The Serenity of Niko Shinjumaya[Icicle//RiniPinja]

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Niko shook his head when Serenity asked about what he meant. He simply commented, "No, this whole area, including those cities. I'm not from around here." At Serenity's comment, Niko looked down at his food and mumbled a quick thanks. He was shocked when she tapped his shoulder, more from the sudden interaction than the pain, and immediately shifted away from her. She quickly pulled her hand back, but continued to talk to him in a comforting manner.

Niko didn't find her speech very comforting. he didn't enjoy Kamoku's words either. He only felt more stressed out after they responded, their words confirming his suspicions. He paused for a few seconds, then started to comment, "a paper...I have a paper, instructions. It's how I got here....I could show you...it's in my dorm." He then looked down at his breakfast, hoping that his offer wouldn't mean abandoning his delicious food. He started to eat a bowl of cereal, just in case.
 
Serenity nodded, wanting to stand up to get started, but she noticed that he was still eating. So she sat back down, "Okay, after you eat then!" She smiled a bit. She wondered what he could have meant about not knowing about... the school... or the city... People sometimes do just get up and travel to random places, but... That didn't seem to be his intentions at all? Maybe he warped here... Or got high? She wrinkled her nose at the thought, he didn't LOOK like a druggie.

She shook her mind of the thought, and thus also continued her own food - cereal and milk! And a cookie, although she might give that away if she still felt guilty about devouring such a delicious dessert for breakfast...

Kamoku watched him for a bit, but questions still whirled within her mind. She still couldn't find trust in the boy, despite his meek demeanor. He just seemed... Off. "What happened to you while you were gone?" She decided to begin her interrogation now. A person can talk and eat at the same time, after all. Serenity also glanced back up at Niko, clearly curious about the answer to the question.
 
Niko continued to eat in peace for a few minutes, finishing off two bowls of food, but as he was working his way through his penultimate bowl, he looked over at Kamoku as she asked him a question. After realizing what she was asking, he froze, suddenly remembering what happened. Niko quickly placed the bowl back on the tray and looked down, deep in thought. His expression was haunted, as if he was plagued by recurring nightmares. He didn't bother looking back up as he began answering a half-minute later, knowing she'd be able to see through his lie if he did so.

"I.....can't remember that either..." he said, staring at the food in the bowl as he thought, trying to come up with a good excuse, "I was running from...someone, someone strong...and their friends...and the apartment I stayed in was vandalized, so I had to return here..." he frowned even more, then continued eating for a few seconds as he thought. He then looked up at the girl and, with a slightly more genuine expression, commented, "I think they left after hearing Thomas's report in the news..." he then continued eating his food, wincing slightly after the first bite, then feeling the back of his jaw. "Why does that happen? I wasn't even injured there..." he thought, annoyed at his body's insistence at being pitifully weak.
 
"They were chasing you?" Serenity asked in between her bites, "Are you sure they were trying to hurt you or something like that...?" She narrowed her eyes just lightly, knowing that Niko was quick to jump to conclusions. After all, how many times had he ran away from her, as if she was some sort of monster? She placed her spoon down, not diverting her entire attention to Niko's responses.

Kamoku picked up Serenity's cookie and took a small bite. She was listening to Niko's responses, deciding it best not to interrupt him as Serenity took a turn to ask more questions. Someone strong? He couldn't mean the athletes right? Of course... She tilted her head lightly, thinking of the detective. What did he look like again? She couldn't remember. But the fact that he quickly dismissed the case means he knew something, right? And Thomas? She looked back up at Niko yet again, now eyeing him suspiciously, just as she usually does. Who calls the detective by their first name, and without any titles?
 
At Serenity's question, Niko quickly shook his head and commented, "One of them was outside the cafeteria that day....another one was in the classroom I got locked into." He apparently thought that this was a good enough answer, as he then immediately continued to eat his food. After finishing another bowl of food, he looked at his arm to see if his sleeve had slipped down at all. He soon realized that it had slipped down to just below his wrist, revealing a relatively thick wrap of gauze. He quickly pulled his sleeve back up to his hand and made sure to keep his arm level so that the sleeve wouldn't slip down any more.

