunoma was curious. After all, Kiyomaru, Kraki , herself and Taiga had all bore witness to the creepy computer's messages. Could it have been possible that this girl had seen something that they had seen? The feelings emanating from such material could cause hysteria and sorrow too big for someone to deal with too long before they were overcome with grief.

"Can't say for sure," while anything could be possible, Taiga wasn't going to rule anything out just yet.

"A suicide?" Masato asked, a little shocked.

"But why would anyone kill themselves in a rich school? Here, she had everything that she could ever want." It made no sense to Ame at all. She couldn't wrap her finger around why the girl would want to take her own life.

Inori stared, horrified. His voice trembled with sorrow. "I-I can't believe that someone would actually act upon killing themselves. Shinjinku has some of the best counselors in all of Japan." If she had needed help, someone was always there to help. How could this have possibly happened? Inori couldn't grasp what would have driven this girl to suicide.

"I'm going to alert the authorities. Immediate action must be taken!" Kiyomaru proclaimed but he was stopped dead in his tracks.

"There is no need," the president crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

The blue-haired teen jolted in place. "What?"

"I've already called them. They will be here shortly," Inori had informed him that things would be fine.

Taiga's eyes darted to the pretty boy's form.

Sunoma's visage morphed into a quizzical expression. "Do you think he did?"

"He's suspicious," Taiga didn't particularly believe him. Inori had been acting suspicious and this was no exception.

Sunoma's look hardened. "I agree. Those files are in the system somewhere. That means it's floating around in the network. When I brought up looking at the rosters for your brother's class, Inori had opposed me the most, claiming it was illegal to even glance at them...even with just cause." It was more than suspicious. It was as if Inori had known something, and if not then why was he so insistent on no one looking at the student files?

"His father also founded this school. You can't tell me he doesn't know some shit is up." Taiga also refused to believe that Inori didn't know what was going on. He had to have known something, and he wanted to know what.

"I hope this isn't a premise for the slaughter," the lolita couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of sign. This was the first death, no doubt there would be many to follow.

"The nightmare has begun. No stoppin' it now," Taiga already knew what was to come. It was only a matter of time before darkness overtook the school and swallowed them into the abyss.

Sunoma's frown deepened and her words slid out, resonating in the yakuza's heart and mind, "unless you wake up."

"We should probably all leave and stop gazing at her like she's a spectacle. It's quite rude," Ame noted as she placed a hand to her lips and shifted her half-lidded eyes. After all, there was nothing left to see. It wasn't as if the body was going to reanimate itself and birth new clues.

Kokken's sobs were weakened as Kiyomaru held the girl close, hugging her against his body. She sobbed into his red and black military suit. Her muffled voice bled through his clothing. "I'm so scared. I don't want to stay in my room tonight."

Green eyes glanced down in sorrow at the girl. His heart went out to her, it really did.

Mishio, who was clad in a light blue pajama suit rolled up, excusing himself as he found his way through the audience and approached the front of the suicide scene. "Excuse me, excuse me, coming through. Hey, what's-"

Suddenly, his eyes widened and he looked freaked out as he laid sights on the dead girl. Vision blurring and heart racing, Mishio began to shake violently. His voice trembled and he felt himself lose touch with reality. "She d-d-d-d-d-" he stammered, voice drenched in paranoia.

"Mishio!" Tsukimi called out his name and rushed to his side, clutching his arm in an attempt to draw him back into reality. "Mishio, are you alright?"

Gaz grew concerned as well. "Hey there, little dude. You'll be alright," the rock star laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"S-She-" Mishio cut himself off as his body started violently undulating and spazzing out into a fit of violent convulsions. Drool ran from his mouth and his eyes rolled back in his head into a seizure-like state.

"Oh my god! What's wrong with him?" Kraki asked, watching from the sidelines. She felt helpless to do anything to stop him.

"Out of my way!" Tsukimi held out her arm. "Everyone clear a spot on the floor." She then glanced to the blue-haired Korean with a serious expression. "Gaz, help me lift him out of his wheelchair."

"Right," Gaz nodded as the two took the boy and laid him flat on the ground in front of his wheelchair, where he lay spasming awkwardly.

