Nothing matters but the facts. Without them, the science of criminal investigation is nothing but a guessing game.
– Blake Edwards
PRIOR
Shades of sombre colours leaked through the sky, outlining the outside structures of urban houses and disfigured trees. Branches soughed through wind, forging a crackling chime. Yet the sound got muffled from the inside of Y/n’s room, dissonating to nothing more than background noise to the boy’s concentration.
Y/n sat by his desk feeling demotivated by the minute as he tried to grasp the subject of the chemistry material, and the question posed. ‘Damn it…’ He flipped the page to refocus on another line. But no better understanding was introduced, causing the male to grunt out his failure.
“Why can’t I understand this dumb question?” He grumbled out. The boy turned over the page to read the section again, hoping that a second explanation would be revealed by the sentences that could let him comprehend the assignment. Y/n supported his chin by his palm, glaring down at the book while suppressing the urge to throw it across the room.
But after mere moments of simmering in his spite toward the inanimate object, he settled on closing the book and stopping the study session. Pushing the chair away from the desk, Y/n stretched out his arms to stir his blood flow from the period in an inflexible posture.
‘I’ve worked on the chemistry assignment Elio, and I need to finish and tried to do a few questions of the damned material I need to know for the retake test, I think I’ve been pretty productive.’ Deeming the hour fruitful in his daily schedule, he rose from his position to proceed with other tasks, when his brain recapitulated the day as a harsh reminder of his impulsive choices.
A cringed expression shaped on his features ‘I can’t believe I actually kissed him, what was I thinking?!’ Shame began overwhelming his senses and the h/c haired male smacked his temple to rid himself of the thoughts popping up.
‘Shit…what if he hates me now?! I mean he would have shoved me away if I overstepped his boundaries, right? But that’s such a dumb way to think, perhaps he was in shock, but then again, it’s obvious that he has a crush on me…’
As the boy altercated with his morals, a decision settled into his mind, and he switched his eyes to his mobile device that laid on the desk. His hand took the phone within reach and Y/n reflected on the option whilst staring at the darkened screen ‘I could just ask him instead of revelling in teen angst.’ The device brightened when the boy opened the phone, the time displayed above the lock.
6:19 pm
Y/n ventured through his applications before pressing onto the message icon where multiple contact numbers showed up. Tapping on Ezra’s contact information, Y/n considered the best way to talk with the ash-blond and communicate his worries, but his body froze in a form of anxious expectation.
Quickly exiting the conversation, he scornfully deprecated his incompetence. ‘What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just send him a message…’ Feeling that his mood would counterfeit his rationality, he abandoned his intention and let out a dissatisfied groan. Glancing over his contacts, Y/n memorized the recently added number.
‘Serene was going to finish some extra assignments, it’s around 6 pm now I’ll text her to see how it went.’ Scrolling down the catalog, he arrived at the intended number and tapped open a conversation.
Y/n: Hey Serene It’s Y/n did your extra credit assignments go well? I hope so
Y/n: see you tomorrow!!
The inquiry text was left unread, and the male came to the assumption that the girl was simply busy. Y/n progressed over to his bed and slouched down on the mattress, putting down his phone, he rested his head on the cushion, his body unconsciously nuzzling into the fabric. A yawn escaped him and his eyes heavied in slow blinks ‘Relaxing a short while before I get ready for bed doesn’t sound too bad’
.
.
Y/n blinked past the blurry layer over his eyes, lifting his head, examining the room, and taking in the absence of any light, his arm groggily searching for his mobile device in the darkness ‘Did I really just fall asleep for hours?’
His hand grabbed hold of the cellular object. His face scrunched up the artificial light shone into his sight. His vision adjusted to the change.
1:27 am
Y/n squeezed his eyes before seeing the message icon that had emerged in his notification box, swiping his finger on the device to peek at the text.
Serene: It went okay.
Sent 6:57 pm
Confirming who the message was from, Y/n’s mouth twitched into a tired smile then put down his phone again and sank his head back onto the soft cotton, sensing his mental faculties once more drifting into an unaware rest.
“So, you fought with your brother Ezra?” The h/c haired questioned, watching as the other boy tossed a stone into the waters, the rock pounced onto the liquid surface in small jumps before descending to the bottom of the lake.
