Chapter 11

Ayashi's POV

Nagpaalam muna ako sa kanila na kakausapin ko muna saglit ang doctor, lumabas kami sa kwarto at pumunta sa parte ng hospital na walang medyong taong dumadaan. Hindi ko mapigilan ang mapairap nang maka-ani ako ng masamang titig mula sa pekeng doctor na nasa harapan ko.

"Galingan mo naman ang pag-arte Cooper, napaghahalataan kang espiya eh." When he heard what I said, he scoffed in disbelief.

"Wow, sa lahat-lahat ng mga salitang pwede kong marinig ay yan pa talaga ang pinili mong sabihin." Bakas ang sarkasmo sa boses niya, "Grabe Ayashi, nakakagaan sa pakiramdam grabe."

Nginitian ko siya ng peke.

"Whatever Cooper." Kinuha ko ang isang maliit na papel at ang maliit na container mula sa bulsa ko, "Study this substance and give me the report tomorrow morning."

Kinuha niya yun mula sa kamay ko.

"I thought bukas mo pa ibibigay sa akin ang mga ito?"

"I changed my mind since you're already here in front of me naman," namulsa ako, "and thank you in advance for your help."

He crossed his arms.

"Can I be part of your unit? I've been asking you the same question all throughout the years yet I still don't have a real answer to my question." Inis niyang sambit.

Cooper Luiji Vanderveer a twenty year old chemist, he is one of the most skilled chemist in the organization—he always wanted to be part of my unit yet I still haven't see any reason that can convince me to accept him although he's always a great help to our unit.

"Everything takes time Cooper, hindi minamadali yan." I uttered, "Maybe after this mission, I will try thinking about it."

"You're just gonna think about it? Really? And then it will take years again—"

"Ayashi Vixen Yamamoto, right? Yung kaisa-isang kapatid ni Lancelot?" Pareho kaming tumingin ni Cooper sa lalaking nagsalita, then we saw Giovanni's older brother—officer Gavin Lewis.

"Officer Gavin, hindi ko inaasahang makita kayo rito sa hospital." Medyo gulat kong sambit, "Why are you here?"

"There is a dead body that was found on the hallway and it turns out that the victim is a most wanted criminal," napailing-iling si officer Gavin, "walang mga witnesses at wala ring nakitang murder weapon. Parang binaril lang siya sa ulo agad-agad."

"How unfortunate."

"Sure is." Napadako ang mga mata niya kay Cooper, "Kilala mo ba ang doctor na ito, Ayashi?"

I chuckled.

"Yes, this is Cooper, he is one of my friends when I was still in Japan." Damn Ayashi, you don't even have enough time to make some friends.

Nakipagkamay si Cooper kay officer Gavin, while looking at them—you'll definitely notice that Cooper looks like he's older than Gavin even tho he's actually not. A great body, tanned skin, perfect jaw line, not so pointed nose, pinkish lips, green eyes, thick eyebrows, blonde hair and a height with 6'5 you will definitely think that he is 25 or so. Cooper don't look like 20 at all, he's stunning at minsan gusto mo na lang siyang sapukin dahil sinasampal niya talaga ang katotohanang yun sa pagmumukha mo.

Kung patuloy pumasok yung hangin sa ulo niya ay hindi ako magdadalawang isip na putukin yun na parang isang lobo.

Cooper and Gavin started talking to each other, the other corner of my eye caught the sight of some police officers who are currently investigating a dead body of nurse. I looked directly at the body as I saw how it's bathing in her own blood, the wound caused by a bullet in her head is visible.

Naglakad ako upang makita ng maayos ang katawan at hindi ko naman maiwasan ang hindi mapangiwi. May isa namang police officer ang patakbong lumapit kay Gavin.

"Officer Gavin, chineck na po namin yung CCTV." Usal ng lalaki na ikinatingin naman ni Gavin sa kanya.

"Oh? May nakuha ka bang importanteng impormasyon? May footages ba?" Gavin asked.

"That's the problem, wala pong kahit ni isang footage ng mga oras ding yun. Para bang planado na talaga ang lahat." Sagot ng officer dahilan upang mapabuntong hininga ng malalim si Gavin.

"I understand."

While Gavin is still talking to one of his colleagues, a familiar looking man walked right to our direction, he's wearing a school uniform and he's looking at me with the same stare he's always giving me. Namulsa siya habang nakatingin sa akin.

"You should be in class this time, Ms. Yamamoto. What are you doing here during class hours?" Malamig pa rin ang pakikitungo niya, he's still eating the same flavor of lollipop huh?

I crossed my arms.

"May I remind you that we're not at school, you're not the studeng council president outside the campus so in short—as of this moment, you're not the boss of me." Pabalang kong sagot pero wala man lang akong nakitang inis na ekspresyon mula sa kanya.

I was about to answer him back when Cooper suddenly put his arms around my shoulders, namulsa rin siya tsaka pinakatitigan ang lalaking nasa harap namin.

"Who is this, Ayashi?" Nakangiting tanong ni Cooper, Giovanni looked at the arm that was on my shoulders.

"He's Giovanni, officer Gavin's brother and the student council president." 

"Woah, nice meeting you man. I'm Cooper Luiji Vanderveer, Ayashi's suitor—aray aray gago." Nag-angat ako ng tingin kay Cooper nang marinig kong dumaing siya dahil sa pagkakatapak ko sa paa niya, "Just kidding, I'm just one of her friends."

Giovanni stared at him for a little while before he rolled his eyes.

