Arc 0: Prelude 15 - Leading Light

support /səˈpɔːt/

the action of supporting something or someone or the state of being supported.

Listening to her good-for-nothing friend’s “advice,” Lauren got up to her feet and decided to approach the girl.

She was briefly startled when she stood up unaware of her presence. She didn’t tower over her like Zachary but the height difference was still clear.

“Um, excuse me,” Lauren tapped on her shoulder.

The girl turned around, “Ah, hey Lauren!”

“Oh?” She was taken aback by the mention of her name, “You… You know me…!”

“Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?”

Hearing that was like a punch in the gut. Of all names to accidentally forget, it had to be the girl who still remembered hers. Just facing the smile drawn on her face was embarrassing enough to have her dart her eyes from guilt. Not to mention that she was possibly the one that managed to save Zachary — perhaps they were both injured, but they came out alive on the other end.

「If only I weren’t so forgetful.」

“Can I help you with anything?” The girl noticed the stress on her face.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” she quickly shifted her expression to that of a cheerful one, “Uh… How should I put this?”

“Ah,” the girl chuckled, “You want to know if I was one of the people in the accident?” He asked casually.

“H-How…?!” She was startled by her almost spot-on guess.

If she were indeed caught up in the same accident as Zachary’s, then she would have been the one who saved his life then.

“I’ve been getting that a lot today thanks to this,” she awkwardly smiled as he rubbed the back of her head, hinting at the bandage wrapped around it, “And I don’t really blend in with these clothes.”

“Oh, must have been a hassle, huh,” she tried to smooth her part of the conversation.

“Not really, I don’t mind the spotlight once in a while,” she laughed, “Anyway, yeah, I’m the moron who risked her life to save another moron. Everyone's surprised a girl like me would go so far to save someone.”

Even if the term “moron,” referring to Zachary, was said in a humorous manner, Lauren was not too happy to hear it. She did not know why — it was just a subtle ache in her chest.

She took a deep breath.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where Zach is?”

“Uh…,” she grit his teeth as she averted her gaze, “No, sorry…”

“Oh…,” she eyed the floor.

“I never got the chance to see him after the accident. I don’t think he even knows who I am, heh.” She tried to brighten the mood after giving her the doleful answer, “I know you two were friends…”

「Were we…?」

Her last moments with Zachary were not so bright. In fact, she wondered if he enjoyed her company at all. It always seemed like she was forcing him to follow along with her plans and do her bidding, she never thought that those doubts might be real. To her, she just wanted to show someone with the same passion what she was like.

But she never truly considered how he felt about it all.

Whenever he would be hit by a slump, be it his lack of motivation or his episode at the concert, she would try to cheer him up with half-baked words. And then the day of that dreadful accident, she was so gratified by her victory at first glance that she never thought of his loss. Even after he had run away, she didn’t push her legs to run after him until it was too late.

「Is that what friends do?」

Friends should be there for one another when the time is right, not when all is said and done. And she had done neither of those properly. What—

“Are you alright?!”

“Huh?!” Lauren was snatched away from her thoughts. It was quite a bizarre moment for her. She had never dwelled that deep in her thoughts before.

When she turned her head back up, she noticed the girl looking at her with a worrisome gaze.

“You seem a little out of it, huh,” the girl expressed his concern.

She looked at her with a curious expression. She failed to understand her.

「Friends…」

That girl wasn’t Zachary’s friend, and yet she…

「Why?」

“Hey…” Lauren urged. “Why did you jump? Why did you save him?”

It would seem like a completely unwarranted question, but it needed to be uttered. An act of goodwill or not, in her eyes, it was irrational to help someone at the cost of one’s self. Even if in some way a truly selfless person existed, the worst-case scenario would be them losing their lives and the one they attempted to save, ultimately resulting in a wasted goal.

“Because…” The girl held his tongue. An apologetic smile crept across her face. “I just want to help people, isn’t that enough of a reason? I don’t regret it, never will.”

“...!” She couldn’t accept it, “But you…”

Out of nowhere, Chloe emerged to Lauren’s side and took her by the shoulder. She had noticed her friend’s odd behavior from afar and decided to interfere before anything spiraled. She easily towered over the girl — it never occurred to Lauren how tall she was before.

“Hiii there, nice to meet you,” she faced the girl and put out her left hand for a handshake as she held Lauren with the other, “Chloe! Esteemed member of the newspaper committee and Lauren’s dearly beloved. How are you doing today?”

“Uh… hi?” The girl, unsettled by Chloe’s sudden appearance, shook her hand.

Lauren was confused by her appearance, “What are you—”

*SLAP*

Lauren’s face reddened in that instant.

“(D-Did you just slap my a—)”

“Shhhh,” Chloe pulled her closer and lowered her voice, “(Relax, I'm here to save you from yourself.)”

“(I’m not—)” She shook her head, “(W-Was that really necessary?)”

“(To me, yeah.)”

The situation could not get any more embarrassing for Lauren. When they turned their gaze back to the girl, the girl was looking at them with the most oblivious expression, as if nothing had happened. Luckily, that worked in Lauren’s favor.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Chloe smiled at the girl, “As a member of the newspaper club, I have to ask on everyone’s behalf: How did you recover so quickly from the accident?”

“Huh?!” The girl was puzzled.

“Oh, and may I just say, your hair looks absolutely wonderful today — I’m surprised I haven’t noticed you before.”

“Ah… this…,” the girl averted her gaze in embarrassment and then put on a smile, “I lost a bet.”

“Well, whomever you lost to, they surely have a fine taste.”

Chloe pushed Lauren away without averting her gaze or smile from the girl's sight. She hid one of her hands behind her back and waved at Lauren to continue walking and leave the place.

「What was that about? Is that how weird Zach thought I was?」

As Lauren walked away, she would briefly touch her lower back.

“Ugh… That really hurt…”

「She really knows where to hit.」

△▼△▼△▼△▼△

Lauren leisurely made her way through the school’s hallways.

It was eerily empty. Most of the students were still drowning themselves in the cafeteria’s new selection, and there weren’t many classes with how the town’s curfew tightened its period with each passing week. Coincidentally, the number of teachers and students present every day lessened once again. So it was natural for the halls to be empty.

When she snapped out of her thoughts once again, Lauren realized she was standing in front of the glass trophy showcase. This is where she and Zachary had last talked ordinarily with each other…

「...Before the accident…」

She took a deep breath and calmly let it out.

As much as she was worried about Zachary’s disappearance, she didn’t want it to hinder her normality. She believed in blind hope, in the optimism she held up on a pedestal, no matter how severe it was going to be.

Nothing good ever came from pessimism.

Yet still…

She looked at the trophies behind the glass and wondered what went inside Zachary’s mind when he stared at the trophies for minutes on end.

Was he thinking of the success he strived for? Did he desire to once see his name among these trophies? Did he—

「...oh no…!」

Despite thinking otherwise, Lauren couldn’t forget about him, about Zachary. The boy simply wouldn’t leave her mind to herself. Just thinking of him was enough to almost make her think like him — he was ravaging her thoughts like a plague. Everything she had done today was unusual for her. The pessimism, the awkwardness, the lack of conversation. None of these things belonged to Lauren. They were the very same things she was trying to cure.

“Gh…”

「Where are you?」