Niko was also starting to sweat slightly as he ate. He figured that he was just feeling hot from nervousness at being around so many people, forgetting about the ridiculous clothes he were. He finished his last bowl of food soon and proposed, "we still have a half hour until first period...do you two have to be anywhere, or should I bring it back here for lunch?" Once again, he assumed that they knew what he was talking about, having been thinking about the paper constantly while he ate. "Why this school? I still can't understand it..." he thought, organizing his dirty dishes on his tray.
 
Niko did not elaborate on his story, so Serenity figured that he would probably tell the rest of the story at a different time, when he wasn't stuffing his face with a ton of food. She was just finishing up herself, drinking the rest of her apple juice, when she saw Niko's sleeve slip. Normally, she wouldn't notice such a trivial detail, but what she saw seize a hold of her thoughts. His arm was all wrapped up in gauze! Her eyes widen, no wonder he flinched away at her touch. When he stood up to put up his dishes, she quickly followed, "How hurt are you?!" She bit back the rest of her questions that she was going to fire off, but she figured that Niko wasn't entirely good at answering several questions all at once.

Kamoku followed shortly behind, keeping her own distance. She watched Niko, noticing that he didn't bother taking off his jacket despite the heated temperatures in the cafeteria. When she saw the gauze, she took that as a sign that Niko was covering up wounds he didn't want others to see.

When Niko asked his question, she shook her head, "We'll follow you," and she glanced over at Serenity's worried eyes. If she doesn't drag you to the nurse's office first...
 
As Niko took his dishes over to the carousel, fighting his limp as best he could without putting stress on his dressing, he looked around the cafeteria. It was still unclear to him why he was there, but he felt much more secure on the campus. "With that kind of reaction-" he started to think, quickly ripped from his thoughts by the sound of Serenity's worried voice. "She can't tell?......Bad idea, I should.." He looked over at the girl after a few steps, feeling slightly awkward at the question, and responded, "I'm fine, still recovering from a few scrapes."

After putting his dishes on the carousel, he continued out of the cafeteria and over to his room, occasionally answering the questions of the girls with a long pause as he thought, then a statement resembling, "I can't really answer that. I don't remember." His pace was very slow compared to his normal sprinting-everywhere pace, likely resulting in his conflicted expression.

Before long, the group reached Montacute and walked inside. Niko used his student I.D. as a pass for the elevator, insisting that it was faster than the stairs, and pressed the button for the third floor. Once the door opened again, Niko walked out and led the girls over to his dorm at the end of the hall. "Sorry, can you wait here? I'll only need a minute." Niko then walked into his room and shut the door behind it. He didn't bother locking the door, figuring that facing the determined girl's revenge wouldn't be worth it.

After a few seconds of rummaging through drawers and his backpack, Niko exited his room again. "Alright, come on in." he said, holding the door open for the two girls. He didn't change much about his room, but he managed to shove a few extra backpacks under his bed and he filed a few of the papers which were sprawled on his desk previously. Overall, the room was very empty, with only the bed, shelves, desk, chair, and table standing out. Niko placed his backpack on his bed beforehand, just so that he wouldn't be burdened by carrying it around any more.

After the girls were in the room, he closed and locked the door, then pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket and offered it to Kamoku. "I don't want anyone else to know about this." He commented, his expression serious, "I don't know what the headmaster will think if he sees it. My...'father'...tends to lie in official reports..." he had trouble saying the word "father," and didn't bother hiding it.

Instructions - Niko Shinji, Sub- [the letters following the b are furiously scribbled out and unintelligible]

1 - Pick up paper and pipe. [Etched into the paper in pencil are the words, 'Danger' and 'Sharp' in blocky letters, written only with straight lines, much like a computer]
2 - Run to street. [In the blocky, pencil-etched handwriting is written, 'Girl' and, '1709']
3 - Follow directions - Right on 4th, Left on Lee's Rd., Left on 134th, Right on Highland, Stop at "Gilworth Apts."
4 - Tell Clerk Lady, "Seven Six Eight Four Three Shinji" and accept materials.
5 - Rest in room 1402. [The blocky handwriting next to this direction reads, 'Fire' and, 'Shadows']
6 - Leave room on December 15th at 0859. [The blocky handwriting reads, 'Shouting' and, 'Stranger']
7 - Find and enter the all-black taxi. [The blocky handwriting reads, 'Trapped' and, 'Escape']
8 - Exit taxi next to valley. [The blocky handwriting reads, 'Guns' and, 'Glass']
9 - Follow directions: Follow Queen Anne Dr, Left at intersection, Follow road, Right at intersection, Follow Road. Approach buildings.
10 - Find building: White brick, cross on roof, diamond window, "Headmaster's Office" sign.
11- Enter building. [The blocky handwriting reads, 'Safe' and, 'Protect']

