↳ CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

ACTA NON VERBA ↲

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27| AFTER SCHOOL

"Kaori, I will be gone for a few days."

"But I just got released from the hospital..."

"Work never sleeps, honey. Now, do you remember the rules?"

"...Yes, mother."

"Kaori?"

The small brunette's head snapped up from the sudden call of her name with wide eyes. The quartet of four, and Morgana, met up on the school roof as usual after school. It has been a few days already since she got released from the hospital and was finally able to go back to school and get her life back on track.

It was a relief to her, everything was normal again. Normal rainy subway morning rides, normal boring school lessons and normal mediocre lunch.

Or so she thought, because the first thing that happened once she entered the school grounds, was her being reminded again that she was threatened to be expelled by Kamoshida by the many whispering students.

Her four friends looked at her in concern. Ever since she was missing, something changed about her and all of them noticed. She was spacing out a lot, not paying attention as if something else was constantly on her mind. But what could be more important than trying to stop their expulsion?

"Were you listening to us?" Ann asked with a concerned expression.

Kaori shook her head sheepishly, as a embarrassed smile and a faint blush covered her cheeks. "I'm sorry. What were you saying again?"

Ryuji shook his head in frustration, "We were asking you if you really want to go to the castle with us."

"Why wouldn't I?" She replied confused.

The other three stared at the girl, after exchanging a confused looks, "Because you were in the hospital for almost a week?" Ryuji spoke up matter-of-factly.

But Kaori only shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine. I'm not made of glass." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked around her group of friends.

Only for Ryuji to mutter underneath his breath, "You sure about that?"

Unfortunately for him everybody still heard it. Making Kaori sigh, "Guys, if you don't want me to help. Just say so." She said.

Only for them to furiously shake their heads. "No, it's not that. We're just worried about you." Ann spoke up, while frantically waving her hands in front of her.

"We don't want you to get hurt again. Right, Ren?" Ryuji continued, then walking up next to Ren and putting an arm around his shoulders. The frizzy haired boy only nodded, not really knowing how else to respond.

The brunette sighed again with a heavy heart. "I'll be fine." She said mildly confident with a reassuring smile.

The others shared another look, "If you say so."

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"I'm so not fine." Said a worried Blossom as she ran behind the group of four, who by this point practically knew the layout of the castle by memory with the many times they have been here without her.

"See? I told you was a bad idea to bring her along." Skull said to the others as they rounded another corner. At the moment the group of thieves looked for a quick and easy route to reach the treasure. Joker, Skull, Panther and Mona already did a good job with securing a large part of the infiltration route, it was just one sneaky entry away from the treasure.

For them this sneaky phantom thief stuff was just a regular Tuesday, as to while Kaori had difficulty doing basically anything from running to fighting shadows. It felt like the first time she was here all over again and she didn't not enjoy it.

A hardened look placed itself on the brunettes faces underneath her mask, "Hey! I can hear you." She said.

To which the blond only rolled his eyes, "I know you can." He replied.

The remaining three members shared a short look, before Morgana spoke up, "Is somebody else having a Deja Vu at the moment?" He asked, while Joker looked around another corner to check for shadows and Panther watched her two remaining team members with concern.

The two stopped along with the others and were now face to face as they talked, well, more like argued.

"Seriously, I mean you're fresh out of the hospital and now you come to fight shadows with us?" Skull said, clearly agitated.

Blossom scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Why are you being such a worrywart all of the sudden? I used to be in the hospital a lot when we were kids and yet you never worried like this before." She replied with the same agitation in her voice.

This time Skull scoffed, "Maybe because we weren't in another world, where literally everything is trying to kill us!"

"I mean he does have a point," Panther commented from the side.

Blossom rolled her eyes, "Oh, quiet you." She said to Panther, which made her immediately shut up and turn to help Joker and Mona with whatever it was they were doing.

"And also as kids I never knew why you were in the hospital in the first place." Skull added once Ann turned away from the argument.

