Smile

Several hours passed following the sinister incident with Rose Accel, and the afternoon transitioned into the early evening. Ryo awakened by the living room sofa once again, but he was not alone. Natia, who had just taken a shower after a productive and substantial exercise routine, seated herself next to Ryo's extended legs while sipping on an apple juice box. Television played various American crime drama shows throughout a plethora of channels encompassing the world.

Ryo lifted his head over a pillow that was settled for him for his speedy recovery. The soreness of his neck after being raised by Rose Accel's unfathomable guardian spirit still lingered, but its dull aching discomfort subsided the more he returned to reality after his awakening.

"Where's Jinni?" Ryo asked, agonized about his ally's situation. He knew she drained her heart and soul into securing his protection after the incident. He wasn't certain how Jinni handled Rose Accel's sudden appearance or knew anything about her connection with the young leader, but her regression to her arrival was enough evidence for him to conclude that it wasn't quite healthy.

"She's resting upstairs," Natia responded with the same monotonous and dull voice. After sampling her juice box once more, she turned down the television's volume. "I heard you two ran into Rose Accel earlier. Is that true, or what?"

"Yeah, it is," Ryo answered, sitting up from his inclined back position. He could sense cold blood speeding down to his chest as he wondered about the deadly dilemma she conceived near the end of their discussion. "What's with her? Why was she in a wheelchair? What was that green thing? The way she acted was just so cruel as if she was some kind of queen governing a kingdom."

"Yeah, she can be a bitch sometimes," Natia shrugged off. "The reason she's in a wheelchair is because of that green spirit thing you're talking about. It sounds like she used it on you after she saw through your dumb head. The more she uses it, the more weak and vulnerable her body gets. It's linked to her immune system. She gets injured often because she uses too much of that energy."

"Energy?" Ryo asked. "What kind of energy is that? I've never seen a human create something like that to use as a weapon."

"Who the fuck cares," Natia replied, flinging her juice box into a trash can with absolute precision. "What matters is what she said to you and clown girl. None of us knew that she'd be coming today to visit us, out of all people. What did she say to you?"

Ryo could spontaneously remember the details concerning their conversation, reflecting how it managed to trigger an episode full of cynical memories that influenced his past. "She told me that she'd kill me if I didn't learn how to deal with the burdens of my past," He explained. "It looks like someone already told her about the things I said at the meeting. She knew Sezan's name."

"She's a fucking joke," Natia said. She sighed before standing up barefoot and watering one of the two potted plants near the television. "She doesn't know that I'm the one that's going to kill you, or at the very least, beat the shit out of you after what you did to me the other day. The only reason you won is because of that stupid nanosuit. And that shit you said at the end was super corny, by the way. I'll still look at Sumire like an enemy, just like I'll always view you like a piece of shit."

Ryo decided to throw a jest at Natia in response to her stubborn and hotheaded personality, just to show her how little he fretted about her position on his family. "You'll look at Sumire and me the same way you ate those pizzas, stuffed your face to hell with sauce on your lips. Right."

Natia reddened in response to Ryo's remark; it had been the first time she had done so as well. "I was about to win until that stupid girl decided to butt in for no reason! Shut your fucking mouth," She barked. "Even though you beat me the other day, I'm still not going to listen to what you had to say. We were weaponless at the time. Once I get a hold of my weapon, I'll challenge you again and I'll destroy you."

"Yeah, yeah," Ryo said as he was becoming fatigued by Natia's backlashing attitude. He wanted to switch the subject before Natia grew too irritable and challenging to handle. "Did you see how Jinni's doing?"

"Why do you care so much about clown girl?" Natia asked, folding her arms and leaning against the wall near the television. "You like her, or something?" She suddenly brought up out of the blue without hesitation in her words.

"What, no," Ryo replied, unsure of where Natia came up with the idea. "And stop calling her a clown girl. I'm worried about her because of what Rose Accel did to us. It has nothing to do with-"

"Of course it doesn't," Natia interrupted. "You're still worried about that girl at the hospital, cause you like her more than that clown girl. I'm talking about that blonde girl that had that stupid accident. You like her, right?"

Not this again, Ryo thought. Having people constantly remind him about his imperfect feelings and emotions towards a significant other made his mind want to burst into panged laughter. Once again, he knew that it was purely impossible for him to fall in love with anyone because of his corrupted past. He was afraid of his feelings lashing out and hurting those who wanted to get closer to him.

"You gonna look at me and answer?" Natia angrily stated, stepping in Ryo's view as he was daydreaming about his past. "It's a yes or no question. You like her, or what?"

"No, I don't," Ryo lied, covering up his true feelings. "We're just friends."

