Second Chances Ch. 11

By: Nikki Dalan

Rating: M (Language is used!!!)

Pairing: Inoo Kei X OC (Riki {Also known as Ryelie})

Summary: Ryelie has no idea what had happened to her in the last year. Her friends and family tell her that she was just clumsy and injured herself, but she knows that there's more to it. What really happened to her? Why won't her best friends tell her anything? She's just about to give up hope when she overhears an interesting conversation one night. Her parents discuss what to do about a certain trial with someone named Jared. Who is he and what does he have to do with her family?

Blood.

It was everywhere...

My vision was blurry. Really blurry... I could barely make out my hands resting right in front of me. But even with my vision so bad, it was easy to recognize the thick red substance all over the ground. The smell of it gave it away too. My ears were throbbing... I could hardly hear noises... almost like voices... but they weren't clear enough. Soon... my vision got a little better. I began seeing a small flash of blue and red lights. As it grew brighter, I soon recognized the sound.

A police siren.

My hearing got better as I heard the voices again. One yelled, “RIKI!” I turned to the voice, but for some reason, I was sore like I'd just ran around the whole world nonstop. I could barely move and as I did, I felt pain on my side. I spotted a blurry figure a bit far from where I was laying. I tried to focus on the figure as my vision became clearer. He was tall... messy hair all over his face, sweat dripping from him. He was gasping loudly trying to regain his breath. He was all worn out,cuts over his clothes, bruises on his face and arms. One thing that made me shiver in fear about guy...

The bloody knife he held tightly in his grasp.

And not only that. He had an angry look on his face. A face that looked ready to kill. That's when I soon realized, as I laid there. I felt a warm, wet liquid all over me. I was laying in a pool of blood. The scariest part...

All the blood... was mine.

“AHHHHH!” Riki screamed as she shot up out of her bed. Nina jumped up, scared as she fell out of bed, “Ouch! What the hell Ri?!”

“Riki!” she heard as Hikaru and Kei ran in. It had began raining hard last night so they were invited to spend the night. “What happened?!” She was just panting heavily, sweating a lot as she sighed, “I-It was just a nightmare... s-sorry about that...” They were all silent for a moments, worriedly looking at Riki.

“... A nightmare... or a memory...” Nina asked her softly. Riki gave no response as Hikaru questioned, “Ri, what happened in your nightmare?” She bit her lip as she turned to look at them, “... I don't want to talk about it... c-can we just forget about it for now...”

“Riki, if this is one of your memories, it could really help with the trial--” Kei began as he saw the scared face on her. She wouldn't even meet his eyes as she shook. He sighed, “Alright. Just get some rest. If you need anything... we're here alright?” She nodded as the guys headed out.

“You alright?” Nina asked worried. She nodded with a fake smile, “Y-yea... it's just a nightmare... I-I'll get over it.” Riki laid back down, trying to sleep as Nina gave her friend another concerned look and did the same.

“... that couldn't have been a memory...” Riki thought to herself as she laid in bed. “... But Nina did say I went through some pretty horrible stuff... could it really have been that bad?”

“Morning, Riki!” she heard as she entered the kitchen that morning. Kei and Hikaru were preparing breakfast as Nina prepared the table. Kei asked, “How was your rest? Better?” She nodded, “Yea...”

“...You still seem kinda worried...” he said. “Wanna talk about it?” She was silent as Nina told her, “It's better to get it off your chest. We're here t o help Riki.” She shook her head, “Don't worry guys... I'm fine. It was just a bad nightmare...” They all looked at each other as Hikaru smiled, “Alright. If you say so. Come on, before the food gets cold.”

“Nina...” Riki called to her as they sat in her room. The boys had headed home and her parents were out running errands so it was just the two of them. “Can I ask you something?” She giggled, “OF course you can! What a silly question to ask...”

“... well... you know this whole trial thing going on...” she said as she thought about her nightmare. She remembered feeling the pain as she moved to see the person calling her. She felt her side, where there was a long scar. “... was Jared... the one who did this?” Nina sighed and nodded.

