As they returned to the hall, the others smiled softly. Kousuke waited for Zuriana to explain everything, but instead, she surprised him with a lie, "He's just our six. But he was told to be the last option. His TMS is activated with a controller that I'll be holding during our infiltration. For now, he's our friend. Any questions?"
The others seemed to take her words with ease and welcomed Kousuke with smiles. Lewis and Fleur began asking why he didn't tell them earlier. He made excuses up and soon they all planned to test Kousuke's skills. As they walked down the corridors, he lagged behind to ask Zuriana, "What do you mean by a controller?"
"Just a lie for now. It's the precaution I mentioned earlier," she muttered under her breath only letting him hear. "I asked Claire to make it in advance to avoid any other incidents like my first day in training. I'll ask her to reequip it with a wireless remote so I can keep you on a leash."
"So I'm a dog now?" He frowned, feeling an unpleasant feeling build up.
"No you aren't," she said. "You're just a troubled kid who needs Zuri-nee chan to deal with you."
He suddenly stopped walking and took in her words for a moment before holding back a laugh. Zuriana blushed as she realized the nickname she had just given herself and glared at the boy. "Don't you dare even think of calling me that."
"I know, I know," he chuckled softly and watched her hurry inside before softly saying, "Zuri-nee chan."
---
The training went well as time passed. The others took in his skill without question and they improved after many one-on-one battles. Among the fights, Fleur had won twice against Lewis and Petra; Kousuke squashed Hong Gil, and Petra and Lewis ended theirs with a tie. Only Zuriana remained to avoid these battles since her mind often wandered to her story ideas and she began bringing her book around to express them in there and avoid it appearing with her TMS.
As Claire ticked off their names, she noticed Zuriana sitting in a corner, scribbling in her notebook, and joined the Muslim there with a bottle of water. "Thirsty?" She asked politely.
"No, I'm good," the girl declined without lifting her head from the pages. "When's the wireless controller completed?"
"Tomorrow," answered the elder female before watching Lewis train hand-to-hand combat with the elder males. "We're getting a pinpoint on the enemy's headquarters. This will all be over soon, Zuriana."
"That's good," muttered the girl while she flipped the page and continued her writing frenzy. "How are the others improving?"
Claire watched her before she finally admitting, "I feel like you're the only person who hasn't improved, not that I care. I just haven't seen you in action for a while." She took note of Fleur and Petra gossiping about perfume choices before adding, "You don't really socialize, right?"
The pencil stood still in Zuriana's hand for a moment before she replied, "I'm more open online. In my writing, I can express myself more easily. It's tough doing so in words. I just can't say the exact things on my mind out loud." Her eyelids dropped sadly as she said, "I wasn't even good at expressing my true choices to my family."
Claire thought back on her research regarding the number one teen. Zuriana was a bright student in school, well known for her lack of studying and easiness in rule-bending despite the fact she owned the school's perfect title. Her academics were just slightly above average and her popularity was vaster among the juniors rather than her peers. She was the only member among the six whose profile didn't mention much about family.
Recalling the reports on Abdul Razak's; 'Her father owns a small health private company and her mother is a housewife. The siblings vary from popular teens and smart kids. Zuriana isn't among those and her parents say she's constantly stuck in a book.' Claire had concluded Zuriana to be a bookworm but the reality was surely something different. 'She's an introvert deep down. But outside she acts like an extrovert. She's just… lonely.'
"Zuriana," Claire suddenly felt her sister complex take over. "You should try opening up. I'm not saying to me, but you should find someone you can trust and let everything out; your inferiorities and weaknesses. You shouldn't bottle them up."
The Muslim eyes wandered in thought before she raised her head and nodded with a rare smile. "You're right. I just need to find the right person. Thanks, Claire." She stretched her sore muscles and stood up before looking at the others. "Who do you think is the best to confine with? Petra or Fleur?"
To her surprise, the girl shook her head at both options before she pointed out, "You have a counsellor for these situations, Zuriana."
Zuriana let that sink in for a while before her smile faded and her eyes looked like the worst-case scenario came up. "Not him," she groaned. "Anyone but him."
"Yes, him."
