Private The Words Of A Liar

Yuki gulped as Katie's voice came through the phone, an ice-cold chill running down his spine as his voice caught in his throat. He'd been expecting this. He'd known Katie would get a note too. He'd known that Katie would have been involved, and had had a feeling that she'd get the note too, but...not that she'd want to talk to him this soon. The others had...okay, never mind. The others had confronted him pretty quickly after getting the notes. With the exception of Gabe. But Gabe was Gabe and things were always complicated when his boyfriend was part of the equation.

"...I'll be there," came his shaky reply. He trembled on the way back to the dorms, bumping into an orange-haired boy who looked just as distressed as he did but was hiding it better - Yuki knew the signs of an anxious mood; the subtle set in his jaw and the posture that feigned relaxation despite a slight, barely noticeable tension to the muscles. He knew what to look for: they were all things he was used to doing.

Finally he reached Katie's room and knocked, ready to face the music. "So...you know, huh?" He said as she opened the door to him, fidgeting uncomfortably.

Yuki stared. Shaky posture, rasping breaths, wild eyes... Katie was having a panic attack. "Katie? Katie!" The boy stiffened up, slowly and deliberately moving to pull his wallet out of his pocket. It was brown leather, and from it he pulled a small aura warning bracelet - he hadn't needed it ever since his aura had just...stopped. He had his bracelet checked and his powers too - spells stopped being magnified around him for some reason.

But that wasn't the point.

"Hey, Katie..." he asked slowly, softly, soothingly. "I need you to focus on this bracelet, okay? You're currently having a panic attack, and we're going to do something called a grounding exercise. It should help you calm down." He smiled at her reassuringly, not sure deep down as to why she was being like this. Did she believe the note? Did she think those articles were real? "Now...what is your name? Your full name."

If she didn't respond with a name, he'd just patiently repeat the question until she answered him properly. Then he'd ask similar simple questions (like how old she was) to help her ease out of it a little, and finally ask her to describe the bracelet in as much detail as she could, until she was calm again.

Yuki just smiled gently and nodded as she answered and described, watching the frenzied expression leave her eyes and her breathing slow down to a reasonable level once more. He didn't dare interrupt - he knew how difficult it was to work yourself out of an attack.

He couldn't help but flinch at the sight of the note - he knew she'd get one, but it still shocked him to see them continuing to circulate. Each time, the same articles - 'Snow White and the Seven Sins', 'Young Scion lives in needless luxury', 'The spoilt nature of the bourgeoisie', 'Six things the young Elite do that you'd never believe' - all stupid tabloid titles that honestly Yuki didn't know who to judge more for: the readers or the writers. The only slightly troubling article was the one where it suggested Yuki was planning a coup. Actually, there were a few like that tossed into the mix. He sighed. It had taken him so long to get over the press and start ignoring it. Why couldn't anyone ever truly leave him alone? He'd left those days behind. He'd stopped listening to what those kinds of tabloids said. It was a niche market, anyway - he'd found out that the only people who read that rubbish and ate it all up were the very people trying to become rich themselves. And that was just a group of sickening social climbers.

After a pause to put the article clippings down onto a desk, Yuki looked at Katie with a small shake of his head. "No, it's not true," he managed quietly. Then with more conviction. "It's not true. Well, actually it's a little bit true. The only things they got right is my appearance..." he gestured to his body and hair. "...And my status. I'm sorry for hiding it - I'm the Yuki Hayashi, second heir to GeneCorp Pharmaceuticals. My older brother Takumi is due to inherit the business after my parents step down or pass away. I myself am set to inherit half my parent's shares."

He let out another breath. "I don't mean to hide my status. It's just... I don't want to risk people clinging to me or sucking up to me for it. I don't seem famous enough anyway, so I don't need to worry about fan clubs or stalkers or anything. But it's just... nice to live and not care about any of that." He smiled poignantly, eyebrows drawn up to meet in the middle. Hopefully she could understand that, right?

His expression grew more poignant as he paused. "Someone's been spreading these rumours about me to every friend I make. It's almost like someone's out to get me. I'm just glad that they're not targeting me directly, and haven't threatened me in any way. I've honestly just been trying to ignore it all lately, but I need to fix this problem before it affects my parents' business." After all, it didn't take much to drive share prices down into the mud. Even the rumoured sickness of a CEO could cause people to panic-sell and lose the business a lot of value. "But these articles? All lies." He shook his head again, as if he couldn't believe this was still happening.

Yuki gave Katie an appreciative smile at her comment. He was glad. She didn't seem like the type to scrounge off of people anyway.

"I...don't know," he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm trying to go back through everything I've ever done, anyone I might have wronged...and I can't think of anyone who would do something like this. I haven't heard from Yato or his group in months - which is good." He shivered. Every time he spoke that person's name he had to shake off the memories associated with it. "Gabe, Carmin and Ganymede are helping me try to figure out who's behind it all."