“Well... if he did do this, shouldn't his fingerprints be on the knife?” Riki asked. “Isn't that enough evidence that he did this?”

“Truth is, the police are still trying to identify the fingerprints.” she explained. “Your parents mention that to them before we told you about the trial. But if they did find his fingerprints there, we definitely don't need to do this trial.” Riki was in thought as Nina asked, “Was there a reason you asked that so suddenly?”

“No. I'm just trying to figure some things out.” she said as she began to think again.

“Well if you need to know anything else, I'm here alright?” Nina smiled as Riki nodded. Nina headed towards the kitchen as Riki then called, “...Nina?”

“Hm?” she turned to her.

“...Is... Is Kei...” Riki stopped, shaking her head. “N-never mind. Forget I said anything.” There was a small silence between them as Nina shrugged, “Alright then.” She left Riki alone in thought.

“If I really was stabbed, then this nightmare really is one of my memories...” she sighed. But then she shivered, “But if it is real... why was the guy with the knife... Kei?”

“Riki~!” Hikaru yelled as she ran out of school as the bell ran that monday afternoon. “What are you in a hurry for?” She answered, “I'm not in a rush...” She continued to walk fast towards home as he laughed, “What are you so excited for?”

“Nothing.” she replied. She thought and said, “I just want to get home already. Today was so long and boring... I wanna sleep.” He pouted, “Awww, does that mean no fun at your place today?” She giggled, “Sorry... there's always tomorrow. And you and Nina can still hang out outside of the house.”

“Haha, but if I leave Kei alone with you, who knows what will happen.” he teased as she gave him a slight push, “Shut up Hikaru. You're so sick minded.” He laughed, “I was just kidding calm down.” He noticed that she still seemed in a rush.

“You know if you go any faster, you're gonna beat Kei to your place...”

“... so?” she questioned. “I just wanna sleep!” Soon they were just around the corner from her place as she sped up and ran towards her house. When she turned the corner, she rammed right into someone. She fell to the ground, losing her balance.

“Ow... sorry about that...” she groaned as she looked to see Kei standing over her, holding out a hand for her. “Oh.. It's you Kei...” He smiled, “Yea, you seem earlier than usual, why were you running home?”

“Haha she said she's sleepy so she wants to get home right away.” Hikaru said as he came. “But with the energy she has to run that fast... hard to think she's really that tired...” I gave him a look, “Well I am... Can I go home now without you two being so suspicious?”

“Yea, go ahead and rest up.” Kei smiled as they walked towards her front door. “We can hang out later...” She then said, “Ah, we have a lot of assignments to do tonight... tomorrow...”

“Oh... ok then. I guess we'll see you tomorrow then.” Kei said a bit concerned. She nodded as she quickly went inside. Hikaru and Kei stood outside her door for another few minutes as Kei asked, “Why is she acting so weird?” Hikaru shrugged, “I dunno. She seemed fine all day. It's just after school she was just rushing to get home...”

“Do you think... there's something she's not telling us?” Kei questioned suspiciously. Hikaru shrugged, “What would she hid? What can she hide? We know more about her than she does right now because of her amnesia...” Kei just thought, but shrugged it off as the two headed home.

“Wow... for once no Kei or Hikaru?” Nina laughed as she saw Riki sitting quietly on the dining table doing homework. “Where are those two?”

“They headed home.” she said not taking her focus off her work.

“Why? It's so weird not to see them here.” she explained. Riki answered, “I told them I was really busy today and tired. I need to finish these assignments and then I want to sleep.. so they went home so I could focus.”

“... Riki, you focus a lot more when you're with a group. You fall asleep when you work on things alone.” Nina gave her a look as Riki remained silent. “is something wrong?” She shook her head, yawning, “I'm fine... I'm just tired...that's all.”

“... Then you should go rest. Do your assignments later when you wake up.” Nina suggested as she sighed, “Alright... wake me up in an hour that way I have enough time to finish.” Nina nodded as Riki headed into her room.

