Chapter 442 Burdens

Ritsuka studied Lee Seng as he quickly tried to divert the subject.

'Is he hiding something?' Ritsuka thought to himself. He settled in his seat as Manny and Evan walked into the dining room with the rest of the dishes. The table was set with an assortment of meats, side dishes and two grills. The back door was open, allowing for cold air to come in as the overhead fan slowly spun.

"Alright, we're all here. Let's eat." Manny motioned. Everyone began to grab chopsticks and put meat on the grill. Lee Seng fiddled with the syringe. The altercation tests came back into his head. His mind was still clouded with retaining information, but he remembered the amount of tests they've run.

'Over fifty tests were done on me.' Lee Seng thought. 'Over fifty and they still haven't found anything… I wonder if they're just lying to me. If they're just trying to make it look like I'm just sick…. They probably don't even know I know about him. What should I do? Do I get someone to study this? Who would even study it…? I can't have Dr. Valentin study it… I don't think I can trust Zoe to do it, either. She'll ask questions and probably report it to Dr. Valentin or the Creator… What do I do?'

"So what're you gonna do, Lee Seng?" Manny's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Lee Seng looked up at his friends. They were all looking at him. He didn't catch what they were talking about and pulled his hands out of his hoodie pockets.

"Sorry? I was thinking about something." Lee Seng adjusted himself in his chair, scooting forward a bit. Manny shook his head.

"What're you planning on doing while we're gone on Sunday?" Manny asked the question, again. Lee Seng shrugged.

"Dunno." Lee Seng leaned back in his chair. He watched the bulgogi cook on the grill. "Be a bum."

"I thought you wanted to keep yourself busy since you're doing better, am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong. I want to but…" Lee Seng's voice trailed off. "I'll just be a burden, right?" He looked up at Manny. Manny's cheek twitched as he said it. If it wasn't silent enough, it grew even more silent after he said that.

"You aren't a burden. You're healing. You're resting. You need time to get back to normal."

"Exactly." Lee Seng looked down. "I'm just a burden." His voice distorted. It sounded like two voices merging. Ritsuka instantly picked this up and turned to look at Lee Seng.

"Hey, don't say that. You're healing from what happened still." Ritsuka reassured him.

"I would've healed from this already." Lee Seng looked up at him. "You know it. Manny even knows I would be healed already. Whatever thing is happening to me isn't physical… It's like another mental block." Lee Seng let out a sigh as Evan and Liz checked the food on the grill. "I'm physically fine. I'm slowly getting back to normal. These migraines come out of nowhere like it's being triggered by someone or something."

"Someone? I think you fell too hard and it's going to be a thing for awhile." Evan tapped his head. "Give it some time to heal. Those kinds of injuries will disappear after awhile."

"Mmm." Lee Seng nodded. "Enough about that, let's eat. I'm bringing down the mood." He forced a smile and looked at the food. The group switched subjects and started to chat about mundane things (homework, the tea, y'know usual things because student life).

"Y'know the strangest thing I've heard this week, though." Evan leaned forward as the group ate.

"What?" Liz asked.

"I heard whispers that Sara's dating a freshmen."

"A freshmen? So that's what that commotion was about?" Manny instantly connected the dots. "Did you know that was the case?" He looked over at Lee Seng, who was intentionally flipping the food to avoid the question.

"Don't pressure him." Olivia began to cover for Lee Seng. "He's got enough on his plate."

"Yes." Lee Seng nodded. "I knew."

"And that's why she came that day?"

"Yes. You've already connected the dots. What else are you trying to know?" Lee Seng asked. Manny's curiosity outweighed everything else. He leaned forward, folding his hands together as he held the chopsticks in his right hand.

"So why is she glaring at me?" Manny asked.

"Dunno. That's her problem." Lee Seng sourly replied.

"Yeah, let's not talk about this…" Olivia elbowed Manny.

"You were there that night. Do you know what happened?" Manny leaned into Olivia.

"Dude, stop talking about it. He doesn't want to talk about it for a reason." Olivia pushed Manny's face away from him.