Blossom's eyes underneath the mask widened slightly, "I don't understand what you're talking about." She replied, her voice a pitch higher than before.

He only narrowed his eyes at her, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. It's because-" but before he could finish his sentence, he was hastily cut off by frantic yelling of the others, more so Panther. Annoyed the two turned around and yelled in unison, "What?!"

The other three simply pointed to the two approaching shadows, which made Blossom and Skull sigh heavily and draw out their weapons, whilst lining up with the others getting ready to fight the shadows.

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Subsequent to the events in the Metaverse Kaori left the group of misfits rather quickly, not having any desire to talk to them or continue her argument with Ryuji.

With five days until their expulsion, she was glade that they were able to secure the infiltration route and find the room the treasure was in.

Morgana mentioned that they would now have to send a calling card to make Kamoshida aware that his desires could be stolen, and make the shining blob materialise into the true treasure that they could steal.

It sounds more complicated than it actually is, but Kaori didn't think to much about it as she was still mulling over the fact that after all of this was over she was going to go back to being a quiet loner, staying out of trouble and staying clear of her friends.

It was tearing her apart inside, knowing what she wants to do and knowing what she had to do were two entirely different things. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she thought about it once again. In a span of a few weeks her life became so much more complicated than it ever should have been and it sucked, it sucked so much and to think it all started because her curiosity got the better of her.

Silent tears started to roll down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away with the sleeves of her cardigan as she hated drawing attention to herself in public.

As Kaori continued to make her way to the subway station, she suddenly was bumped into, making her lose her balance and stumble.

"Oops."

That's all Kaori needed to hear to know who it was that bumped into her. With an eye roll and an annoyed sigh Kaori turned around to find Riko smirking at her. That was the last thing she wanted to see that day.

"What do you want, Riko?"

The light brunette shrugged her shoulders with a light smirk, "Just wanted to check up on you. You were in the hospital after all."

Kaori only scoffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she continued listening to what Riko had to say.

"Hey, where are your friends?" She asked, "Weren't you just so happy with them?" Kaori dropped her arms and looked down on to the floor, Riko only continued, "Oh, wait I forgot. Your mom wasn't that happy about them when I told her. You had to ditch them, didn't you?"

And suddenly everything made sense to Kaori. Her eyes widened, her lip began to tremble and a lump began to build itself up in her throat, "Y-You were the one that told my mom?" She choked out.

Riko folded her arms behind her back and smiled innocently at her former friend, "It might or might not have slipped out when she came over the other night." She responded, "I'm guessing that's the reason you were away for the week, huh?" She spoke idly.

Kaori stayed silent, looking on to the ground with sadness. She should have guessed that Riko was the one feeding her mother with information, and she knew that the two of them weren't friends anymore. But it still felt like a betrayal of her trust. She thought that Riko was better than that, better than them, but alas she was wrong, so wrong that it hurt.

"Come on, Kaori. We both know that it wasn't accidents that led you to the hospital these countless times."

Kaori continued to stay silent as the light brunette continued to torment her. Riko opened her mouth to say something else, when she was interrupted by another voice.

"Leave her alone, Riko."

Both girl turned their head and to see a familiar blond boy walking up to them and coming to stand besides Kaori.

"Hello, Ryuji." Riko spoke, spite towards him apparent in her voice, "What a surprise to see you here."

Ryuji crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his former classmate, "Leave. Her. Alone. Riko." He said through gritted teeth.

Riko rolled her eyes in responds, "Don't worry I was just leaving anyway. See you around, Kaori."

Riko left as fast as she came, sending Kaori a wink over her shoulder as she did so, leaving her with Ryuji alone in the sea of people.

The petite girl let out a shaky breath in relief, while Ryuji turned towards her, "Hey, are you alright?" He asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

Kaori ignored the question and brushed his hand off her shoulder, earning her a hurt look from him. "What are you doing here?" She asked instead, making Ryuji jumped as he remembered what he was doing in the first place.

