Santa Pyre: The Burning Solaris

4. A Young Hero

October 13th, 2043.

On Monday morning, week seven, the weather was strange. The sky was dark and cloudy, but it seemed to refuse to rain. The air was very chilly, so I was shivering. I hated the cold, for it usually made me feel lethargic. I liked to say that I had a "negative two (-2) resistance to the cold."

Something was up. My inner clock was signaling impending despair. I tried to ignore it, but it was relentless.

During the morning assembly, there was a sickening feeling in my belly, which escalated when I noticed that Miss Daina looked unhappy again... Like, more than having-a-bad-day kind of unhappy... And that Miss Diego was smirking devilishly. I had never seen that kind of look on the middle school bullies' faces before. It was quite scary. Just how was no one else noticing this?

My fears came to a head in Homeroom. Five minutes had passed and there was no sign of Daina. Now I was really worried, terrified even. "Where is she!? What is happening out there? Don't tell me she...?"

A familiar voice broke me from my peril, just to add salt on my wounds, "Bill! Something... terrible... has happened! Run to... the... Principal's office!" I turned to face it at the door. It was a breathless Lauren, and her voice had spoken of a Class-Z emergency. "I'll hold the fort! Just go! Do what you can!"

I shot up from my seat, causing the chair to fall over. "On it!" I said in a brave voice before looking to the classroom. "Everyone, listen up! There's trouble. Stay in your seats until Homeroom is over. Lauren is in charge. Don't make this any harder than it already is!" I declared.

"You got it, Bill!" replied some of the boys.

"We will keep them out of trouble," said a few girls. I smiled sheepishly.

"Good luck, man," wished Joe. I nodded.

With that, I cleared out of the classroom. Facing east, I put my arms at my sides, leaned and raced forward like a ninja, running only on the tips of my toes. I was not very athletic, but whenever I ran like this I was 4 percent faster! I weaved through students and teachers. "Slow down, busybody!" yelled a teacher. Daina's sorrowful expression from Day 2 was the only thing on my mind, pushing me forth, so I could not stop.

However, I stopped dead in my tracks upon seeing Mr. Tanaka stepping out of the Reception house with a decidedly grim expression on his face, my heart sinking at the sight of it. "Hurry, Bill-san, before it is too late. You are her last hope." His voice was sad but urgent.

"Well, here goes." Taking a deep breath, I walked past him into the reception. No; I entered into Hell. Her cries invaded my ears as soon as I was in. It was the most tragic thing I had ever heard. The kind you cry when you give up on life. When you feel you have lost it all; that no one cares about you, needs you, or even wants you. That kind...

"Bill Punjabé, right?" asked the worried receptionist. I nodded. "You be wanted in there. Godspeed to you, brave lad." I nodded, casually dismissing her distinct Scottish accent.

I reigned in my emotions, took a deep breath, trotted to the Principal's door, knocked and entered. "Mr. Florence?"

"Good heavens, you have arrived!" He was almost shouting due to how loud she was crying. "I have no idea how this could have happened! She isn't even talking to me or Mr. Sakamoto!" He got up and brought his executive chair over, placing it in front of Daina. "Here, I'll give you some privacy. Maybe she will listen to you. It is all up to you now. Make me proud; do not fail us!" With that, he left us alone, shutting the door behind him. I sighed as I sat down.

I tried to get her attention, "Miss Scotland... Miss Daina... DAINA!!" I cringed when she suddenly stopped. She brought up her face from her hands and I looked into sore eyes brimming with tears and pain.

"Billy? You came..." She offered a weak smile before lapsing back into her crying of despair.

This bad!? What am I supposed to do? I may have made tremendous progress before, but now the situation is a teenage boy and a crying older woman... Wait... That's it! I know what to do!

All I had to do was what I always did for my mother on her bad days, such as whenever she lost a patient. I rolled the comfy chair closer, leaned in and embraced Miss Daina as tightly as I could manage. She stiffened within my hold, and I began to work.

"Daina, dear. Please stop crying. Please tell me what's wrong... what's hurting you..." She steadily quieted down. Is this actually working? Let's test that! I spoke slower, "I promise that I'll understand... that I'll help you if I can." She was now only lightly sobbing and sniffling. I slowed even further, whispering soothingly, "Please, calm down. Let me help you... You can get through this... I don't like seeing you so sad."