After Niko assumed that the girls had enough time to read, he averted his eyes from them and asked, "That's how I got here. I...found it on the floor when I woke up." He frowned, looking at the ground, then added, "I can't make sense of what happened before then. It was like some crazy dream."
 
She didn't believe him when he brushed off her worried question, but Serenity decided not to raise any alarms. She just watched him with a little worry, and tried not to push him too much like a suffocating mother. As they slowly make way through to his dorm, she was quite surprise Niko was capable of such a slow pace. She's so use to seeing him move so quickly, seeing otherwise... Well, it made her feel as though they were stuck in some sort of slow-mo scene. She frowned to herself, perhaps I'm just anxious because I really want to see what's happening...

"Okay!" Serenity called as Niko closed the door to his dorm behind them. Kamoku and her looked at each other once, slightly awkwardly, as they waited. They heard a little bit of activity, was Niko just cleaning up his room because of guests? Kamoku's suspicion of the boy grew even more: What is he trying to hide? Soon enough, the door opened, and the roomed looked how they both expect - clean. He's only been there for a week after all, how much of a mess can one do in that time period?

Kamoku eyed Niko a little bit when he tripped on the word 'father', but then took the paper and read through it, as Serenity peeked over her arm. "What do those words mean?" Serenity asked, pointing to the oddly written words next to each direction. It seemed almost... creepy. "And floor? Where were you?" She also pointed at the word 'girl', "Was that... suppose to indicate me? When you bumped into me?" She realized she was shooting off a ton of questions again, but she thought this was an appropriate time.

Kamoku didn't look up at Niko for a while, even while he answered. She just kept staring at the piece of paper, as if the answer would magically appear.
 
Niko felt even more uncomfortable after hearing the girls' questions, still standing by the door. "I wrote those words last week once I got here...to help me remember what happened. It didn't really help much, as you can tell..." he didn't know how to respond to Serenity's question about the floor, so he remained silent until she asked her next question. Niko sighed as she asked about the word, "Girl," then commented, "Yes, I think that was you. That whole memory was a blur though."

After waiting for the other girl to speak up, Niko walked over to her and held out his hand, reluctantly saying, "If you're done,...I'd like that back. I can remember the events slightly better than that paper."
 
Kamoku gave the paper back as Niko asked for it, but she didn't raise any specific questions on her own, she allowed Serenity to do all the interrogating. "Blur? Do you just not... remember very far? Like, can you remember yesterday?" She tilted her head in curiosity. With what he was saying, Serenity was reminded of several of those movies where the characters can not remember much about anything. Such as... The Notebook, was it? Where the lady had to write an entire journal. Was Niko the same way?

Kamoku walked around them and sat down at Niko's desk. She continued to watch them, but her eyes hardly wavered from Niko. It was as if she was observing some sort of experiment. It didn't help that Kamoku's eyes hardly showed any sort of emotions or hints at what she was thinking of.
 
As the boy accepted the piece of paper and carefully walked back over to his desk, he listened carefully to Serenity's question, thinking about it for a few seconds as he quickly threw the paper in a drawer. He turned back to face the girls after closing the drawer again, then, in a confused and uncertain tone, he responded, "Yes..." almost as if he didn't understand the question. A few seconds later, he walked back over to the door, focusing on Serenity as the other girl rested in the chair at his desk.

Niko continued to talk after he thought over the question a bit more, musing, "I can remember everything over the past few days just fine, but everything before that...I don't know, it's tough to explain." He started to scratch his chin, feeling a slight itch, but winced very subtly and rested his hands in his pockets to give his arms a break. He shifted uncomfortably as he continued, "I can only remember noises and my own voice from before last week...with any clarity at least. I can still remember what I saw before then, but I can't make sense of any of it. It's nothing like this place.....and I can't describe why either...."

