Chapter 39

“I need a favor”

‘Why what is it?’ Denzo asked as Neil stood before him looking all flustered.

‘You know Casper right?’ Neil asked as he stood straight in front of Denzo while the sun set behind him atop the school rooftop. Denzo on the other hand looked uninterested.

‘You look like shit… Were you looking for me?’ He replies disregarding what he heard as he takes another puff from his cigarette.

‘Never mind that…’ Neil said before cutting himself mid sentence, noticing his smoking. ‘It’s illegal to smoke inside our school campus, you know?’

‘I thought you needed a favor? Why am I getting reprimanded?’ Denzo responds which had irritated Neil, who was trying to keep his emotions at bay as he was a hairwidth away from losing his patience.

In truth Neil was never fond of Denzo. To him he was an immovable object to his unstoppable force. An entity who was his equal to him in every way but opposes everything that he stood for. He felt a certain rage deep inside him after their first meeting, when Denzo slammed all of his topics out of the window. He only wanted to spread his passionate views for the future but to Denzo it was nothing more than a fever dream. It was disappointing for him because at the moment he saw him with Aida that day he felt a certain connection towards him. A certain sameness that he had never felt before.

He really thought they could be ‘friends’

But Denzo quickly shut those thoughts down.

‘Fine i’ll let this slide…’ He snickered. Trying to be friendly and failing. ‘I’m still Vice president though.’

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‘I know, whatever, thanks.

So what do you want?’

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--

-

His monotonous tone and nonchalant attitude was awfully grinding his gears to breaking point but he persevered. Taking a deep breath he responds:

‘I need you to tail someone for me.’

‘Who?’

‘Casper.’

‘Why me? Isn’t Pai a common friend of yours?’

‘He’s biased.’

‘Why? What kind of “tailing” do you need?’

‘Look I think you’re the best--’

‘Isn’t it easier to have someone close to him doing the recon?’

‘Look can’t you just listen?!’

--

--

His last sentence was shouted out loud.

He finally lost it.

He was desperate.

And Denzo noticed it as well.

‘You look pathetic… Why do you want this anyways?’ He asked. It was a stupendously simple question, but for some reason Neil couldn’t answer immediately.

--

--

‘I’m leaving once I’m done with my smokes.’

‘It’s Pete.’

‘What?’

‘It’s Pete… They’re gonna expel him. Or worse!’

Denzo squinted his eyes, confused. ‘What’s Pete got to do with this?’

‘The scandal, the committee is gonna pin it on him if we don’t do something!’

He takes another puff before killing the embers on the cigarette he held between his fingers as he leaned back on the fence wearing a vexed expression. ‘Well if you play dumb games you get dumb prizes…’ Denzo finally replies.

‘What?!’ Neil responds looking shocked at what he had heard. ‘Aren’t you guys friends?’

‘Aren’t you?’ Denzo darts back. ‘Besides If Pete really did something so fucked up, I’m not gonna defend him. He could rot in jail for all I care.’

‘I do!’ Neil shouts. ‘I do! Cuz I believe he didn’t… no… He couldn’t do such a thing!’

‘Oh… real convincing there “bud” and what do you suggest shall be done then? Pin the blame on Casper?’

Neil fumed at Denzo’s words as he was barely hanging on from rushing over and punching his teeth in. ‘No pinning! I have proof! He’s the culprit!’ He shouts with a seething anger towards Denzo, who just wouldn't listen to what he had to say. Pushing Neil into sheer levels of desperation that he’d never even reached before.

This was a first, but to Neil, Denzo was the most difficult person he had talked to in his life so far and he wishes this would never happen ever again as he was barely hanging on from beating him to a pulp, which he can clearly see is what he was anticipating would happen. He never wanted to admit it fully but based on how things were going, there was one thing he can agree about Denzo.

That they both wanted to beat each other up.

But that was not his way, it was Denzo’s.

To simply give in would give him what he wanted.

Even if he won the beat down, if Denzo even landed a single punch, he wins.

He was not about to grant that wish.

He can see him tense up, ready to pounce at the first sign of attack. He can see his slight smile as he waits for him to charge.