Natia shook her head in denial. "If you're going to keep daydreaming about her during our mission tomorrow, I may as well just go without you if you're going to think about that shit," She threatened. "I can't afford to have you slobbering over some girl when we're supposed to figure out who these nanosuits belong to. And now that Rose Accel's got her eyes on you, she's expecting us to find out the truth about it. Goddamn it. She just had to come and fuck with you. That's what you get for running your mouth."

"She came because Akai told her about the meeting details where I shared my past with Sezan," Ryo informed her, remembering how she received the information. "He's the one that ran his mouth, not me."

"Well, what the hell do you expect? She's the goddamn leader. She gets to know everything around these parts," Natia said, pressing the back of her head against the wall. She gazed up at the ceiling, pondering in thought. "Although, a leader isn't something I'd want to associate a bitch like her to be. She's been doing some shady stuff, like picking favorites to go on missions, or spending time with Akai without even saying anything. Who knows. I think they're dating, which is obviously just a shitfest because of the kind of person Akai is. I feel sorry for Rose Accel if that's the case."

"And what kind of person is that?" Ryo asked.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Didn't you see it from your first impression?" Natia said, sitting beside Ryo on the couch. "He could care less about what other people want from him. He's a stuck-up arrogant pervert that runs away all the time being a creep to others. Who knows what his virgin ass is doing when he's not working. He never says. All he does is just mess with others, including your sister. It's sad. I almost feel bad for her." She said in a sarcastic manner.

"Yet someone like him is allowed in an organization like Sunlight," Ryo tried to comprehend the logic of his role in the task force. "Unless he provides something for Rose Accel and the others, then I don't see the purpose of his entry."

"His purpose of entry is more complicated than you think," Natia explained. "He's had a history of shady ass business and became a detective for Sunlight when he ran into Rose Accel. He has a history of domestic abuse with his spouses. Had more than four of them," Natia scoffed and slammed her fist on the couch in spite. "This is bullshit. The more I think about him, the more he pisses me off. Especially what he did to me and the others."

"What did he do?" Ryo asked.

"Doesn't matter what he did to me because what's done is done," Natia switched the subject. "But what he's done to clown girl and Claude are way beyond me. All I know is that whenever Akai's around clown girl, she gets really emotional, like you and your stupid whiny outbursts. No idea why."

"Wait, what? That doesn't make sense," Ryo said, remembering his first interaction with Akai. He didn't notice any harsh muddled feelings between the two of them based on their short frisky and flirty exchange of conversation. There was no evidence of Jinni being emotional in any shape or form. However, the only thing he could remember was Jinni's false smile; there was an odd presence of her bubbly outlook that didn't seem right. "The last time I saw them together, they-"

"Barely said anything?" Natia interrupted. "You have to be fucking stupid if you didn't catch onto clown girl's behavior around certain people. The way she smiles sometimes is just fucking weird. Didn't you notice? Are you that blind?"

"But why? What's happened to her? Is it because of Akai and Rose Accel?"

"Beats me," Natia said as she shrugged. "He actually did something to Claude's wife too. Those are just rumors though," She approached Ryo and snatched his collar. She had a volatile and aggressive gaze where her corneas shrunk into her eyes. "You better not tell anyone I said this to you, or I'll fuck you up real bad. Got it?" She threatened.

"I won't," Ryo said, slapping her hand off of his body. On the surface, Ryo expected the people of Sunlight to be carefree and generous individuals where their struggles were primarily work-based. But he was selfish to believe that was the final case. He didn't know that they had their inner struggles as well. Ryo had been the only one who expressed them aloud when it came to ongoing pressure. Knowing that their lives were at risk for backlash worried him as well, especially how nicely they treated him. "I didn't know that Rose Accel and Akai impacted their lives that much."

"Well, now you do," Natia said, standing up from the sofa. "You better be ready for tomorrow. I'm not gonna have you jacking off on the side while I do all the work. Luckily the monkey'll help you out through your uplink so you don't fall asleep. I'm going to bed."

Ryo stood up from the sofa as well, following Natia upstairs. "I'm gonna go with you. I'm going to go check on Jinni." He said, heading to her room.

"Whatever," Natia brushed aside as she entered her room. "Night."

Ryo approached Jinni's front door, wondering if her mental condition was stable after encountering Rose Accel. After being tossed a heavy amount of facts about Jinni's relationship with Akai, he wasn't sure what to do: pursue the reasonings of her false joy by privately speaking to her about it, or letting her brimming pain stir inside her heart. But the price was already paid; Jinni had supported Ryo throughout his shortcomings in Sunlight. It was only reasonable that he pay her back with the kindness of his own heart.

There was no answer when Ryo knocked on her door. "I'm coming in," Ryo warned, wanting to support his friend. He twisted the cold metallic doorknob and entered Jinni's room. He was greeted with a colorful vibrant pallet of red and pink neon lights placed throughout the corners of the room.

