*This chapter is bouncing back and forth between chapter 6 of the book as a whole, or chapter 14 or 15 if I end up deciding to separate each year by its own book.



As February ended and March rolled in, Hiro hadn't seen either Kari or Ryuzakai. Both seemed to have vanished, though Chase guaranteed him that Kari was alright. Hiro wanted to believe it, but without actually being able to see or talk to her, he felt left in the dark.
Today however, Hiro and Breann walked out to the track. Finally, they were going to have another race. Of course, with Ryu gone, P.E. class was never much of a challenge. The coach had told them to split into groups of four. Of course, Hiro, Breann, and Chase were together, along with a cat chire, a senior at the academy, nicknamed "Big" due to the fact that he was rather large. Their group was the first to race. The coach blew his whistle and the group took off. As usual, Hiro was in the lead, with Bre behind, followed by Chase, with Big at his heels. For someone so big, he could run rather well. Hiro sped around the second corner, almost slipping, as his shoes were rather loose. He didn't notice it, but he was already breathing rather hard. He ran down the second straight and passed the coach. He recorded Hiro's time. It came as no surprise that he had just beaten his old score by two seconds. Breann passed half a second later, followed by Chase and Big.
As Hiro turned to the next straight, he felt himself short of breath. Odd, I shouldn't be breathing this hard yet. Hiro took a deep breath and tried to continue, but suddenly, an immense pain shot through his chest and he nearly stumbled. Dammit, must be getting a stitch. But it sure as hell doesn't feel like it. Hiro put on more speed and took the next turn. A fatal mistake. He felt the sensation of his chest exploding and he crashed to the ground, twisting his ankle. He let out a howl of pain, and clutched the area near his heart, where it hurt the most. He tried to take deep breaths. But the pain wouldn't subside. In fact, it intensified. He forced himself onto is knees and called out.
"C-coach!" he cried. "I need h-help!"
The pain grew worse and he collapsed, writhing in agony. He let out another howl and squeezed his eyes shut. Breann ran up him, panic stricken, and fell to her knees beside him, laying his head on her lap. He trembled violently and screamed again. Chase was behind Breann in a matter of seconds, and Big soon after.
"What's the matter with him?" she cried, looking desperately at Chase.
"I dunno," he replied, kneeling down and trying to help him up.
"D-don't!" Hiro demanded through raspy breaths. "Just don't touch me!"
"Help!" Breann interjected, calling out to the coach. "Don't just stand there, dammit, help him!"
The coach took a few steps forward then stopped, as if pondering whether or not to go.
"Help him!" she repeated, tears running down her face. "He's gonna die!"
Finally, the coach ran to them. He was at their sides a moment later. He peered down at Hiro, who was breathing sharply. He let out another cry and looked up at the coach.
"Help...me!" he stammered, grabbing onto the coach's leg. "P-please..."
The coach pulled out his walkie talkie and spoke into it. "This is Anderson. We have an emergency. A student is apparently suffering from a heart attack. Assistance is needed immediately!"
A voice came over the speaker. "Okay, sending a few nurses down to pick up the student. Move him carefully to the gate. Be careful not to worsen his condition."
The coach put the walkie talkie in his pocket and turned to Big.
"Big, help me take him to the gate. I'm not sure, but I think this one's gonna be bad. I don't think we've ever had this kind of problem. Grab his legs."
“Like that's what I fucking need to hear?” Breann screamed.
Big lifted up Hiro's lower half and began walking him towards the gate with the coach holding his arms and torso.
The nurses arrived at the gate before Chase and the others did.
"How long has he been like this?" one of them asked, looking at Hiro, who was shaking harder.
"Almost three minutes now. Hurry we have to get him to the hospital wing."
"Right, Big, give me his legs."
Big and the nurse swapped off and carried Hiro to what appeared to be a stretcher. They place him on it and the group of three teachers rolled him away. Breann tried to follow, but the coach held her back.
"Hiro!" she cried out. "I have to go too!"
"No, you have to stay with the class. They'll take care of him," he replied.
Breann stomped on Anderson's foot and broke into a sprint, chasing after them.
"Chase," The coach called out. "you're her friend. Stop her!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Chase dashed off in the direction the nurses and Breann had gone. Though he wasn't as fast as her, he managed to catch up and stop her pursuit. He put her in a bear hug and pulled her back. She struggled, kicked, and screamed, but Chase didn't let go.
"Chase, let me go!" she demanded, trying to make contact with one of his knees.
"No, you have you stay, Breann!"
"But Hiro's hurt. I have to help him!" she implored.
"Breann, there's nothing you can do. He's having a heart attack. What could you possibly do to help?"
"I don't know, but I have to go! Hiro needs me there! He would want me there!"
"Breann!" he shouted fiercely. "You can't go! You being there will not help him. You'll probably end up getting in the way!"
"But--"
"Breann!"
She looked up at Chase angrily, seeing the fierce determination in his eyes. She saw something else too. Beneath the anger, he was scared too. He glared at her intently until, finally, she stopped struggling. She glanced once more at where Hiro and the teachers had been a moment before and fell to her knees, sobbing. Chase fell to the ground with her and released her. She wouldn't try to run again, that much he was sure of. After calming her down, the two chires made their way back to the track, where they sat out until the end. Neither one spoke for the rest of the day. In fact, Breann went straight to her dorm after class and didn't come back out for the rest of the night.