But Neil kept his cool. He wasn’t planning to lose.

He stood up, took a deep breath and smiled.

‘So you won’t help?’

‘No… I don’t do other people's laundry.’

‘You’re such an idiot.’ Neil said as he turned around and left for the door. ‘I don’t want to see your face at the J&B so fuck off.’ He adds as he slams the door behind him.

‘You don’t own the place, asshole!’ He shouts back at him as he leaves making sure he heard it. ‘Besides… I work for the owner idiot.’ Denzo told himself as he watched Neil head down the stairwell.

As he does, his curiosity hits him like a thunderbolt. And as his eyes followed Neil disappearing behind the steps, an idea started to brew inside his mind.

…

…

‘Tch..’

He can feel his blood pulse through his veins as the storm inside his chest continues to rage. He had no other choice and his options were running out. He needed someone to check on his suspect while he went on to prepare his case with the investigation team. But now he had no choice but to go himself.

‘I still have a few days… but… dammit.’ He whispers to himself as he reaches the ground floor looking unsure and flustered. He tries to search for an answer in his mind but nothing comes to surface as he fails to notice his foot anxiously tapping on the ground, clearly looking panicked, as he looked like a lost child trying to find his way home.

The last week didn’t quite go his way as his hands were full with the school investigation, which went the opposite of his expectations, coupled by the fact that his sister’s business was cyber attacked out of nowhere, making everything dire from his point of view. Also adding the evidence he got from Raon the other day, which turned out fruitless as it didn’t match the other cameras the team had recovered. With the lack of evidence to catch Casper, the situation was slowly turning the tide against his friend, Pete.

Based on the reports the team had so far the evidence they have against Pete were inconclusive but out of the other suspects he had fit the bill closely as he was the one who had close access to the spots where the cameras were retrieved. And to add to his wounds, Pete didn’t have a solid enough alibi to deny his involvement as his defense during questioning didn’t hold enough merit to keep him out of the suspect list.

Basically all of the documents he had read from the investigation team points to Pete as the suspect.

He knows the school had to make an announcement this time around as the said incident cannot be kept under wraps forever and it would be better if the school would release an official statement soon, before anyone from the student body spills the beans. A fact that baffles Neil to this day as the secret of Nica’s scandal had still remained a secret even after two weeks had passed since the school suspension.

Another concerning thought he has was the incident that sparked his rush for the Casper investigation. If Neil fails to secure evidence against him, he would lose both Nica and Pete. A scenario he would be pleased to avoid since he consider Pete as his closest friend and Nica--

‘Wait come to think of it, how much power does Keeno have in school to be able to pull this off?’ He told himself as the thought of Yukino came across his mind.

‘It had been two weeks and nothing? Not a leak?’

‘The whole school was in attendance during the incident, someone was bound to spill info at least to their parents.’

‘How is this happening? How can the parents not be alarmed by this? Last time this happened the PTA became chaotic.’

‘Everything is oddly silent…’

‘Unless…

It’s all make believe…’

And with it a smile came across his face.

‘I knew it… I thought I had a hunch…’ He whispers as the memory of that day flashes back into his conscious mind. The day when their business was hacked, he had a feeling he was being watched. And with this thought in the back of his mind he quickly rushed back home.

…

…

(Hey Pai you with those 2?)

(Yeh y? Wanna hang out? :D)

(Nope)

(Ms. Kayna from science class was looking for you)

(Rlly? Y???????)

(Gotcha)

(Hey...)

(XD)

(Wer u now tho?)

(Uhh in the old plaza mall)

(Cass said he wuz getting something)

(Oh okay...)

(just askin…)

(And NO i’m not hanging out.)

(Fine…)

…

…

‘Hmm, I wonder what he's gonna get in that place?’ Denzo pondered as he pockets his phone. ‘Well… no use waiting here.’ He said as he took off from his spot on the rooftop and out the door, fading behind the shadows on the hallways.

