Chapter 27: REVEALED SECRETS

Kai’s face looked somewhat tense. There were fine creases on his forehead that didn’t usually appear, and his usually calm eyes now seemed restless—like he was thinking about something heavy, something he couldn’t resolve just by thinking. His gaze moved quickly, observing Katrin who was still standing in front of him with her hand still gripping the edge of his jacket sleeve.

Before Kai could respond to the request, Katrin immediately gripped his sleeve tighter. Her eyes, which had been full of doubt, now turned into a sincere plea—like someone who had no other choice but to ask for help, like someone who had been holding a burden for too long and finally decided to share it. Her cold fingers pressed into the fabric of Kai’s jacket, and her voice came out with a tone that was almost desperate.

"Sir, please..."

The words came out with a tremor at the end, like she was holding back something she could no longer contain. Katrin looked down, not daring to meet Kai’s eyes, but her hand still gripped his arm tightly—as if letting go would mean losing the only chance she had.

Kai fell silent. His eyes looked at the girl in front of him, and for a moment, he saw something behind that gaze—hidden fear, fading hope, and courage that was still trying to survive. He felt the pressure on his arm, felt the tremor in Katrin’s fingers, and he knew this girl was serious. Not just wanting to talk. Not just wanting to chat. There was something deeper, something she’d been holding in for a long time, and only now had she found the courage to let it out.

Kai let out a long sigh. He looked at the darkening night sky, then patted his own head with a tired movement—like he was trying to gather his remaining energy, like he was preparing himself for something he didn’t know. His hand dropped, and he looked at Katrin with a gentler gaze.

"Alright," Kai said in a soft voice. "Let’s move to a more comfortable place. It’s too crowded and uncomfortable here to talk."

Katrin nodded slightly, still not daring to look at Kai. There was a sense of relief radiating from her face—relief that her request wasn’t rejected, relief that Kai didn’t ignore her, relief that there was someone willing to listen. Her hand slowly released Kai’s jacket sleeve, and she stood in place with her gaze still lowered.

Kai turned and started walking away from the field. Katrin followed behind him with slow steps, keeping a distance that wasn’t too close but also not too far—like someone who wasn’t sure where they belonged, someone who didn’t want to intrude but also didn’t want to be left behind.

They both walked along the sidewalk, leaving the training field that was starting to grow quiet and dark. Streetlights started turning on one by one, illuminating the streets that were starting to empty. The sound of passing vehicles could occasionally be heard, but most of the atmosphere was dominated by awkward silence between them. The night breeze blew, carrying cold air that bit at the skin, and the sound of rustling leaves in the distance became the only accompaniment to their footsteps.

Kai walked in front, trying to find a way to break the stiff atmosphere. He wasn’t used to situations like this—walking with a student at night, without a clear destination, without knowing what would be discussed. He scratched his head, looked left and right, searching for a safe topic to start the conversation.

"The weather’s quite cool tonight, isn’t it?" Kai finally said, his voice sounding a little awkward to his own ears. He turned to see Katrin’s reaction.

Katrin lifted her head slightly, then nodded slightly. "Y-yes, Sir. Quite cool."

"The rain earlier did help lower the temperature. Usually nights like this feel hotter." Kai continued, trying to sound casual. "Aren’t you cold? I can lend you my jacket if you need it."

Katrin quickly shook her head, her face flushing slightly even in the darkness. "N-no, Sir. I’m fine. I’m used to this weather."

Kai nodded, then pointed to a small shop on the side of the road that was still open. "Oh, look at that. That shop stays open until late at night. I often pass by here but have never stopped in. They say the meatballs there are good. Do you like meatballs?"

Katrin shrugged hesitantly. "I... I’ve never tried the meatballs here, Sir."

"Alright then. Maybe another time. I prefer something more... substantial." Kai tried to smile, trying to lighten the mood a little. But he could feel that Katrin was still tense, still uncomfortable, still holding something she wanted to say but didn’t know how to start.

They continued walking in awkward silence. Kai occasionally glanced back to make sure Katrin was still following, and every time he saw the girl looking down with her hands gripping the edge of her uniform tightly. There was something heavy in the air, something that made Kai feel that the conversation to come wouldn’t be an ordinary one.