*****

Ryuzakai listened to the rumors with curiosity. Was it true? Was Hiro Culsnorei really dead? No, Ryu knew better. These were nothing more than stupid rumors that students had begun to spread. No, what had really happened was exactly what Leon had said would happen. Specifically, Hiro's heart was giving out. And soon he would be dead. On top of that, supposedly, there was a visitor staying in the blue dorm. Could it be? Leon? No, it's too soon. Leon wouldn't be come here yet...Would he? Ryuzakai, who was fairly uncertain of everything by now, threw on his jacket and rushed to the hospital wing to see Hiro. When he arrived, he tried to get through to him, but the nurses wouldn't allow it. He persisted until he was forced to leave or else have the head of blue dorm on him. Irritated, Ryu made his way back to his room, thinking aloud.
"Why won't they let me see him? If he's really having the heart attacks, then there isn't much time left. I have to tell him. And dammit, the school's not equipped with the things needed to help him get through his heart attacks. Why don't they just send him back to Sapphire? Surely he would do better in a hospital than a school with inadequate supplies. I don't get it. What do they hope to accomplish by keeping him here? They can't save him...Or can they?"
He left the hospital wing and allowed his feet to carry him without thinking. Eventually, he stopped and looked down at the floor. The brown ceramic tiles reflected the bright lights from above. What mattered now was Leon. Was that why Hiro hadn't been transported yet?
"If Leon really is here, then that would explain it. But how can I find out? I can't afford to wait. Dammit, I need to know now!"
Anger flaring, Ryu ran down the hall in the direction of the blue dorms. He would find out for himself, one way or another, no matter what.

*****

Hiro was stabilized early the next morning. The nurses said the attack hadn't been bad and it merely rendered him unconcious. But a few people knew what was really happening. A few knew the truth. Amongst those few people was Leon, father of Ryuzakai Cornelius. He sat in his room, reading the report he had received earlier that morning. Hiro was finally showing the side-effects of his treatment.
“Yes, everything is going exactly as I planned,” he mumbled and he threw the report onto the desk in front of him. “Just a little while longer.”
He laughed. It was the laugh of a maniac, a killer, a madman. And all who heard it would know the laugh of Death himself.

