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Republic City High School - Chapter Thirty-Six

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Chapter Thirty-Six – Confession


"I…I don't want you to go."

He stood stationary, the light breeze playing with the jagged ends of his hair and the light pieces falling thinly over his forehead. Below it, his eyes stared straight on, lifeless.

"Why?" Rinzen repeated, looking me square in the eye without a hint of intimidation. It took me a long time to gather myself and answer.


I felt my blood rush under the pressure. Why? Why? Why was it always why? Did there have to be an answer? My breathing grew short and rushed.

Because, I thought, desperately. Because, because, because!

"Because I'll miss you, Rinzen!" I yelled, suddenly buckling under the stress of all my thoughts. He stared on through, but I felt like breaking. "I'll miss you, because I like you so much. I like you more than anything! So much it hurts! And I hate whenever you're mean, and I hate whenever you walk away, and I don't want you to go! I just…." I had barely realized that I had been speaking out loud at all. When I looked back at him, watching me with those same pale green eyes in such an unchanging way, I felt the energy drained away from me. "I just…like you so much…."

"Yeah," Rinzen replied simply, interrupting me before I could go any further. I stared at him, heart fluttering and stomach sinking. I saw him smile – a gentle gesture, but too faint to trace emotions – just slightly, and he let out a little breath of soft, delicate laughter. "Yeah, I know."

You….know? I thought, fingertips shaking. What did that mean?

"I…."

I wanted him to say it back. I choked back little tears, hoping desperately to hear those words. I like you, too, Kono, I wanted him to say. I'll stay with you.

Instead, he gave me just a little smile. He turned around in the direction he was going, and as I watched him go, the entire time I couldn't speak. I couldn't call him back. I couldn't run after him. I just watched, standing there and wishing he had said all the things he hadn't. He didn't quite reject me, but his silence still made me feel empty.

I stood there, unsure of what I was really feeling, until the lunch bell rang and people began to pass by all around me. Eventually I let them take me in the current, and started towards my next class.

Yupei could probably sense that I wasn't feeling right, because she was quieter than usual, and she allowed the rest of the day to pass in slow silence. I was relieved at that, because when the bell ring, I still had an awkward emptiness to me. I stepped out of the school building, brushing my fingers through Maku's fur for comfort as the wind hit me. Secretly, I waited against the wall, hoping to see Rinzen just one more time.

"There you are, Kono," I heard, and recognized Dan-Tei's voice as he approached from around the side of the main building. "I've been looking everywhere for you." He took my hand, smiled, and made me feel a little better. Or, at least I didn't feel alone anymore. "Come on. My dad should be leaving City Hall about now."

We started down the steps quickly to make our way into the streets.

"So what did you want me to see?" I asked curiously. "And why can't we be there when Councilman Mako is?"

"Are you kidding me?" he asked as we ran on the sidewalk through the city. "He's mad enough about me even spending time with you at all. And I haven't even told him about the probending team. But trust me," he promised. "What I found is going to change everything."

When we got to Council Hall, Dan-Tei checked with the Earth Nation representative as we walked through the door to make sure his father wasn't there anymore. When the councilman confirmed that Mako had already left, we continued as if we were really up to any good.

"So where to now?"

"My dad's office. Come on."

I followed Dan-Tei up the staircase, then down a long corridor. He seemed to be knowing exactly where he needed to go. When I caught up to him, he was standing before one of the doors with a Fire Nation insignia carved into the wood.

"This is the room," he confirmed.

I reached for the doorknob, but it just jiggled, and didn't budge. "It's locked."

"Of course it's locked," he said, not unkindly. He gently brushed my hand away from the door and placed his own palm over the knob. He let out a short breath, and a burst of fire hit the metal where his skin touched. I heard the click as the door unlocked, and he smiled. "It's an old technology, where the lock is accessed by fire. They used to use it in the fire nation, like, a hundred years ago."

"Awesome," I said, in awe as the door creaked open to reveal a tidy office-like setting. I wandered in after him, and closed the door behind me. "So what are we looking for?"

"It's here," he said, going to the corner and pulling up a loose floorboard. When I joined him there, I could see the hollow space beneath, and the square box he pulled out. "This is what I wanted you to see."

I almost asked what he was talking about, but then I just let him open the lid to show me. I gazed in, and saw a collection of old, yellowed papers.

"They're letters," Dan-Tei said shakily. "Letters to Mako."
Kono and Dan-Tei investigate Councilman Mako's office at City Council Hall.

Chapter Thirty-Five:[link]
Chapter Thirty-Seven: [link]
© 2012 - 2024 AngelicMayumi
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kliopadraberenice's avatar
From Korra?! Or Tahno's?????