Guilty conscience

Kai felt sick.

No, he was sick.

Keeling over a pool of his own vomit, the revolting stench of the disgusting liquid invaded Kai's nose, threatening to make him add to the puddle once more.

Kai stayed completetly still, worried that if he moved at all he would throw up again. He closed his eyes, hoping to forget everything he just heard.

I'm... an asshole.

The whole time, he was under the assumption that when Sofia said that Noelle went through a lot that the pale woman just meant that Noelle had a few dead family members, not... that.

Parents blown up, anti-hero uncle, nearly getting raped when she was fifteen, finally finding someone she loved only for him to be snatched away and to top it all off, a second-in-command who was the puppetmaster of all those problems.

A puppetmaster who still hadn't let go of the string tying himself to Noelle.

A few minutes passed as Kai tried his hardest not to spew, which ended up with him being successful. He managed to keep the remaining drink inside him and not on the ground, yet he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Slowly bringing himself to his feet, Kai started making his way back to his grass bed and tree root pillow under the cherry blossom.

As he trudged along tiredly, his thoughts couldn't help but race a million miles an hour.

Even if he wanted to make up with Noelle, which he wasn't sure if that was in his or even her best interests, he had no way to go about doing it.

Noelle was surely asleep by now, meaning Kai wouldn't even be able to talk to her. And tomorrow was going to be the most dangerous day of their lives thus far.

Well, maybe for Kai, he still didn't comprehend how truly perilous Noelle's situation was before The Flashing.

In all honesty, Kai couldn't even begin to fathom what a life like that would have been like. Locked in a cell for over half of the time you've been alive, what would that do to a person?

Noelle didn't even get to experience her teenage years bar the time she must have spent with Gabriel. Sofia didn't say how long she spent with him, but Kai had a feeling it wasn't actually that long.

How Noelle had preservered through all that, Kai would never know.

Sure, Noelle might not have been the greatest person, but who would be if they went through that? All of that had to mess with a person's mind to an insane degree. Honestly, it was probably a miracle that Noelle wasn't some murderhobo who killed anyone that looked at her the wrong way.

But even if she wasn't great, Kai still felt guilty. He was a weak willed person after all. Noelle saved him multiple times, yet he had never done anything for her in return.

That was another thing, Noelle was always helping Kai even after all that she went through. She definitely didn't have to, why would she? She hardly knew Kai, yet she still saved him. That left Kai with only one idea as to why.

She really did want someone she could trust.

Sofia was right, Noelle was broken. She had been slowly chipped away at throughout her youth and was on the verge of shattering. She needed someone to be her glue.

Kai knew he was most certainly not the right person to act as the glue, but he wanted to at least try. He owed her that much after all she had done for him.

Once he made it back under his tree, Kai closed his eyes and tried his hardest to fall asleep.

Only his thoughts wouldn't let him.

How evil am I?

I didn't know, but am I still a bad person?

If she was nearly raped back then, is that why she only slept when I was awake? Or maybe was just pretending to sleep until I went to sleep so she could actually sleep incase I tried to pull anything.

... Do I look like the type of person to try to pull something?

Kai sighed and lightly smacked his head, hoping the soft impact would be enough to knock him out. Sadly, it did not. In fact, he barely even felt the hit.

Maybe it's the result of bulking up his Strength stat to abnormal degree, or maybe it's just the drink that had him numb, but Kai didn't feel it.

Umbra still wasn't back yet, meaning she was still with Wa'rak. Kai was alone, but he really didn't want to be. Still, he wasn't going to ruin Umbra's day off by being selfish.

Even though he really wanted to be selfish.

I wonder is this what Ethania meant, that she didn't know what would be worse, losing Sir Constance or being alone. I thought she was just overexaggerating, but she was right...

His thoughts and guilt continued to haunt him as he prayed for the sweet release of sleep to help him forget all that happened tonight.

Should I even apologise, would she be better off with me just leaving her alone?

"...e!"

Or should I ask Sofia about this before the fight tomorrow, she would know an awful lot more than me since she already knows so much. She seems like the type of person to know what to do.

"...p me!"

Stage three will be over soon, so what are the chances we even see each other again after this? Unless there's a stage four and we end up paired again, the chances are slim.

But what about her though? I know I would much rather just avoid her, but if what Sofia said about her needing someone to be close to to be able to grow...

