NASHIRA

CHAPTER 7: THE FOURTH PLAYER

THIRD PERSON

"LET US go!" Kai Alula rebuked in front of a man wearing their campus uniform. He glared at that man before he yelled, "Help!"

Theo Alyx Davis, who was watching them ten minutes ago—the three men and women holding grudges on the two in the center—was about to get inside the abandoned building to save his two friends without thinking that much. All that roams inside of his head is extreme worries. He cannot bear to look at the two—hands and feet are tightly tied on a metal chair, back to back. Sweats are all over their faces. And what's worse, Gigi Laveen's forehead is bleeding and the blood is slowly crawling down to her cheek. Despite this, they obviously try their best to stay calm. He already took his first step forward, but he did not take his second when Ryecinth, beside him, suddenly stopped him. She held him by the shoulder that made Theo paused. That small hand with a strong grip creeped out the hell of Theo.

He looked at her hand on his shoulder before raising his eyes directly straight at her eyes. Those calm eyes with a glimpse of urgency. Unlike before, those eyes are seemingly blocked by an invisible wall that no one could ever read. But this time is different, Theo can now read the young woman beside her. He can now see her through her eyes.

She is fragile, she is in extreme pain, she is filled with worries, she is lonely, and she is... Ryecinth Distacio.

By those open eyes, Theo's deduction skill penetrated inside her to the extent of knowing what she felt and who she really is.

The two become silent for almost a minute before Theo could realise, he is staring too long and Ryecinth's face is already painted with confusion.

"W-Why?" Theo stuttered, maintaining his voice not to reach the commotion inside. "I mean, what are you doing?" He meant by her hand on his shoulder stopping him from entering.

To avoid any discomfort, Ryecinth averted her eyes from Theo to them and replied immediately. "Let them finish first what they are doing. They are taking heroin. But the effect would not lasts long. Let's just wait for them to feel the aftereffects before we make our move." Ryecinth muttered with a low voice.

After she diverted her sight, Theo diverted his eyes as well and just focused on the wide room where they took Kai and Gigi hostage. The room is filled with sacks of hardened cement, rusty tubes, and other old things for construction.

"You really are desperate, Trixie! You went beyond the line. You're gonna pay for this, coward—AHH!" Gigi Laveen rebuked but before she could finish her phrase, Trixie's slim palm had already met with Gigi's wet face with force. That slap created a crisp noise around the area. But Gigi Laveen is indeed a strong woman, she just screamed and threw her face to the side but she never flinched her face no matter how painful it was. Her face had become red, obviously, it was not the first slap Trixie gave to her.

"Oops, you talked too much, baby." Trixie sarcastically uttered. She even blew her palm that she used to slap Gigi to pissed her even more. But it seems like Gigi won't give what Trixie wanted—begging and tears. She just moved her head in front and faced the woman in fire before her.

"Is that all? Is that what you got? Tsk! You're still the Trixie I know; still a coward!" Gigi responded with less emotion.

After hearing that, Trixie paused for a while before she turned back and walked to the table. The table has drug paraphernalia on it. And from there, Trixie lowered her head on the table, sniffed those remaining powder like a dog desperately sniffing for its prey.

After filling her nose with that heroin powder, she abruptly raised her head and recklessly ran like a wolf towards Gigi's direction. The latter just remained silent and calm, not minding what Trixie was about to do.

Without a second thought, Trixie spurted out and banged her fist on Gigi's head once she got near her.

Instead of dodging that fireball, Gigi chose to stay still and just waited for Trixie's small fist to make contact with her head. But before that happens, Kai saw that in his peripheral view. So, he tried his best to kick on the ground and for the third try, he already made the chair turn and collapsed on Gigi's.

Trixie's fist threw in the air that made her body to be out of balance and fell on the floor, while the two people-in-captive managed to dodge that fireball and collapsed on the floor.

"f**k you, cricket!" Gigi Laveen barely cursed when her face fell hard on the ground. "You just made the situation worse!"

After realising that he is already on top of Gigi, smashing her face on the ground, Kai Alula immediately pushed his body to the side and that made him turn to the side, pulling Gigi off the ground.