…

…

‘What’s taking him so long the food’s gonna get cold.’ Pai complains while looking at the food they ordered. He and Julian had been waiting at the fast food place inside the old plaza mall just a block away from their school. It was the first time Pai had gotten to explore the inside of it despite seeing it a couple of times on his commute home. Though at the moment, their plans of roaming around to tour Pai was being hampered, thanks to Casper’s disappearance.

‘You know what Pai? Cass is already a big boy. Let’s eat!’ Julian said as he takes his fork to dig into his spaghetti.

‘Yeah… alright…’ Pai responds, grabbing his drumstick and taking a hearty bite out of it.

‘Don’t guilt trip yourself, Pai. Cass is always taking his sweet damn time getting his merch.’

‘Really? What kind of merch is it?’ Pai asked as Julian quickly looked panicked for some reason.

‘Oh… Merch? Hah! It’s nothing, just some equipment… Though I have no idea what it is… really.’

‘Oh.. okay.’ Pai responds. ‘I just hope he gets here soon since it's getting late…’

‘Yeah… haha…’ Julian replies back with an uneasy chuckle. He was greatly thankful that Pai was not the most insightful person they know as a bead of cold sweat drips down from his forehead.

Pai looks down on his food and takes his first bite, and as he does he suddenly remembers the last time he’d been into Casper’s place as the fuzzy memories came streaming back into his consciousness.

‘Wait is that?!’

…

…

‘Are these the stuff?’

‘Yes just as you specified. That one’s hard to acquire boy, I think you’re lucky just to get your hands on one of those.’

‘Yeah it is. Took you long enough to get it as well.’

‘Well we had to ship it from Europe but, ei, you paid a premium so you can trust us to get it to yah safe and sound.’

‘Yea.. Thanks!’

Casper waves his farewell to the shopkeep as he walks away with a black bag on his shoulders, looking satisfied that his mission was completed without any hitch. Although he was quite worried as he had to wait for the shopkeep to retrieve the object from within his storage, he was glad it arrived in one piece. With that in mind he was swiftly reminded that people were waiting for him as he grabbed his phone to check the time.

‘Dammit… I think I’ll just bag the food I ordered.’ He said as he made himself aware that he was running late.

‘What’s in the bag Casper?’

A voice called out as he turned the corner.

‘Uh… Denzo?’

He flimsily responds at the person who blocked his path back to his friends, as Denzo stands firm with his arms crossed, legs parted and feet firmly planted on the floor.

‘What’s in the bag?’ He threateningly inquired as was met only by silence.

‘Casper.’

‘...’

He lunges forward towards Denzo, catching him off guard. Denzo meanwhile, anticipates which direction he’ll move to dodge. Checking the left, screening the right and in the end Casper hops to the right, meeting Denzo’s expectations.

He leans right, extending his arms to catch the culprit, but at the last moments he stops, pivots and spins out from his grasp. A textbook basketball spin move.

Denzo was taken by surprise as Casper was able to evade his capture, but Denzo wasn’t about to give up just yet. He was quick to react the moment Casper evaded him as he swiftly regained his balance to turn his body around and give chase. He was relieved when he saw that Casper had not gotten away just yet, and he can clearly see why as he now wore his bag on his chest, possibly to protect it from being grabbed by Denzo.

He smirks seeing how advanced Casper’s thinking was knowing that the bag was a potential trap. He didn’t take his chances, as Denzo thought, which fueled his curiosity even more at the contents of what he’d just bought. The pair of them ran across the halls and back towards the exit as he noticed the weight difference was slowing Casper down with every turn they made whilst sprinting. And as they reached the final straight toward the exit, Denzo was only a fingertip away from grabbing Casper’s collar.

‘Can you fucking read minds?!’ Denzo told himself after Casper ducks his head just before Denzo could grab his collar. However the resulting action took Casper’s focus off of running, which slowed down his pace. Denzo saw the opportunity and took it by swiping his foot under Casper’s feet. An old technique Denzo learned from his past to trip someone from behind. By hitting the backfoot while it’s in the air, the foot will change trajectory, hitting the calf of the grounded foot, tripping one’s balance.

This. He executed perfectly.

The moment Casper felt this, it was already too late as his face was already facing the floor.

