Lee Seng's head rang. He groaned and held his head. The mask crumbled into pieces and the white energy around him started to fade. He was reaching his limit. The water began to shook, quickly losing its form. His tail and ears drooped as he stumbled side to side.
"Dammit, why does this always happen?" Lee Seng whispered.
'Don't faint. Don't faint. Don't faint. Don't faint.' Lee Seng continuously told himself. The water started to fall and Victor noticed something was different about Lee Seng. The energy from him was different and this was starting to concern him. He lifted his hand and the water froze in the air.
"That's enough." Victor said. He moved his hand in a circle a few times before closing his hand. All of the water in the area came together and disappeared into nothing. Victor sighed and made his way over to Lee Seng. Lee Seng shook his head and rubbed his eyes.
"Hey, are you okay?" Victor whispered. Lee Seng nodded. Victor was standing quite close. It was making Lee Seng a bit uncomfortable. He took a step back heard the soft hum of the Dark Matter wall behind him.
"Just give me a moment. This'll fade." Lee Seng answered. Victor stared at Lee Seng as the Dark Matter walls came down. A rush of steps came from behind Lee Seng. Sara and Elizabeth stepped into the stage and looked at Lee Seng. Victor motioned for them to continue the event and the two nodded.
Sara lingered on Lee Seng before she was motioned by Elizabeth. Footsteps from the other side of the stage were growing louder and closer.
"Hey, is he okay?" Manny asked. Victor looked at Manny and then looked back at Lee Seng.
"Just the negative being a douchebag." Lee Seng answered.
"Let's get you off the stage." Manny grabbed Lee Seng and Lee Seng jumped. He pushed away and looked at Manny.
"Oh, well since the fight has ended we are going to take a quick 5 minute break. Restrooms are at the end of the hall. See you back in five." Elizabeth said. Sara was looking back at Lee Seng.
"I'm fine. I can still manage." Lee Seng said. He spun around and wobbled off the stage. The crowd whispered like loud cicadas. Lee Seng ignored it all. He managed to get himself off stage and decided to squeeze himself in the corner between the stage and the backwall. He wrapped his tail around himself as he rubbed his heavy hands and closed his eyes. His ears twitched as footsteps quickly came down the stage and he could hear multiple footsteps coming towards him.
"Hey, Chang, are you sure you'll be fine?" Victor asked. "I'm sorry if I went a little too overboard with the demonstration... I, uh, tried to match the energy you were giving me." He chuckled awkwardly.
"I'm fine. Just need some time to rest." Lee Seng answered. He kept rubbing his hands together and he waited for the footsteps to leave, but no one moved. A pair of footsteps came closer and Lee Seng's ears twitched. He peeked with one eye and noticed Manny standing in front of him.
"You sure you don't need healing? I can help." Manny asked quietly. Lee Seng sighed and motioned him. Manny squatted down and grabbed Lee Seng's hand. "Woah, they're heavier than I remembered." The soft glow of green started and Lee Seng felt his body relieve itself. He still felt numb and heavy but whatever damage he sustained was disappearing.
"It'll be like that for a while. Just how it goes."
Manny nodded and stared at Lee Seng's hand. Lee Seng didn't want to understand Manny, but he knew to not blow off injuries in front of him, regardless of friendship status. Manny had always been kind person. He always made sure people were okay and was the source of laughter in the group. Lee Seng sighed at the memories popping up and pulled his hand away.
"I'm not--"
"I'm good now." Lee Seng cut him off. Manny observed Lee Seng for awhile before standing. "If that's it then can I get whatever's left of my five minutes?" Manny nodded and turned around when Sara came over. She hovered over Lee Seng. Lee Seng opened his eyes looked up at her. She stared at him longingly. She wanted to say something to him, but she didn't know if she should or not. Lee Seng glanced at everyone else and then back at Sara.
