17 Celebration for the First Major Activity's Completion

"Ugh. If you're going to say that, I guess I have no other choice." I said before walking ahead of her.

We forgot to tell professor Smith and professor Jimmy that we're leaving, but that's okay. It's not like we have something else to do there.

"Hello! Where are you goin-"

"Abanda Medical Hospital." I interrupted the taxi driver. Coulyne and I immediately went inside the taxi.

"Are you in a rush, Mister?" The taxi driver asked while looking at me through the rear-view mirror.

"Yeah. Can you hurry up a little bit?" I favored. He held his cap and started the engine.

"Count on me, sir!" The taxi driver lively said before he started driving. I took a deep sigh.

"Tell me, Raver. When did she tell you about all of this?" Coulyne suddenly asked with her poker face.

"Yesterday at the Hoverload Elementary School." I answered her simply.

I thought that she will be mad but she reacted the complete oppsite. She started crying beside me.

"She must be in pain right now... I need to be there with her..." Coulyne said while wiping her tears.

I'm not used to this kind of environment. And I think I will never get used to this.

"We're here!" The taxi driver said after he stopped the taxi. I gave him the money before we got out.

"Do you know where she is?" Coulyne asked in panic. Her eyes are searching the place worriedly.

"She's at the back of the Main Building." I answered. We immediately started walking to that place.

After two minutes of walking, we reached the back of the building. Claire looked at my direction and when she saw Coulyne, her body froze.

"R-Raver... P-President... What are you doing here?..." She asked in a weak tone. I couldn't fathom her expression.

"I should be the one asking you that. W-Why didn't you tell me?" Coulyne's voice broke. Her eyes can tell everything she's feeling right now.

I glanced back at Claire and she's smiling, like always. She's still trying to hide every single emotion.

"It was nothing important! I can handle this so don't worry about me!" Claire replied, then she forced herself to laugh.

"W-Why are you always like this?... I don't understand anything..." Coulyne's looking down, crying. The droplets of her tears are continuously falling on the floor.

"I don't know what you are talking about... I'm still the same Claire you have met... I have always been..." She then laughed before turning her back against us.

"Just say it already! Tell us you need help! Tell us to stay besid you!" Coulyne shouted at her. Claire's didn't look back.

She started walking away, leaving us behind this place. But she suddenly stopped and glanced at us to say something.

"I appreciate you going here. But don't worry I will be back after I settle all of thi-"

Coulyne ran onto her then hugged her tight, it made her shocked. Her body froze as if it was being touched by a cold stone.

"I know you are suffering by yourself! I know you are scared! But you don't have to! I can't stand you with that look in your eyes! It's affecting me!" Coulyne told Claire while crying.

Claire's eyes widen after hearing those words Coulyne had told her. Tears then started rushing down from her eyes.

"P-President... I-I'm sorry... I was just blinde-"

"You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything. I understand." Coulyne told Claire as she continued to rub her back.

"I-It's happening again... Someone might leave me again... I can't handle it..." Claqire suddenly said.

"P-President, I'm hurting... It's painful... I'm tired... I don't want to lose him... Help me... Stay beside me... Don't leave me alone..." Claire said to Coulyne, crying harder.

All the things she wished to tell to other people have been finally said to the person who waited for her to open her arms.

The emotions that had long been hidden inside her chamber were finally free.

Coulyne forced her enter to the barrier. She did it. She succeed.

"Anyway, what happened to your brother?" I asked Claire before we sat on a bench.

"The surgery has not yet been done on him... Because he's still unconscious after he was taken here... I don't know what to do... I don't know what's going to happen..." She answered while resting her head on Coulyne's shoulder.

"Let's just hope he will wake up. You once told me that your brother is strong. Let's have faith in him." Coulyne said with a smile.

They are both looking happy with each other. Happier than before. I smiled.

Not because everything is fine with them, but because my life will be in order again. Claire's not going to me, she's going to Coulyne instead.

"Thank you, Raver. You're always helping others in your own way." Coulyne suddenly told me. I then rolled my eyes.

"Shut up. I didn't help you. I helped myself." I said before standing up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Claire asked while wiping her tears. I glanced back at her and sighed.

"I'm going back to the National Librar-"

"You don't have to. Everything was settled already. Here." Professor Smith said, handing each of us a can of cola.

Professor Smith and professor Jimmy are in front of us. My body stopped moving and I just looked at them with a frowning look.

Is this real? How did they get here? How did they know that we are here? Is this just a dream? This must be a dream.

"What are you doing here, old woman?" I asked her with my one eyebrow rose up. Coulyne and Claire are both confused, too.

"We followed you here. We have been here just the same time as you do." Professor Smith answered with smile on her face.

"So you watched the whole thing?" Coulyne asked, nervous. Professor Smith looked at her then smiled.

"You did great. That's a point for you," she then replied to Coulyne. After that, she looked at Claire next.

"And you, little girl. Don't put everything to yourself, and yourself alone. Sometimes, you need to rely on others." Professor Smith said then she patted the top of Claire's head.

"Professor..." Claire looked at her with teary eyes. Professor Smith took Claire's cola and opened it for her.

"You are part of the club. That means, you are already part of the family," she said then she gave Claire a wide smile.

I looked away from them, disgusted. They are too dramatic, it's annoying. We are not in a TV show.

"You don't like this kind of scenarios, am I right?" Professor Jimmy suddenly asked me. I sighed before nodding.

"This makes me want to puke. They are full of love, and I hate it." I said to him in a cold tone. He let out a small laugh.

"You reminds me of my younger self when I was just a college student like you," he replied looking at the sky, smiling.