City lights started twinkling in the distance, creating a beautiful view against the darkening sky. A few people could still be seen walking on the sidewalk, some shops still open with bright lights inside. The smell of food started wafting from roadside stalls, adding to the night atmosphere that was starting to come alive.

Suddenly, Kai stopped. His eyes landed on a building on the right side of the road—a family restaurant with the words "OUR FAMILY" above its entrance. The lights inside looked warm and bright, and through the glass windows, several people could be seen enjoying their meals casually. There was a comfortable atmosphere there, an atmosphere suitable for serious conversation.

Kai pointed toward the restaurant. "How about we talk there? The place looks comfortable and not too crowded. We can sit quietly and discuss whatever you want to say."

Katrin lifted her head, looking at the restaurant for a moment, then looked down again. She didn’t answer immediately. There was a few seconds of silence, like she was considering something, like she was deciding whether she was ready to take another step forward. Her cold hands were still playing with the edge of her uniform, and her lips were biting her lower lip nervously.

Finally, Katrin nodded slightly. No words came out of her mouth, but that nod was enough. A silent agreement, a decision to continue what she’d started.

Kai walked toward the restaurant door and opened it. A small bell above the door chimed a melodious ting, announcing their arrival. A waiter with a friendly smile immediately approached, carrying two menus in his hands.

"Good evening, Sir and Madam," the waiter greeted warmly. "How many people?"

"Just the two of us," Kai answered while looking around the room. "The table in the corner over there, by the window, is still empty. May we sit there?"

"Of course, please."

Kai and Katrin walked toward the table in the corner of the room—a small table for two with comfortable chairs and a view of the outside through the window. The lamp above the table provided warm, intimate light, creating an atmosphere suitable for private conversation.

They sat facing each other. Katrin was still looking down, her fingers nervously playing with the edge of the tablecloth. Kai picked up the menu and opened it, trying to find something that could break the silence that still enveloped them.

"I’ll order a substantial meal," Kai said while reading the menu. "Might as well have dinner. I haven’t eaten since noon, and my stomach is already starting to complain." He smiled slightly, trying to lighten the mood. "What would you like to order? My treat. Consider it a thank you for being willing to help Class IX-9."

Katrin quickly shook her head, her hand raised as if refusing the offer. "No, Sir. I don’t want to trouble you. I just want to talk. I’m not hungry."

Kai blinked. "Are you sure? This restaurant is known for its good food. I’ve heard about this place from some teachers. They say the menu here is always satisfying."

"I’m sure, Sir. I just..." Katrin didn’t finish her sentence. She looked down again, her fingers growing more restless playing with the tablecloth.

Kai sighed, then called the waiter. "I’ll have the special fried rice with a fried egg and fried chicken. And one canned drink—" he looked toward the cooler near the cashier, "—that one, my favorite brand. Fruit-flavored soda."

The waiter quickly noted the order. "Very well, Sir. Anything else I can help with?"

Kai turned to Katrin. "Are you really sure you don’t want to order anything? At least a drink? A bottle of mineral water?"

"No, Sir. I just want to—"

Grrrrrrrrr...

The sound was loud enough for Kai to hear, even amidst the restaurant’s not-too-crowded noise. The sound of a growling stomach that couldn’t be hidden, a sound that came from Katrin’s stomach with perfect betrayal.

Katrin’s face immediately turned red. Red that spread from her cheeks to the tips of her ears, making her look like a ripe tomato under the sunlight. She looked down even deeper, almost hiding her face behind the table. Her hands, which had been playing with the tablecloth, now covered her face, as if that could hide her embarrassment.

"I-I..." Katrin tried to find an excuse, her voice trembling with intense shame. "I-I haven’t had lunch, Sir... but I don’t—I don’t want to—"

Kai smiled slightly, but it wasn’t a mocking smile. He looked at Katrin gently, then pointed to the menu still open in front of her.

"You don’t need to be embarrassed," Kai said softly. "I get hungry often too. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just look at this menu, pick whatever you want. My treat."

Katrin lifted her head slightly, still with a red face. Her eyes looked at the menu Kai pointed to, then looked at Kai, then back at the menu. She bit her lip, still hesitant.

"But, Sir—"

"No buts," Kai cut in firmly but gently. "You need to eat. You can’t talk on an empty stomach. Your concentration will be off and what you say won’t be clear."