Tsukimi immediately rushed to his wheel chair and pulled out a syringe, administering a shot into his arm. The boy continued to convulse for several minutes before they weakened and eventually stopped entirely. All eyes watched as Mishio settled down into a deep sleep.

"What's up with him?" Zoen had never seen him act like that before.

"Mishio has a disorder. Sometimes he gets these really bad seizures and you have to go and give him a special shot to get him to stop. He should be alright. He's sleeping now. I think the situation got to him." The girl said as she laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. He had managed to give everyone quite the scare. Tsukimi hoped that he wouldn't have any further complications.

"I don't blame him," Gaz frowned. "It got to me, too. I can't believe Karaya would kill herself. I talked to her before she went to her dorm and she was kinda down but she didn't seem like she was depressed as Kiyomaru said earlier, I don't get it."

"I don't either. Karaya was my friend. I can only imagine how Kokken must feel right now," Tsukimi cast a sympathetic glance towards the blue-haired girl.

"We should take him back to his room," Zoen gestured to the slumbering boy, then bent down and lifted him back into the wheelchair. He made sure not to disturb him as he gently laid him on top of it.

"I'll go with you," Tsukimi volunteered as she assumed her position behind the wheelchair and pushed him back through the now thinning crowd. "I don't want to leave Mishio by himself."

"I'll stay by your side," Zoen was going to make sure that nothing else happened as well.

Pausing, his girlfriend looked to him with hopeful eyes. "Y-you will?"

"In case you need my assistance. We still have a couple of hours before class starts. We should use them to make him comfortable." Noticing the blush on the girl's face, his expression never wavered from its stoic presence.

"Thank you, that means a lot to me," She smiled happily. Sometimes, it was hard to get Zoen to spend time with her, so she was a little surprised that he was going to help her out with her disabled friend. To be truthful, if Mishio had another seizure, she would need his help.

"Are you sure you'll be alright, Tsukimi?" Gaz asked. He felt really uneasy about her friend's little performance, and he wanted to help in any way that he could.

"I'm sure. Mishio is my best friend. I know how to take care of him pretty well, and he taught me what to do in case he did something like this in the past," Tsukimi reassured the rocker that things would be alright. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Mishio and at times, his seizures happened randomly. She was pretty used to administering shots and making sure he took his medication.

"I think we should all clear the scene, to be honest. We do still have class and half of us are in our pajamas." Blue eyes glanced around as Ame observed the many students standing around half-dressed or clad in sleep wear and even underwear.

Honestly, some of her classmates had no shame.

"Well, nothin' more t'see here. The police'll be here soon anyway, so I'm gonna ride off into the sunset." Masato knew better than to stick around for any kind of authority members, not with his bosozoku name.

"Masato is right. We won't gain anything by staying here," Sunoma agreed. She needed to get back to her dorm and take a shower. Her body clung tight to the smell of sweat and cologne and she didn't want any questions arising from her fellow classmates.

"I'm gonna go back to my dorm," Taiga stated as he turned to leave.

"Are you alright? After last night, I mean," Sunoma's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I'll be fine. I should be asking you that." Who knew what the girl had been going through thus far? While he had seen the Black Death, it probably wasn't as easy to swallow for her. Not to mention, he had no idea how she felt after what happened between them that night.

"We both woke up with our clothes on. I hardly consider it scandalous. I wanted to help you and one thing led to another." That was really all there was to their situation. It was a night of comfort and didn't mean they were jumping headlong into a relationship or anything.

Taiga's cheeks flushed a light pink. "Yeah, but I don't regret it. I just...don't want you to." The last part of that sentence sounded oddly concerned for someone who usually had such a brash nature.

"I don't but let's keep it between us."

The blonde nodded. Some things didn't need to come out into the open, regardless. It was truly no one's business but their own.

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Kokken walked to her dorm room with another girl beside of her. This girl had curly hair that was pulled up into a high ponytail that shifted to one side, causing all of the ends of the curls to jut out to the right. The other girl's skin was a dark caramel in color and she had yellow eyes. She dressed in a blue hoodie that was unzipped and wore a yellow t-shirt and short, white tennis skirt beneath it.