*****

Hiro was released a day after being stabilized. Immediately after leaving the hospital wing, he was pulled into a hug and onto the ground by Breann, who had waited anxiously outside for him since the day before, leaving only to eat once. The look on her face told him how much she had worried and the pits under her eyes told him that she hadn't slept for a few days. Three days to be exact. He stood up and pulled her to her feet.
“You keep that kinda shit up and I'm going to wind up back there again,” he said, thumbing to the hospital wing entrance behind him.
“I'm sorry,” she pleaded, snuggling into his chest. “I was so worried. When Big said it was a heart attack, I nearly went off the deep end.
“No need to worry. They said it had something to do with really high cholesterol. They've put me on a special diet to help reduce it. And I have to take these pills everyday,” he pulled out a small bottle. Inside were about twenty little white pills. “It's a drag, but as long as I don't have another heart attack, I'll do whatever. Bre, that hurt like high hell. Anyway, let's go back to my room for a bit. They told me to take another day to rest before returning to classes.”
Breann nodded and followed silently. Along the way to his room, Hiro attempted conversation. Most of the time, Bre kept to herself, Frustrating Hiro to no end. Finally, he hit a subject that she couldn't stay quiet about.
“How's Momo?” he asked, side-glancing her.
“Okay, I guess. It's only been a few days, Hiro. Not much has changed.”
“I know, but you won't talk. Are you upset about something?”
She stopped in front of Hiro, just a few yards away from his room. She spoke quietly, but with a voice that demanded attention.
“Hiro, I don't understand why everything has to be so simple for you. You had a heart attack. That could have killed you!”
“And you're point is?"
"What are you going to do about it?"
"What am I supposed to do about it? I don't even know why I had the damn thing in the first place.”
“Hiro, heart attacks in teenagers are not natural. Even for older people, heart attacks seldom occur.” She sighed deeply then continued. “Hiro, all I'm trying to say is be careful. I don't know what happened or why it happened, but something isn't right. If I lost you, I'd be-”
The cell phone in her pocket began to ring, cutting their conversation short. She flipped it open and answered quietly, covering her mouth behind her hand. Curious, Hiro strained his ears to hear what she was saying.
“Yeah? Really? Yeah, that's great. We'll come and see it, okay?”
The speaker on the other end didn't answer for a very long time. When they eventually did, it was so quiet that Hiro, even with the sharpened hearing granted by being a chire, couldn't hear.
“I understand that, but it was his egg. He has the right to see it. Okay, see you in five. Bye.”
“What was that about?” Hiro asked as Bre stowed her cell phone away in her pocket.
“You remember how that egg changed pink?”
“Yeah, what of it?”
“Well, it hatched. Chase just called to tell me.”
"It hatched?"
"Yeah, he said it's some weird turtle thing."
"A turtle?"
"Hiro, I don't know, let's just go and find out."
"Is Kari going to be there?"
"Most likely."
"Er, I...uh..."
"Let's go."
"..."
Kari...Is she...is it really okay? Is it really okay for me to see her? Valentine's Day's events played out in his mind again.
"Please, Hiro!" she had cried.
"You need to stop this!" he had shouted back, his voice poison.
"I can't! It's not fair!' Then she said the words that had haunted him for days after. "Hiro, I love you!"
Is it really okay for me to see her?
"Hiro, what's wrong?" Bre asked, nudging him slightly.
"Huh?" he looked up, eyes wide. "Nothing. I'm fine"
"Are you sure? You look a little pale."
"N-no, I'm...I'm fine."
"Hiro, are you-"
"Don't worry about it. Let's go."
"But-"
"Now!" he demanded.
She flinched and Hiro walked off without another word. She followed silently. A moment later Hiro bowed his head as they walked on, lost in thought. Again, that day's events flashed before his eyes. What am I doing? Should I really be going to see her? What if it ends like before. Will I be able to forgive her? No, what's more important is Breann. How will she react if Kari starts it again? What will she do? He pondered this for a moment, until he remembered Chase. Surely he would be with her. Chase was always with Kari. Perhaps things wouldn't get out of hand this time, not with him around.