A few moments passed, then Niko suddenly remembered to look at his watch. 0805 hours. Niko quickly pointed out, "Um,..we're going to be late for class if we don't leave soon..." He then turned around, unlocked the door, and started to open it, but felt a chill down his spine and quickly shut the door again, immediately locking it. There was a loud thumping noise against the door, metallic sounding, solid, as if an object was planted into the door. Niko hastily backed away from the door in shock, the doorknob was tried a few times, then heavy footsteps rushed away from the door as Niko reached the back wall of his room.

"What on..." he started, staring at the door. After a few moments, he walked back over to the door and cautiously unlocked and opened it again. After opening the door, he found a curved piece of metal, possibly resembling a bird's talon or a cat's claw, embedded into the center of the door. Niko swiftly pulled the object out of the door and pocketted it before the girls within could see, and looked down the hallway to see a black thing of some sort darting around the corner to the stairs. Niko froze in place then, his hands at his sides, all of his muscles stiff, as if anticipating to be hit, but his expression was covered not in fear, but in shock. "He's.....d-different!"
 
Kamoku watched carefully from the background as Niko thought about the question and answered. Serenity, on the other hand, was much more interactive. She glanced down at the drawer when he threw in the paper, and then looked back up at Niko with wide curious eyes. She tilted her head lightly towards him, listening carefully, and frowned when she noticed his pain. He should really go see the doctor again... Or maybe ask for some pain medicine. She idly thought, but knew the thought was most likely useless. He's probably already seen a doctor, and they obviously didn't deem his pain important enough for some medications.

She quickly mentally shook her head. She needs to pay attention. She focused her attention on his eyes once more and listened to the rest of his recollection. Only remember noises and voice? And visions that makes absolutely no sense? She couldn't quite understand what he was saying. "Not like this place...?" was the question she finally decided to ask on. So many other questions swirled in her head, she had a hard time choosing. But, she realized she didn't have a chance to ask more or listen to a more in-depth answer when he glanced at his clock. Serenity then made a mental note to continue asking him about said memories later. Missing Calculus was NOT a good idea.

Kamoku stood up, but was taken aback by Niko's sudden reaction. Serenity was also about to follow Niko when they heard the banging on the door. Serenity screamed at first noise and backed away. "Be careful!" She called out when Niko decided to open the door, Kamoku following close behind him. Kamoku first looked down the hallway, only to see a faint shadowy figure, and then glanced at the door. All she saw was a hole in the door, where it looked like something use to be. "What the..." She frowned, thinking that the action was done as a sick joke.

Serenity finally came out of the door as well, and her eyes widened at the sight of the door. "Different? What do you mean different, Niko?" She asked, her arms crossed as she held herself. Serenity then walked up to stand next to Kamoku and traced her finger across the hole in the door. "That's... This is wrong... Why would they do this...?" She asked to no one in particular, knowing that none of the two people beside her actually knew. But Kamoku spoke up, "Either it's a bad joke... Or this has something to do with your situation." Her eyes drifted towards Niko, narrowing in suspicion.
 
As the other girls started to talk, Niko relaxed, walking back into his room to get his backpack. As he exited , he said, "Let's talk on the way there," locking the door behind him as he spoke. He then started to walk down the hallway, then, once they were inside the elevator, he said, "In answer to your questions, Serenity, I have never seen that person before. He's completely different from the others..." He then realized that he couldn't remember why, and frowned, but hoped that the girls wouldn't think of it and moved on to Kamoku's question a second later as the elevator door started to open, "As for you, I doubt that was a joke or a prank. There's a video camera set in the hallway, so whatever he did and whoever he was is now in the school records." His final words left the hall in a menacing silence for a moment, a dark realization coming to Niko's mind once more.

He continued through the doorway, staring at the floor to avoid the eyes of the girls, then made his way over the main sidewalk to get to Calculus quickly, trying to keep up with the girls without straining himself too much.
 