Through sheer desperate will, Casper commands his body to twist around at the last moment, just to avoid landing on the bag which will surely destroy the contents inside of it. He barely made it in time as he lay in pain on the cold tiled floor of the mall. Eyes facing up and his bag held high above his shoulders.

‘Nice save “bud” now let me check this out--’

‘NO!’ Casper shouts as he clutches the back close to his chest, hugging it tightly.

‘Why? What are you hiding? Now I’m really curious.’ He replies as Casper gives him a death stare while he clutches the bag like his life was at stake.

‘It’s none of your business!’ He shouts, as Denzo smiles smugly.

‘It might be… you fucking pervert!’ Denzo scoffed.

‘What?’

‘Denzo?’

Another voice had reached his ears, tracing its origin right in front of the fast food joint near where they were.

‘Hey Pai… Looks like I caught our camera perv.’ Denzo declared with a haughty attitude as everyone around them seemed to have stopped on their tracks upon hearing his revelation.

‘What?’

…

…

An ominous smile radiates in the darkness as the figure holds a familiar looking pen in his hands.

‘Hehe.

Fuck you Yukino Loran…’

‘GG… hehe.’

Neil stands in the middle of his room with only the dim light of his computer illuminating his area. In his hands, the same camera pen the culprit used to stalk Nica Robbie. He had a hunch that something was wrong and since he knows where in his room he spends most of his activity from, he quickly deduced the search area and within a minute he found it, staring at him, his computer and his closet.

He snaps the device into two as the ink bleeds down from his fingers.

Without missing a beat, he threw the device in the trash and walked straight for his closet, taking out a spare keyboard and plugging it into something.

It was his backpack PC.

It was different from the last time he had used it, as he had modified it with a long range transmitter. For weeks it had been gathering data from various areas within the metro, being instructed in secret by the scruffy detective that lived down their basement. He was only meant to gather data from the Police HQ so he could cypher additional data noise for the detectives to use, but being the meddling creature that he is he utilized that opportunity to do something extra. In truth it didn’t matter if the detectives required his work, as he had made the necessary upgrades before he was asked. It was just pure luck that their intentions had aligned, making the perfect alib--

‘What am I thinking… I have to focus…’

He told himself.

The room suddenly became quiet.

Or rather, his thoughts.

…

…

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…

…

‘Gotcha...’

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‘Nice place, didn’t know you live here.’

‘Yeah well, thanks… It’s blood sweat and tears.’

‘Wait what?’

Denzo looked stunned after hearing Casper’s choice of words as he stared in disbelief seeing the spacious interiors of the house he had just entered.

‘Yeah… I own this.’

‘What? How?’ Denzo was dumbfounded with Casper’s response as Pai stops to put his bag down the sofa in front of him, smiling at Denzo who still had a stunned expression on his face.

‘It’s okay I had the same reaction when I visited around a month ago.’ He apologetically replied.

‘Hey don’t get ahead of yourself Cass. You don’t own it yet…’

‘Tsk… whatever, I own it, Period.’ Casper responds as he opens the bag he so preciously protected. ‘All the more reason why this thing is essential.’

‘What is in there anyways?’ Denzo replied, quickly snapping back after seeing the bag being opened. He saw him pull out some sort of a garment, folded neatly inside a plastic package as he thought to himself how strange Casper was for protecting a mere article of clothing with his life.

‘Hey Julian, let’s set things up first then after that, we can let Denzo in for the surprise.’ Casper said as he walked straight into a room on the far side of the living area with Julian in tow.

‘Keep it hush Pai.’ Julian adds as he disappeared behind the door together with Casper.

‘What does that mean?’ Denzo asked, darting a suspicious look towards Pai. Cold sweat immediately trickles down his forehead. Pai just gave him an uneasy stare and fell into dead silence, triggering Denzo’s temper.

It wasn’t long before he started chasing him around the house, trying to shake some answers out of him.

‘I can’t! I just can’t! You just have to wait, Denzo!’ Pai shouted as Denzo was hot on his heels trying to submit him into answering.

‘I hate fucking surprises! Just tell me so I can leave and go home already. You people are wasting my time!’

‘No! You’ve come all the way just wait a bit! Come on!’