"I got nothing to say to you, so leave me alone." Lee Seng said. Manny began motioning for the rest of the group to move away. Sara didn't budge. She just watched Lee Seng. Lee Seng sighed and complained as he stood up. His tail began to sway side to side. He remembered that Sara was slightly taller than him (an inch or so, if he had to be specific) and sighed. "Leave me alone. I got nothing to say to you." Lee Seng brushed passed Sara and started to make his way towards the exit. Sara raced after Lee Seng and grabbed his wrist.
"Look, I just wanna talk about--"
"About leaving me three years ago?" Lee Seng pulled his wrist away. He had let the sentence slip out louder than he intended. His eyes narrowed onto Sara and he shook his head. "You have some nerve to talk about the last three years."
"I was wrong!" Sara shouted. "I was wrong, okay? I chose wrong! I had my reasons."
"Oh, reasons? Maybe you can enlighten me on your 'reasons' this time." Lee Seng air quoted. He impatiently swayed his tail faster. Manny had stopped and turned to look at the two. He sighed and turned around when Elizabeth grabbed his wrist.
"Dude, I know you three are childhood friends and all, but you aren't on the best of terms with either of them. I would just stay out of it." Elizabeth said. Manny puffed cheeks and swished air between his cheeks in frustration. "Let them figure out their shit and you figure out yours separately."
"Alright, alright, Liz. Le-let's go then." Manny let Liz drag him out, following Victor who did his best to ignore it all.
Sara grabbed at her skirt, bundling her hand into fists. She looked down and was about to say something when she let out a sigh. Lee Seng chuckled and nodded.
"See, you can't tell me." Lee Seng scoffed. He shook his head and turned.
"I didn't want to leave you, alright? I had no choice."
"That's what everybody tells me." Lee Seng stopped and looked at her. "You're not the first and you are definitely not the last person to tell me the same exact BS of an excuse."
"Lee, I'm telling the truth!" Sara pleaded.
"Mmm, like you were telling the truth when you said you love Manny more than you loved me. How's that going by the way?" Lee Seng tilted his head. His ears perked up and his tail held high in the air. His sarcasm was coming out like poison and he faked his smile horribly in front of her. Sara didn't say anything and Lee Seng nodded. "That's what I thought." He continued walking towards the exit.
Sara's frustration grew as she threw her hand into her pocket and pulled out some metal balls. She threw them shot them towards Lee Seng. The balls dented the floor around Lee Seng as his tail causally swung and knocked a ball out of the air. Lee Seng turned around and watched as small metal balls floated above Sara's hand.
"Why're you being such a dick? You won't even hear me out!" Sara screamed. Lee Seng laughed and quickly grabbed a metal ball in the air and held it up.
"You can't say anything so you're resorting to this?" Lee Seng scoffed. He tossed the metal ball into the air and watched it take its place in the floating circle above Sara's hand. "Let me spell this out for you, Sara. You can't tell me the real reason because you've never liked me. You used Manny as a scapegoat. You left me behind just like Manny did. No text or calls in the last THREE years.
"Sorry not sorry that I'm not treating you the way you think you should be treated. But news alert, Evans, the last three years you've been here, I've been suffering. So cut the bullshit and leave me alone." Lee Seng's eyes filled with tears and he quickly wiped them away. His ears drooped. Sara screamed and the metal balls shot out in random directions. Lee Seng's tail shot up as he raised his his hand. The metal balls froze in midair. He scoffed and shook his head. He turned, relaxing his tail and let the metal balls go.
Lee Seng quickly made his way out, ignoring Sara's screams. He could hear metal balls bouncing and denting whatever they hit. He pushed the gym doors open and heard examinees talking. He took a left and made his way through the crowded hallway and into the four-way intersection where the gym halls met. HE quickly turned right and made his way down the hall towards the mural.
When he made it far enough away from everyone, he pushed his back onto the wall and slid down onto his butt. He raised his knees and buried his face into his arms. He screamed loudly and rolled his eyes as he tucked his tail between his raised legs.