"I don't care."

I hold back my laugh when I saw how Cooper's expression changed.

Poor boy.

Humarap si Gavin sa kapatid niyang lalaki na walang ekspresyon sa mukha na pinapakita.

"Did you get something?" Gavin asked Giovanni.

Gavin obviously called Giovanni to help him solve the investigation, he's really trustworthy in this kind of stuff huh?

"The one who shoot her in the head is a skilled one, the shooter didn't left even a cctv footage, weapon, fingerprints and so on. I can say that the suspect planned everything well." Paliwanag ni Giovanni bago sinulyapan ang patay na katawan ng babae, "I'm afraid that I didn't find anything that would tell us who the suspect is."

Hinila ako ni Cooper papalapit sa kanya pansin ko namang napatingin sa direksyon namin si Giovanni dahil sa ginawa niyang yun.

"Tigress is really a great sniper, I think I'm in love Ayashi." I rolled my eyes upon what he said.

He keeps telling that but he doesn't even show any interest towards Tigress whenever she's around.

"You're always saying that." 

"I'll contact you once I concluded something but for now, I should better go to school." Isinukbit niya ang bag sa balikat niya.

"Sure, should I accompany you?"

"No need, I brought my motorcycle with me."

"But you don't have a license." Giovanni just shrugged, I was surprised when he suddenly looked at me.

"Come on Ayashi, I'll give you a ride." Sambit nito habang nakatalikod sa akin, I smiled at him before I shook my head.

"No need. Cooper will be driving to school, see you later." I heard him hissed as he make his exit.

Someone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. Hinatid ako ni Cooper papuntang school nang tuluyan na kaming makarating sa school ay pinagbuksan niya ako ng pinto ng sasakyan.

Trying hard talaga siya para makapasok sa unit ko. I admit that Cooper is getting a lot of attention from the other students, especially to those girls.

"I'll come by to your house tomorrow to give you the results of those substance you gave me. I'll try my best as I could."

"Yeah, yeah. You should go now, may mga gawain ka pa sigurong hindi natapos."

 "Yes boss, I'll get going."

I SPENT MY ENTIRE DAY doing nothing but just yawning. Absent kasi sa umaga si Calvin, ngayong hapon pa siya papasok. Wala tuloy maingay sa tabi ko kaya medyo hindi ako masyadong sanay.

I was currently having lunch at the cafeteria, maraming mga estudyanteng nagkukumpulan at naghahanap ng bakanteng mesa. At kapag napadako ang tingin nila sa akin ay agad silang tumatabi at hinahayaan lang nila akong maglakad. Hindi sila humaharang sa dinadaanan ko.

Napagdesisyonan kong maupo na lang sa isang bakanteng mesa na malapit sa grupo ng mga babae na tinatawag ang sarili nilang 'mean girls'. It makes me wanna roll my eyes when I first heard about their group. 

Sa mga libro ko lang kasi nababasa ang mga yan.

I started eating my lunch without minding somebody else's business not until I heard one of the manner less group of teenagers also known as mean girls who mentioned my wonderful name.

"Do you know who that Ayashi girl is? Like oh my goodness, the rumors is flying all around the campus that she confidently kissed your Giovanni." Isang matinis na boses ng babae ang dumagundong sa tenga ko, napailing-iling ako.

Her Giovanni? Ew.

"Did she really kissed him?" Hindi masyadong matinis ang boses na yun pero nakakairita pa rin pakinggan, "How dare she do that, Giovanni is mine."

Napairap ako agad sa narinig ko mula sa kanya. I was about to stood up and just walk away when Giovanni suddenly sat down beside me that made me confused.

Tumingin ang grupo ng mga babae sa direksyon namin at halatang gulat na gulat sila dahil sa nangyari habang si Giovanni ay walang pake lang na nakaupo sa tabi ko habang nagpatuloy lang siya sa pagkain ng tanghalian niya.

What is this guy doing here? Akala ko ba loner at mala sadboy ang character nito.

"What are you doing at the hospital earlier?" He asked, not minding the people who is starting to gossip about us.

"Visiting Fiona, she fainted due to exhaustion yesterday." I reasoned out.

I looked at the surveillance camera inside the cafeteria, six surveillance camera are there. That's kinda odd. Do you really need that much cameras to find out what are the other students are up to?

"I see."

I crossed my arms before I rested my back on the chair where I was sitting, I started playing with the fork.

"I have one question Giovanni. You're one of the smart and fast thinker guys that I know." Napukaw ko naman agad ang atensyon niya, "Is there a possibility that a machine that was ordered to stay faithful to you suddenly betray you? I mean, will that faithful machine have the chance to betray you?"

He looked at me.

"Of course it wouldn't, that machine was ordered to stay faithful to its creator. That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard from you, Ayashi."

Uminom ako ng tubig mula sa tumbler ko tsaka ko siya nginitian. Nilapit ko bahagya ang labi ko sa tenga niya.

"You should give Atashia a quick look, it seems like the robot you build has the capability to harm one of the members of the school publication." I smiled before I pat his shoulders, "I hate to be the one interrogating that robot after she harmed Fiona."

Giovanni stared at me intensely. 

"How did you..."

"You need to do something to your acting skills, ang dali-dali niyo kasing mabuko. And anyways, look out for Atashia maybe one of these days—she is loyal to the enemy."

"Atashia won't do such a thing."

"Giovanni, I have proof. That fucking robot harmed Fiona and once I finally complete the evidence, will you still turn a blind eye?"