William had been suspicious for a while about the way Ari had been moving.
Initially, Ari had done everything to avoid speaking with him, but now, he was constantly blocking him from touching those he had marked as highly talented, farms to be harvested.
When Ari asked if he knew his face when he took his mask off, he had wondered, but hearing the mocking words, it meant he knew something.
Narrowing his eyes, William began moving toward Ari, who lazily backed against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
"You, what do you know?"
"About what?" Ari asked innocently.
Not falling for it, William glared.
"How much do you know?"
"Why do you keep getting in my way?"
"Sent me? No one? How much do I know? About what? I don’t know anything. Or are you trying to accuse me of being aggressive or call me a crash out again? Sorry, I can’t be threatened with a visa for breaking fake rules, I’m American~. And your singing badly is not my problem. Perhaps try practicing more, rather than trying to meet people one-on-one and touch them? It’s weird. You’re weird." Ari replied with a wide smile.
Seeing that smug smile mocking his singing, something in William’s head snapped.
"Heh. You think you’re the only person who can crash out?" William spat out before rushing Ari, his hand grabbing his neck and slamming him against the wall.
Ari temporarily saw black as his head smashed into the wall.
"You’ve been acting like a little know-it-all for a while. Who are you working for? Speak up!" William kept slamming his head back while squeezing the air out of his throat.
As his jacket zipper dug into his throat, Ari began coughing as he tried to breathe.
What the heck was wrong with this bastard? Weren’t they supposed to talk? Why did it turn violent?
"Cough, cough! Stop choking me!"
Clenching his fist, Ari swung and made contact with William’s face, who reeled back in shock before pressing him again and digging around his jacket pocket as if looking for something.
"I’ll choke you even more if you don’t tell me who the hell sent you to block my way! And don’t think I don’t see that stupid recorder in your pocket."
William grabbed it out of Ari’s pocket, threw it to the ground, and stomped it to bits, sending plastic and metal everywhere.
"Cough! Are you crazy?"
"Very. Matter, matter of fact, why am I stressing about the performance? Your vocals are pretty good too, and if you block me from his, then yours will do. Give it." William muttered as he grabbed Ari’s chin and began squeezing it.
Instead of the transparent blue screens he was used to seeing, blood red screens began filling Ari’s vision as NOVA kept sending danger messages.
Ari swung his leg forward, trying to go for a low blow, and as William deflected it, he leaned forward with all his strength, smashing his forehead into William’s nose, causing blood to spurt out immediately, and the blonde boy fell to the floor while clutching his bloody face.
Ari slid to the floor, while clutching his throat and aching forehead as he tried to breathe, "I’ve told you to stop touching me you fucking weirdo. The next time you put your hands on me, you’ll regret it." Ari spat out while clutching his aching forehead.
He swore there was a bump growing on it.
"Ugh....my nose. Ugh....count your days, the assistant PD will get you out of here for violence. And then I’ll get you and find out everything you know before getting rid of you, you damn brat. You better watch your back!" William yelled before falling silent, his arms falling limp on the ground.
As William lay still on the ground, the recorder pieces and blood scattered everywhere, Ari began panting from stress.
Was he dead from the headbutt?
Did he accidentally kill somebody?
Ari’s heart was pounding rapidly as he began hyperventilating, and he felt his vision go blurry.
Despite NOVA’s words and the blue screens filling his vision, Ari just stared blankly at William’s still body.
He knew he needed to get up.
He knew he needed to move, to do something, but his body felt frozen.
[Agh, you say you want revenge, but you’re such a baby!]
[Oi, use your eyes to look properly!]
[He’s still alive! He just looks scary!]
[Look, his chest is rising and falling.]
Slowly, Ari paid attention to NOVA, noting that William seemed to be breathing a bit slowly.
But what was he supposed to do?
His recorder, which had evidence, was broken, and out of the two of them, William had clearly taken more damage.
Once the other boy accused him, he would absolutely get in trouble and probably get kicked out for this.
And worse, William threatened that he would send people after him.
Should he just run away again?
If he weren’t around, would William still chase him?
"Should I just run away?"
[After all your big talk, is this it?]
[You’re just panicking.]
Who wouldn’t panic in this situation!!!
"What am I supposed to do?"
[For all your big talk, I forget that you’re really just a little kid.]
[Just this once, I’ll help.]
[Look left. And to the back of the room.]
[Collect the evidence and hide it to protect yourself.]
[And be more careful next time.]
[Move now. He seems to be waking up.]
Following NOVA’s instructions, Ari’s eyes began roaming around the room, and he spotted a slight reflection of a camera lens hidden in the wall panels.
Almost in a daze, he grabbed the camera, removing the memory cards from both of them, put them back in their spots, and ran out of the room, leaving the groaning William behind.