My Lost Soul

Chapter 13 - Chameleon and Snake

"Hey! Hey hey! 'Ri!" A boy shouted across the administrative building hallway.

Iseri flinched as she turned around to face him from a distance.

"How's General Machida?! Is he alright?" The boy prodded.

Iseri wrapped her fingers into fists," Stop! Stop yelling in the hallways! How many ti-"

She rubbed her forehead, noticing she yelled too.

"Uh... sorry?" The boy shrugged slowly, still standing on the other side of the hallway.

Iseri sighed," He's perfectly fine, Kitt..." She momentarily looked up in contemplation,"...physically, at least. He wasn't acting like himself for a moment though."

As she trailed off, she looked up to see, to her bewilderment, Kitt's disappointed face.

"Wait, what? What's wrong?" She questioned, moving closer to him.

Kitt began to mope," Man, I just wish that-I just hoped that he'd be-"

Iseri stomped her foot on the ground, "What?! Dead?!", she screamed, pointing at him sternly.

Choking on his own words, Kitt waved his hands," Nuh-not at- nooooo!"

"Uh-huh. So you're still on about getting your promotion from right hand." She crossed her arms.

"I mean... of course I want it, but I can definitely wait, and definitely am."

"And what do you mean by wait?" She furrowed her brow.

Kitt choked on his words again, then cleared his throat," That," He pointed at her," is not what I meant!" He yelped, sounding offended.

Iseri stared at him with an unbelieving face," Yeah, okay. Was that all you wanted to say?"

"Uh, no, not really."

He hesitated for a moment," You know about the Purgatory Coupe case right?"

Iseri tilted her head," Obviously, Kitt."

"Well, damn. It's not that serious. Anyway, since the audio recording said that the Chameleon isn't in the parking garage right now, I think that the new person securing it must be a lot stronger than the Chameleon."

"Chameleon? Where did you get that from?"

"That's what I and the co-workers call him. You might've known if you actually socialized around here." He teased, "Anyway, I have reason to think that..."

Iseri curled her lips.

"...That they're a girl..." Kitt scratched his head while looking down at his shoes.

To Kitt's surprise, Iseri broke up in loud laughter," What? Are you serious?! What did I do?!"

She continued to bellow her laughter through the hallway as Kitt crossed his arms.

"Hmph. Fine. Be that way. Have a good day, Miss Donkey."

Iseri immediately straightened up upon hearing his insult and was about to insult him back, but he was already gone.

The intercom cut on right above Iseri, "Iseri, please report to my office. I repeat, Iseri, please report to my office."

Iseri slapped her cheeks and marched to Machida's office. When she knocked on the door, the door was unusually opened by Machida.

"This is about the P.C. case, Iseri. It turns out that Uyama actually was the target," he started as he walked away from the door and to his desk." I didn't expect the guy to stand a chance against Uyama, but it turns out he had some trouble."

"So Chame- the invisible man was apprehended, sir?"

"Yeah, Chameleon is in Uyama's apartment right now. But Uyama called me and asked if he could bring him here, instead of the police station."

Iseri turned red, noticing he overheard their conversation, "Uh, so he might want to use him as a hostage? Or maybe he wants us to interrogate him."

"He requested that he go through the emergency exit into my office, so it must be something he only wants me to know about. I trust you to be able to keep people away from my office when he does come."

"Yes sir, but..." Iseri looked down at her shoes uncertainly,"...Do you know that he can be fully trusted?"

Machida smiled, "He can. He's who's saved my life countless times." He took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh, that'll be all, Iseri. Thanks for your time."

It looks like he's doing better, Iseri thought as she excused herself out.

———

As Steele left Omega's sight from the grocery store, Omega released himself from his stressed position and fell on his knees in front of the bench. Panting on the ground, he started to throw up. Omega faintly heard the store's doors slam open as Enjō ran towards him.

"Yo! What the hell?! What'd he do to you?!", Enjō dropped his bags beside the bench and grabbed Omega by the shoulders. Omega motioned for him to move away while fanning himself with his shirt. Enjō hesitantly let go of Omega and moved to the side, "Uh...alright."

Omega started to puke beside the bench, Enjō turned away immediately, "Oh shit...".

Omega sighed as he sat back up on the bench, his mouth still leaking with vomit.

"Damn man, you alright?" Enjō sat down next to him, but a little further away.

Omega nodded, "Yeah... this just happens a lot when I'm..." Omega wasn't sure of what to say," nervous..."

"Well, I bet it was scary!" He shouted, as if he was proud of him, "It's wild that you didn't puke on the spot! Want some water?"

Enjō handed him a water bottle from the grocery bag, "Thanks." Omega said as he began to drink.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "I need to go there. "

"Go...where?"

"The parking garage by the stadium. I have to." He stood up slowly.

Enjō grabbed his shoulders again and patted him back down, "Hey, calm down. You probably don't got much strength to even get to the front of it. Let's get you home."