"You cricket! I'd rather choose to hit by her small f*****g fist than smashing my face on the ground! You shouldn't have done that!" Gigi Laveen exclaimed with anger. Aside from dust and sand, her face was filled with pain already. But when her face fell on the ground, it just tripled the pain.

The two men helped Trixie to stand up from the ground. She fixed her hair, took a deep sigh before parting her lips.

"You dared to dodge that? I thought you're willing to stay rigid!" Trixie uttered and started to walk near Gigi. "I swear to you, you cannot get out of here wearing the same face when you got here!"

Once again, Trixie spurted out but this time, she is using her foot aiming at Gigi's wet and slightly bloody face. But before she could hit Gigi, once again, Kai managed to raise his right arm that he sneakily and hardly untied earlier.

"Stop it! That—that's enough, Trixie. You won already. I—I will make her drop the competition so you could replace her." Kai begged while incessantly, heavily breathing. He then turned his head to the three boys. "And you, I will let you win the screening, I swear that."

Those words of Kai stopped Trixie and the rest of her company. Seems like they all like what he stated. But there is one in the room who does not like the idea. While still tied in a rope, Gigi suddenly elbowed the side of Kai that soon grunted in pain. "Are you nuts? We can't just give away that opportunity. That is our only chance in getting the golden entrance, you cricket!"

"I just saved your f*****g face, yet, you still have the audacity to call me cricket!"

"Well, please don't! It's my face, not yours!"

The two still got the gut to argue in the middle of their seemingly do-or-die situation. Yelling at each other as if they cannot hear them.

The abandoned place is too quiet. It is behind the thick woods and too far from where most students are in. And no matter how they scream, no one would hear their call.

While arguing, the man with black shades and hoodie jacket decided to insert. "That's a good decision, Alu. I deserve to be the Mr. CE of our university, not you. Ever since you entered this university, everyone's attention was all on you. I let that happen... But I will not let you get my chance to be the representative!" He yelled while heading towards Kai's direction.

With that, Trixie glared at the man. "Ronnie, don't you dare hurt Kai! We all agreed to capture him so that you can replace him to be the representative of the pageant. And if you hurt him, I'm telling you, this group will be over."

The man named Ronnie stared at Trixie and other people gathering around. Then, he went back to his position while his eyes still glaring at Kai.

Back to the two who are taking a peek at the commotion from the staircase. Theo cannot help but to wet himself with sweat. He has never been into this situation. He has never been into hostaging case. He never saw someone dared to slap Gigi and being her friend, it hurts him a lot to the extent of craving to run inside and save the two from those vigilantes. While the other one, not a single sweat can be seen on her pale skin, not even a heavy breath can be heard. Ryecinth just calmly stood up there beside Theo, waiting for the perfect time.

"I wonder how and why no one found their scheme. The headmaster, the caretaker, the janitors; weren't they checking this area?" Ryecinth suddenly asked with a low voice.

"That woman, behind Trixie, is Daniella. She's the granddaughter of the Headmaster. That may be the reason why they are still doing that stuff without getting caught. I have been observing them and every day after class, they always come here." Theo stated while looking seriously at the group of students. "But the fact that they already involved other people just like Gigi and Kai, for their own reputation, is not right anymore. We need to take action after this."

Ryecinth looked at Theo. "I see... As you have said, one of them has a great connection to the higher ups. They would just debunk our action and worst, they might turn the table to frame us four."

After hearing that, Theo observed Ryecinth's words about how careful she is. He is agreeing with what she said. Yes, they might frame them once they take action. But, he is Theo Alyx Davis—the best call-out of the University.

"Not unless we have evidence." Theo retorted meaningfully with a smirk on his face. Then, he crawled his hand inside of his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Record. This is enough proof." Ryecinth was surprised when Theo showed his phone while swiping the pictures and a video of those six addicts. Theo already captured not just how Trixie was hurting Gigi Laveen and by how those five watches her while doing such violence, he also captured how they take those powder.

