Amanita: Poison Shot

Chapter 23: If You Had A Single Neuron

Then, Gabi winked at me.

"Why don't you go and shower already?!" Siegfried complained while crimson stained his cheeks.

"So, you can mend stuff, right Daphne?" Gabi asked me, intrigued. He ignored his friend's outburst. "'Cos my alarm clock is broken. I admit I smash my hand on it too harshly when it wakes me up. I don't like getting interrupted when I'm dreaming about scoring with Agape, you know. Could you have a look at it?"

"I'll have a look, sure. It won't be the first time I repair an alarm clock," I replied. "I've seen the way you handle the stick. If you treat your alarm clock like that..." I sighed. "I can make it extra hard to damage if you like, but-"

"Thank-you-oh-thank-you-Daphne-you're-the-best-I-don't-know-what-I'd-do-without-you," Gabi replied super-fast, in a genuine grateful mood. He made me giggle.

"You're welcome. Well, er... See you around. Nice to meet you. I should get going," I said tiredly.

It was getting late. We were wasting time there. Almost all the audience of the Sports Palace had gone home already. Most of the hockey players had already gone to the showers, got a change of clothes, and left.

"Hey, Daphne! Wait! Where are you going?" Siegfried blocked my way when I had already turned around. "Don't you want me to take you?"

"Well, it's obvious that both of you need time to change, and something needs to be done immediately," I added seriously. "Gonna go and tell Agape everything that's happened."

"Agape must know by now. We have a mobile device similar to mobile phones, but our messages cannot be traced by the authorities. I'll tell you more later. Give us about ten minutes to change, and then we'll leave. You won't get far with those ribs. Like I said before, I can take you," he offered kindly.

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you."

Then, I saw Momo approaching us, but she froze while she looked at Siegfried and me suspiciously from a distance. Her girl friends said farewell to her, passed us by, and left the premises. It seemed they weren't part of the organization.

"Momo will come too, won't she?" I asked Siegfried, whispering with dread. "I'll have to wait for you with her. Both of us alone, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes," he said in the same disenchanted tone.

"My God, what have I done in a previous life to deserve this?" I whispered in pain, and despite his seriousness, Siegfried liked my comment and offered me a brief smile.

Momo wasn't exactly the friendliest person in the world. I could feel her deadly stare on me when Siegfried left me alone with her and entered the locker room with Gabi.

Had she seen Siegfried running to me during the police assault? Had she seen him shield me with his body? He hadn't cared at all about her, or how vividly her passion for the team and him burnt.

Momo and I were standing by the locker room door, alone in the Palace, each of us on either side of it. She was leaning on the wall on the left side and checking her mobile device and didn't spare a glance in my direction.

Then, she raised a foot flat on the wall, exposing her perfect legs to me as some sort of territory-marking animal strategy. She had a defiant and proud attitude.

We remained silent, and I couldn't help but think about our differences. What had Momo done for Siegfried, that I knew of? She had dressed sensually and cheered his name during the game. I would never do that for any guy. And what had I done? I had exposed him to two dangerous clone cops and shielded his head from getting hurt with one of my hands. Would she have done the same if she had been in my shoes?