At that, she wrapped her arms around me. "Oh dear..., I'm... so... sorry. I... made you worry..."

Wait, hold up. She's apologizing to me? My word, adults are confusing! "Don't apologize to me... Please, just tell me what happened. How did you end up like this? Who did this to you?" I did not mean to sound so demanding, but that was how it came out. For a thirteen-year-old, I sure knew how to command authority. Thankfully, Daina understood the former.

"Okay, Bill. It was... Miss Diego. She has been so... so mean to me for the longest time now... She called me worthless... I was really stung..." I felt lightning shoot through me. I imagined all the windows on the Empire State Building just shatter and fall to the ground below as billions of shards of glass.

The celebrity was behind this!? I was trembling with anger. "How dare that conceited, condescending witch hurt my Daina!" I said all that out loud before I could stop myself. I felt Daina freeze at my words. "Uh, Miss Daina... I... I'm..."

"Don't say anything more, Bill. I understand..." She seemed to be trying to find her breath. In that moment, I got the sudden imagination of several locks being forced open. "I've never had anyone care about me so deeply before... Not even my own parents. They were never around anyway. I've had to struggle through the path of life for so long. I've never had any real friends, nor any real home. Even now, I live by myself in a crummy apartment." She was sharing her inner pain, pouring out her cup. "One day, a man came into my life. He brought me here to Santa Pyre in 2039. For a time, he was very sweet to me. I felt happy. But..."

My eyes widened. "It was a farce, wasn't it?" I finished for her. She nodded. I somehow knew that this information had never been told to anyone before, not even Mr. Florence, locked away for time immeasurable, bottled up, and weighing her down. "So, what happened?" I dared to ask. She looked deathly afraid. "Oh my... Okay, you don't have to tell me... I can see that it hurts to remember..."

"No.... I want to tell you..." she replied, shocking me. I stayed quiet to listen. She took one deep breath, in which I saw the key lingering before the final lock. "One fateful night, his true colors were revealed..." I gulped. "He... He tried to... Violate me..."

My thirteen-year-old mind could not take in this revelation. Miss Daina is a r**e victim!? No wonder why she is so timid all the time. She is carrying this kind of emotional trauma around, after all. She was afraid fo making connections with people. Perhaps Mr. Florence is the only person she has really trusted up to when I met her. "That's... That's... Horrible," I managed.

"Listen..." The final lock was violently ripped out right along with the door it was attached to! "He did not succeed..." I breathed a sigh of relief. Only to be wracked beyond measure by the other half of the news, "...because I killed him..."

"Eh...?" I entered into a state of network mind crash. Server A.P.-13 lost; estimated reboot time: five decades. Please input pass code for force reboot.

"Are you...okay? I'm sorry you had to listen to all that. But listen; my story isn't all bad." Pass code accepted; Server A.P.-13 rebooted. "I met another man. A good man. One who was kind to me, who became my friend! Who loved me! Do you know who that is?"

I was stunned. Is she talking about Mr. Florence? Or maybe Tanaka? What does she mean? The answer shocked the living daylights out of me.

"It was you, Bill! Thank you!" A sad smile came over her face. "You've released me." I heard a strange sound, like the sliding of metal. "I can die peacefully now..."

"Huh? Eh..." I drew a pause. What was that; did I hear that right?

"I'm sorry, Billy. This is the only way that I can truly be free. Again, I thank you."

Wha? Whaaat!?! My eyes widened as I looked up to see her raised left arm holding a*****e bought foldable serrated blade hunting knife. The tag on it indicated that it was brand new. "No way." I could not let it happen. I would be scarred for life. "NO!!!" My hand lashed out, grabbing her arm by the wrist and redirecting the weapon into the backrest of Florence's executive chair instead of her neck. I was barely nicked in the shoulder during the desperate move, but I paved through the pain and launched into speech, "I won't let you! You can't! Fire Flats needs you! The class needs you! I need you!! I'll do anything, so just please... don't even think about it!" I was begging desperately. "There are better options. You are too beautiful to go out like this! Joseph, Lauren, Tanaka, Mr. Florence... And I; we all love you, care about you, and want the best for you! Just let us help you!!"

