Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

101. Notice

Haresa

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first. Even though I walked to school with Sheldon that day, everything else was normal. I attended classes and listened to the drone of the teacher's lessons, and I wasn't stopped by any hero alerts. Everything was fine.

I almost didn't notice that Rudra wasn't in class today.

By the time lunch rolled around, something felt off. I was expecting Rudra to show up and attempt to apologize again but everything was quiet.

In the message history, Rudra had attempted to text me twenty times in the span of three hours the night of the dance before it just stopped abruptly. Maybe it was because he needed to sleep but something in the pit of my stomach told me otherwise.

There was no way he'd stop being annoying to anyone. He doesn't know how to give space and I know that if he woke up this morning, he would've been spamming my phone no matter what.

"Why do you keep checking your phone like that?" Sheldon asked as he took a seat across from me.

He had his glasses perched on his nose and his hair was sticking up in different directions. He had slept in today and he didn't have his watch anymore so he underestimated the time it took to walk to school. I don't know if my super speed made his hair worse or if it helped in any shape or form but either way, Sheldon wasn't too happy about the state of his appearance this morning. He did seem relieved that he got back his glasses at least when I handed them to him before we left.

I immediately pocketed the device and shook my head. "I was just checking to see if Rudra texted."

Sheldon scoffed before he bit into his sandwich. "Why?"

"He isn't the type to go quiet when he messes up. My phone would be lit up like a Christmas tree at this point honestly," I said. "I would be seeing him way more often than usual."

"Maybe he's just really sick."

"But he was fine at the dance a couple of days ago."

Sheldon shrugged. "Shit happens."

I picked at my food and slowly slid a tomato out from the sandwich. "I guess."

I nibbled on the tomato before I let my eyes wander. I could see one of the posters advertising the dance was still stapled to the corkboard in the cafeteria and my mind wandered back to that night.

"Sheldon?"

"Mm?"

"What happened after you left the dance?"

He put down his sandwich and sighed. "My stupid ex pretended to care about me and dropped me the moment he learned of new information."

"Reynard?" My eyes were wide and he averted his gaze.

"Yeah. I'm not proud of myself," he muttered.

"What did he find out?"

"He found out that there's a mechanism in my glasses so he might come and try and steal them honestly."

That was when my brain started to send alarms throughout my whole body.

"Did he know that Rudra had the glasses at one point?"

The look on Sheldon's face told me everything.

Before he could open his mouth I already ran towards the stairs. My hand dug into my pocket for my hero license to unlock my bracelet. Just as I got it out, Principal Morgan gave me a wary gaze and I shoved the license back to where it came from.

Running in slow motion it was then.

I barreled through the hallways as people continued to linger in the hallways during their lunch break.

When I finally got to Rudra's locker, there was a hefty packet with a single sentence on the cover.

NOTICE OF KIDNAPPING.

Sheldon managed to catch up to me and saw the packet in my hands which only made him grit his teeth.

"Reynard got him?" He asked.

"Reynard got him," I said.

He covered his face with his hands before he let out a loud sigh. "Let's read it over and find out where he's keeping him. We have no time to waste."