I don’t know …it wasn’t really a fight, more an argument.” The ash blond boy responded, his dreary gaze looking out onto the perspective of water. Y/n stared at his friend in inquisitive puzzlement.
“What were you arguing about?” His mouth processed the sentence faster than his brain could dismay the prying question. Ezra shot him a sideward glance out of his absorbed thoughts, to which the younger male sheepishly bowed his head to steam in his embarrassment. “Sorry…bad habit…mom says I need to work on it…”
The chilling breeze of the lake fluttered through the boy’s h/c hair, sweeping up the awkward silence beating away with each second.
“He thinks its unfair.”
The answer forced Y/n to lift his head to frown in lack of understanding from the confession. The ash blond focused his eyes on the gravel path the two stood on, his foot inattentively pushing the pebbles around under his footing.
“Nova finds it unfair how mom and dad keep sidelining him…” He mumbled, his mind reiterating the words his sibling had divulged with a heavy heart, the sentence hung onto Ezra’s conscience, yet unsure how to compassionate with his sibling without unintended discern, he had stayed insouciant to Nova’s complaints.
“I know he’s right, I’ve been trying, I really have, to spend time with him, but our parents… mom and dad always expect much from me, and I have been so time consumed to reach them that I just… Nova doesn’t get that.”
The younger boy contemplated the explanation with care before voicing his input. “What do you mean by your parents expect much from you?” Ezra’s expression contorted to discomfort as he tried inferring his parents’ expectations in one definitive adjective. “They basically expect me to be perfect” Y/n went quiet as the word matched a conversation he had exchanged with his mother and it’s defective meaning. “Well, you’re not perfect.” The older boy suppressed a laugh at his friend’s straightforward answer. “Gee, thanks.”
“Its not meant in a rude way…” Y/n deliberated his next choice of words to properly describe his estimation. “it’s in, you know…in general, nothing is perfect.” The h/c haired shrugged, noticing Ezra straying away from the topic as the reassurance didn’t appear to resonate with him. “I’ve heard that before.” A soft frown decorated Y/n’s visage hearing his friend’s disapproval.
The atmosphere grew more pessimistic, and Y/n dispelled a low murmur before picking up his narrative. “My mom explained it as though you’re imagining a flower, if the flower isn’t the prettiest, you should not continue watering it just because you want it to be the most blossoming one in the garden, because then it withers.”
The analogy finished with both boys standing in the quietness of the sentiment. “I know that sounds very mushy but-”
“No, it’s okay, I weirdly enough get what you’re saying,” Ezra said, his voice holding an insistence that proved Y/n’s statement worthwhile in exhilarating the doleful mood. The h/c haired nodded in appreciation before offering the ash blond one last piece of advice.
“I say try to make up, you’re both dealing with problems that you’re overlooking, if you could come to a middle ground and understand each other, it would be a lot easier for you.” Ezra’s countenance dropped as he figured reconciling his and his sibling’s differences and finding mutual ground would take a tremendously long period of bickering back and forth.
“What if I completely mess it up?” The boy muttered.
Y/n hummed, easing his friend’s hesitance with a pat on the shoulder “I have faith in you, you’re better with people than you think Ezra.” The ash blond looked away, his cheeks heating up in pinkish hues and his exhaling trembled from the racing of his heart.
“Thank you.”
The h/c haired bent close to the faucet holding his rabbit’s water bottle, water filling up the container while the boy regained his responsive necessities. His mind collecting the upcoming day’s events. ‘I should ask Elio for help on those chemistry questions’
The knob of the faucet turned to its original position, the water drained down the sink and Y/n secured the lid, ambling back to his chambers and adjusting the container by Coco’s cage, “There you go Coco.” The boy uttered, the rabbit slightly flickered her ears as she nibbled on the food the male had laid out.
Out of his peripheral vision Y/n peered at the stacked papers wrapped by a brown cover. The boy knitted his brows in astounded scepticism at the disruption the crime folder gave off. ‘It’s weird…from what I’ve seen the killer uses different weapons…but what’s the point in it?’ The h/c haired was drawn out of his musing with scrutiny as shuffling motions derived from the ground floor.
Y/n advanced out his room to the narrow corridor, his eyes catching the figure of his mother staggering across the floorboards at the end of the staircase, readying herself for exit.
