A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while. I've been sick for a long time. I missed FanFiction! I just found a strength to write recently, and I spent some time thinking and writing. I am planning to update this story every week. Most likely there will be 10 chapters. Thank you and please enjoy this story.
Disclaimer: Ace Attorney belongs to their rightful owner, CAPCOM.
Strings
Chapter 3
I stopped walking. Dead in my tracks.
Slowly I turned my head.
His eyes were menacing, as always. He was leaning his back on the wall on the opposite side of my bedroom door.
That was terrifying. I didn't even hear his footsteps. Was he following me?
"I'm dying."
I was not sure how to answer that. It creeped me out that he knew about my abilities, even without us explicitly knowing each other. I never even seen him before.
"W-what do you mean?" I stuttered. As much as I wanted to have a normal conversation, I couldn't because we kind of started off in a wrong way.
"I… Nothing." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked away. I could hear Miss Aura shouting from the dining room. She was asking Simon if the "princess is okay," and I knew she was talking about me. I made them worried by leaving the dining room when I barely finished the dinner.
But I still stood there in front of the door.
What? What was he trying to say?
There was one way to find out. His heart.
Okay, Athena. Calm down. Close your eyes. Focus on your breathing. You know how to do this. On the count of 3… 2…
I'm sorry. We've tried everything we could…
My sister cannot know this.
Of course, your medical records are confidential.
I felt a sharp pain shooting through my head. What's that?
A flashback? It was in a hospital too.
He stopped midway to the dining room. Without turning his head, he spoke coldly.
"Didn't your mother tell you that it's rude to look inside someone's head without asking for permission?"
"Sorry! I didn't mean to." I quickly apologized. God, I didn't know he could tell when somebody tried to look inside his heart.
"This is why I don't like imps."
"Wha-!?"
He called me an imp?! How rude. I'm just trying to help him. And he's one the who sought my help.
He sighed.
"Just pretend this conversation never happened." And then he went back to the dining room.
I could still hear Miss Aura's voice from here. She was somewhat annoyed when her brother returned to the table without me.
I dropped to the floor. So he wasn't kidding when he said he's going to die? The flashback was surreal. It felt like my own flashback. Like both of us shared the same… soul.
I shook my head. Maybe it's my imagination. Maybe it's because I was exhausted. I tried to dismiss those voices.
But then why did a tear roll down my cheek?
It's lunch break and I was called to the staff room again.
"Again, 'Thena? You just met the teacher yesterday. What happened?"
"I wish I could know the answer too. Sorry, Junie."
She looked bummed out because she really wanted to talk to me about the Blackquill guy. After I told Junie that she didn't have to come to the Space Center after school, I walked into the staff room when I spotted a familiar figure. My suspicions were confirmed when I took a seat in front of my Biology teacher.
Simon Blackquill sat in the very chair next to me.
Oh great, after what we had yesterday…
My teacher jumped straight in. "Cykes, I have bad news and good news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"Bad news…?"
"I looked at your coursework over the entire year. They were pretty abysmal."
Ouch.
"I'm certainly aware of that." I defended myself.
Blackquill remained quiet.
"At this rate, you won't be going to the gymnastics regionals."
"What!?" I practically screamed at him. This was unbelievable. They're going to kick me off the team just because I got bad grades?
"You have good news too. Which is why I bring Blackquill here."
Blackquill and I exchanged looks with each other.
"He's at the top of his class every year. Knows his way with science. He can tutor you."
"No, thank you," I spoke nonchalantly and stood. I suddenly remembered that I wasn't even close to the team members. The only reason why they let me on the team was that I always saved their sorry asses by accumulating the points at the vault and balance beams.
Maybe this was a sign that I should take a break from the team.
Why did I rationalize this? I loved sports, and gymnastics was everything for me.
"Are you sure-"
"Yes, and thank you for the suggestion."
Blackquill tried to grab my forearm but I was faster than him.
I slid the door close behind me when a voice startled me.
"You're not going to the regionals, Athena?"
Perfect, somebody heard our conversation and it was none other than the team leader, Julie.
"Yeah, I had to focus on my academics."
"Oh, too bad," she said with a smirk. At first, Julie tried to act buddy-buddy with me but I could not stand her 'other' voice. I couldn't wear headphones during gymnastics sessions, so my mom gave me a set of custom-made earplugs. It's even worse than the headphones that I wore. It barely filtered those negative voices.
At the same time she's showering me with cheap compliments about my appearances and my gymnastics skills, her voice told otherwise. Pathetic, idiot, cocky brat. And the list went on and on.
I was not really interested in her friendship and she started being hostile to me. I didn't do anything wrong, I swore. Her friends tried ganging up on me one time the coach praised my double front tuck.
"It's about time you leave the team, too."
"Excuse me?"
We never liked you anyway. Don't think you're special in the comp team because you're younger.
I didn't realize that I clenched my fists so hard that I was ready to give her something that she really deserved.
The door opened, and I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"She's going to the competition."
"Simon!" Julie smiled sheepishly. She was surprised when Blackquill spoke up to her. "What are you talking about? Of course she's going to the regionals. We're just discussing how to make it happen." Her face turned red from embarrassment. She had a crush on Blackquill?
"I see. Don't worry about that part. I'm going to help her with school."
"Oh, you're so kind, Simon!"
"I just want my girlfriend to do her best."
The moment Simon dropped that line, time stopped for me.