"What do you mean different, though? Like, he's not like us?" Serenity asked, "How would you know?" She wasn't sure if he got a good glimpse at the perpetrator before he ran off, but it didn't seem like he would have been able to. She carefully tried to maneuver through the crowds of people as she talked to Niko and Kamoku, which she did so expertly, saying she did it quite often.

Right before they were able to go inside the Calculus classroom, Kamoku spoke up. "I know somebody who can hack into the camera systems." She said quietly, knowing that that's the sure enough way to catch a glimpse of the supposedly 'different' person. Serenity glanced at Kamoku, knowing who she was talking about. She glanced around quickly and glared at Kamoku a little, "That's illegal!" She hissed in a hushed whisper. Kamoku just shrugged and glanced at Niko to see his thoughts on that matter.
 
Niko didn't pause for more than a few seconds before responding to Serenity's question, having already thought about the answer. "What I meant is that he wasn't one of the guys from last week. I haven't seen him before." He looked at the ground momentarily after saying this, thinking, "I don't know how much longer I can do this...but I have to try..." He frowned as he looked back up, spotting a large group of people slowly making their way around campus.

Niko looked over at Kamoku with interest as she proposed a possible method for identifying the person, but shook his head as Serenity spoke. He then spoke analytically for a few seconds while walking up to and into the building, his eyes glazed over as he walked, calculating invisible numbers as he moved along. "They have probably already taken that memory off of their database and into a private collection for security...plus your friend's nodes wouldn't buffer their seeking program at all, so his access port would be discovered immediately. I tried it a week ago with an apoptosting program and didn't make any progress." Niko thought for a few more seconds, then commented, "he might be trying to warn us about something...Let's not pass him off as an enemy yet."

With that said, Niko worked his way through his first three subjects, barely finding the material worth studying. His teachers made special note to point out that he had to make up his assignments, so Niko acknowledged this, but his thoughts were on other things. He had to think of a way to make his story more believable, some way to hide the truth without lying...

---

Once World history ended, Niko walked over to Serenity and walked beside her as he went to lunch, initially greeting her by commenting, "you have more questions. I can tell."
 
Serenity nodded a bit, "So... He wasn't involved in your disappearance or involved with those athletes." She concluded. It's strange to think about how many people seem to be after Niko...

At his explanation, Serenity's eyes went wide. The entire thing went over her head, to say the least. She got the gist of it, probably. Mostly that her friend can't hack without getting caught, it's probably saved elsewhere... And... The person might not be bad at all? At the thought, she frowned, such a possibility never even crossed her mind.

