Ep.45: The One Who Believed, Part 2

Arching backwards on hands and feet and thinking about the state that the Deep Jungle was in, I can feel Ramsey staring daggers at me from the other side of Maka; hear the diatribe in my head. With my face getting redder by the second, I feel a sense of duty and defiance come over me. “Dammit! I can’t just keep doing this shit all day!” I vault up in a back-handspring and land on my feet. “Alright! I’m out!” I declare, walking away.

“Umm… Kai, where are you going?” Maka whispers loudly with concern.

“To rally people to our cause!” I shout.

“Maka, don’t bother. He’s an idiot,” Ramsey says.

“What’s wrong with following through on what you believe?” I retort.

“Nothing wrong with that… the question is, who’s going to believe you?” Ramsey says, still glaring at me.

Ramsey’s words strike a chord within me. “This is our home… it’s hard to express what I felt after seeing the beauty that the Deep Jungle has to offer, and it…” I pause, trying to turn my feelings into words, “it just turning to ash right before my eyes.” I close my eyes in frustration. “But it’s not just our home land, this whole planet… this Ashen whatever could infect it all, causing Tiesa to die.” I open my eyes to stare at Ramsey unblinkingly and with a fervor. “I’m not saying this half-heartedly, but with absolute conviction: A desire to protect what needs protecting.”

Ramsey plops down on his back and sighs, “Nice answer.”

“Not to mention the Deep Jungle is known as a place of healing,” Maka states.

“Aaand…?” I lead.

“I’m just saying… th-this couldn’t have been an acc-accident. Right?” Maka stumbles out the words while twisting back and forth to look at each of us, still hanging upside-down on his hands and feet.

“But you still have a problem.” Ramsey looks at Maka and I. “Who is going to believe some first-year students that haven’t even reached the rank of Doa?” Ramsey sighs, lying there, looking defeated. “If my father didn’t believe… I’m truly at a loss.”

Maka looks at Ramsey with a tinge of worry and guilt. “Umm… m-my dad halfway-believed me… I think.” Maka’s arms are shaking and his ears are twitching from the Koa stretch as he deliberates. “Well… and if he does… h-he may be willing to work on a method to administer an antidote.” He turns his concerned gaze up to the floor and sighs. “But… I-I think that he was just trying to appease me.” As Maka looks at the floor, his expression turns to one of forlorn longing, his weariness at the subject and situation evident. As he closes his eyes and slowly breathes to relax, the shaking in his limbs recedes. “Dammit. I really hate this feeling…” Maka looks at me with tears in his eyes as one starts to run up his forehead, racing the drips of sweat, both inexorably finding their way to the floor. “This feeling of helplessness.”

I walk over to the window and place my hand on it. “Hmm… what would you do?” I question of no one present. “My father once said that you only have one life to live… so make sure you live it to the fullest, without regrets.”

“Fukai, I-” Ramsey begins, but is interrupted by the bell.

A relieved Maka finally drops to the floor with a huff. “You’re right, Kai. We must-” Maka begins.

“Hey, Guys! That was quite the scene back there…” Anaea, first out the classroom door, strides up to me with a smile. “But I think I understand a little more, thanks to Maka,” she says while smiling sweetly back at Maka. Then, turning to include Ramsey and me, she announces, “Remember, all it takes is one.”