The two held boxes with her belongings in them and continued to make their way across the hall as they bumped into Sunoma who had emerged from her dorm room. The two stopped and gave her quizzical glanced before Kokken decided to speak up first.

"Miss Social Chairman."

Sunoma cocked her head. "Are you alright? My condolences to the loss of your friend and dorm mate, If there is anything that you want or need help on please don't hesitate to ask. We of the student council will remain dutiful to the student body." She placed a hand to her heart. Upon being inducted into the student council, it was the lolita's job to uphold peace and serenity in the student body and to provide aid wherever it was needed. Recently, she had been neglecting her duties, but now would be a perfect time to make up for them.

Kokken closed her eyes and smile warmly. "I'll be alright. I decided to move out of my dorm and into another one. I just..." She paused, glancing to the side in sorrow. "Can't stay in there, knowing that she died," it unnerved her, and the images of Karaya hanging herself in the closet would forever haunt her mind. Kokken didn't wish to be plagued with sorrow.

"Do you have anyone to dorm with?" Sunoma inquired.

"Me!" The friendly girl beside of her held her hand up. "Hello, Miss Sunoma, I am Aoili Katsuragi. I have an extra open spot since I never had a dorm mate before. I thought it would be better for her to stay with me instead of being alone after all that happened. I think she really needs support." Her tanned hand rested on the smaller girl's shoulder as she beamed brightly.

Sunoma smiled, "you're a good friend. I can only imagine what it must be like for you."

A blue gaze hit the ground again, "I just...don't understand. I know that this week, something was bothering Karaya. Like, she was acting really weird and detached. I asked her what was wrong, because I knew something was but she kept telling me that it was nothing. She told me not to worry but I still did."

"Karaya was being strange,” Aoili noted with a finger to her lips. "I noticed it, too. She stopped talking so much, but would snap back to this normal mode and pretend to be alright."

"She was like that. As long as I knew her, she's always had a lot of pressure on her. She was a super scholar, and she studied a lot. She wanted to be a philosopher." Ever since Kokken had known the black-haired girl, she was always pursuing her goal with dogged determination. It was something that she admired about her. Kokken was kicking herself right now, and she wished she could have provided the support and friendship that Karaya had probably needed, despite being pushed away by her.

She missed the would be philosopher a lot.

"So, up until recently she's been normal?" Sunoma found that odd. Recently was when everything started to get strange.

"Yes, nothing bothered her until a couple of days ago. Whatever it was, it was really bad," Kokken had confirmed what the lolita had feared. Karaya began acting abnormal at the time she and Kiyomaru had been experiencing strange happenings. It was beginning to look more and more as if Karaya had possibly seen the same content that they all had.

"Maybe something happened at home with her," Aoili threw out a third possibility that might have contributed to her suicide.

"She lived in the dorms and only went home on the weekend. None of this makes any sense. No matter how hard I think about it," Kokken ran her hands through her hair. Her anxiety was seeping in the more she thought about her friend's death the more distraught she became. Why did Karaya have to die? What could have been wrong with her? She wanted to cry.

Aoili looked upon her friend with concerned, golden eyes as she placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You know, maybe you shouldn't think about it. You've been through a lot lately and I know it's hard but you have to try and put it in the back of your mind."

"You know, she is probably right. You should give yourself a rest," Sunoma agreed. She wasn't going to try and question her any further. The incident was still too fresh in her head.

"The note I found after everyone came in here...I wonder what she meant when she said 'I want to die while I'm happy. The world is full of sorrow and horrible instances and I have decided that the best death I could possibly have is one where I chose my destination. Don't blame yourself because I wanted this. I hope that you too, will die with a smile,'” those words constantly ran through the girl's head. The message was cryptic and strange. She had never heard of anyone wanting to die while they were perfectly happy. What did Karaya mean by that?

Aoili looked a little unnerved by it all, "yeah, definitely not in her right mind."

'That means that she must have seen something. Maybe she went into the library on that old computer.' Sunoma was thoughtful before she spoke up. "I have a question."

"Huh?" Aoili cocked her head.