"I was on my way to see you actually," he answered, then lifting up a small plastic bag from the convenience store for her to see, "I bought you some stuff you like, my mom said that I should probably apologise for the way I acted to you earlier." Ryuji held up the bag for her to take, smiling and rubbing the back of his neck with a slight blush on his cheek.

Kaori took the bag from him and took a look inside. A box of strawberry milk immediately caught her eyes, but inside were also KitKats, strawberry flavoured Pockys and a small angle food cake topped with strawberries in a small plastic container.

A small smile formed itself on Kaori's face. She had an obsession with strawberries that was no secret to anyone who ever met her. It was still a nice gesture, because she remembered sharing all of these things at least once with Ryuji while in elementary and middle school. She closed the bag and smiled at her blond friend, "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Ryuji replied, returning the same smile, "Mind if I walk you home?"

Kaori shook her head, "Not at all."

The two then started walking in the direction of Shibuya Station together. There was silence between the two for a short while, either unsure of what to say.

"So, what was that just about?" Ryuji asked with his hands in his pockets.

Kaori bopped her head up and down, already knowing that he was going to ask something like that. "Don't act like you don't already know what this is about." She answered vaguely, to which Ryuji let out a sigh, as he should have anticipated that his friend was smarter than that, "Fine. She still made at you?" He asked instead.

Kaori nodded in reply, "More than mad, she currently works on making my entire life a living hell." She said tiredly.

Ryuji looked and nodded at his friend in sympathy, "Heard that. Hey, so, apologising wasn't the only thing I wanted to do."

Kaori let out a short and quiet laugh,
"Of course it wasn't." She mumbled to herself, before redirecting her attention back to Ryuji next to her.

"It took a while, but I think I finally figured out why you've been acting so strange," he began, his gaze focused on the ground as they continued walking, "It's because of your mom isn't it? She doesn't want you to hang out with us." He raised his head again and looked at Kaori with narrowed eyes.

A guilty look formed itself on to the brunette's face, as she stared down on to the ground once more. "Ryuji-" She began, a certain worry in her voice.

"No, let me finish." He cut her of with a stern tone, a tone that Kaori wasn't used to from her usual playful friend,
"This is all way too similar to when your mom didn't want us to be friends anymore in middle school. This can't be a coincidence, am I right?"

Kaori only stayed silent in responds, still avoiding his gaze with a guilty look to the ground as they walked.

The vulgar blond let out a sigh, her reaction to his theory already confirming it for him for the most part. He only needed to check one more thing, something that bothered him since he heard it. Ryuji took a deep breath before uttering his next sentence very carefully, "I also overheard Riko say, that your mother was the reason you were in the hospital. Did she mean by that what I think she did?"

Kaori stayed silent once again, biting her lip nervously as Ryuji's brown eyes bore into her with an expecting look. Her thoughts were running wild, not being able to catch a break, only trying to find the right words to express her utter disappointment in herself, the situation she was in and her inability to tell her best friend since elementary school about something so non trivial.

Both high school students came to a halt, expecting Kaori's answer with the utmost anticipation.

"Kaori." The blond boy said, trying to recapture his friend's attention, as she seemed to try to avoid the question, but when she didn't answer he only repeated her name, this time with a serious and stern voice, almost demanding an answer from her.

The tone of his voice was so unlike him, making Kaori shiver only at the sound of it. It meant that he was truly serious about the topic at hand, and it made Kaori subconsciously smile on the inside as she knew that someone truly cared about her, someone she admired, respected and loved wholeheartedly as a friend and almost a member of her family.

Kaori stood still underneath Ryuji's hardened gaze and started to fiddle with the hem of one of her sleeves, still avoiding his eyes with slumped shoulders.

"Kaori, please."