With that, Ryecinth smirked as well. "I knew it, you wouldn't just stand here without doing anything." Ryecinth's eyes knitted when she looked back at the group who are now currently laughing like they're out of their selves already.

The drug is doing its best job.

"Alright, time for Gigi and Kai." Another man with maroon hair pulled himself from sitting on the table and wandered his hand around it.

While still laying sideways on the floor, Kai Alula and Gigi Laveen widened their eyes after hearing such phrases. The both of them kept wishing in their mind that what the man meant is not what they are thinking.

However, it was not just Gigi and Kai who fell into a deep frustration. The two from afar become frustrated as well after hearing that maroon-headed man.

"M-Maybe, it's time." Ryecinth stuttered at Theo and the latter just nodded while trying to wipe off his sweat.

The two heaved a long sigh before they stepped forward and showed themselves.

"Release them, or we will expose your scheme?" Theo sang with a full voice that made them all look at him except for Kai who was positioned at the back of Gigi, which was very hard for him to look back.

Theo really used his full voice, trying to be authoritative. And yes, Theo did not fail to do so because he made them silent and stopped from what they were doing.

While trying his best not to make it visible, Theo swallowed his saliva to clear his throat. Suddenly, he raised his phone with a picture of them flashed on the screen. "I was summoned here to stop you all. Minute by now, police will be on the campus. So you better step back, drop on your knees and hands on the back of your neck." He lied while slowly walking forward until he got to the doorway. Meanwhile, Ryecinth just followed him with her head pinned on the floor again, silent, dull, and filled with secrets—just like the usual Ryecinth.

"T-Theo... R-Rye..." Gigi called while trying to break free from the chair she was tied on but she could not. Same goes with Kai.

"Wait, who? Is that Theo?" Kai guessed since he cannot see the man in the doorway.

"Just go, Theo... get yourselves out of here, with Rye." Gigi shouted but Theo did not pay attention. He knew she would say that.

Gigi Laveen might be very rude to most people, but she would never let someone be put in danger just because of her. Especially if it is Theo. People see her as someone who is very fragile and weak. That was why she always bullied weak students back then. But she is not, she is a strong girl physically. She can bear Trixie's slap even tenfold of it.

After Theo's threat, Trixie's group becomes silent. They become wordless for over twenty seconds before one of them bursts out laughing.

The third guy laughed sarcastically. He was the one who was just being silent, leaning on the back wall all the time. He has an almost-done cigarette in between his fingers and before he spoke, he took the last sip and threw the cigarette beside him. "Oh, look who is here. The young detective, and... the trash." That guy walked near to his group and hugged the woman whom Theo called Daniella earlier. He put his arms around her waist and gave her kisses. That scene made Theo conclude that he is, obviously, Daniella's boyfriend.

"Someone is talking a joke!" it was Daniella this time. She told her company and they all laughed. "Who the hell you're joking? Me? The granddaughter of the Headmaster? Tsk! Call your police, and let's see what happens." laughs prevailed.

"As if they can pass the gate... Sorry but your justice won't work with us, Theo." Daniella's boyfriend inserted.

"My justice? I bet you don't know about what justice I serve. I have recorded everything, the violence, the drugs, I have all of it. The headmaster might not accept this as true evidence, but I still have strong connections outside the university." Theo said, trying his best to sound powerful. Instead of hiding that he has captured everything, he used the method of exhausting the suspects with frightful threats. But deep inside, he is doubting if the method he's into would really work or not.

Ronnie walked to the doorway and stood up in front of Theo. "I see... Is that where you got your confidence, your strong connection? I heard your father is a police officer. But, I guess you have not heard mine... My father is your father's General. Hmm... No son would want his Dad to be jobless, right? So you better step out and pretend nothing happened... That's my last shot for you, Theo." Then he turned back and walked towards his comrades.

After hearing that, Theo was left dumbfounded. Yes, his father is a Police Officer but he does not know about the General being actually the father of Ronnie. He cannot help himself but to grit his teeth in anger. One of Theo's most hated moments is when he becomes speechless at certain situations. He has this pride as Detective wannabe. He cannot accept that the method he used will be of no use to them. They have a lot of great connections, inside the university and outside. And that must be the reason why they were never caught since before up to now.