"Did she spend any time in the library?" If she was a scholar, then there was a possibility. Many students came to that place to study and read.

"What does that have to do with her note?" Kokken clearly wouldn't be able to connect the events.

"I'm trying to see if something is connected."

"She was in there a lot."

"Was she in there at the time she felt bad or her demeanor changed?"

"I don't know," Kokken's eyes were crestfallen once more.

"I see," Sunoma noted. "Did Kiyomaru come by your room?"

"I haven't seen him, not since the body was found. I didn't even see him in class and we have some of the same classes together." It was very odd that Kiyomaru was absent from his classes, especially since he took pride in his perfect attendance.

Aoili's face lit up with shock. "You went to class? You should have taken today off." Why would her friend do that in her fragile state? She was being way too hard on herself.

"I didn't want to worry anyone," Kokken feigned a placid smile.

"It's weird though, isn't it? Kiyomaru had perfect attendance. Why would he miss class?" Even Aoili knew that something had to be wrong with the student council vice president. Nothing usually stopped him from attending school. He loved going to school.

"He looked pretty scared when he saw Karaya. I can understand if it freaked him out." Many of the students at Shinjinku had probably never even seen a dead body before. Kokken had no right to judge him for not showing up to classes if he was horrified and scarred by the incident.

"I think I'll go check on him. He hasn't been well lately." When she thought about it, ever since Kiyomaru had found out about the rumors being true, he'd been very distant and paranoid. Maybe he needed some help adjusting to everything and taking the threats logically. Sunoma decided that she would at least check on him and make sure he didn't do anything rash.

"Tell him that I hope he gets better. If he needs to talk, he can definitely come to me," Kokken hoped her reassuring words would at least help Kiyomaru feel safer, or make him feel as if he wasn't alone.

Aoili nodded. "Mm! We sort of know how he feels; the poor dear was probably traumatized."

Sunoma bowed, "I'll give him the word. I'll check on the two of you later."

"We'll be here," Aoili's voice faded into the distance as the girl walked in the direction of her friend's room.

Her head was filled full of thoughts involving the latest developments. 'What has become of me? The old me would never have thought of being involved with Taiga, and yet...last night...' Images invaded her mind of their actions; a kiss, a hug, hands that roamed through clothes-

She shook her head violently, trying to rid herself of such thoughts. 'It isn't like we slept together. We merely made out, and I had never seen a man look so vulnerable...I really hope he didn't take that as something more than comfort. Not that I didn't find him attractive but, I have my sights on someone else...I'll call him later, or maybe I'll go and visit his dorm. Why am I worried about him? He's a yakuza, the one who runs the most dangerous faction...when the word yakuza is even uttered, people think of the Yamaguchi faction. I'm sure he can fend for himself. I am unsure of how to feel regarding what we have done. I don't regret it. What happened to him was painful. If it were me, I would have wanted someone to be there for me. This situation has been frightening for all of us. I don't even know what to do myself.'

As her thoughts ended, she stopped in front of the white door with Kiyomaru's name impressioned on the silver name plate. Sunoma gave it a few quick knocks, but no one came to the door.

"Hello, Kiyomaru are you in there?"

No answer.

"Kiyomaru?"

No answer.

"I guess he's not in his dorm," the girl sighed lightly to herself and placed a hand under her chin, looking perplexed. "Maybe I'll text him," she thought as she pulled out her phone and began to send him a text message.

Inside of his dorm, his cell phone lay on his bed and vibrated with the announcement of 'one new message' in lime green across the screen. To the right of his bed, Kiyomaru sat in a white chair and stared at the wall, scared out of his mind with blank eyes and shrunken pupils.

'I can't fix this. I can't do it. I can't. I have done everything I could to stop it from happening, only to have it blow up in my face. I'm running out of time. Someone died and it's my fault. If I knew this would happen, I would have never transferred to Shinjinku Academy. I let them down. I only wanted to make them happy and instead they drove her to misinterpret its meaning and take her own life. I can't fix this, because no matter what I could have done, lives would be lost. Why am I being punished? I don't understand. I wish someone would just save me...and wake me up from this nightmare.'

...To Be Continued