Fate's Deception

Hard Dreams

It has been an odd few days.

The odd feeling continues to gnaw at the back of Shinoska's mind, the young woman having been paying especially close attention to current news. While all of her peers weren't doing exactly that, enough of them were for the happenings of the past few days to not exactly go undiscussed.

Nearly 42 criminals had dropped dead over the last four days, just the same as the man in the daycare. What they all had in common was that they were completely without warning and the cause of death was always a heart attack.

Of course, since they were criminals, it is not as if people were particularly concerned or even angry. In fact, some rejoiced at the strange happening.

Shinoska is even willing to admit that, at first, she kind of did too. Well, rejoice is too strong a word, but she wasn't exactly upset about it.

But today it's getting to her and she cannot shake the feeling of unease that pokes and prods at every fiber of her mind.

Yet, she still finds the will to pay close attention to class for the day. It's remarkable given the state of her thoughts and the dreary weather. The clouds have gathered and settled in the dark sky since that morning, the rain having begun to pour only about an hour ago.

But she pays attention. Perhaps because it's all she can think to do.

The rest of the school day goes by achingly slow, but she is used to and comfortable with the slow drag of it all. She eats lunch with a few friends that beg to see her notes as they usually do, the young woman perfectly fine giving them up, though they accompany a small (but mostly encouraging) lecture that she always makes a point to give.

She thinks her friends can do and be better than rely on her notes so frequently, but at the same time, she can't bring herself to see them fail.

Light, on the other hand, isn't so forgiving.

"If they keep relying on you, they're not going to get very far," he says as he waits for Shinoska to slip on her outdoor shoes.

"I know and I always tell them that. They didn't need my notes at first, but now it's sometimes like they don't even believe in themselves enough to try getting by without them," Shinoska says with a sigh as she walks with him toward the exit of the school.