Again, Ryecinth just kept on being silent. And you know where her head is pinned on. She just ignored everything. But the strange thing about her, Theo had already wet himself with sweat but Ryecinth does not even have a single sweat. She seems not to be afraid of the situation. Or, she just doesn't take Kai and Gigi's situation as serious matters.

"And since you already mentioned your phone having your so-called evidence. We might as well snatch it from you... Heard of 'leave no evidence behind'? We're gonna comply with it." The third woman with straight hair, wide forehead inserted. Just like Daniella's boyfriend, that woman stayed silent that whole time. She just stood up there beside Daniella, enjoying herself licking her strawberry lollipop. But this time, she chose to speak up.

After hearing her words, Theo suddenly pocketed his phone. But the next thing that woman said made Theo and Ryecinth to turn back.

"Ren and Rey!" the woman with lollipop yelled and that soon made two big guys to showed up from behind of Ryecinth.

"No! Trixie! You can't do that! Not him, not them!" Gigi cried when a thought came in her mind after hearing those names.

Ren and Rey and wearing their sleeveless shirts. They showed off how muscly their shoulders, chest, and their abdomen are. They have obviously been doing gym workouts. And take note, they are twin brothers with identical muscly bodies, fierce face, and long hair headed.

Rey suddenly held Ryecinth by the hands and Ren stood in front of Theo.

"Your phone." Ren asked calmly but his voice said the opposite. He has this deep, croaky voice that adds to the fright.

Ren is taller than Theo so he had to look up and glared back at him without uttering a word. But Ren must be a very short-tempered man when he nodded at Rey, ordering him to do something. And so Rey wrapped his thick arms around Ryecinth, which the latter just closed her eyes and flinched a bit as the muscly man tightened her arms and started squeezing her small body.

"Theo, he's going to squeeze her to death!" Gigi Laveen, once again, inserted with her eyes starting to get teary.

"What is happening!" Kai hardly turned his head to see what was happening.

Seeing that, Theo immediately shouted, "Stop!" before Rey could do much tighter. So, Rey loosened up and just held Ryecinth on the arm.

After getting out of that very tight hug, Ryecinth just took a deep breath.

Theo pulled out his phone and gave it to the man in front of him. "Good dog." Ren whispered. He then put the phone in between his big palm and was about to destroy it but Ryecinth raised her head and muttered.

"Crash that phone and I'll crash your filthy face."

Those words of hers made everyone silent. It was unexpected and sudden, and delivered by a cold and soft voice.

It took time before Trixie broke the silence. "Woah, Gigi... I heard she just transferred to your unit last night, and she's talking trash now just like you always did."

"So, you know how to talk, girl?" Ronnie relented.

"She just put her one foot in the grave." Gigi mumbled and only Kai heard that.

"Ryecinth said that?" Kai replied and still trying his best to have a view but still he couldn't.

Ren, who did not like what Ryecinth just said, slowly stepped towards her and took time staring at her slim face. "Pretty... I like this one." he said while putting his heavy hand on Ryecinth's head and caressed her hair down to the shoulder. Ryecinth just stared at his eyes not minding how touchy the man was. And to her surprise, Ren suddenly pulled her hair down that forced her to bend down. "But I don't like her hair." Together with that, Ren used her other hand to crash the phone of Theo until it cracked the screen before he threw it on the wall that shattered into pieces.

Ryecinth felt how hard the man pulled her hair. But it was not that painful. So she immediately straightened herself after that as if nothing happened. From looking down, she slowly raised her eyes and stared at the eyes of Ren.

The next thing that happened made everyone drop their jaws. Ryecinth suddenly used her elbow to hit Rey's stomach, who was holding her from the back. Rey was caught off guard, he let go of her and just flinched in pain. But the second had not yet passed when Ryecinth raised her hand over his head. And with extreme force, she pulled Rey's head down while pulling her knee up that soon went up against the man's face.

Rey grunted after that. His face was hit by her thin, yet, strong knee that made him break his nose and two of his teeth just fell on the ground, while non stop bleeding.