They arrived at the red dorms a few minutes later. Upon knocking, Chase opened the door. Behind him, on the bed, was the fox. She looked up at him as Hiro entered the room and smiled, going so far as to wave. But a moment later, the smile disappeared and she returned her attention to the brown carpeted floor.
"Eh, Hiro," Chase said, elbowing the hedgehog in the ribs.
"Ow! What is it?" he replied.
"Can I speak with you outside for a moment?"
"Outside?" he looked back at Breann, who stood against the wall a few feet away. "Is that a good idea?"
"I'm sure they'll be fine. Please just for a moment."
"Uh...Sure, but try to make it fast."
"Thanks."
The two chires walked out, closing the door behind them.
"Uh, how have you been?" Chase asked, leaning against the railing.
"Since the heart attack? Good I guess. It had something to do with high--Er, never mind. I know that's not why you asked me to come out here."
"..."
"Chase, what's wrong?"
"It's Kari."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"You don't have to say it like that!" Chase replied forcefully, his eyes narrowing.
"I was kidding. What's wrong with her?"
"Hiro, ever since that day, she's been...different."
"Different how?"
"I don't know. She's just...how can I put this so it makes sense...Hollow."
"Hollow? I don't think I understand."
"She just doesn't care anymore. She barely speaks. When I told her about you having that heart attack, she seemed indifferent to it."
"She seemed okay when I saw her just now."
"That's a lie!"
"Wha--"
"You know she's not okay!"
"Chase I-"
"Hiro, she's really hurt right now. Just by having you around, she can't go about her normal life. Hiro, she may seem strong and whatnot, but she really isn't. That day, you saw her cry. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. After you left, she cried harder...So hard that I wished the world would have ended, if only to ease her pain. On top of that, she's taken to cutting herself. And no matter what I say, no matter what I do, it doesn't get through to her."
Hiro could feel the tension building.
"So what am I-"
"Hiro, dammit, she needs help! It's not enough for her to just have me around. Just being friends with you is not enough for her. She needs more! I'm scared Hiro...What if she never gets over this? What if she does something really drastic? What if she takes her own life? What will you do then? How will you fix things then?"
"I...I don't-"
"Tell me dammit!"
Hiro found Chase, with his new nerve, to be more than a little scary.
"What are you going to do? She needs help! She needs your help!"
"Chase, I can't do anything about that! I'm with Bre. She needs me just as much as Kari does!"
"I doubt that," he mumbled, looking away.
"What did you say?"
"What could have happened to her that was so bad? Why is she so damn important?"
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"Sure, whatever."
"Chase, I can't tell you!"
"I doubt her troubles are any worse than Kari's! I doubt she has any real problems! I doubt she even needs you!"
"How dare you!"
"Hiro, Breann doesn't need you! Nothing good can come out of being with her! Dammit Hiro, Breann doesn't matter now!"
"Why you little punk!"
Hiro grabbed Chase by the collar of his shirt and heaved him off the ground.
"Shut you're damn mouth!" he roared, throwing him onto the hardwood floor that made up the balcony.
Chase stood back up and glared at him fiercely. He may have been a little smaller, but he wasn't nearly as defenseless as he seemed. His time with Hiro and the others had changed that. But instead of getting angrier, Chase softened.
"I'm sorry. You're right. I just...I just don't know what to do."
"That's a lie!" Now it was Hiro's turn to make the accusations. "There's no way you don't know what to do!"
"I don't!" Anger flared in his eyes again. "I don't know what to do about this!"
"Liar!"
"Why the hell don't you just stay out of it?"
"You brought me into this dammit!"
"Just stay the hell away!"
"As soon as you tell me what you're going to do about this problem of yours!"
"I don't know!"
"Wrong! You know! Chase, the more time goes by, the harder it will be to say it!"
"Stay out of it!"