“Mom, where are you going? You don’t have work today.” The comment made the older woman send a brief acknowledging look to the boy. Y/n treaded down the steps, halting at the final treads. Watching his mother with hope that she would engage in the conversation.
“I was called in.” She revealed, fiddling with the laces of her shoes before tucking them inside her soles to rid of the distraction. “A boy named Brandon Roberts was found hung inside his house. And the police are investigating a potential suicide.” Y/n’s intake of air stopped at the recognizable name and the distaste projecting on his tongue.
“Oh.”
The singular word of indifference was the only response he could express. His mother collected her essentials and opened the entryway, debating with herself whether to disclose the final detail in the case, but could only muster an awry smile.
“Bye dear, see you tonight, there’s leftovers you can heat up, and do good in school, love you.” After the addressing, the woman disappeared out the threshold. Her footsteps disappearing the more she strayed from the residence.
The chirping of birds announced the morning hours, and the cycle of output awaited until late evening. The h/c haired boy glimpsed to the clock in absentmindedness to decide the time he still had till the bus would drive up.
7:02 Am
The unattended silence quickly allowed the male to immerse back to his conjectures. His e/c eyes narrowed in set thoughtfulness. The clock presented in the space ticked as a source of grounding to his perusal. An assumption clung onto his mind the more moments passed.
His brain flat lining as a vision engraved itself in his conscience, unable to be disregarded, regardless of it’s absurd nature. Y/n’s expression blankly meandered the surroundings, seemingly having little interest to react extremely to the hunch.
‘Could there be 2 killers?…’
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.
.
Adjusting the cuffs of his school blazer, Y/n dwelled down the long hall to his locker to toss out the unnecessary books in his bag from his previous lesson. The slight discomfort of his jacket posed a nuisance to his attitude. ‘I think I forgot my other jacket in Ezra’s car yesterday. Its not a big problem since I have this extra one, but for goodness sake, these cuffs itch.’
Internally grumbling at the scratching sensation the fabric made. He pulled down the sleeves to shift them away from his wrists. ‘This will have to do for now.’ The line of storage lockers came to his own compartment.
Other students swarmed across the hallway, as Y/n neared his locker, he came to a stop when he saw two people chattering amongst themselves in front of his locker door.
“Sorry, excuse me do you mind moving a bit? You’re in the way of my locker.” He asked, the inquiry was met with inquisitive glances from the busy teenagers, but when the presence of the h/c haired boy was seen, their demeanour turned intangible, a sort of panic, yet too vague to be pinpointed as the term.
Y/n eyed the reaction, accumulating his posture to question the wary students. However, the two onlookers regained themselves faster.
They scampered past him, the boy perceiving their escape with bafflement, trying to understand what had warranted the unexpected spectacle. ‘What the…what was that about?’ Y/n shook his head to rid the confusion he didn’t want to ponder on. Unlocking the opening of the storage to organize his belongings.
“Whatever.” The bag slid down to the floor and the h/c haired unzipped the bigger pocket.
The books got arrayed on the upper shelf and Y/n outstretched to his other needed supplies further in the storage. ‘2 killers…’ The thought was almost too ridicule for his mind. He grabbed the spine of his books and took them out.
‘Its a deranged theory.’ Y/n stuffed his bag before raising the zipper again. ‘But it wouldn’t even be very unexplainable that there’s more than one.–‘ Pushing the door closed, Y/n jumped as the grinning face of his friend stood in a vicinity breaching his personal space.
“Nova?! you scared the shit out of me man!” The shriek drew in leering stares from passing people. Despite the unsettlement, the ash blond held on to his giddy smile despite the reproved tone he was greeted with.
“Hey Y/n!” He beamed. Y/n gaped at the airy mannerisms. “Why the heck did you do that?” A region of emotions occurring in his psyche, however it was piqued dubiety that coated his tone. Nova kept on his delighted expression and slightly leaned on his feet in impatient anticipation.
“I just wanted to see my favourite person.” Y/n’s jaw went ajar from the comment. Examining Nova for any signs of dishonesty, but instead the h/c haired felt his gaze straying on the ash-blond’s rolled up uniform sleeves that exposed his arms and hinted to his toned physique. ‘Nova sure is athletic alright.’ Y/n smacked himself to condemn the thought. ‘Get a grip Y/n, you literally kissed his brother Just yesterday’
“Like what you see?” The claim was disapproved by a scowl from the dumbfounded e/c eyed boy who had to hold in the humiliation his staring had consequented. “What? No!. I mean-not like that!” Ice-blue eyes studied his flustered reaction with amusement.