"C'mon I just wanna know! They aren't even a thing anymore so why not just spill it! You didn't even date for more than a month! What's the big deal?!?" Manny complained. Lee Seng let out a frustrated sigh as he slammed his chopsticks on the table and stood up.

"I'm not hungry anymore." Lee Seng walked out of the dining room, making a bee line for his room.

"Why's he so upset? He didn't even date her that long." Manny muttered.

"They might've not dated for long," Liz began. "But it doesn't mean you have the right to know. That's their business. Stop being nosy."

"Oh, so her harassing me when I'm in the Academy Twelve meetings isn't my problem?"

"You're just an asshole, Manny. She could be mad about anything and everything about you." Liz shrugged.

"Just eat." Olivia motioned.

Lee Seng shut the door and stumbled onto his bed in the dark. He let out a sigh as he scooted over to his pillow and put his face into it.

"UGHHHHHH." Lee Seng groaned. He flipped over, sucking in some air as he adjusted himself on his back. His hand stuck into his hoodie pocket and he felt the syringe. He pulled the syringe out and studied it. Lee Seng's eyes had easily adjusted to switching between his red and blue eyes to brown with ease. The dark vision allowed him to easily study it.

His dark vision allowed him to see colors, but they were very faint. He was staring at a clear syringe with black liquid in it, so he didn't really have too much to look at. He slowly rotated it around a couple times, wondering what things the Creator even put in him.

'It could be anything and everything.' Lee Seng sighed. He lowered the syringe to his side as he shut his eyes. 'Not to mention… It's getting harder to suppress him.' His phone buzzed.

He ignored it. Continuing to stare at the ceiling. His phone buzzed, again. Lee Seng sighed and grabbed the phone. He unlocked his phone and noticed two messages from Ritsuka.

Ritsuka: You okay?

Ritsuka: Just checking. It sounded like your voice merged with Keng's.

'Merged with Keng's?' Lee Seng was confused. 'When did I ever sound like Keng…?'

Lee Seng: Huh? Did it? When?

Ritsuka: Earlier when you said you were a burden.

Lee Seng set the phone on his chest after staring at that message for awhile. He let out a sigh.

'I did sound like that.' Lee Seng recalled. 'Why did I sound like that though? Is something happening?' His phone buzzed, again. He lifted it up and noticed it wasn't a message from Ritsuka. It was an email from school. He let out a sigh as he let the phone fall to his chest. 'Hopefully they don't think about that.'

"For now, I have to—"

A wave of sadness and guilt washed over him. Lee Seng's breathing fastened as he clutched his chest. These emotions came out of nowhere. He felt his chest tightening. The world around him began to blur. The familiar feeling of Realmwarping was happening.

'Shit… What's happening?' Lee Seng managed to think before his body pulled out of existence and dropped onto the muddy floor. The first thing he noticed was the smell of blood and the noises of fighting. Fog was slowly disappearing around him as he lifted himself up.

"Bright, we have to go back for him!" Lily protested. A pink-haired guy with blonde roots pulled Lily along as his eyes focused on them. "Bright, we can't just—"

"Lily, we don't have time for this! Philip's life is more important than his right now! Who knows what happened in there!" Bright shouted. He yanked Lily and threw her in front of him. She stumbled backwards, losing her balance as Lee Seng reached out and held her with gravity.

"Wha!" Lily began to cry when the familiar feeling of gravity held her. Bright immediately turned, summoning his weapons as he pointed them towards Lee Seng.

"Who are you?!?" Bright shouted. Lee Seng pushed himself off the ground, the wet dirt flying off of him as he landed. He could feel Eleven stirring within him.

'Another migraine is coming on…' Lee Seng sighed.

"Who. Are. You?!? You aren't one of the villagers!" Bright asked, again. He marched over and pointed the blades straight at Lee Seng's vital points.

"L-Lee Seng?!?" Lily stuttered.

"Lily? Why am I here?" Lee Seng asked. Lily stumbled out of the gravity hold and squeezed herself between her brother and Lee Seng.

"Lily, what's the meaning of this? Who is this guy? He doesn't reek like a Fox. Is he a Shapeshifter?" Bright demanded answers from them.

"Where's Keng?" Lee Seng asked.

"Keng?" Lily looked at him. "You don't know where he is?"