"Then tell me what you're going to do!"
"I don't know! I'm still thinking about it!"
"You know, thinking doesn't make you look good!"
"Why you!"
He clenched his fist and pulled back. Hiro flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for impact. But nothing came. No collision. No pain. Nothing. He cracked open one eye and saw Chase staring at the ground.
"You're right," he muttered.
"Eh..."
"It's just like you said."
"I uh..."
Chase threw his arm around Hiro's shoulder. For the first time, Hiro realized how much taller Chase had gotten. He was just about as tall as he was.
"Wow, that was some lecture. Sounds like it came from experience."
Hiro smiled.
Chase smiled back.
"So," Hiro said, throwing his arm around Chase's shoulder too. "Did you tell her yet?"
"Uh...no...But I think I'm going to."
"That's good. Come on, let's go back inside."
Chase nodded and the two chires entered the room, arms still hanging from the other's shoulder. Inside, Kari and Breann sat in silence, neither looking at the other.
"Uh, Kari, you think perhaps you should show Hiro what came from the egg?"
"..."
"Come on. Show him!"
Obediently, Kari picked up a box and held it out in front of her.
"Well, here it is," Kari said, opening the lid.
There was a small "squak" and out of the box flew a turtle. At least, it looked somewhat like a turtle. It had small round eyes, scaly skin, and a large dark reddish-pink shell on its back. But instead of normal appendages and head coming out of the shell, it had a long neck, with little horns on it's head. A long snout. It's long neck swelled downward into a fish-like body and a tail fin at the opposite end. And protruding from its sides were two large feathered wings. It's skin was slightly pink, and its belly was a pale yellow color.
"What the hell is that?" Hiro asked, jumping to his feet. "This is weird. No, this is extremely weird."
"..."
"Kari, what is this thing?"
"We don't know," Chase said picking the thing up out of the box. "But this is what hatched from that egg."
"Wow, I've never seen anything like this before!" Breann exclaimed, taking the creature from Chase and looking at it closely.
"So...what's it called?"
"I call it a birdlish," Kari finally chimed in.
"A birdlish?"
"Yeah, it's a weird bird-turtle-fish-thing. A birdlish!"
Nerve on this level was oddly refreshing.
"So, we're going to call it a birdlish? Okay, that works, I guess."
Kari giggled slightly.
"Let me see it."
Hiro grabbed for the birdlish, but it lashed its long neck towards his hand and caught it in its mouth. It clamped down hard and didn't let go.
"Ouch! Dammit, that thing is biting me! Chase get it off!'
He swung his arm back and forth, trying to force the birdlish off.
"Hiro, you idiot!" Breann exclaimed. "Don't do that! You might hurt it!"
"Me hurt it? The birdlish is the one doing the hurting! Get it off me!"
Chase grabbed the birdlish by its fish-like body and pulled.
"Kari, try to get its mouth off Hiro!" he said, pulling the thing away.
Kari grabbed for the birdlish's mouth. For one fleeting second, her hand brushed against Hiro's and they made eye contact. She smiled slightly, then returned her attention to the thing's mouth. In that second, everything stopped for Hiro. There was nothing left. No pain. No sadness. Nothing. As far as he could tell, Kari was happy. After a few attempts, she managed to unclamp its mouth and free Hiro's hand. The birdlish squirmed out of Chase's hand and flew to Breann. Hiro was astounded. The birdlish actually flew. It landed softly in Bre's arms.
"Damn thing bit me!" Hiro growled, rubbing his hand.
Breann coaxed it into opening its mouth and examined its teeth.
"Hiro, you wimp. Its teeth are harmless. They're so small and flat."
"That's what he said," Chase murmured.
"The hell did you just say?" Breann asked, turning towards the cat. "Would you care to repeat that?"
"Eh, no. S-sorry Bre."
Kari laughed as Breann stood up and advanced on Chase, who backed away. For the first time in weeks, Hiro felt comfortable. Even better was the fact that Kari was okay. Smiling, Hiro laughed out and jumped up, Kari doing so as well.
For the rest of the day, the four chires goofed off with each other. None of them worrying about classes. Not worrying about their problems. Not worrying about anything. Kari was okay. Everything was well now.

