Kibishi's POV

  "Let's see. Where to begin?" Riley gently tapped her index finger underneath her chin as she spaced out.

  "From the beginning would be nice," I said with a small smile.

  "You make it sound so easy..." Riley whispered with a small smile as well.

  "Then how about you ask Tao about it instead?" David suggested with a smug look and a ugh. Not only from him, but Riley ughed as well.

  Didn't you two JUST say that you both will tell me?

  I raised my left brow in confusion. I deeply sighed and looked at Tao.

  "What do you say, Tao?" I stared at Tao gently.

  "..." Tao closed her eyes and looked away. "I refused."

  "Eh?" I blinked twice.

  "I didn't want to relive that. Just thinking about it was driving me crazy. Talking about it would make me want to kill something..." Tao said coldly.

  "K-kill?!" I was jolted by that statement.

  Tao realized this and flinched at my reaction.

  "I-I didn't mean it that way! I-I mean...." Tao waved her hands like crazy. She slowly frowned and lowered her head. Adjusting herself, Tao sat down more properly and pced her hands between her legs.

  "... Listen, I... Kishi. I'm... I'm trying my best to stay as calm as I can. Please... don't make me say something that will make me want to end my life...."

  "Tao..." I whispered in fright.

  End herself? Was it that bad? I mean, I assumed it was just a single day, right? What was so wrong about a week passing by? What was so shocking about my passing out for one week?

  "O-oh, right. I'm sorry..." Riley scratched the side of her cheek.

  "I was only pying, but maybe we should have expined it after all." David looked away in shame.

  "..."

  Wow.

  What was going on around here? Why was Tao acting this way?

  Before I could figure that out, I shook my head and held it.

  "Nevermind that. Just tell me what happened AFTER I got knocked out. Please..."

  I couldn't afford to be distracted. I needed to know so that I could make things right with Tao. I was sure that she didn't bme me or anything, yet still, having to see the stress in her eyes made me worry sick about her. Even more of it and I'd mentally break...

  "Sure, man..." David nodded and folded his arms. "...Well, let's start with when you got knocked out unconscious. Ha. Like that was the case..."

  "What do you mean?" I tilted my head.

  "Well... how do I say this without sounding crazy..." Riley covered her mouth in shame. It was almost as if she was holding herself back.

  "What?" I leaned forward, trying to keep my cool, but the way they were moving, it seemed bad.

  "..." Riley looked away.

  *What? Why were they being hesitant suddenly?*

  Riley took a deep breath in and then breathed out. She then turned serious and finally spoke.

  "Kibishi. I'll be honest here. All of this week, I thought you were dead..." Riley said something unbelievable.

  Like gss, I could hear my mind shatter from that silly statement alone.

  Not wanting to shout, I pyed it cool and smiled at Riley.

  "That can't be right! I'm sitting right here, right? Stop it with the jokes, haha!"

  "..." Riley continued to stare at me.

  "..." David remained silent.

  "..." Tao did the same.

  I, on the other hand, who was beyond lost, slowly stopped ughing and gripped the table.

  "Wait... you're serious?" I whispered in fright.

  "... Yes. I'm serious." Riley slowly folded her arms and looked away, looking upset. "I completely forgot about that part. No... no, I'm lying. I just... I just wanted it to disappear in my mind and never resurface."

  "..." I looked at the table in fright.

  I wasn't scared of the fact that I died. What I was worried about was the action AFTER that.

  Let's say what Riley mentioned to me was right. What then? What did they do? Who did they go after? If I knew my friends correctly, then they must've acted out due to my "death". But wait...

  "H-hold on. Let's back up for a moment."

  I held my head.

  "Let's say that what you mentioned was true. And... and I somehow died for a whole week? Does... does this mean... I died more than once in my life?"

  "... I don't know. No, I don't WANT to know that, honestly." David closed his eyes tightly. "But thinking about that made my blood boil. Dying isn't something we should take lightly."

  "We can't though. I would die for any of you..." Riley whispered while smiling weakly.

  "Don't even JOKE about that right now!" David pced both hands on each of Riley's shoulders.

  "....S-sorry..." Riley apologized as she looked away in shame.

  "..." David slowly let go and then hugged Riley. "No, it's fine. I just... overreacted, sorry."

  David let go of Riley and turned to face me in a serious way.

  "Anyway. Once you hit the floor of the first yer, everyone rushed in to check up on you. We checked your pulse and it wasn't working. Fear went inside our heads. We thought that we lost you." David pced his head on the table and used his arms to hide his face. "That shit made me freak out and I yelled at the two veterans saying 'It's your fault! I lost my fucking best friend thanks to your weak asses!', etc. Panicking, we all headed towards the teleporter and burst into Mato's office."

  Riley patted David's head.

  "After that, Mato analyzed you and said that your body system stopped functioning due to the stress you put it through from the attack of the monster. But he knew that you'd be fine as long as you had your rest." Riley continued after David. Riley held her head. "Haha, thinking about it now, I didn't bme Tao for cursing everyone out for letting you die on the mission. Including us..."