“I seriously don't know... She's acting so strange, but I don't know why.” Nina said into the phone as she did a three-way call with Hikaru and Kei.

“Do you think she remembered something?” Hikaru questioned as Kei answered, “Well, if she did, wouldn't she be talking to us about it? She has with all her other memories... why wouldn't she with this one?”

“Good point... but what else could it be?” Hikaru responded. They were all silent as Kei then thought, “Hey... did she tell either of you what exactly she talked to Jared about?” Nina replied, “All she said was that he gave her useless information.”

“She told me the same thing.” Hikaru answered. Kei nodded, “Same... but what if that's why she's acting strange... maybe it was something he said.”

“Then I doubt that would've been useless information...” Nina stated.

“I guess... but that's the best idea I got.” he sighed. Nina shrugged, “Let's just hope this is a phase. She'll be back to normal, just put up with it for now...” They all nodded. Three days had gone by when the three finally noticed why exactly Riki had been acting strange. It was Thursday afternoon so Hikaru had basketball practice... meaning he had to stay after school. SO Riki rushed off towards home on her own. But she was surprised to see someone waiting outside her front gate.

“Hey...” Kei said as he say her approach. She gave him a small smile, “Hey, Kei...” There was silence as Kei look at her, gazing right into her eyes. She turned away and said, “Sorry... I have lots of assignments to work on again...” She went to run into her house as Kei grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” he asked her seriously. She flinched a bit surprised, “Wha-”

“Why have you been avoiding me?” he questioned again. “I know why you've been acting so weird lately... and been so distant from me... you're avoiding me. But... why?” She looked away and thought. They stood there in silence as he groaned, “Fine...” She turned to look at him as he moved away from her a bit.

“If you don't want me around, just say so next time. I'll back off.” he stated. “I'll stay away from you... but I do want an explanation later on. Let me know when its okay for me to hang out with you again...” He began walking off as Riki hesitated, “K-Kei!” He turned to look at her as she thought and said, “Thanks... I'll explain... soon...” He gave her a reassuring smile and left.

“Damn... I'm so freaking nervous...” Riki sighed as she, Hikaru, and Nina walked home after getting some smoothies. “The first day of trial is tomorrow... I haven't remembered anything I can use against Jared...”

“Leave that to us~!” Nina smiled. “It's only the first day so it shouldn't be that bad. I've been by your side through all this nonsense and I will stick by your side til the end! I'll make sure he gets what he deserves.”

“Thanks Nina.” she giggled at her friend. Hikaru said, “And not just us, Kei was a witness for what happened. If his testimonies are proven true, then Jared's done for... he'll spend a lifetime in prison.” She was silent as they turned the corner to her house. Nina then asked, “Ri... when are you gonna tell us what's going on between you and Kei? Why are you avoiding him?”

“Well--”

“Ryelie.” they heard as her front door opened. Her parents had a concerned look on their faces.

“What's wrong?” she wondered. The three of them entered the house as they sat in the living room. Her mom said, “Honey, the trial with Jared has been postponed...”

“What?! Really?!” she said. She was a bit happy about that, now she would have more time to try and remember. “Why? What happened?” Her father answered, “They finally identified the fingerprints.”

“Yes~!” Nina cheered. “So they have the evidence now! The trial should be cancelled now!” But both the parents remained silent. Her mom then said, “They found two different fingerprints on the knife. They're arresting the other suspect as we speak.” Riki flinched as the nightmare she had played back in her head.

The blood. The Knife. The pain. And Kei.

“Another suspect?! Jared was the only one there! How is there another suspect?!” Hikaru asked appalled. Her dad then said, “There were more weren't there? The gang? Riki?” Nina nodded, “Yea, but the gang was all knocked out when we got there with the police. And why would Riki attack herself?”

“The other fingerprints on the knife...” her parents said, giving them all a worried look. Riki looked away, already knowing what they were going to say. She truly hoped it wasn't true, she hoped they wouldn't say his name. But then it came. “The other fingerprint belongs to Kei.”