*****

While Hiro solved his problems and went about his normal life, Ryuzakai had been working. Not only that, he had made quite a few new discoveries about Hiro. Hiro really wasn't the son of Maggie Cornelius. He was still related, but the truth was so intense that even Ryuzakai didn't want to believe it. Leon had been lying to him the entire time. But that was minuscule when compared to what else he had found...But that didn't matter at the moment. What was currently important was the man standing right in front of him. Standing before him, wearing a white lab coat and khakis and his signature yellow-tinted glasses, was Leon. Ryuzakai's father approached him, his anger almost palpable.
"You seem pissed, father," Ryu said, grinning slightly.
"You don't think I have reason to be? You completely disobeyed me!"
"Eh, the thought of family suddenly doesn't matter so much anymore."
"..."
"You get it don't you?"
"Of course, how could I have not seen it before. You've figured out the truth, haven't you?"
Ryuzakai nodded gravely.
"I have. I just want to know why you want him dead so badly. What could have happened that you would want that boy dead for?"
"To be completely honest, I don't care whether he dies or not. He was never anything more than an interesting experiment."
"Then why kill him?"
"Because I'm already here. No point in leaving a mess here for someone else to clean up. Besides, he deserves to die."
"And your reasoning for this is?"
"To be blunt, I hate chires."
"Yet you've worked alongside Kari's grandfather for years. What made him so different?"
"Nothing. He's a chire, therefore I will always harbor a small bit of resentment towards him. But he's a genius, so I appreciate working with him. You see, chires are...unethical, to say the very least. They aren't meant to exist."
"Wait...I've heard that phrase before. I read it somewhere..."
"Yes, think about Hiro's last name. Culsnorei...Now what writer also had that name?"
"His name was...Roger, or Rupert, or something."
"His name was Robert Culsnorei. He was one of the greatest writers of my parent's generation. I grew up reading his works, living by his words. It's because of him that I entered the field of genetics and have tried to unlock the secrets to chirism."
"If you hate them, why try to recreate them?"
"You just don't get it, do you?"
"..."
"The ability to create something, also means you have the ability to destroy it."
"So you're hoping to find something somewhere...in the DNA probably, that will allow you to wipe out the chires on a world-wide scale?"
"Exactly!"
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
"Come now, Ryuzakai, you are the son of a genius. Surely you know how I plan on doing this."
"Bio-terrorism? Something like that?"
"Close enough. I will achieve my goal in the near future. But for now, you should know. Regardless of what I do, Hiro's going to die. He's a walking time bomb. No matter what I do, he'll die."
"You can't save him?"
"I won't say I can't, but it's not a priority to save him."
"What if I threaten to kill you?"
"So what? You couldn't do it. My organization has a great amount of power. They're information gathering system is far greater than that of the FBI, CIA, or even the secret services. And they have the power to match. To be blunt, we are the greatest force on Earth."
"..."
"And using this organization, I will achieve my goal."
"..."
"So what will you do?"
"Nothing. I told you that I wouldn't do this for you. It's your game, not mine. If you want it done, do it yourself. But don't expect my help."
"You won't interfere?"
"I wouldn't say won't, but it's not a priority."
"My, you're the clever one aren't you?"
"..."
"In any case, I must leave now. I have responsibilities elsewhere."
With that, Leon left the room, leaving Ryuzakai alone in the darkness of the blue-dorm bedroom. For only a brief moment, he pondered whether or not it was the right thing to do, to let him just leave like that. Was it the responsible thing to do? Probably not, but he was able to reassure himself by telling himself it wasn't his problem. Which wasn't entirely true. But at the moment, Ryuzakai's help wasn't needed. Odds were that he wouldn't be needed at all. But if the opportunity arose, then he would step in, if only to gain an advantage over Leon.
"But...what does that make me? Am I just black-hearted evil like my father?"