"I was an introvert and a weird guy who doesn't believe anything about love. I thought of it as an ephemeral thing," he said before laughing a little.

"That was cringe a thing to remember. But I didn't regret anything." Professor Jimmy added.

"Someday, you will understand everything. Your perspective about almost anything will gradually change. Just go with the flow," he said to me before going back to professor Smith.

As I watched them talk, I finally understood what he meant by what he said.

The thing that made him change, was the thing that he hated before.

The thing that I hate the most.

Love was the thing that shifted his persepective about life.

But I'm not like him. And I will never be.

"Professor Smit-"

Claire didn't finish what she was going to say because her phone rang. She immediately answered the call.

"Hello? What is it Mo—I'm coming! Wait for me!" Claire hang up the phone. She was in a hurry walking back inside the hospital so we chased her.

"What happened? Is it your brother?" Professor Smith concernedly asked while we're climbing the stairs.

"Yeah. Mom told me my brother woke up," she replied worriedly. We reached the third floor of the building.

There are few nurses and patients wandering the hallway so it's not hard to walk. Most of the patients are sitting on wheelchairs.

"Kino! Kino, you are awake!" Claire immediately hugged her brother after we entered the room.

The room is not that big but it's comfortable for the patients. The walls were painted white and different machines are beside the bed.

I think the other rooms are just like this, too. I have never been in a hospital. This is my first time, actually.

"You are finally awake! Ate Claire missed you! Are you feeling okay? Are you hungry or just thirsty?" Claire continuously asked her brother in a worried tone.

Claire's brother who I think is 5 years old, held his sister's face and wiped the tears from her eyes. He then made an angry look.

"Ate Claire! Why are you crying?! Did someone hurt you?! I will beat his ass! Tell me who he i—You! Did you make my sister cry?!" He suddenly shouted at me.

Of course, I was shocked. I thought it was professor Jimmy but his eyes are really stuck onto me.

"I didn't do anything to your siste-"

"Shut up, you idiot! I don't need your explanation! Say one word and I will throw this phone to your ugly-monkey face!" He interrupted me. I heard the people beside me laughed.

What's up with this little punk? Shouting at stranger out of the blue? Is he crazy or something?

"Kino, you should stop that, he didn't do anything to me." Claire looked at him while laughing. His brother was shocked.

"Oh, really?" Kino asked her sister, feeling nervous. He glanced back at me.

"And if you keep saying things like that to him, he will eat you alive." Claire threatened him. He looked at me after hearing her sister.

"Mommy! I'm sorry!" Kino suddenly freaked out after looking at my face again. He cried, so her mother came to him to make him stop.

Why is this happening to me? I'm just not into fashion but I know to myself that I'm not ugly.

It was written on his face that he thinks of me as a monster.

"Hello Ms. Montazilla. The operation room is ready. We are now going to take Kino there. I'll give you two minutes to talk." A doctor suddenly showed up. I think he's above 60 years old based on his looks.

He immediately left after that. Kino looks afraid and he's sweating really bad. He's holding her sister's hand firmly.

"Ate Claire, I'm scared... What are they going to do to me?" Kino asked with his teary eyes. Claire then leaned to give him a kiss in the forehead.

"Don't worry Kino, they will help you. You will feel better soo-"

"Here, take this. This might help you." I interrupted and gave him the fluffy keychain attached to my phone.

"Woah! Doraemon! He's my favorite! Thank you!" He's smiling widely I had to look away.

They all looked at me with the one side of their lips rose up. I rolled my eyes before leaning on the door.

The doctor came back with nurses with him and they took Kino to the operating room. We are not allowed inside so we're just waiting outside.

"I really appreciate this. Thank you." Claire's mother told us while we're waiting. Professor Smith looked at her and smiled.

"That's nothing, don't mention it. Let's just hope that the surgery will turn out success." Professor Smith replied to her.

We have waited for almost an hour before the doctor came out with his lab coat still on. He sighed before talking.

"The surgery was complete. His body needs to rest. Call me when the patient wakes up," he said that made us all happy.

Claire and her mother cried because of that emotion. This is the first time I have experienced this kind of thing.

The mixed feelings of fear and sadness. That nervousness when the doctor came out of the operating room with the result.

"My brother is saved..." Claire said while she was hugged by Coulyne. Professor Smith then came to me.

"Any thoughts?" She just simply asked out of nowhere. I looked away and sighed heavily.

"Nothing. Everything is still the same. This is just a normal thing." I replied to her in a cold tone. I heard her laughed a little.

"It seems like it will be a long time before you change. I will wait for that," she said before leaving me.

Kino was taken back to the room earlier. He's resting and still unconscious just like what the doctor said.

Professor Smith called us because she said that she was going to say something important.

"What is it, old woman?" I asked her in a tired tone. She sighed and massaged her temples.

"You already know that we complete the first major activity of our club, right?" She said to us. We then nodded to her, confused.

"What's up with that? Is there a prize money?" I asked seriously. Professor Jimmy laughed because of that.

"This is something greater than money. Maybe more expensive, too," he then replied to me. I looked at the both of them with one of my eyebrows rose up.

"What is it, then?" Coulyne eagerly asked professor Smith. She smiled before answering the question.

"We are going to celebrate in a resort! We are going to spend the whole semester break having fun there!" Professor Smith said with her eyes sparkling.

Coulyne and Clair jumped out of joy after hearing the word resort while me, my body froze as if I was put in a freezer.

Celebrate with them? In a resort? For whole semester break? Are you kidding me?

That's a 7-days break living in hell! There's no way I will go with them! This is ridiculous!

Being with them in just a short moment is already a torture!