Part 34 (1/2)

Mia stopped him and asked, ”So we're supposed to work under the cover that there's a rising gang called Cladis and not a serial killer?”

He wavered on whether he should agree with her statement. Instead he clarified, ”Basically, there is no investigation of this new gang until they prove to become a larger threat.”

”But none of that makes sense,” she told him. ”What are we supposed to do as more stiffs turn up?”

Felton only shrugged and said, ”Cover them up.” He took a sip of his coffee before he told her he wasn't happy about the decision either. ”Sage was my partner for a long time and I want to stop Cladis just as much as you, maybe more.”

She scowled, ”Can I ask why you sound so cavalier about their decision?”

The detective told her that their decision didn't impede their investigation. ”Do you really think we're going to abandon this? Hendricks, we know full well that Cladis is a threat and that we need to figure something out to stop him. I'm not sure how to handle that though, and I think rather than publicly declare how inept we are, the commissioner would have us work discreetly.”

”And if he's serious about abandoning the case?”

Felton smirked, ”Then we'd better take notes.”

11:35 AM.

Both.e.l.l, Was.h.i.+ngton Vladimir could tell, as any young person could upon entering a cla.s.sroom that was devoid of arraigned seating, that the room was divided into small circles of friends and cliques. As he did not know any of the individuals within the room, he retreated to a table toward the end of the room and sat alone. He hardly felt out of place in a room filled with people he was unfamiliar with, as his life seemed filled with that sort of isolation. However it seemed as though his solitude would not last; Rachel walked into the room shortly after he claimed his seat and once she espied him in the back she joined him with a smile.

He greeted her and asked how her cla.s.ses were. After exchanging a mundane reply she repeated his query to him, to which he told her his courses were interesting. She smiled more and asked if he'd made any friends yet, though he regretted to say it was too soon to tell.

Their instructor walked into the room and a majority of the cla.s.s fell silent. The conversation between Rachel and Vladimir even stalled, though Vladimir did not immediately see why. The cla.s.s began with a brief introduction to the course, the roll call, and then a brief overview of the first a.s.signment for the course. Their teacher, Miss Keller, then bid them off to their work and retreated back to her desk to let the cla.s.s begin their a.s.signments.

Vladimir had not even received a copy of the project before the instruction ended, which stirred doubt in his instructor's ability. ”Is she usually this curt?” he whispered to Rachel whilst he perused the doc.u.ment.

Rachel told him to get used to it. ”She isn't the most efficient teacher, but you do get two hours to do nothing but art. And the cool thing is that her a.s.signments don't take as long as the allotted time, so we get to work on other homework or projects in the extra time.”

Vladimir frowned and asked whether they would ever have the opportunity to learn about the great artists or even if Miss Keller would teach them how to use other mediums they normally would not be familiarized with. Rachel said it was doubtful. ”Then she is not doing her job.”

”What do you mean?”

”I mean that this is not an art cla.s.s,” he said a bit louder than he meant to. His words caught the attention of some of the others at the tables nearby, though he failed to yield to social customs and still his tongue, ”If I am able to spend this entire year painting in water colors and pa.s.s this course with little difficulty, then this cannot be anything more than playtime.”

His final comments reached Miss Keller's desk, which although she heard him left it alone. Rachel noticed her glare and quickly asked Vladimir to stop his speech. She made a final attempt to change the subject by asking him what his idea was for the project. He admitted that he was unsure and thought to give it some consideration before he began. ”What about you Rachel?”

”Since it's a landscape project I'll probably go into Seattle, take some pictures, and try to find something there to draw.”

”That sounds interesting.” He paused a moment before he asked if she would mind if he went along on the trip. ”I've only been to Seattle on a few occasions with my host family and I think it would be lovely to see it with you.”

She lit up and said she'd love for him to join her. ”That would actually be a load off my mind if you did.”

”Why?”

”Well,” she looked away in search of a reasonable excuse before she lied and said, ”I'd just feel safer if you were there rather than if I went alone.”

