❝ Tainted Dreams ❞ || 汚れた夢

[3]: Still Peaceful ? Maybe not.

[Nicky's POV]

I'm currently falling in line at the cafeteria, waiting for my turn. I'm actually craving for some pudding and some gluten-free sandwiches. I'm not sure why but thinking about them is just really making me crave more. As I was about to order something, Mae bursted inside the cafeteria, rushing towards my direction. I sighed as I ordered my stuff and gave out the money. 'I'm sure she has some tea to spill again.' I thought.

We both sat in a table next to the door as she placed her lunchbag down, taking out her lunchbox after she did so. We both started our lunches, eating down the delicious meals that we have. I placed my utensils down and faced her. "So do you have some tea to spill today? Cause ugh, today is just boring. Nothing much happened."

She began to munch her home-cooked Katsudon* and talking with her mouth slightly full. "Hmm... nothing actually....except, there's something going on with Rin and Kento." She says as I rolled my eyes. Im not familiar with that dude.

I kept eating my lunch but then I noticed the time. "Hey, speaking of Rin, where is Rin?" I asked as I put my lunchbox back onto its designated bag, with my eyebrows furrowed. Mae shrugged as she packed up her lunchbox. "I don't know." She pulled her seat and stood up, giving me a look as if she was telling me to go look for her. And yes, I think we should. "Let's look for her. Who knows what trouble she is getting on right now."

We walked outside, taking the exit of the cafeteria and to our surprise, we saw Rin running towards us. Beads of sweat came down from her forehead, making her seem to look sick. We rushed towards her but she fell down on our arms. Her body was almost as cold as ice.

Mae and I didn't know what to do and because of our own stupidity, I grabbed a fan from my lunchbag and gave Rin some air. A second later, a guy rushed to us and ushered us to move aside as he checked Rin's pulse. "She is still alive. She just fainted." He said as he began to carry her bridal-style, planning to bring her somewhere.

"Where are you taking her?" I asked, slightly panicking. I've never seen her like that before and her fainting gave a shock to me and Mae.

The guy frowned at me for asking such an obvious question. "I'm taking her to the infirmary with me, stupid. She needs to be checked by the nurse."

I scoffed as I crossed my arms in annoyance. "You don't have to call me stupid." I'm not sure what to call him so I glanced over at the name card placed on his top. "But, thanks for the help-..... Amamiya-san."

With that he left us and brought Rin to the infirmary. I looked at my watch and it read: 11:12 am.

The bell rang.

I nodded at Mae and we both started walking towards our classroom. Science was my next subject and sadly, Mae and I will separate again since I'm a level lower than her. We stopped by the vending machine to get some cola but upon stopping by, I sighed as I saw Nathan grabbing some cold coffee. We were supposed to skip the vending machine but he already noticed us. "Hey Nick, gonna grab some cola?"

I frowned as I turned around and gave him an annoyed look. "Nah. Upon seeing an insect like you, I think I'll pass. Enjoy your coffee though."

"Hey, hey." He got closer to us and gave us his signature cocky smile again, chuckling as he seemed to enjoy annoying me. "Well, why don't I treat you both with coffee or cola? Sound good, right....." He stopped and looked at Mae's name card. "Delos...Santos- san? Wait...you aren't from here right? Your surname sounds different."

Mae nodded as she offered her hand to his and he gladly accepted it. Now I'm super annoyed as both of them seemed to forget that I'm still here. "You can just call me Mae. Year 4 class 2."

I fake coughed and gave both of them a terrible look. "You know what, just treat us. Tea for Mae and just water for me."

He went back to the vending machine to get what we wanted and he had a confused expression on. "Eh? Water? Don't you want anything else? There's some peach jui-"

"No thanks. I would rather have pure water to purify myself from toxic people like you." I say as he handed me my bottled water.

I took a sip and upon doing so, I noticed something happening outside. I see a student walking but in an odd way. "Hey guys...." I stepped back a little.

"Yeah?" Mae asked as she looked at the direction that I was looking at. The student was now rubbing her hands on the window. We could only hear a faint volume of her scream. "Tasukete-!"*

Nathan sipped a little on his can of coffee before his eyes went wide, looking at the nearby entrance near us. More weird students are coming on our direction. "We should go and warn everyone."

"Fuck it. I hate running." Mae exclaimed.

A/N: (keywords and translations)
• Katsudon* - a Japanese pork or chicken recipe
• "Tasukete"* - "Help me."