The next morning, Lindsey woke up much the same as she always did. She opened her eyes, sat on the edge of her bed, and folded her blanket with slow, unhurried movements. Her feet touched the cold wooden floor. She stood and walked to the bathroom. But this morning felt just slightly lighter than usual... partly because Arion had sat down with her the night before and told her the story of how he and Yolan had first met.
Flashback... yesterday (on):
"So... that's how it happened," Arion said, wrapping up the story. He reached for his teacup and took a slow sip.
Lindsey was quiet for a moment. Her fingers found the hem of her shirt and twisted it gently. Expressing emotions had never come naturally to her, and she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "I never would have guessed he was capable of something like that," she said finally.
"What do you mean?" Arion asked, tilting his head.
"Well... he's not really all that impressive, honestly. He's kind, I'll give him that," Lindsey replied, crossing her arms.
"Is that so?" Arion said, leaning back into the sofa with a small smile.
"He is! At the end of the day, he's just a gambling drunk who practically lived at the bar," Lindsey continued, shaking her head slowly.
"Though... I won't deny that without him, I probably wouldn't be here," she added, a small smile crossing her face as she looked down at the floor. Her hands dropped to her lap, fingers curling into the fabric of her pants.
Arion let out a quiet laugh. "Fair enough," he said, nodding.
"By the way, Lindsey... would you like to choose your own school?" he asked, leaning forward slightly.
Lindsey shook her head. "No, you can just pick one for me," she replied, lifting one shoulder.
Arion narrowed his eyes briefly, then smiled. "Alright then," he said. Internally, he was already thinking about enrolling her somewhere prestigious.
And for good reason. Arion hadn't missed what those 75s really meant. Lindsey had scored exactly 75 across every single subject... including several of the hardest ones, where nearly all the other candidates had scored below 25.
Flashback (off).
That afternoon, a familiar visitor showed up at Lindsey's house. Lindsey was sitting on the living room sofa with a cup of tea in her right hand, her left hand slowly stirring it with a spoon.
"Good afternoon, Lindsey," Ryuu greeted her with a wave before stepping inside. He pushed the door open with his right hand and walked in.
"Afternoon," Lindsey replied flatly, taking a sip. She set the cup down on the table.
Ryuu settled into the sofa across from her as usual. He lowered himself slowly, then reached into his small black waist bag, fingers searching before closing around something. "Here," he murmured, pulling out a small stack of papers and holding them out toward her.
They looked like registration forms. Lindsey glanced at them, then looked at Ryuu. "And what exactly do you want me to do with these?" she asked.
"Read them, obviously. There are also a few parts you need to sign," Ryuu replied, pulling a pen from his bag. He uncapped it and set it on top of the papers.
Lindsey picked them up. She brought them close to her face and read with narrowed eyes. "Royal Sovereign High School," she murmured, reading the header.
Then she froze.
Her head snapped back. Her eyes went wide. Her grip on the paper tightened. "Isn't this... an elite international school!?" she said.
"Am I seriously going here?" she asked, staring at Ryuu, jabbing a finger at the paper.
"Of course," Ryuu replied, shrugging with his arms crossed.
"That's impossible! How could I possibly get accepted somewhere like this?" Lindsey pushed back, slapping her right palm on the table. The tea in her cup rippled.
Ryuu gave her a sideways look, the hint of a grin on his face. "My dad said you're more than smart enough to get in," he replied.
"So what can you do, right?" he added.
Lindsey exhaled heavily, her shoulders dropping. She shook her head once. "Fine, fine," she said in resignation, reaching for the pen on the table.
"School starts on June 20th. Nine days from now," Ryuu said, pointing to an empty field on one of the forms.
Lindsey read through the papers carefully, her eyes moving across each page, turning them one by one. She signed where Ryuu pointed, her pen running along each dotted line. She filled in the personal details that were required.
"I'll be using this name?" she asked, pointing to where it read 'Lindsey Houdoug'.