“I think you do.” Nova teased, causing Y/n to further fume in his friend’s baiting tactics and try to mentally shrink into the floor to withdraw from the discussion. “Don’t flatter yourself, Pierce.” The boy warned with enlivenment.
Nova shunned the subject away at last and instead wavered his eyes at the ground briefly to build up the coming request.
“I have physical education soon, so I got to move, but after this hour, the lessons for the next period are cancelled, do you want to come hang out with us?” Y/n made a confused expression at the sudden modification in the school schedule but answered the proffered question.
“Sure N, why not.” He agreed.
Nova’s conduct optimistically changed when the confirmed answer was granted, however, the ash blond composed himself to avoid expressing too much. “Really?” Y/n gave a questionable look to his doubt and nodded. “Thank you, Y/n! The others were convinced you would decline.”
The assumption circulated no verbal reaction from the h/c haired other than a quiet hum. Y/n conveyed an in-thought moment, deciding whether to omit Nova’s behaviour the previous day, yet the desire for interest fuelled his words.
“You seem…happier than yesterday, Nova.” He remarked, to which the ice-blue eyed male mirrored a casual posture viewing his previous problems as nothing but trivial.
“What can I say, I managed to get rid of my irritation rather easily.” Y/n noticed the genuine positive mood behind Nova’s front, and couldn’t prevent an imitating smile at the situation. “I’m glad that you feel better, in that case.” Y/n said before picking up his bag, preparing to bid his friend goodbye.
“You got history now right?” The accurate guess to his schedule earned a half hearted stare from the h/c haired. “That’s right.” Y/n bemusedly admitted and flung his bag over his shoulder, then regarding his friend in playful questioning.
“How did you know that?” Nova shrugged off the inquiry. “I just guessed and I suppose I was correct.” The ash-blond’s aloof supposal signified that Y/n wouldn’t get a prominent reply out of his friend. A light scoff emerged from the h/c haired as he circled away from the male.
“Okay, Whatever you say, Nova. Don’t fail PE.” Y/n lowly mocked with a poking tone, wandering away from the area to be promptly timed at his approaching lesson.
“Ouch. Don’t discredit me like that L/n, I’m the fastest on the sports team!” Nova sprightly called out, his remark sounded through the crowd of students and Y/n snickered as last recognition of the statement.
.
.
.
The midday gusts of air flourished together with the growing humidity. The shades of branches shadowed Y/n’s face as he stared up at the crown of the oak tree he rested under.
“You’re cheating Nova, quit it.” The voice of Roy’s irritation ringed through the group and Nova’s own sense of prejudice. “I’m not!” he replied, holding his stack of cards out of seeing range from the redhead.
Y/n peered up from his lying position in the grass to survey the squabble the two boys encountered. “Don’t play dirty N, it ruins the fun.” The h/c joined in, tilting his chin on his knuckles to view the teenagers in a better perspective. The gentle reproach got an annoyed look from the begrudged ash blond. “I am not cheating, Roy’s just blind.” He clarified with displeasure.
Nova shifted his attention to his preoccupied black-haired friend who was leaning against the main branch of the tree for support, focusing his eyes onto the scripture of the book in his possession. “Elio, do you think I’m cheating?” The plea for another opinion was ignored as Elio held unyielding eye contact with his own activity.
“Do not involve me in your toddler fights.” The monotonous rejection to intervene was criticized with a grunt of spite. Nova glanced to his brother who was seated in his own sentiment, applying a layer of black nail polish.
“Ezra–” Just as the ash blond was about to invest the thoughts of his sibling, he was interrupted by renunciation. “Nope.” The singular response was all Ezra said to retort the half-finished sentence. “Oh, come on!” Nova complained before resentfully inspecting his cards for any unseen miscalculation in the stack. Y/n viewed his friend’s exasperated demeanour, settling on vocalizing his preconception on the matter. “Perhaps you’re just bummed you keep losing to Roy.”