---
Kousuke stood in his office, scrolling down a novel website. He had been searching up on 'Yuhiko' for over an hour but only found one similarity. 'But that can't be right, isn't she a major author?' He finally settled down on that one book and read the synopsis in his mind.
'The reality is harsh; everyone lies, steals, kills, and betrays for their own good. But there's no way to physically prove so. But I believe there is, I just need to go deeper.' He glanced at the comments and frowned at the rating. 'A full five over five? Even the comments say it's a heart-throbbing story. Should I?'
Before he could tap on the URL, he jumped in his seat at the sound of his door being knocked twice and quickly turned off the phone and turned around. He answered a quick, "Come in," expecting Lewis or Hong Gil to enter with questions regarding certain situations. Instead, he faced the familiar blue hijab. "Zuriana? What are you doing here?"
The girl looked nervous and she reconsidered her word wisely. The elder man nodded for her to enter and she closed the door behind her before bowing ninety degrees and quickly said, "Willyoupleaseconsiderlisteningtomeasacounsellor?"
He replayed her words slowly before lifting a brow and a smile formed over his lips. "Care to repeat slower, Zuri-nee chan?"
"I hate you; drop the nickname; and please listen to my problems," she listed down before suddenly feeling interested in her shoelaces.
Kousuke processed her words for a moment of silence his smile grew crooked in amusement. Zuriana adverted her gaze to avoid his superior look but soon gave in after seeing how she had to face him anyway.
"I'll gladly listen to your problems, Zuriana," his smile softened into an elegant look and he pulled up a chair beside him. "Come sit. Tea or coffee?"
"T-Tea," she stuttered, awkward about his personality change. "Do you actually do this to everyone else or are you acting this out?"
He gave her a pained look while clicking his electric kettle on and approached her. "How rude. I've been trained to do so for years," replied the elder before adding, "But my previous patients were idiots so no, I didn't."
His joke earned him a rare smile and her shoulders loosened. He smiled at the sight and thought, 'Part one; get the patient to calm down. CHECK!' He sat down beside her before asking, "So, what's troubling you so much?"
Zuriana's smile slowly faded and she lowered her head while her mind went off thinking of the first thing to say. But as she opened her mouth, her words came to a stop and her pupils widen. 'Not now!' She looked at him desperately and tried again, but the words got stuck in her throat while tears began to well up.
Kousuke sat up at the sight of her in tears and he quickly pulled out a tissue box for her own use. She shook her head and wiped them with her sleeve feverishly making him worry. "Zuriana? Is something wrong?"
To his surprise, she just gave him a short action, a sign of writing. He frowned, perplexed for a moment before his mind managed to understand her choice of action, and pulled out a small notepad and a pen. She gingerly took it from him and sniffed before scribbling something. After a while, she returned it with a remorseful look and Kousuke accepted it slowly.
'I often become mute when the words can't be expressed by mouth,' he read, his own eyes widening at such condition. 'We never found out how it happened and when but it just does so I keep a book around to face those problems. I'm sorry.'
"It's okay," he quickly said while returning her a reassuring smile. "I'll help with that later. For now, why don't you tell me what's actually troubling you so much that rendered you to such state."
She nodded in agreement before trying again to speak, but once again the words couldn't come up and she ended up writing them. "I'm worried if I use my TMS again, I'll hurt others."
Her concern for him and the others struck a heartstring and Kousuke held back his emotions to hug her. He knew she avoided contact with males for her religion but he felt the sudden rage to protect her from anyone and anything. Taking a deep breath to smoothen those emotions, he returned to business and tried acting casually with his own words, "I don't think you will be able to with our own strengths."
Her eyes watered again and she scribbled something quickly before giving it to him. At the first word, 'but', Kousuke knew she was still overthinking her own powers. That much burden for the eighteen-year-old made his emotions overflow and Kousuke smacked the book away from her hands before pulling her into a hug. No matter how wrong it must be, he wanted to protect Zuriana from the weight on her shoulders. 'She shouldn't worry about that… She's only eighteen. She has her whole life awaiting her.' Without much thought, he promised out of the blue, "Zuriana, I'll make sure you get to live the life you were meant to live. I swear to every God known to mankind…"
Zuriana's tears finally slipped down her cheeks and she sobbed into his shoulder. As her sobs left her mouth, she was able to say the very words that meant so much to her. "Thank you."