Ryuu nodded. "That's right," he said simply.
Once they were done, Ryuu gathered the papers back up, folded them in half, and tucked them into his bag. He then reached into the front pocket and pulled out a dark grey laptop, pressing the power button to turn it on.
"Ryuu... have you ever been to school?" Lindsey asked, resting her chin on the table and propping both elbows on its surface.
"I have," Ryuu answered briefly, eyes already on the screen, fingers moving across the keyboard.
"Where did you go?" Lindsey asked, leaning forward a little.
"Just a regular high school," he replied. He let out a short breath.
"I did apply to an elite school in Singapore once. Got rejected," he added, rubbing his face with his left palm.
"Really. What's school like, then?" Lindsey asked, tilting her head to the right.
Ryuu thought for a moment, gaze drifting upward toward the ceiling. "Well... the short version is, there's a lot of fun stuff that happens," he said, keeping his tone light.
Lindsey's eyes brightened for just a second. "Really? I can't wait!" she said, sitting up straight, both hands gripping the hem of her skirt.
Ryuu glanced away toward the window. "Yeah, I'm definitely not going to bring up the part where I got bullied constantly. That would tank her expectations," he thought to himself.
"Then again, she's a girl. It'll probably be fine," he added internally.
"What are you doing?" Lindsey asked, leaning toward the laptop screen.
Ryuu snapped it shut immediately, both palms pressing down on it. "Nothing. Just work," he said, pulling it toward his chest.
Lindsey leaned closer. Ryuu tensed. "Can't I look?" she asked.
"Of course not! This isn't a toy," he said firmly, angling his body slightly away from her.
"Hmph," Lindsey sighed, sinking back into the sofa. "Maybe I could help you, you know," she added, narrowing her eyes at him.
Ryuu said nothing. A beat passed.
Then Lindsey's hand shot out and grabbed the laptop. Her fingers were already on the lid before Ryuu could react. "Hey, wait!" he snapped, reaching for it... but she had already flipped it open.
Lindsey scanned the screen. Her finger guided the cursor toward the Documents menu, then clicked on the folder labeled 'Cases'. Her eyes swept the list of subfolders. "Murder case... Arya Starling, Company President?" she murmured, reading one of the folder names aloud.
She double-tapped the touchpad to open it. "Lindsey... don't just go through things!" Ryuu cut in, wrapping his fingers around her wrist.
Lindsey looked at him. "It's alright, Ryuu," she said, giving him a calm smile.
Ryuu exhaled in defeat and let go of her wrist, burying his face in both hands.
Lindsey continued. Inside the folder were dozens of subfolders filled with reports and documentation. She opened the one at the top and found a photograph. She double-clicked the image file.
"Oh..." she murmured, eyes widening slightly as she brought her face closer to the screen.
The image showed the body of Arya Starling lying on a carpet, a large wound on his head. To the right of his head lay a kitchen knife and what appeared to be a damp patch on the carpet. Lindsey studied the photo carefully, her gaze moving from the victim's head to the knife, then across the carpet. She zoomed in by pinching two fingers on the touchpad and panned left and right. Nothing unusual stood out yet... at least, not at first glance.
"No reaction?" Ryuu thought, watching her with narrowed eyes.
Lindsey closed the image and navigated back out of the folder. She scrolled down through the other folders, moving her finger across the touchpad slowly. Eventually she found the one containing written notes. She clicked on the 'Reports' folder and opened the document inside.
"Victim was forty-seven years old, president of a coffee company, resident of Gresik. Cause of death believed to be blunt force trauma to the head. Estimated time of death... twelve noon," Lindsey read aloud, her lips moving with each line, her index finger tracing the text on the screen.
When she was done, she backed out of the folder and scrolled through the others. She stopped at one labeled 'Suspects'. She opened it. Dozens of files filled the screen... a mix of image files and documents.
"Are these all the suspects?" she murmured, eyes sweeping the list one by one. She bit her lower lip gently as she thought.