Katrin fell silent. She looked at Kai with eyes still glistening with embarrassment, but there was something there—something like unspoken gratitude. Slowly, she took the menu and opened it, her eyes moving quickly reading the list of available food.

"I’ll... I’ll have the same as you, Sir," Katrin said softly, her voice still sounding embarrassed. "Special fried rice with a fried egg."

Kai nodded, then called the waiter again. "One more special fried rice with a fried egg. And one extra canned drink, the same as the one I ordered."

The waiter quickly noted it down. "Very well, Sir. Your order will be ready shortly."

When the waiter left, the atmosphere between them fell silent again. Katrin was still looking down, her fingers now playing with the edge of her uniform that she’d just released from the tablecloth. Kai looked at her patiently, waiting, giving the girl time to gather her remaining courage.

Finally, Kai decided to start. "So... what did you want to talk about? You said earlier you wanted to talk privately. Now we’re here. No one will hear us. You can speak freely."

Katrin lifted her head slowly. Her eyes met Kai’s, and for the first time, Kai saw something different there—not fear or doubt anymore, but determination starting to form. Determination to say what she’d been holding in for a long time.

"Sir," Katrin said in a soft voice, "this is about my friends. About the six of us. About what we’ve been through at this school."

Kai nodded, signaling for Katrin to continue. In his heart, there was a feeling that this wasn’t an ordinary conversation—that there was something deeper behind Katrin’s words, something that might be related to what he’d read in the file that night.

Katrin took a deep breath, like she was gathering all the courage she had. Her eyes, which had been looking down, now looked at Kai with a braver gaze.

"Sir, I see my friends starting to open up to you and the students from Class IX-9," she said, her voice starting to steady. "I see them starting to trust. I see them starting to smile again. And that... that makes me happy. Because it’s been so long since I’ve seen them like that."

Kai remained silent, listening attentively. Occasionally he took a sip of his drink, but his eyes never left Katrin.

"And I... I want to ask, Sir," Katrin continued, her voice starting to tremble again. "Can we... can we join Class IX-9?"

Kai, who was taking a sip of his drink, nearly spat the liquid all over the table. He held it back with difficulty, coughed a few times, and patted his chest with his hand. His eyes widened, and he looked at Katrin with an expression between surprised and disbelieving.

"What?" Kai asked after managing to swallow his drink properly. "You want to join Class IX-9?"

Katrin nodded, her face still slightly red but her eyes full of determination. "Yes, Sir. Me and my friends. We want to join your class."

Kai set his glass down carefully on the table. His eyes looked at Katrin seriously. "May I know the reason?"

Katrin looked down for a moment, then started speaking in a calmer voice, like she was telling something she’d been holding in for a long time.

"In our first year at this school, we weren’t in the same class," she said softly. "The six of us were scattered in different classes. I was in 1-3, Maya in 1-5, Sera in 1-7, Rina in 1-2, Irene in 1-4, and Liliana in 1-6. We didn’t know each other back then."

Kai nodded, listening attentively. His hand held the drink can, but he didn’t lift it—his eyes were focused on Katrin who kept telling her story.

"At first, everything was fine," Katrin continued, her voice starting to tremble slightly. "We made friends. We enjoyed school. We studied like other students. Nothing strange. Nothing different. Everything felt normal."

"Then?" Kai asked softly, encouraging Katrin to continue.

Katrin bit her lip. "Then... in the middle of the first semester, suddenly there was a change. The teachers started treating us differently. Not all at once, but gradually. Their attitudes changed. Their tone of voice changed. The way they looked at us changed." She paused for a moment, as if remembering those moments. "They weren’t physically harsh. No one hit or yelled. But they... ignored us. As if we didn’t exist. When we asked questions, they answered briefly. When we raised our hands, they pretended not to see. When we tried to join discussions, they cut us off and turned to other students."

Kai heard all of that, and his chest felt tight. He remembered the notes in that file—notes about teachers who didn’t give chances, about unfair grades, about inhumane treatment.

"And it didn’t stop with the teachers," Katrin continued, her voice growing heavier. "The friends we once had started distancing themselves from us. Slowly. Bit by bit. At first they just stopped inviting us to lunch together. Then they wouldn’t sit near us. Then they pretended not to know us. As if we never existed. As if we were invisible ghosts."

