A Book Can't Be Judged By The Cover Chapter 87: Akamine-sensei’s Favor

A few days ago,

Haji, tied to a tree, started slipping in and out of consciousness as if he was in a lucid dream. He couldn’t tell how long he stayed therein, beat-up and almost on the verge of death as his broken ribs slowly ripped through his mushy lungs. At first, he tried to struggle, squirming out of the rope like an earthworm dipped in salt. However, his movents were futile and it just worsened the aching in his chest. His ribs were broken— he has no idea how many ribs were broken but he could feel them. Because of that, he stopped struggling whatsoever. It was futile anyways since he was tied real tight.

The agonizing experience felt like hours for Haji when only a couple of minutes had elapsed. Resigning to his fate, he decided to slump down and let his consciousness slip so he could get so rest. Hopefully, soone finds him before he dies, and if not, then that’s too bad. At this point, Haji had no energy to expend thinking about his current situation.

Blink. Blink.

Blink.

A flash of light, and then a strong wave of it hit him squarely on the face, causing him to impulsively flinch and flail his arms out in an idiotic manner. It was an authentic reaction since he was in dark surroundings. Sohow seeing a light flash in front of him made him act out in surprise.

"What’s this?!"

.....

A few minutes ago, that day,

As luck would have it, a patrol policeman was just passing by. He noticed the faint shadow-like movents by the edge of the park and the rustling of the leaves further proved that soone or sothing was sneaking over there.

"This is why I hate night shifts. Why do I have to risk my life checking it out?" The policeman scratched his head and rubbed his nose. While his instincts told him to steer clear from the edge of the park, he knew that it was his duty to check it. He was being paid for this job after all. It would just leave a bad taste in his mouth if he t his job halfway.

With a sigh coming out of his mouth, the policeman then returned the cap he was wearing after scratching his slightly sweaty scalp. Nervousness kicked in in his system but he ignored it. Whether or not there was soone by the bushes, he still had to check it so his curiosity would be appeased and his uncertainty satisfied.

"Hello? Is anybody—"

Waving his flashlight around to get a better view of the entire place, he stumbled upon a form on the tree. Unsure of what it was, he bit his lips so as to stop his affirmative question from slipping out. ’I thought I saw sothing over there. Were my eyes playing tricks on ? No, I don’t think so. There’s no way my eyes would play tricks on when I’m this anxious.’

Doubting his mind, the policeman swerved his flashlight towards the spot again, only to find that there was really soone there, tied up to a tree, all beat-up, and dying.

"What’s this?!"

Without further ado, the policeman jumped through the brushes and untied the young man. He then called for backup since moving an injured person is a definite no-no when it cos to ergency situations just like this one.

.....

A flipped car ca on the scene, getting nearer and nearer as the point of view panned closer to it. Little by little, the car’s details could be seen. It was a literal scene of the cri, with the truck— which seemingly lost its brakes— ramd against the unobserving car, causing it to flip over.

There were four people inside the flipped car. Two of them were bleeding from their head, their deep red blood flowing and streaming down their face whilst forming a pool of blood on the asphalt. It was a sunny day, but suddenly heavy rain started pouring in. The sll of rained soil, blood, and death lingered in the background, creating a traumatic atmosphere.

A hand reached out to another, grabbing it. It was blurry, but the hand belonged to the person in the front seat. Her grip was unsure, weakening as seconds passed despite her effort to tighten her grip. Forcing a smile on her face, she muttered sothing to her son— the owner of the other hand.

"It’s going to be all right... look after your sister... okay?"

Another presence could be felt, and this ti, it was from the guy in the driver’s seat. "Haji... you have to fight... okay? Promise ... that you’ll..."

"..."

Beep. Beep.

.

Beep.

Beep.

.

Beep.

.

Haji’s eyes shot wide open as the nightmare drew to a close. A familiar ceiling greeted him... or rather, it felt familiar since he had seen the sa ceilings on television a couple of tis in the past.

"You’re awake." The policeman said, heaving a sigh of relief. Beside him was a doctor who had been checking Haji’s condition up til now.

"Three broken ribs but nothing serious. It will heal in about a month, just don’t force yourself too much." The doctor muttered while writing a couple of things on paper. He then handed the paper to Haji before he explained what he just prescribed him. It was a long rant of useless dical banter that Haji only pretended to listen to it when in truth he didn’t hear a word he said.

"Arata-san here lives nearby so we called him over. It was way faster than calling an ambulance and bringing you to the nearest hospital." The policeman explained before eyeing Haji up and down.

"Before we get down on anything... is there anyone you can contact? A relative? Perhaps a guardian? It’s a common procedure and legally advantageous for you if you have soone like that before questioning."

"I don’t have any parents, and my sister is in the hospital." He simply answered as he shook his head.

"I see, then... let’s continue." The policeman then brought out a notepad. As he did so, Haji caught a glimpse of his na tag. There was the na ’Hideki’ written on it.

"Wait," Haji responded, finally getting back to his senses. "May I take a phone call?"

"Sure, go ahead," Hideki waved his hand towards one of the telephones by the desk in the corner of the room.

.....

A few minutes later,

The clicking of heels could be heard outside the police station, prompting the guard by the entrance to open the door before anyone ca knocking. As soon as the doors were opened, a figure of a lady in a white blouse and navy blue skirt ca in, swinging her purse as she ran inside.

"Haji? Haji?" She anxiously repeatedly let out, swiveling her head here and there and causing a ruckus inside the police station in the process.

"Ah, sensei," Wide-eyed, Haji waved at Akamine-sensei. For a mont there, he thought that she wasn’t coming since it took her a long ti to get there.

"Haji? What happened, are you all right? Who did this to you? I swear if it’s one of your classmates I’ll- I’ll." Akamine-sensei’s sudden shift from being concerned to being threatening happened in a span of two seconds. All the while, she was holding Haji by the cheeks, checking every milliter of his face for bruises that were evidently conspicuous.

"Um," Hideki muttered, attracting both of their attention.

Without further ado, Akamine-sensei extended her hand toward Hideki. "I’m sorry, I’m Rie Akamine, Haji’s guardian." She greeted, seating herself beside Haji before bombarding him with her series of questions.

From an onlooker’s perspective, one would think that Akamine-sensei’s role was of an interrogator with all her questions while Hideki was the guardian with his silence— when in fact it was the exact opposite.