I felt stupid so I came outside. Both the nurse and mom tried to stop me but I just walked out, not giving them a chance.

I guess they kind of knew that I had no intention of staying there.

The campus for once wasn't crowded. There were still students walking around, but the crowd density was slashed by at least ninety-five percent.

Today was the first holiday after all.

The outside air was fresh but the sun was hot.

It was a bit past midday but the weather was definitely hot if nothing else.

I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't help myself. Back then, instead of assuming they were targeting me if I just declined and…. No, maybe that wouldn't have been such a great idea either. After all, those guys were terrorists, and who knew what they would have done?

Besides, that guy actually wanted to kill mom.

And… 'I never thanked him did I?' Though, for personal reasons, the shadow did help me. And by giving me this change it came one step closer to claiming my body as its own, but I still appreciated its help. If it weren't for him, who knew what could have happened.

With another sigh, I just kept walking down the sunny road. Now that there weren't people around, I felt at ease. Normally I'd at least get a few challenges here and there, some love letters, and occasional glares. But today there were none and it really felt great.

But the question remained. 'Am I the original?' What if one of the sealed ones was the real me and….

The shadow said stuff about there being three seals, meaning there were supposed to be three of my other personalities, right? I'd already seen the two, but the third I didn't know much about. Maybe it was even worse?

Whatever it was, I didn't really know and didn't feel eager to know.

'Maybe I should confront mom…'

I kept my eyes peeled on the road, so I didn't crash into trees. But there weren't any trees today. 'I guess Ariel isn't around today.'

Wham!

And with that thought, I crashed into a palm tree which wasn't there even a second ago.

Fuming, I turned to my left. A girl was seated on the bench, along with her double-decker sandwich and she waved at me, as she grabbed a bite.

"You know, there's a limit to people's patience." My body shook a little as I glared at her.

"I'll give you a bite, so relax." She massaged the seat next to her, indicating I should have taken a seat.

"Fine." Regretfully, I was kind of hungry.

***

Ariel tore a bit of her sandwich and gave it to me. I never said no to free food. And I was certainly hungry.

It tasted pretty good on an empty stomach.

"So, what are you doing out here with those torn clothes?"

"Now that you mention it."

I actually hadn't looked at my clothes all this time. I might have subconsciously assumed my clothes were still intact, but they weren't. And since I didn't get many stares, I didn't realize it, even when I was walking in broad daylight. I did feel a bit uncomfortable, but it was what it was. "Guess, I'll go change."

"You know-"

"Yes?"

"You did a good job." She ruffled through my hair.

"Ex-Excuse me!"

What was wrong with this girl? Why was she being weird all of a sudden?

Ariel giggled. "My little brother came to visit me yesterday and he got a bit sidetracked and ended up at the gym. He was among the hostages. I was right outside of the barrier when you went in. I'm really glad it was you." Ariel smiled. "Thank you."

I let out a breath of relief. "You're welcome."

***

I left for the dorms. My mood improved somewhat. I was never the hero type. I didn't feel the necessity to risk my life for others unless they happened to be my family or friends. But every once in a while, when something like this happened and people thanked me, I did feel good. Of course, it was never my intention to save her brother, I still felt good about myself. And the fact that I knew this, was hypocrisy and irony in itself.

I reached the dorm and again the door was locked. Lately, Merin went out a lot. Had something happened to him?

I didn't know, I didn't care.

Took a shower, got changed, and checked my mails. Most people didn't have my number as I didn't have a Holo. And I didn't want anyone to know I was still using a relic that went instinct ten whole years ago. So, in the end, I only gave my number to only some important people.

I had two hundred and eighty voice mails. Oh wait, I did have one ordinary mail.

The moment I saw the sender's name, I sighed subconsciously.

I saw the name, checked the subject of one mail, and deleted 279 of the mails. All were from one sender. The sender being, my third cousin Murcus. The guy had a bad case of eighth-grader syndrome and though he was about to graduate from Uni, he was still speaking nonsense about aliens and all that crap.

And judging from the number of mails, this was something serious. 'Well, it has nothing to do with me.'

He was probably bragging about his new discovery or something.

But the 280th mail caught my attention. It was from the club leader. 'How the hell did you get my number?'

It was the only normal mail: It read 'call me.'

I didn't want to, but oh well.

"HI, this is Helio."

"Oh yeah, How're you feeling?"

"Good, you?"

Greetings were always like this for me.

"Likewise. How come I can't see you?"

I kind of forgot that Holo's these days were excellent with video calling.

"Probably a connection error. Don't worry about it."

"Anyway, you coming?"

"Oh yeah, we had plans for the district club."

"That's right. Of course, we can cancel it today, if you're not feeling so hot."

"No, it's cool. I'm all good."

I wanted to get those complicated things off of my head. So going out to the city seemed like a good distraction.

"Alright, see you at 4, by the school gate."

"Kay."

I cut the phone.

It was already 3.32. So I didn't really have all that much time. I checked the mini-fridge and sure enough, there was orange juice in it: Merin's favorite. There was an unspoken rule between us that we won't touch each other's food.

But I didn't really have anything to eat. And since milk was a no-go, I couldn't touch that. I certainly didn't want to upset my stomach even more.

Rules, were meant to be broken right?

"Pasta huh?" I sighed but still stuffed my face.

It was prepared well but eating pasta cold wasn't pleasing, at least not to my teeth.

'Should have warmed it, I guess.'

"Whoa, since when did you start ravaging through people's stuff?"

"Weren't you the preacher of knocking first?"

Merin chuckled. He was by the door. "Didn't think you'd be back so soon."

"Anyway, I'm hungry and I plan on going out to the city. So yeah, sorry about taking your lunch." I wasn't sorry at all though. And I certainly wasn't going to return the stuff I was stuffing in my mouth either.

"I already ate. And that stuff is basically out of date anyway." He let out suppressed giggles.

I tried to stop eating but almost choked instead. "What do you mean, it's expired!" I drank the orange juice and caught my breath.

"Relax, relax, just messing with you." He kept on chuckling and sat down on the bed.

I sighed and grimaced. "Whatever man." I shoved the rest in my mouth and chugged it all down with juice.

***

Lunch was officially over, and my teeth, ruined.

Merin was quiet. Even minutes ago he was messing with me, but now he just sat there looking all stupid.

"Something happened to you?" I grabbed my wallet.

I was totally ready to head out.

He looked at me, the situation felt a bit awkward. "Sis will be moving away from the academy come fall."

"You mean she'll move out next year? We still have a year, you know."

I wasn't dull enough to not understand. This was his sister's last year on this island and from the looks of it Merin didn't like it.

"I know." He fell down on his bed, feet still touching the floor. "I'm kind of insecure about going out you know. So having sis really did make me feel at ease. We rarely talk but… but I think I'll miss her."

"Make the most of this year, I guess. I mean that's the best you can do now."

"Pretty much, yeah. Been thinking and I think, I'll enjoy the summer vacation with her on the beach: I'll think of the rest, later. She told me she already invited you?"

"Oh yeah. Haven't talked to mom yet." I tried to chuckle.

I actually didn't plan on talking to mom today though. Because even if I didn't feel bad about walking around, I knew she was going to stop me the second she learned I was about to go to the city. And that's why I had no plans on telling her anything today.

And talking about vacations? That was a total no-no as well.

"I'll let you figure that out yourself. Your mom was something else."

"Yeah." No argument there. "Alright, later."

"Be back before 11.55, or they'll throw you in detention."

"I'll try, but detention doesn't sound that bad. A lot less trouble."

Merin chuckled, I did too, and left.