"AWWWW!"

That action must be very painful. But there was no signal of Ryecinth feeling pain in her knee.

In just three seconds, Ryecinth manage to get Rey on the floor. Not to mention how everyone become speechless for a moment after watching that especially Theo and Ren who was just in front of her.

Ren looked at his twin brother, grunting in pain on the floor. The time he faced the small woman, who had just knocked his brother, Ren's face had already painted with anger, making his face much uglier with those wrinkles and big nostrils.

"You!" Ren shouted while spurting his arm directly straight to Ryecinth's face to take a punch. He made a huge fist that would surely break anyone's face once it hit. But the time Ren stretches his arm, Ryecinth managed to dodge that by turning back. And that made Ren's arm ended up above Ryecinth's shoulder.

With that, she grabbed that thick, filled with bulky muscles and veins arm using her two hands. She then bumped her back on Ren's chest before she pulled his arm up to the extent of bringing Ren's body off the ground. And that made Ren flipped over Ryecinth's shoulder.

The same with his twin brother, Ren grunted really hard when his back hardly made contact with the concrete floor, breaking two of his ribs and dislocating his right shoulder joint.

"AHHH!" Ren yelled in pain, joining his brother flinching on the floor.

"I warned you about the phone." Ryecinth muttered while looking down to Ren before she turned back.

After that, Theo took a one step back in shock. He kept on looking Ryecinth and the twins back and forth while still processing what he just saw in front of him.

That was not Rye. Theo thought.

He was not expecting that undeniably great strength from someone like Ryecinth—small and skinny. He was caught off guard.

But not just Theo, Gigi as well was left dumbfounded. The same with Theo, what happened just fifteen seconds ago was very hard to process and believe for Gigi.

"What happened?" Kai asked when everyone became silent after hearing a thud sound. Seconds had left but no one dared to answer Kai's question. "What happened to Rye? Did the twins hurt her? Is she okay?... Hey you two, don't you dare hurt them, you're too big for them."

After that, Ryecinth decided to walk closer to them while everyone kept on becoming silent. She took every step using her sneakers. But every step she made is equivalent to an amount of fear piling up on Trixie and her team. "So, let's go back to what Theo said earlier. Release them."

"I'm outta here, my Dad is calling." Daniella finally made a word and put her phone on her ear as if her Dad really called. Before jumping over to the wide open window, she grabbed the hand of her boyfriend. After that, the rest of them slowly stepped back and followed the two except Ronnie and Trixie.

The four were obviously freaked out. The strongest weapon they had were the twins. But seeing how Ryecinth knocked them down in an instance, they cannot help but be afraid.

"Just what I thought, you're a freak!" Trixie yelled. She turned back and realised that only two of them were left. So she decided to go as well, taking Ronnie with her. "We're not done yet." She turned to Gigi and said that.

While still wordless, Theo ran to the position of Kai and Gigi passing Ryecinth. Without giving it a thought, he immediately crawled his hands between the backs of the two and found out Kai still had his one hand untied.

"Untie us, bro." Kai called when he saw Theo trying to look where he must begin to loosen the rope of Gigi.

"Help yourself moron, you have your one hand free the whole time. You have had done that earlier." Theo just said without much emotion. Even if he tries, he cannot let go of the thought that Ryecinth is very strange.

Once they got up from the floor, untied, the both of them fixed themselves before Gigi and Theo stared at Ryecinth with a look. While Kai was shocked after seeing Ren and Rey still flinching in pain on the ground.

"Ow! What happened to them?" He asked but none of them answered him again. He then suddenly felt the strangeness of the three. They are all staring at each other as if they are talking with telekinesis. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Then suddenly, Gigi crossed her arms and walked towards Ryecinth.

"Do you have free time this afternoon, guys? I think I have time for dinner outside since I will no longer be looking for another player. Someone just showed off martial arts and she will join for inter-school." Gigi continued walking until she got to the front of Ryecinth. Then one corner of her lips curved.

After hearing that, Ryecinth smirked for the first time in front of Gigi. "Unbelievable, you still have the mouth to say that while you're bleeding."

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