Kai shook his head, softly whacking it off the hard root.

Who do I think I am? Who says it has to be me to be that person? Sure, Sofia said I'm the closest, but that's because I'm basically the only option. Given enough time, I'm sure Noelle would find someone to open up to.

And who says I have to be the one to apologise. Even though I probably should given morals and all that, but it was her who hit me first. Even if she didn't mean it, she should still be the one to apologise.

Still, I do owe her...

"Help me!"

Kai's eyebrows twitched.

The cry was in the distance, but why on Earth would someone be shouting? He just wanted to sleep, to forget.

Even though he did see people leaving the hall together while he was having his meal, someone shouting 'help me' did not make it sound like it was a good time.

"Plea-"

The next scream was cut off randomly, as if they were being silenced.

Why me?

Sighing, Kai gave up on the idea of sleep and pushed himself off the ground. He still felt as if he could throw up at any given moment, but he was semi-curious about the screams.

It was funny. In school, Kai would always make fun of the people in horror movies who got curious and went towards the screams, only to end up dying. Him and his friends always said they wouldn't be like that.

Yet here he was, doing the exact same thing he made fun of. The only difference was that he was too tired and upset to notice what he was doing.

The muffled screams got louder and louder as Kai made his way further into the small forest beside his cherry blossom.

Suddenly, it all grew quiet. The screams were gone. It was if they were never there to begin with.

Maybe he should just turn around...

No...

Sighing, Kai expended some of his Mana to do something he had never tried before, yet he instinctively knew it would work.

Partial Transformation activated

Form: Senses

Skill - Wolf's Senses: Gained

It was if Kai was in a whole knew world when the skill activated. He could smell the grass below his feet, the bark guarding all the trees and so much more.

He felt a slight headache, probably due to the combination of overstimulating his senses and all the drink he had.

But he could smell something, it faintly reminded Kai of the ocean. The scent was salty.

How could it be salty? There's no sea.

He could also hear something to his right. The sound of laboured breathing entered his ears, ringing inside his head. But what was strange was that the breathing was completetly random, Kai had no idea how someone could breathe like that without dying.

It was as if there were two people breathing.

Sighing once more, Kai turned to his right and saw some small bushes blocking his path. Using his hands, he cleared the way and saw what was stopping him from getting his much needed sleep.

Hidden behind the bushes was the man who had tried to get Sofia to sleep with him earlier in the night.

The man had brown hair, green eyes and a small beard. If Kai had to describe him with one word...

Redneck

If the man had a piece of straw in his mouth, he could have easily passed as a redneck. But who knows, maybe he was a redneck.

But it wasn't the man that Kai's gaze was focused on, no, it was what the man had pinned under him that had caught Kai's eye.

Under the man's body was a woman who looked no older than twenty-five. Kai had never seen her before, but she had long black hair and was extremely attractive.

She also had the man's hand clamped down on her mouth, stopping her from screaming out.

The man's other hand was also trying to get under the bodysuit, which showed no signs of letting up. It almost as if the tight piece of clothing knew what was going on and was preventing anything from happening.

"Oh, didn't hear you coming" The man started to say. "Me and the lady here were just having some fun. So would you mind leaving us alone?"

He then paused, an idea sparking in the depths of his depraved eyes.

"Actually, if you don't tell anyone about this I'll let you watch. Maybe I'll even let you get a feel, a kid your age should be into this stuff."

The woman tried to scream, but the man's hand was clamped too tightly over her mouth. Tears were streaming out of her eyes and she desperately tried to shake the man off of her.

So that's what the salty smell was...

Kai's expression was blank, no emotion showing on his pale face.

If he hadn't thrown up earlier, he certainly would have done so now. The sight was just revolting.

It also reminded Kai of what Sofia said, how the guy who paid to have Noelle had pinned her down and tried to rip off her clothes.

It seemed the woman currently in Noelle's situation didn't have the same resolve as the olive-skinned woman.

But what should they need that resolve? This situation shouldn't even be happening in the first place.

Why was the world so fucked up?

Kai felt sick, he felt disgusted, he felt as if he was slowly going crazy.

Who's to say he wasn't?

Who's to say he won't?

Gritting his teeth, Kai opened his mouth and answered the man with:

"You're pathetic."