  "..." I widened my eyes in fear.

  I turned my head and looked at Tao who didn't look at me in the eyes.

  She must've felt bad for doing that. And honestly, I didn't bme her. I would've done the same. I wasn't bming her. I wasn't bming anybody for my reckless actions. I knew the consequences yet I still did it. Of course everyone would freak out if someone wasn't breathing.

  "After that, David and I tried to talk to Tao, but she wouldn't listen. Just tears and pain in her voice was all we heard. And.... it made me cry too, you know? I... I thought that..." Riley started to tear up.

  This made my heart ache.

  My friends fought with one another and it was all my fault. I was the one who suggested that we turn off my nerves. I was the one who forced them all to follow my stupid pn. And now, everyone was suffering thanks to this-

  "Wait! Does... does that mean that... Mato... also...?" I whispered.

  "... Yes. Mato was the one who figured out that you'd be fine after that... you know?" Riley wiped away her tears.

  "..." I looked at the table in disbelief.

  "H-hold on. W-wait a second. S-so... I... I yelled at him. I... I told him to leave Tao and me alone! I-I...!"

  I felt my whole body shake in fear.

  "I told... the one person who saved my friends... to leave me alone..." I felt my eyes tearing up.

  I told him to leave me alone. I told him to leave Tao alone. I yelled at him. I shouted and compined to the guy who genuinely cared for my friends...!

  I gasped as I remembered Mato's st words.

  "I understand. Really. I understand-"

  "No... way..." I felt tears falling. "I...I YELLED AT THE PERSON WHO TRIED TO HELP ME! AND I YELLED AT HIM LIKE SOME KIND OF IDIOT!!!"

  Sm!

  I smmed both of my hands on the floor. I said those mean things to him. I took away the papers like I was some kind of big shot. I did all sorts of things that must've hurt his feelings...

  WHAT KIND OF PERSON WAS I?!

  Sm!

  "DAMN IT!... Damn it... damn... it...." I whispered as I pced my head on the table. It was my turn to hide my face away in shame.

  It was no wonder The Founder was mad at us. At ME!

  I had the guts to walk around, acting as if everything was fine when I was only thinking about getting some stupid answer that led to people being divided!

  What the hell was wrong with me, Kibishi?!

  Was I so stuck up in my own friggin' head that I didn't see the bigger picture?!

  Just then, a thought came to mind. I slowly sat up and looked at Tao.

  "Wait... you knew this, didn't you? You knew yet you still stood up for me even if I was wrong?" I whispered in disbelief.

  "..." Tao didn't say anything.

  "...Tao. Hey, Tao!" I pced my hands on Tao's shoulders. "Tao! I yelled at someone, and I was WRONG! Why didn't you stop me?! WHY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?! WHY?! HEY! HEY!"

  I felt more tears falling.

  "WHY?! WHY DID YOU TAKE THE FALL FOR ME?! WHY WERE YOU BACKING ME UP DESPITE ME BEING HORRIBLY WRONG?! HEY?! HEY, TAO!" I slowly rested my head on her shoulder.

  "Hey... hey... why...w-why..." My strength loosened as I felt the tears keep falling. They wouldn't stop. They wouldn't stop!

  I did something horrible, yet you stood up for me. Why?! Why would you do that for me, Tao?!

  Worst of all, everyone this morning acted as if nothing had happened.

  Why?

  Why was everyone doing that for?!

  "What was wrong with me?! What the hell was wrong with me?!" I continued to cry on my best friend's shoulder.

  And, as if to answer my call, I felt someone hugging me from behind. No, not just that, I felt a hug in front as well. That must've been from Tao, I assumed. But for the back? I wasn't sure who was hugging me from behind. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Riley and David hugging me. I looked forward and saw Tao crying while hugging me.

  "..." My eyes shook and I slowly closed them.

  "Why? Why didn't anyone call me out on it?" I whispered.

  "... Because... it wasn't your fault, Kishi. All of us... We didn't have a choice. And we thought... we lost someone precious to us. We thought that... we paid the ultimate price..." Tao whispered to me.

  "We didn't know what to do..." Riley continued.

  "...We thought we lost you, man..." David added.

  "Our actions weren't right either. But still... our hearts just... snapped. Sorry. I'm... I'm so sorry, Kishi..." Tao continued to cry some more as she embraced me more tightly.

  The warmth from my friends was soothing.

  My cheeks burned red as I could feel myself calming down.

  Yet...

  A heavy hole started to appear within my heart. All of those actions I did caused a lot of problems. What Mato mentioned this morning was right. I caused trouble for not only me, but my friends as well. I knew I should make an oath and try to be better. I knew that I should be happy that I managed to be alive today.

  Yet.

  So many questions appeared once more.

  Why did I survive? Was it the reaper powers? How did this work? How could someone be brought back to life?

  So many things swirled within my head. I didn't have the time of day to find answers for all of them. But maybe, JUST maybe, I could figure out a way to make things right...

  I had... I had to make things right...