*****

Several days later, Hiro had his first mid-term exam. If he passed these exams with good scores, he might be promoted to red sooner. But that was only if he scored well. So today, he and Breann made their way to the egg class and took care of their slimes while working on a research paper. Fortunately, this class didn't have an exam. So Hiro took the time to surf the web and try to find some information on the birdlish, who was no doubt flying around in Breann or Kari's bedroom. It seemed to prefer the girls over Chase of Hiro. Well, it preferred them over Hiro anyway. It had no problem with Chase as far as he could tell.
"It's amazing how my pet doesn't like me, yet can tolerate you guys," he murmured to Breann, who was already finished with her paper.
"It's no my fault, Hiro," she replied without looking away from the monitor. At the moment, she was currently working on a book she had started during the Christmas holidays. "I guess it just like women."
"Whatever. Are you ever going to tell me what that book of yours is about?"
"Nope."
"You know, student accounts are always monitored by the faculty here. So they know what your working on."
"So?"
"So, if you want it to be kept a secret, don't you think it would be wise not to work on it on a school computer?"
"Nope. Kari and Chase are both really good with computers and hacking and whatnot. They helped me create a teacher account, so they can't monitor me."
"Uh, you realize that's illegal, right?"
"Hiro, nothing's illegal until you get caught."
"Okay, so what if I ask Chase or Kari to help me take a peek at it?"
At this she closed the laptop and glared at him. "Hiro, if you do that, that proves two things. One, you can't be trusted. And two, you feel so insecure that you need to peek at my personal life just to make yourself feel better."
"..."
"If I ever catch you doing that, I won't hesitate to..."
"To what?"
She blushed slightly and opened her laptop and started typing again. "Nothing, never mind."
"That wasn't nothing. What were you going to say?"
"Nothing!" She began typing faster, misspelling many words. "It's nothing. Just forget what I said."
"Whatever, I know what you meant. I'm leaving."
He stood up without another word and left. Nelson didn't even say anything to him as he stormed out of the room. Breann knew she had upset him. For he knew exactly what she had meant, even if she didn't say it. She silently apologized and closed the laptop and returned it to Nelson and left. But outside, she couldn't find him. Wow, he moves fast. She briskly walked down the hallway to her left, hoping to find him.