Kamoku just nodded a little, she knew the risk of the hacking plan and was silently glad they didn't go with it. At Niko's idea of the strange figure not being an enemy, Kamoku hummed lightly. It was a good point, and it made her frustrated that it just emphasized the fact that they knew almost nothing.

~~~​
Serenity looked up at Niko when Wold History ended. During the last few classes, she excused herself from her friends and tried to sit next to Niko. Kamoku would stay behind, finding it pointless to sit next to him, and Serenity soon found out why. They weren't given any opportunity to talk about what's happened, only about what they needed to do or learn in the class they were in. So when he came up to her, she almost sighed in relief.

She nodded once, "I do." A weak smile form on her lips, "I kind of always do... If it ever gets annoying you can just tell me..." She shifted her backpack a little and then decided to dive right into her list of questions that have been driving her brain insane. "What do you remember saying in your memories? They might help decode what was happening. And what sort of scenes do you remember? Were you yelling the night we ran into each other - I remember hearing your voice, but it seemed a little strange...? How did you know about the... fancy computer stuff - are you just really good with technology? Who is your father? And... Are you leaving out any information or details? I mean, I know we aren't very all that close," Her hands went up to her hair slightly and played with a strand. She was nervous about being too forward again, "But I would really like to help." Finally, she took in a deep breath and glanced up at Niko. She was satisfied that she managed to spit out most of the major question, but she just hoped that she didn't scare him off. Crap! She's had forgotten: he wasn't good with too many questions at once.

"Um... If that was too many too fast, I can just repeat them one at a time, if you want." ​
 
Niko felt the urge to make a comment again after Serenity's first comment, but never got the chance. He continued walking along as she bombarded him with questions, focusing more on the amount that she was asking than what she was asking. He made a brief whistle once she was done, a brief whistle which sharply rose and declined in intensity. Once again, he started to think of something to say, but she interrupted him before he could start to speak. Determining that he would just need to start talking, he inhaled sharply and said, "That's a lot of questions,...I kinda forgot the first few, sorry."

He paused briefly as she repeated the first few questions, [contextual assumption] then sullenly started to ramble as they walked along the pathway, "As I said, I can remember them, I just can't make any sense of them..." he paused, thought for a few seconds, then started to speak, his eyes unfocused, staring before him, as if seeing thoughts, not reality. "In one of the memories, I was sprinting through an open field...I was running faster than I have ever gone in this place, and I think I was looking around too quickly, so I can only remember a few things and a few feelings. That's probably the most complete memory I have...the rest are all fragmented, except for one...there was a cloaked figure about my height holding a metal thing. I think I tried stepping away and convincing him to leave me alone, but he swung the thing at me, and I think he hit my head, because I can't remember anything after that." He paused for a few seconds to feel the left side of his head, moving his fingers through his hair reluctantly. He sighed after a few steps, then continued, "....but I don't have any depressions in my skull.......so it makes even less sense."

After allowing her a few seconds, he shyly mumbled, "a-anything else?" while hiding his hands in his pockets, his eyes still unfocused as he thought about the memory, trying desperately to piece it together as he walked along, the cafeteria growing ever closer.
 
She nodded once when Niko finished answering her questions. "That's strange..." She muttered, "Perhaps some of it is a dream?" She asked mainly to herself. Sometimes she feels like that after she wakes up from a dream. Only remember bits and pieces and everything is just a blur of nonsense. Still, she didn't find any answer to his current amnesia through his statements. She even took a look at his head, and saw nothing that indicated an injury. It was like the one place he wasn't injured.

He didn't answer ALL of her questions, but she didn't want to bombard him yet again. "Who is your father?" She asked once more. She remembered him mentioning something about his father lying on official reports... So, maybe he was an important figure in society. And if that is the case, why wouldn't he be trying to help Niko? And why wasn't he trying to EXPLAIN things to Niko?
 
Niko could only shake his head in response to the girl's proposition. It was all too real to be a dream.....but.....he just couldn't understand it. He could remember horrible things and feelings, seemingly random and totally disconnected landscapes and the blur of his eyes as they moved around in his thoughts....but he could only remember his own voice. He continued thinking as she checked his head herself, feeling slightly awkward as she did so, but stopped soon after she asked one of the questions he missed in order to look over at her.

The question she asked was hard, and he had to think hard for half a minute to come up with an adequate response. His face turned grim as he responded, a face that showed no doubt...and no remorse. "I don't know my father. I am fairly sure that I have never seen him or heard his voice, and I have no idea where he is or what he does......but what I do know is that he sent me plenty of letters, addressing himself as, "father" with money and instructions enclosed within...until last Sunday, that is...the instructions I got last Sunday were completely different......my father's instructions were more personal..."

Niko carefully opened the door for Serenity and followed her into the cafeteria shortly after finishing his answer, pulling his hood down over his back, but keeping it zipped up. He winced as it shut on his back, but kept walking as if nothing had happened.
 
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Serenity was thinking, "That's strange..." She glanced over at him, nodding in thanks when he opened the door. She finally sighed, turning around towards him, "I don't know how I would be able to handle this if I was in your shoes. Especially with this mysterious man just giving you direction... And you're handling this relatively well... You're rather brave." She smiled a little at Niko - her smile filled with respect - and then she glanced a little then walked over to where Kamoku was sitting. "I'll go fill in Kammy what you told me!"

She sat down at the table and quickly relay the information to the purple haired girl. Unlike Serenity, she kept quiet throughout the entire explanation, barely speaking up to voice a question. Finally, when Serenity was done, Kamoku looked over at Niko. "Let's talk to the officer, then." She finally said.

Serenity eyes brightened at the idea and she looked back over at Niko. "Yeah! You said that he barely questioned you, which means he knows SOMETHING right? He gave us his number somewhere, I think... We can go call him after school!" She then stood up, humming. "In the mean time, let's go eat! Their strawberry short cake is really good~"
 
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