Katrin looked down, her hand holding her glass starting to tremble. "After the first semester ended, we were suddenly moved to Class 2-2. No explanation. No notification. We were just told we were changing classes. And that’s where we met—the six of us, in the same class, with the same fate."

Kai was silent. He let Katrin’s words sink into his mind. He let himself feel what Katrin felt—the feeling of being betrayed, the feeling of being ignored, the feeling of being worthless.

"I don’t know why they did that," Katrin said in a soft voice. "I don’t know what we did wrong. But I keep wondering... what was our fault? What made them hate us?"

Katrin lifted her head. Her eyes looked at Kai with a gaze full of unanswered questions. "At first I thought maybe it was just me. Maybe I was the one at fault. Maybe I wasn’t good enough. But when I asked my friends—Maya, Sera, Rina, Irene, Liliana—it turned out they experienced the same thing. In their respective classes. At the same time. In the middle of the first semester. All of them experienced the same change from their teachers. All of them lost their friends in the same way."

Kai felt something strange in his chest. Not just sympathy, but also anger. Not anger at Katrin or her friends, but anger at the system that let this happen, at the teachers who should have protected but instead ignored, at the people who should have educated but instead destroyed.

"We thought about giving up," Katrin continued, her voice starting to tremble again. "We almost dropped out of school. We almost gave up on everything. Because it felt pointless. It felt like no matter how hard we tried, we would always be ignored. We would always be last. We would always be invisible."

Katrin stopped, swallowing with difficulty. "But then Ella came. Ella Virel. The class president of IX-9. She approached us in the cafeteria, sat beside us, and asked for our help. She said her class needed extra members for the sports competition. She said she saw us and knew we could help."

Katrin lifted her head, looking at Kai with eyes starting to glisten. "That moment... that’s when we got our spirit back. For the first time in a long time, someone saw us. Someone considered us valuable. Someone wanted us." She clenched her fists on the table, like she was holding back overflowing emotions. "It’s been so long since we felt that. It’s been so long since we enjoyed school like we should have."

Katrin looked at Kai with hopeful eyes. "So I’m asking once more, Sir. Can we join Class IX-9? Can we become part of your class?"

Katrin clenched her fists on the table and stood up. Her eyes looked at Kai firmly, with unshakable conviction. "Sir, please. Let us join. We don’t want to be invisible anymore. We want to be part of something. We want to be part of your class."

Kai fell silent. His eyes looked at Katrin standing before him, her face full of hope and determination. He felt the weight of that decision on his shoulders—a decision that couldn’t be taken lightly, a decision that would change the lives of these six girls.

He tried to process all of Katrin’s story. All the confessions about what they’d been through. All the suffering they’d held in. All the hope they’d kept. And in his heart, he knew he couldn’t do much for now. He had no influence at the school. The teachers would never agree to moving students to his class. He was just a new teacher, a former mercenary trying to be a good teacher, still struggling to find his place in this unfamiliar world.

But suddenly, Kai remembered something. The file he’d read that night. The file containing the biodata of these six students. The file that gave him information even the teachers at this school didn’t know—information about who they really were, about their families, about the secrets buried behind their names.

He remembered what he’d read in that file. That these six students were the families of the rebels who had once tried to fight the government. But there was something deeper—their parents, or more precisely, their children and mothers, didn’t know that their fathers were rebels. What they knew was that their fathers were ordinary workers. Husbands. Fathers. Someone who went to work every morning and came home every night. Someone who hid a big secret from their family.

And at the time of the death of the nine rebel leaders, the surviving troops were ordered to disband and end the rebel group. They were ordered to disappear, to return to normal life, to forget everything they’d ever done. And the fathers of these six students were the remnants of the surviving rebel troops.

They didn’t know their fathers were part of something bigger. They didn’t know their fathers were hiding secrets that could change everything. They only knew their fathers left and never came back. They only knew they were abandoned, without explanation, without answers, without certainty. And they spent the rest of their lives wondering why.

Kai took a long breath. He looked at Katrin still standing before him, her eyes full of hope. He felt the weight of that decision on his shoulders—a decision that couldn’t be taken lightly, a decision that would change the lives of these six girls.

Katrin was still standing before him, her hands clenched on the table, waiting for an answer. Her hopeful eyes looked at Kai, waiting for a decision that would determine their future. And Kai knew that whatever he said next, would change everything.