*****

As the chire turned the corner, Ryuzakai entered Nelson's class and sat down. Nelson, who was still baffled by the two chires' abrupt exit, barely noticed. Ryuzakai set his bag down at his seat and entered the small room joined to this one. Inside he found his black slime, which he had abruptly named Rue after it hatched. He carried the thing with one hand to his desk. It stared at him unblinkingly for a moment, then turned and...how would you describe it? Rolled away? Scooted away? Regardless, it left Ryuzakai and made his way towards the other slimes. Ryu stared after it in disgust. His had been one of the last slimes to hatch, and when it did, he was immediately disgusted. The thing was repulsive, and he tended to make as little contact with it as possible. He did only as much as he had to to score perfectly in that class, which really didn't take much at all. But even though that had been months ago, he still saw the thing as something disgusting and still didn't really like it.
After a few minutes, Nelson approached him and handed him his assignment. He was to research and write about the discovery of slimes and how they affected the environment. To Ryu, this was nothing but another biology report. He crumpled the paper and tossed it at Rue, who growled violently at him.
"Shut up," he said, opening his assigned laptop and starting it up.
Within five minutes, he was finished and used his remaining time to browse the system. Fortunately, Kari had been good about setting him up with a master account, so he could keep watch on the school and its activities. Amongst the many things he found, one of the most recent documents was by a teacher by the name of B Culsnorei. Could this be by Hiro? Kari is his friend and very well might have set him up with an account as well. He opened the document and read it. As he finished the first page, he knew that it couldn't have been by Hiro. This writing was definitely not his style. It sounded more sophisticated and smarter. So he decided that it was Breann's, who had written under Hiro last name. Not that Hiro wasn't smart, he was actually amongst the top ten of the freshman class. No surprise to Ryuzakai, he was at the top. But he found it ironic that also on the list were Kari, Hiro, Breann, and Chase. The remaining five were people that he hadn't yet seen or heard of. One name in particular caught his attention, but he forgot about it instantly. There was no way that she was here at the academy as well. Besides, he no longer had any reason to care about her or worry about her. In fact, why was he even thinking about her? There were more pressing matters at hand and she wasn't one of them. He pushed her out of his mind and closed Breann's document.
He surfed the web, reading many reports on the life outside the academy. Things really weren't going well in the world. The states in particular. The crime rate had risen by a few dozen percentage points. It disgusted him to see how the world was beginning to fall apart. If he were in charge, things would definitely been better. No, you idiot. You know better than to think that way. You know nothing of politics and government. How would you do any better? This particular skill, the ability to know when he was thinking outside the range of his knowledge, helped him keep is ideals within the realm of reality. He would never convince himself of something that was so obviously impossible. Crime would always exist, no matter what he did. Hell, his father was one of the most serious criminals known to society. At least, he was known by the higher government officials, who, despite their position and power, had no way of stopping him.
He shut off his laptop and slid it away from him and stood up. "I'm leaving, Mrs. Nelson," he said and walked to the door. But just as he pushed it open, she called out to him.
"No you're not! I've already had two students leave and you came late to class. Take your seat!"
"Two other..." He looked around, realizing for the first time that both Hiro and Breann were missing. "They left?"
"Yes, and without a word as to why. I will not tolerate it. They're already going to be staying for detention this evening. Would you like to join them?"
"Uh, no ma'am."
He took his seat and laid his head down. Dammit, have I really grown soft? Before, I never would have let someone boss me around like that. He looked out the window, only to find some weird creature floating just outside.
"What the hell is that?" he exclaimed, not knowing that it was actually the birdlish. But how could he have? The only ones who knew about it were Hiro, Breann, Chase, and Kari. None of which had bothered to tell him. Of course, that was to be expected. Only Kari knew him, and he hadn't seen too much of her lately.
The other students got up and moved to the window to get a look.
"What is that thing?"
"It's a flying turtle!"
"No it's not, you idiot! Look, the shell only covers its back. And its neck is long."
"Then what is it?"
Even Nelson had come over to see what the thing was. Ryu took this as an opportunity to leave. He crept to the door and left. Whether anyone noticed, he would find out this evening, if he was called to the red dorm's main office. For a moment, he leaned against a wall and closed his eyes. What a relief. I have better things to do.

*****

Later that evening, as Hiro sat in Nelson's class serving his detention, he received a text message from Chase saying that Breann, who had failed to show up for her detention, had been hurt. He practically jumped from his seat and dashed out of the room, ignoring Nelson's angry screams. He instinctively ran towards the red dorm, automatically assuming she'd be there. Despite the fact that the two hedgehogs weren't talking to each other, after their argument in the egg class, Hiro still cared deeply for her. Which is why, as he got to the first flight of steps, he sprinted down them, a small sweat forming. Breann! Breann! He ran down two flights of stares, a pain in his chest forming. As he came to the last flight, he jumped over the rail and landed hard on his feet, then dashed down the hallway. Breann! He kicked the exit doors open and ran out. In less than a minute, he was at the red dorms. He fumbled for the card key that Breann had given him after Christmas. After unlocking the door, he shoved it open and saw Breann laying on the floor.
"Breann!" he shouted.
He quickly fell to the ground and held her, who seemed mildly surprised.
"Hiro? What are you-"
"Bre, are you okay? I'm so sorry."
"Hiro, I--"
"It's fine, you don't have to say anything. I'm just glad you're okay." He sat her up and kissed her. "I'm so sorry. I just--"
"Hiro, what are you--"
"Bre, I'm so--"
It was at that moment he realized how much pain he was in. His chest burst with a familiar pain and he collapsed onto Bre, who fell to the floor under his weight. She struggled to get up.
"Hiro? What's the matter? Hiro?" She tried once more, only then did she realize that his breathing was ragged. "Oh my god! He's having another heart attack!" She pushed and pushed until she was finally able to get him rolled onto his back. "Hiro, wake up! Hiro! Hiro!" Tears began to fall. "Please Hiro, please get up!"