Veiled Pain | Riki Nishimura

7. What the hell was that?

The last days of the week Riki wasn't really being a jerk. He was much quieter and just slept on his desk the classes where was a teacher that didn't care about that. But surely, it was a good thing for them all. Now it was weekend, so a little break from school.

Her whole class indeed seems to be friends. But she feels like she's the one who isn't really their friend yet, just a classmate. But surely it has only been a week.

Junpei had caught a fever a day ago and it has just been getting higher, which was worrisome. So today they were going to visit the hospital for a check up.

Asami was about to go there with Jun and her mother, while her dad looks after Shugo and the restaurant at home.

They just exit the car at the hospital's parking lot. Her eyes immediately saw a moped in the parking lot as well. It looked the same as Riki's bike, exactly same. She feels like she is seeing the bike everywhere.

It looks the same. But what would he do here, in the hospital? I don't know. It probably isn't his, there might be a lot same looking ones.

She shook her head from the thoughts and then walked to the register of the hospital. Her mother talked with the lady for a longer time, explaining Junpei's situation, who was clinging onto his mother.

Then a nurse came to pick them up soon and brought them towards an examination room. Asami happened to look further to the corridor they were in and saw a really familiar person exiting one of the rooms. She froze to her place immediately.

It really is Riki. What is he doing here?

As Riki was about to walk past her, he noticed her and they had a long eye contact as he kept walking past her the corridor. He didn't look surprised of seeing her there, he just looked normal. Then she quickly snapped out of it and looked somewhere else. When she again looked behind her, he was out of the main corridor already.

Curiousity hit her badly. She wanted to know why was he there. Because he didn't look like he was there for his own sake, but surely who knows.

She looked the sign hanging from the ceiling some distance away which said 'Patient rooms'. So there starts the patient rooms.

The nurse opened the room next to them and went inside. "I'll wait here outside." Asami said to her mother.

"Okay." She replied. Then the door closed and she was alone in the corridor.

He came from a patient's room. So he wasn't here of his own sake.

She knows she shouldn't, but she had a huge urge to go look the name next to the door and see who he just visited. She hesitated for a long time, but then the curiousity won.

Asami walked in front of the door Riki had came from a while ago and looked at the board next to it. 'Ms. Yui Nishimura.'

Nishimura? So she's a relative of his. It could be anyone, though.

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Asami kept thinking about everything of that, of Riki. She still remembers clearly the conversation he had with his mother. Or who she assumes his mother. That's what she pondered for a long time, what if she isn't even his mother? Or the one she called Riki's father is not really his father?

She knows it's none of her business, but honestly she is a really curious person. She had one good idea and decided to go downstairs to ask her mom does she know about anything about them.

Her mother was cooking soup for Junpei in the kitchen. "Mom." She called.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering that do you know what kind of people live there opposite us. Our neighbours." She inquired.

"Umm.." Her mother thought for a while. "There lives an old couple. They actually just ordered chicken and I promised to deliver it to them." She said.

Asami frowned a little in confusion, but surely the building is two-storyed so the couple must be other of the residents.

"No, I mean the other residents." Asami cleared.

"Right. I think there's a family. Was it.. Nishimuras? I met the lady from there once. She was smoking outside, not good for her health." Her mother shook her head a little. "And she apparently has a son, I think it's the same one Shugo has been talking about."

"Oh, okay. So she's his mother? What about his father?"

Her mother chuckled a little. "Oh, well you're curious. I don't know about his father, I haven't seen him."

Then Asami just nodded. But now she is more sure of the thing that they really are Riki's parents.

"Okay, this soup is ready. Ash, I should take the chicken too. Or actually could you, honey? It's the first floor apartment." She asked and already gave the package of chicken to her.

"Oh, okay, sure."

"And I urge you to knock loud enough, because I think they both are a little deaf." Her mother whispered her the end. Asami nodded again and then left the restaurant.

Somehow she felt a little creepy as she entered the dull gray two-storyed apartment building. But then she just knocked firmly on the first door she saw, which was the only flat in the first floor.

Soon an old man opened the door. "Here is the chicken you ordered, sir." She said brightly.

The man thanked her gratefully and even gave her a little tip for the delivery, even thought it's just crossing the street. She was just about to exit the hallway until she heard voices coming from upstairs. She didn't hear the words clearly, but she did notice that it was more like shouting than speaking. She started hearing the words more clearly when they presumably approached the front door of their flat.

"Don't you have any manners, boy!? We've been raising you here, giving you a place to live and food to eat!" A low male voice scolded.

"You're fooling yourself in that! I never got those things here!" Another male voice spoke, which was more familiar for Asami.

"You should even be glad that we gave you life!"

"Well, I wish you didn't!"

Then she didn't hear shouting anymore. After a brief while she heard the door open and in that moment she hastily started leaving the building before any of them sees her there.

"Riki!" A woman's voice called in shock, while loud steps started coming from above Asami. She exit the building immediately and when she got out she ran to her own yard and hid behind the gate.

Asami was a little shocked of that as well that she covered her mouth with her hand and recalling what the hell she just witnessed. Then she heard the building's door open again. She peeked there and saw Riki coming outside. He kicked some of the gravel from the ground in anger.

I totally heard wrong, didn't I? I mean, even if I didn't, maybe it wasn't really serious? But for real, what the hell was that?

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