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DISCOVERY
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A simple card will end the game. Recalling the advice, it left the male pondering. Personally, this was great advice to him. But he wouldn't win so easily. He stared at his deck of cards and smiled slightly, already taking the win in his head. After a few seconds or so, he placed his best card down. His component bit his lip, mentally counting his cards plus the extras he was forced to take from the deck. Then, out of the random, his opponent grunted with please as he placed down a much better card. It seemed he had pulled that specific card from the deck. Before the male could murmur an agitated curse, he yelped with merged feelings.

It was a mixture of surprise and pain. The object had indeed been hard. He - for one - had not expected the hit at all. He rubbed his head where the object had hit it and released a sigh as he watched all his cards drop to the ground right - side up. The moment the thing hit his head, all the cards in his hand escaped his grip, revealing his lucky grabs.

Behind him, he heard the familiar voice of a female, "Mikey! You dropped your guard!" She cried with frustration and Mikey blinked in surprise, "You promised! You promised you wouldn't do it again!" She moaned and fell to the ground, dropping with a mixture of anger and hurt. 

Mikey bent down, smiling at the girl, "Oh, Zora. I know I did. But so did you. You said you'd never leave your crutches without me by your side." Zora looked up, noticing his left hand was pointing somewhere, "But I see them by that tree, where you are not." He pointed out and words failed Zora.

Finally, after a few seconds, she answered, "Is that book yours?" Her question was put into a whisper for a reason Mikey did not know. Then he realized what had hit him, a book. He had not noticed it at first but the question drew his attention to the medium sized book on the damp ground. The cover had no specific image on it but was a vintage brown. Despite the title being in big, default letters, they were faded and diminished so Mikey could not read them. He could make out some of the letters, but they seemed to be in different places to him without the rest of the word. "Well, Mikey? Is it?" She asked impatiently, crossing her hands. In response, Mikey shook his head.

"No," He said, "I've never seen this book ever," He added, handing the book to his friend. She read the front carefully, her ocean blue eyes moved thoroughly but she pouted in frustration while trying to make out the word.

After several seconds, Zora handed back the book. Mikey, who had gone to get the fallen crutches, retrieved the book and handed Zora her crutches, "I can't read it," She mumbled, "I would say it's probably at least twenty years old. I've never seen this book in my life, and all the words are obliterated. It's impossible to read. I even tried reading the introduction for context but all the pages are ripped out of the book. It starts at chapter one," Mikey gaped at his friend, wondering how she could've known so much despite having many other things to do.

Out of nowhere, a hand clapped onto Mikey's shoulder. It was strong and firm so there was no escaping its grip.  Mikey, feeling there was no escaping, turned around and met eyes with his opponent, Raiden Valdez, "Hey, dude. Good game" His voice was gruff but truthful, "You technically won. So, technically, this belongs to you," He said, grunting as he dug through his pockets. Finally, he pulled out a small trophy in the format of a card and shoved it in Mikey's arms. Although Mikey knew he had won from the start, he knew he didn't need  - nor had the room for it - the trophy.

So, out of all honesty, Mikey replied, "No thank you," Raiden's face contorted into confusion. He brushed his hair aside so it was firmly tucked behind his ear to get a better response. For he had thought he had heard Mikey wrong.

"Sorry?" He asked, looking at Mikey with confusion still etched onto his face. 

Mikey tilted his head to the right, "I said, no thank you," He told Raiden who processed this carefully. Then, for no reason at all, he glared. This was what made Mikey quite confused as no one had ever argued against his humbleness. Feeling somewhat nervous at the piercing gaze Raiden was giving him, he stepped away and Zora followed him. 

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"Mikey! Dinner!" 

Mikey's mother called from downstairs. Then, like always, he heard rushed footsteps up the stairs and to his room. His little sister, Agni, pushed the door open, "Mikey! Dinner time!" She cried despite knowing that her mother - Mikey's as well - had already taken that line for herself.

Mikey smiled and sat up, stretching, "Hey, where'd you get that book? Can I borrow it some time soon?" She asked, staring with curiosity at the brown book that was used as a weapon to Mikey's head.

Shrugging, he said, "Sure, take it to your room after dinner," He told her and Agni hugged him. Forgetting about the book, they hurried downstairs, "Oh? Katsudon!" He said, staring at the delicious food - he and Agni's favorite ever - that had been placed neatly on each plate.

"May we pray before eating," Mikey's father said, folding his hands together. His family followed his movement as he spoke the prayer they recited every night. At the end, like every night, they repeated the last word.

"Amen," It occurred to Mikey that he was very hungry. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten that day which he found sort of disturbing in a way. When he couldn't eat anymore, he headed upstairs, Agni right behind him.

"Books! Books! Books!" She repeated as they ventured up the stairs. She grabbed the book excitedly and hurried to her room. Mikey could hear his father coming up the stairs, getting ready to put Agni to bed.

Mikey watched him pull out her favorite pajamas and pull out her newest favorite book. She cuddled under the covers, getting all the warmth possible. He listened to the story carefully from beginning to end. He watched the lights turn off and he laid down in his own bed, yawning.

Although he was tired from the busy day he had, his body wouldn't allow him to fall asleep. He turned his bedside lamp back on and got out of bed, heading toward his bookshelf. He pulled out his newest Manga, Spy x Family Volume two. He found his bookmark and pulled it opening, laughing every now and then.

Before he was about to turn off his lamp, something chilled his bones. It was an ice curdling scream right from Agni's room. He rushed towards it to see the book but something was off. She had attempted to read it. But the only part of her that he could see was a hand, sticking right out of the book. In attempt to pull her out, he lunged forward. But it was too late. Her hand had disappeared along with the book.

She was gone. And there was nothing he could do.

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✧ Author's Note ✧

So, this chapter was out way sooner than I expected. However, school starts in less than a week for me so updates may be a little delayed. However, I will write drafts when I can during school for free time which I will share with my own laptop and I will copy them onto a chapter here and publish it! Thank you for your patience! I know I sort of left it at a cliff hanger but that's not unusual (right?). 

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