‘No!’

‘Can you guys stop?!’

‘Fucking Finally!’

Julian swung the door open to break up the chase. Denzo, upon seeing the opened door, sensed the opportunity to rush in as his impatience outgrew his reason. Julian on the other hand was having none of it and braced himself for impact, meeting Denzo head on in a test of strength as they battled for the right to pass through.

‘Why can’t you wait just a few more minutes?!’ Julian said in a strained tone, his arms and elbows trying to keep Denzo at bay, giving his all to deny entry.

‘I just can’t. Period. Let me - in so I - can - go -home - already!’ He replies, equally struggling to tear down Julian’s defense. Meanwhile Pai just stood nervously by the two not knowing how to de-escalate the situation.

The two continued to wrestle for position as Pai continued to think of a way to calm Denzo down. He tried looking for interesting things around the house to distract him from entering, but since Casper had only moved in recently, the house was still barren and empty. He was about to lose hope until his eyes fixated on a little trinket that was hooked on Denzo’s backpack. A little keychain with the familiar stylized initials of J.V.D. Immediately upon seeing it Pai searched for the time on the clock and instantly made a connection.

It was his eureka moment.

If this pays off, he finally has something on Denzo that he could make fun of.

And with this thought in mind, he made his gamble.

‘Denzo? Could it be that you’re rushing home to watch Jetta Vee Dub?’

And there was sudden silence.

--

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----

-----

‘You motherfu--’

He never got to finish that sentence as Julian quickly grappled Denzo in his moment of distraction, quickly asking Pai to tie Denzo up to stop his rampage. Pai barely accomplished his task as Denzo’s strength was too overwhelming for the two that even if they had succeeded in the end, both him and Julian still suffered a few punches from Denzo’s struggle.

‘When I tell you to wait then wait!’ Julian shouts as he slams the door behind him.

Pai on the other hand was giggling besides a tied up Denzo Kalma feeling the urge to tease him for the dirt he’d just discovered. He follows up on this urge as he pulls his phone out and quickly navigates to SABER as the Jetta Vtuber stream was about to start.

‘I didn’t know you like anime girls Denzo.’ He quips, poking at the hornets nest.

His words were only met with a death stare as it was the only thing Denzo could do given his current state. And as the countdown on the stream reached the three minute mark, Julian pops out of the room with Casper, who was now wearing the equipment. A two piece suit with while ping pong balls strapped to various parts of the suit.

Upon seeing the sight Denzo instantly familiarized himself with the suit, as he remembers seeing something worn by motion capture actors during a documentary he watched a couple years ago.

‘What’s all this?’ He asked in a crabby tone.

‘Promise you won’t cause a rampage?’ Julian sternly requests.

‘Fine whatever… just… untie me.’

Julian gives the go ahead to Pai as he unties him from his binds. He swiftly gives Pai a sucker punch to the shoulder as payment for conspiring against him, before straightening his uniform and composing himself in front of the duo.

‘So are you ready to tell me what this spandex looking shit is?’

‘Yeah, in fact we don’t even need to tell you. Pai’s already showing it to you since you’ve been tied up.’

And as the words escape from Julians mouth, Denzo slowly turns his head towards Pai as he raises his phone to clearly show him it’s contents.

The countdown on the Jetta Vee Dub stream.

‘Ohaiiiooo welcome guyyyzz! It’s mee Jetta Vee! And welcome to another stream! Hi Denzo! Surprised?’

A familiar voice said as Denzo does a quick turnaround to see Casper speaking in a perfect female voice through a pitch changer microphone.

‘What the fuck?!’

It was at this moment where he deeply questioned his being.

All this time he had been watching and dreaming about a female gamer who liked cars herself.

He dreamed of someday meeting this person in a conference somewhere where streamer conferences are held, whilst maybe sharing a thing or two about cars.

And now all those dreams were crushed.

As that person stands now before him.

Not clad in a cute dress, sporting a cute smile.

But in a suit plastered with balls, sporting balls himself.

A nightmare coming true.

At the very least;

From this point on, no nightmare can ever scare him into waking anymore.