The petite girl lifted her head at those words, the softer tone of the voice and borderline voice crack she could hear, making her confused and even guiltier as she already felt. Her eyes met his and in a turn of events Kaori let out an exhausted sight, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah she did." She finally answered, "My mother... abuses me. S-she hits me a-and-" Kaori couldn't even finish her sentence as she began to break into sobs and tears.

Ryuji's gaze softened as he came to engulf the small girl into a hug, "Why didn't you tell anyone?" He asked in a low voice, while Kaori grabbed onto the boy like her life depended on it and cried softly into his shoulder.

"Who would have believed me?" She asked in return, having now calmed down a bit.

Ryuji stepped away from her, holding onto her by her shoulders, to make her look at him, "I would, we could have gone to the police and-" He replied, only to be cut off by Kaori, who pushed his hands away.

"And what?" She said bitterly, "It would be her word against mine and we all damn well know how that's going to end." She said with a dark chuckle, wiping away another round of tears, "I'm fine, it's fine. It'll be fine." She said, obviously crying and with a cracking voice.

Ryuji let out a disappointing sigh, "It's not and you know it."

"What else am I suppose to do, huh?" She yelled in desperation, throwing her arms up in the air, making several people look in their direction. Kaori let out a breath and dropped her arms, "She's my mother, she's my family. I can't just leave her."

Ryuji stayed silent, he was wordless for once. Even if he had a suspicion about what was happening to Kaori, he sincerely hoped that he was as always wrong. No one, and especially Kaori, should have to live through something like that. It also made a lot more sense to him now why she would be so keen on overthrowing Kamoshida.

"But it's not a good enough solution, you can't keep living like this." He told her, his hands in fists, making his frustration over the situation even clearer to her, "We'll have to find another solution. A solution that doesn't involve you being unhappy and hurt, or your mother going to jail if that's what you want." Ryuji continued, a clear distaste in his voice for the latter part, "You don't have to do this alone. Nothing bad is going to happen to you as long as you're with me. And if she tries anything tell me, okay?"

The teen girl sniffled, as a few more tears rolled down Kaori's cheek, but she had a small smile on her face and nodded nonetheless, "Yeah."

Ryuji returned the smile happily, as it was the first time since a few weeks that he had seen her smile again. It felt like a victory, but he knew that this was only the first and easiest step on the way of liberating Kaori from her mother's abusive behaviour.

His worried thoughts were cut short however, once Kaori suddenly rushed towards him and engulfed him in another hug, wrapping her arms around his torso and relaxing her head onto his chest, whispering a quiet thank you that only her could hear.

After the initial surprise, he quickly relaxed into the hug and returned it, "Not for that." He replied in the same whisper, "I'm you're friend, I'm always there for you."

Kaori smiled into his chest at the soft words, reminded again why her and Ryuji were friends in the first place. They met in elementary school and ever since she could remember he was scarily protective of her. Starting when she once was pushed off the swings in recess all the way to middle school when she was teased for her braces.

Kaori tightened her grip on the blond, "Could we not tell the others about this?" She mumbled into his chest, just audible enough for him to hear, "Just for now. We need to concentrate on Kamoshida."

Ryuji nodded and softly petted her hair, "Sure, everything that keeps you happy, Kaori-chan."

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↳ A/N:

First of all I want to apologise if I mishandled the representation of an abuse victim in this chapter. If you go through something like that please get help and talk to someone about it.

Second, in a brillant moment of sleep deprivation, the need to write and me slowly losing my insanity in quarantine I slowly got back into writing this story. Yay!

Third, Updates will still happen sparingly, but I want to thank everyone who's been voting and commenting on this story and sticking with me through this! Also we hit 10k reads, like wtf? How can so many people read this?? I'm genuinely crying.

Fourth I've been binging a lot of anime and other series and I really want to write fics for them. So I maybe publishing other stuff, I'm currently working on something Boku no hero academia and Bungo stray dogs related.

And fifth and final I haven't played or remotely seen anything P5R related except for the trailers so please don't spoil me and have a jolly great time playing it for me.

Have a nice day/night!