Roy supressed a laugh at the remark and Nova glared to the h/c haired. “What? I’m just saying.” Y/n defended with an innocent smile. Few moments passed and Nova focused back to the card game without the indulging of an refute. Y/n got bored of observing the situation after regulating as a normal game and rolled to the side to face his other friends.
“What are you reading Elio?” The boy spared him a glimpse and closed the book to reinstate the description of the story and a summary to present the male. “A psychological horror novel.” Y/n lifted his features in surprise at the particular name. “Psychological horror? I didn’t take you for the type to be interested in that genre.” Elio didn’t respond, reopening the book to immerse himself in the prior page. Y/n inwardly rolled his eyes at the uninterested manner. ‘Well, he has never been much of a talker, can’t really blame him for not engaging in a active conversation right now, especially with those two eccentrics here.’ Y/n looked at the two boys who were ending their game.
“Hell yeah, I won for once!” Nov asserted proudly, lying down his final card that finalised his victory against the redhead. “Its only because you hid cards in your hands.” Nova exhaled a huff at the assumption. “Quit being so bitter.” Roy held in his words of disagreement and began cleaning up the card game.
Y/n laid back with his eyes to the sky and surging leaves attached to the over towering tree in distraction, however a ping notification originating from the boy’s phone pulled him out of the trance and he grabbed his electronic to check the noise, his mother had sent him a message, he unlocked his phone out of curiosity.
Mother: Sorry dear, but I unfortunately can’t be home for dinner, The case here is more dire than I first thought. I’ll be home later in the night, there’s leftover for you in the fridge, love you
His interest in the message extinguished, the male expelled a sigh, typing back a text of affirmation and existing the conversation, resting the device on his chest, his gaze straying back to the nature scene with a sense of chagrin.
‘I shouldn’t be disappointed, she’s a detective it’s normal that she has to stay later…but I wish she didn’t come back and completely ignore me for the rest of night.’
Y/n neglected the thought to the back of his awareness and instead tried to muster up enough strength to speak with Ezra, the h/c haired watched the other boy out the corner of his vision as the ash blond was securing the lid of his nail polish, yet the two briefly met sights, much to Y/n’s embarrassment, Ezra offered him an adored smile, making Y/n’s formation of temporary confidence crumble.
The h/c haired awkwardly averted his expression in failure. ‘jeez…Why do I have to be so awkward all the time?’ Y/n opened his phone again to revert his mind from his self-pity and saw a message that had popped up.
Clark: Come to classroom B31 after class, we need to talk, Morgan and Alex will be there as well.
Processing the text, Y/n perceived a sensation of urgency from the detail lacking demand and replied a confirmation. ‘Well, that could only mean good things.’
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After class, Y/n plotted the route Clark had shared with him with success, stepping into the classroom, just as the brunet had mentioned, Kiara was there, as well as Morgan and Alex. It was evident there was nervousness in the sphere, murmurs from conversation ceased the moment the last member of the group crossed the threshold. “What’s the matter?” Y/n asked, the inquiry was meant for the brunet boy to elaborate on the wary atmosphere, Clark shared eye contact with Kiara before assembling his answer. “Have you heard?” he inquired.
Y/n knitted his brows together at the reoccurring vagueness. “Heard what exactly?” Y/n crossed his arms over his chest, hoping that he would receive more explanation about the current meetup. “Have you heard about Brandon, he was dead in his house, suicide, rumours say.” Clark said. Y/n expression turned blank “Yes, I know-”
“–And there was a bloody knife found on his person.”
Y/n’s body froze when the fact sunk in his perception. “What?” The whisper came out as a probe to the reveal. “So, you didn’t.” He said with a tone of expectation. Y/n remained quiet. The message from his mother now showed more clear reasoning ‘damn it…’
Who was it?”
“They don’t know, it could take weeks before they know since a body hasn’t been found, yet. The news where circling all around during the cancelled lesson everywhere in school, it’s one of the reasons why it was cancelled in the first place, did you not hear?” The h/c haired shook his head. “No, I wasn’t in the school during the hour.”
“Do the authorities have no idea who the victim could’ve been?” Morgan muttered, existing from her passiveness role. Alex answered with his own input. “I heard…. Something… a girl, who didn’t leave school yesterday and apparently didn’t come home, someone named Serene? Her friends were asking a lot of people this morning if they had seen her.” Y/n piqued up at the name.
“Serene?”