When I was done and out of breath, she was a sobbing mess again. Make that a tightly squeezing sobbing mess. "... Billy... You... You're right... I'm so...sorry... Sorry I put you through all this trouble. I'll make it up to you... I swear it... Thank you."

"I'm just glad you snapped out of it. Ah!" The pain was unbearable now. "It burns like fire!!"

"Billy, your shoulder! Let me see..."

It must have been a curious sight to see a student and teacher hugging so intimately, I could be sure. I looked at the speechless faces of Tanaka and Mr. Florence standing in the doorway. With my free hand, I shot them thumbs-up.

As Tanaka escorted the becalmed Daina out of the room, I was worried again. Then Florence's voice broke me out of my bubble, "How did it go? Do you think she will be alright?"

I turned to him. "Sir, it's kind of hard to tell. She attempted suicide right in front of me." I pointed to the would-be murder weapon still stuck in the executive chair. "I was able to coax her out of it..."

"She what...!?! Oh, dear me, my boy! You're a miracle worker!" exclaimed Florence. "That was quite the ordeal. Maybe you should look into becoming a therapist!"

"Who, me? No way! I just did what I had to do; that's all."

"Still, I never would have imagined that she had gotten so low."

"Huh? What do you mean!?"

"Oh, well aren't you the smooth cop? It's just an expression. I mean she no longer had the will to live... Huh!? What happened to your shoulder!?"

"It's a relatively short story... but I don't feel like talking about it."

"You should get it checked out."

"Yes, Sir. But before that... How could you be so incompetent!?"

"Huh? Hey, what are you saying all of a sudden!?"

"You had no idea, did you?"

"What...?"

"I see. You were ignorant of the well-being of your subordinate. She was at the mercy of another teacher in this school this whole time!" He stayed silent this time. "I will settle this with my own hands. Your assistance will not be needed." I turned to walk out.

"Hey, just what are you planning?"

"To accomplish what you never could. I only ask one thing."

"What is it?"

"Please don't give me detention."

"Huh!? Well, that really depends on how far you take things."

"I'll try not to go overboard." With that, I was gone.

On the way, I met with Lauren. "Bill, is everything... Whoa! What happened to you!?"

"All in a day's work, Lauren," I answered with a smile. "All in a day's work."

She looked confused, then concerned. "I'll walk you to Nurse Sara. You can tell me all about your "day's work" on the way."

I laughed at that. "You're a great friend, Lauren." I caught her blush as she came to my side. It was my turn to blush when she took my hand, but I hid it carefully.

*****

October 14th.

The next day, on my way from the Computer Lab after my last class was over, Miss Diego's voice stopped me, "Bill! Can I have a word with you?" I looked to see her standing just outside of the Reception House. Perfect.

For a moment, I thought that my plan was bogus and that I should back out. But this confrontation was long overdue. I had my own reasons for doing this, too. So, I went towards her, stopping with only two meters between us. "By all means, let's talk," I said boldly.

"Huh? Okay." Her voice sounded so innocent, but it was deception. Deception was her very existence! "Well, I have noticed that you have been doing pretty poorly in my subject. Also, about your test. You, kind of, you know... Failed. Very badly, might I add. Do you mind talking about it?"

"So, I hate History, big deal," I tossed out some bait. I was speaking out of character, but it was necessary in order to get a particular reaction out of her. "It's a boring and useless subject anyway."

"Huh!? I understand that it isn't very 'fun,' but it is certainly not useless!" she replied.

Hmm, the shark is not interested yet. I need bigger bait.

"Can we please stay on track? Are there any other, actual issues?"

Well, here goes, I thought. "You just cannot teach is all," I said in the most nonchalantly disrespectful way possible. To add effect, I put my hands to my head with my elbows pointing left and right. That got her attention.

"Wha-what? H-hey, don't be so personal! What is your problem!?"

There we go! Hook, line and sinker! I thought. She looked stung. I breathed deeply before stepping out of the safety of my shark cage. "Maybe you are the problem!" I exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at her. She looked shocked now, so I continued. "You think you're so much better than everyone else. You're always belittling us and constantly looking at yourself in the mirror. Do you know that you actually do that at ten second intervals, for thirty seconds straight... every single time!? You're deranged!" She took a few steps back, and I hammered my point home. "And... You're always picking on my Homeroom teacher!"