However, despite the visually striking lights, Jinni's room was quite simplistic and tidy. Brown hardwood floors were steam-cleaned and glossed to preserve its cleanliness; as a result, each step would sound a squeak in response to their movement. Two tall bookshelves carrying neatly placed rows of books, manga, and deluxe collector's items decked her queen-sized floral-patterned bed. Expensive figurines, Italian and Japanese souvenirs, and cute intricate trinkets adorned her nightstand to pay homage to her half Italian and half Japanese heritage.

Ryo approached the queen-sized bed and saw Jinni covered by her floral blanket.

"Don't come any closer," Jinni whimpered. "I know boys don't like it when girls cry."

"That's not true," Ryo said, kneeling on the hardwood floor next to Jinni's settled resting position. She examined her bedsheets drenched with salty tears as her cheeks shriveled up like a raisin. Her eyes were inflamed, and her forehead was swelling with hotness. "There are times where we can't hold things in. And that time when you told me that the past-"

And there it was. Chills shot up Ryo's spine the moment he witnessed Jinni perform her delicate, yet fake smile to prevent him from interrogating her any further. It was something not only did Ryo want to admonish, but there was something preventing him from acting any further. Deep inside her heart, akin to his inner self, was the reflection of Ryo's adolescent ages running away from home and retaining his position in the underground. There was a sense of hopeless affliction that recessed from Jinni's body where Ryo knew exactly what her feelings were.

"I'm fine," Jinni said as her lips quivered with the remnants of her salty tears. "See?"

"No..." Ryo denied as an imaginative light shined above Jinni's fake smiling face. "I should have known you were hurting inside. I would have protected you from those two if I knew. I let myself get trampled by her."

"No," Jinni replied. Her smile subsided into a neutral expression. "You couldn't have known. No one knows, except them."

"What the hell did they do to you?" Ryo asked, wanting to delve deep into her past. He knew the consequences of asking such a question, so he was prepared to accept any answer in response.

"I..." Jinni's voice cracked as she inhaled. "I cannot say. I just cannot say right now. It would definitely hurt... a lot." Her voice trailed off as she placed her hand on her chest.

The paranoia of expressing one's emotions, repressed by one's inner fears caused by the demons of life, is something that Ryo believed he was already an expert in. He repressed his affection for April from others and Sezan's influence from Rose Accel. He repressed all the pain from his sister until the deadly conflict was amassed after being captured by the underground. The feeling was like pushing a massive boulder above a mountain without any breaks, knowing that it would accelerate downhill to start over once again when revealed. However, Ryo was able to withstand the pain with the support of his allies at Sunlight and wanted the same for Jinni who supported him on his first day.

"I won't force you to say it then," Ryo suggested, not wanting to break her sanity apart. "But I do want to know sometimes. When I smiled at you and Naoto, I did it out of pure joy. I want you to be able to do the same for us sometime, without having to pretend. And you said this to me, so I'll say it to you now. You can't let the past take you over. Let the present define you."

Jinni remained silent and slowly nodded. Her nod was barely noticeable as Ryo's advice left her breathless.

"I don't know what they did to you," Ryo continued. "But whatever they did that pushed you to your absolute limit, one of these days, you need to release it. And there are people willing to hear you out. You have me, Sumire, and Naoto, along with the others."

"Naoto..." Jinni whispered.

"Is this about Naoto?" Ryo asked.

"No..." Jinni denied, shaking her head. "I..."

Jinni smiled once more, covering up her existing fake smile. It was something that both she and Ryo had never experienced before, which called for good measurement and progress. "Molte Grazie, Ryo... thank you so much," She whispered. Her lips warmed up with a tinge of satisfaction and optimism. "When the time comes, I'll tell you and the others. But now is not the best time. You have a mission to fulfill tomorrow, yes?"

"I do," Ryo remembered. "But you're more important right now. That's what matters."

"You're too sweet, Ryo," Jinni laughed. "But I am okay now. Don't worry about me anymore."

Ryo placed his hand on Jinni's arm to solidify their agreement. "All right," He said, standing up from his kneeling position. "I won't. But you should feel better soon, or else I'll miss the real smiles that you have with Naoto and me. The time that I spend with you two outside of all the danger... makes me happy too. I thought you should know that, too."

Ryo exited Jinni's room and closed it behind him. Both classified missions to locate Melody's leader and intent for the illegal nanosuits were about to begin. Ryo, Sumire, Naoto, and Natia were about to take part in their first case regarding one of the most dangerous organizations in Aries, and with them separated by case, it made the battle much more challenging.

Jinni closed her softened eyes, releasing the last bit of pent-up tears from her tear ducts. She held onto her blanket tightly and envisioned it as a means of holding someone dear to her to fight the pain away.

"I know..." She whispered.