“You know her?” Alex peered at the h/c haired boy. Y/n narrowed his eyes and tried to remember the events with the missing girl. “I do, I saw her yesterday morning, we talked, and she said she needed to do extra assignments after school.”
Y/n took up his phone and opened his messages, turning it to the group as proof to his testament. “And I texted her that evening to ask how it went, and she responded.” His companions examined the texts between the two.
“That’s impossible…” Kiara said.
“What why?”
“Because according to news, Brandon’s body was found around 6 pm by his mother.” Kiara recounted in disbelief. Y/n sensed his nerves tensing up and plummeted shivers down his skin. “But if Brandon allegedly, possibly, murdered Serene in a Murder-Suicide. Then who the hell texted me around 7 pm?”
The teenagers surveyed the room as multiple questions rose without answer. “So, Brandon could have been framed?” Alex asked, Clark raised his hands to intervene with the path the discussion was making. “Let’s not jump to guessing, we need to look at the facts.”
Kiara interrupted the brunet’s rationalizing with a sarcastic tone. “It’s not guessing, have you forgotten there’s a serial killer in town?” Clark returned a scowl at the rebuttal. The h/c haired engaged in the conversation, taking the neutral side in the discussion. “I agree with Clark, it’s not smart to just start making baseless guesses.”
Y/n sighed out the truth that evinced in his mind to the situation. “But, Kiara has a point. There’s an active killer around, and a sudden murder-suicide seems a bit too much of a coincidence.” Clark released a grunt in defeat.
“Ok fine, let’s say Brandon was framed, what happened to Serene?” He voiced making the others silently ponder on the question.
“Well, a blood-stained knife was found at the crime scene, so someone was hurt, most likely Serene, so either she’s injured somewhere, or…” Morgan didn’t finish the implication. It was silent again, the dread of the possible outcome weighed over their heads. Before Kiara broke the silence with consideration. “Y/n, you said Serene was going to stay after school?”
The male nodded in perplexity. “Yes? That’s what she told me.” Kiara took in the information to clarify her process of thoughts. “So, it most likely is that she was last present at school. And if she got attacked by…Brandon, it could have been at school.” Clark eyed the girl’s statement in suspicion.
“What are you suggest Kia?” The black-haired girl gestured with her hands to emphasis the upcoming point, ignoring her friend. “There are cameras all around school, right?”
Y/n analyzed the words of the girl with attention, glancing toward the other bystanders in the space. “If we could watch the footage, we could find out what really happened to Serene.”
“No.” Clark firmly denied. ” itYou are not suggesting what I think you are.” Kiara waved off the incredulous look of the brunet, Y/n frowned, the area growing dense with the two conflicting sides of the two friends. “What is she suggesting?”
Clark ran a hand down his face at the pendulum signifying only hardship for the group. “That we break into the security room and look at the camera footage.” He muttered. Alex confusedly inputted a point of interest worth considering. “We could never go into the security room without getting in trouble.”
“During the day, yes, but during the night though.” Y/n tilted his head in astonishment over the claim. “No, Kiara no, I’m usually on your side, but we can’t trespass over school premises after hours!” he sternly expressed.
The black haired girl turned toward Alex and Morgan to gather their judgment. “What do you guys think?” She asked the two students to look at each other before vocalizing their opinions. “Sure… I mean what could go wrong?” Alex said and Morgan followed the boy’s side of the argument. “I’m with Alex on this.”
Y/n glared at the oblivious perspective the reckless voting concluded. “What could go wrong?! We could get caught by the security guard and arrested for trespassing and breaking entry!” He narrated, laying out the foundation of a bad outcome. But Kiara remained steadfast in her stance. “It’s 3 against 2, Y/n. And it’s not like we’re staying long, we check the footage and go” The h/c haired stared at Kiara in awe, but didn’t argue further
“This is an incredibly stupid idea.”
Author note: sup gang,
![À¶¸À·’À·„À·’À¶¯À·”À¶¸À·Š À·Ƒ්ල – Nonfiction [Completed ˜‘ϸ]](https://i3.wp.com/readawrite.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/81505.jpg?resize=165,225 "À¶¸À·’À·„À·’À¶¯À·”À¶¸À·Š À·Ƒ්ල – Nonfiction [Completed ˜‘ϸ]")
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