At that last bit, she assumed a look of genuine confusion. But as she did some thinking, she realized what was going on. "You're talking about Miss Scotland, Homeroom teacher for 8-A, right?" All the fire I had died as I nodded. "So, Mr. Punjabé, you failed today on purpose in order to get my attention, right?" I nodded again. "So, you brought me here to make fun of me in public, huh!?"

Sure enough, there was a crowd of students and teachers. This was spiraling out of control, but I could not stop now. "Regardless, you have done too much damage. You have no idea how much suffering you caused yesterday. You are a murderer!" I heard gasps rang out.

"Why you... You!" She took a menacing step forward.

"Stop! Billy, Angelina!" called Daina's scared voice behind me. Her hands gripped my shoulders. "Don't fight..."

"And here she is, the nuisance herself. How do you do, Daina querido puta?!" I heard gasps from those who understood what was said. I must have rattled her too much considering she was not paying attention to the fact that there was an audience. Her true colors were being revealed to the school for the first time, and all I did was just talk... Well, fail a test and talk. But mostly talking. You get the picture.

I looked at Daina and saw her fight back the tears threatening to fall. I placed my hands on her cheeks and whispered, "Don't give her the satisfaction. I'll put her in her place for you." I wiped the drops that escaped and she nodded.

The crowd went, "Awww!"

"I'll protect you." I smiled pleasantly before turning partially to give a sideways glance at enemy number one. "I do not know what that means, but you had better take it back this instant, you..."

In this pause, I thought about many mean things to say.

But, "You b****y, conceited, condescending, narcissistic, spiteful, spawn of the underworld, evil, WITCH!!" was what came out.

A deadly hush came over the venue. Why no teacher had bothered to stop this, I never knew. But the look on Miss Diego's face as she took several steps back was worth any punishment I would incur afterwards.

"Da... Da... Darn you..." I saw tears hit the ground before she flew at me with rage in her eyes. "DARN YOU, YOU BLASTED BRAT!!!"

I stood straight, making no move to dodge. I knew I deserved this. I had gone too far, and now I was going to die. "I'm sorry, Daina. I did my best." I closed my eyes, accepting my fate.

"Kaze Juuden!" (Wind Charge) WHOOSH! I felt an unnaturally warm wind as something flashed past me. POW!

I opened my eyes to see Mr. Tanaka before me holding back a punch from Diego. "Tanaka-san!"

"It looks like you got quite the situation here, Bill-san. Let me handle this." He winked before looking at Miss Diego. "Have you no shame, Angelina-chan? Picking on a boy and another woman."

"You're one to talk! You're in on this madness too, aren't you!?" she spat. She was definitely angry.

"Kisama wa daun odayaka suru hitsuyō ga aru," he told her. He was so cool.

"What was that!?" asked Miss Diego, who knew not a speck of the Japanese language.

"You need to calm down," he translated. "If you want to save what remains of your dignity, just leave."

"Hu!" She pulled her hand free. "I'll get you for this!" She stormed off, defeated.

"Okay folks, show's over!" he exclaimed. He began to disperse the crowd. I just stared at his cool back.

"Billy." Daina's voice snapped me out of my trance and I turned to her. "Thank you for sticking up for me. You really didn't have to do that." The smile she had on was the most divine yet! She gave me a quick embrace. "Now let's get you home."

"Wait... What about you?"

"I will be fine." She was no longer timid or shy. She looked the best I ever saw her. "All thanks to you."

8:30 PM.

When I laid my tired self on the bed that night, I pondered my hectic day. "Man... I don't think I was prepared for today."

"I don't think any of us were," groaned Ameera from her side of the room.

"I suppose so." Something needed to give. My mind conjured up a plan that would change everything. "This is probably a terrible idea. Convincing my parents will be difficult, especially Dad. But, I won't give up on Miss Daina just yet. Today's victory is not the end. It's the beginning. So, I'll go for broke tomorrow. Hang on a little longer, Miss Daina..."