Perplexed, he asked her if Seattle was a dangerous place.

”Not really,” she said truthfully, ”I'd just feel better if you were there.”

”Ah.” He glanced down at his syllabus and asked, ”Will Jordan join us?”

She rolled her eyes and muttered, ”He doesn't care about art or anything of the sort. He'd find just about any excuse to get out of it anyway if I did ask him to go.”

”Would he if he knew I was going to be there?”

She didn't answer him.

Miss Keller walked over to their table and asked to have a chat with Vladimir about his work ethic. He agreed and followed her out into the vacant hallway. She then made her best attempt to chastise the young man for his belittling comments about her teaching methods. Vladimir listened to her words yet failed to acknowledge the fear she tried to instill in him. She wrapped their conversation up with a final warning and then allowed him to return to his project. He did so without so much as another word. Rachel quietly asked what she talked to him about, though Vladimir smirked and told her all of his claims were right, ”She did little more than confirmed them. Now,” he left the matter alone and returned to their conversation, ”When did you want to take this trip into the city?”

12:58 PM.

Kenmore, Was.h.i.+ngton Nick's first day wasn't special in any way. He made a few acquaintances, suffered through lunch without knowing anyone, and only had one final period left in the day when he walked to his next cla.s.s. Nick no longer attended Both.e.l.l High School. He thought it would be easier for him if he simply changed school to avoid all of the talk, memories, and apologies about his brother.

None of his courses interested him; all he could think about was the drastic turn in his life. Mizuno told him it would take time to adjust to everything, but it didn't feel right, even after a week and a half. What bothered him more was that he still didn't know anything about Mizuno. The man came out of nowhere, convinced him to join, and hardly said a word about who he was. Strom didn't tell him anything, Melanie hardly said a word, and Nick never had a moment to ask Mithra. In fact, the only two people with any connection to Mizuno that Nick had an opportunity to speak with since Mumbai were Strom and Mizuno, both of whom were reserved.

Nick walked into his final cla.s.s and found Mizuno at the front of the room. He almost didn't recognize him though, as he wore jeans, an unb.u.t.toned plaid s.h.i.+rt with the sleeves rolled up and a gray s.h.i.+rt under it, gla.s.ses, and tennis shoes.

Mizuno glanced at Nick and let out a breath, ”I'm glad you showed up early.”

”What are y-you...What are you doing here?”

”I'm teaching.”

”Seriously.”

”Seriously.” Mizuno took one of the syllabuses off his desk and showed Nick, ”I'm Go Takahas.h.i.+, graduate of the University of Was.h.i.+ngton with degrees in Unites States history and teaching.”

Nick set the doc.u.ment aside. ”You're joking, right?”

”Hardly.”

”Then was this why you wanted me to transfer here instead of Lynnwood High School?”

Mizuno shook his head. ”This is a better location as it will be closer to the project's general meeting place in Bellevue. Also, Lynnwood High School is in the Edmonds School District while the Both.e.l.l and Inglemoor High Schools are part of the Northsh.o.r.e School District, so the transfer process was far simpler than moving you back to Lynnwood.” Mizuno walked toward the door of his cla.s.sroom, retrieved a key from his pocket, and locked the door. ”We need to talk Nick.” He offered Nick a chair and took a seat himself. ”I know this is all relatively new to you, so I'm trying to keep that in mind while I develop my plan.”

Nick stopped him and asked, ”What is this project anyway?”

”Simply put, it's an organization. I shy away from calling it a team or group as we are hardly cooperative enough to label it as such at this point...” He paused and added that he also hated the connotations that came with calling his project a super hero team.

”Then what are our goals?”

Mizuno hesitated to say it, but did anyway, ”We're going to save the world.” He continued before Nick had an opportunity to roll his eyes, sigh, swear, or make any remark at all, ”I'm aware of how cliche it sounds, but it's true in one sense of the word, and all I ask is that you at the very least consider it as you're already this far along into the insanity.”